Happy Holidays: The Classic Movie Style!!!! (Part 7)Here is part seven of our holiday season's best in pictures, music and all things Classic Movies!! Hope you enjoy these installments as much as I do with putting them together. It is a lot of fun to see our favorite screen celebrities and lovely tunes to enjoy, what true gifts in my book! I will be posting a few of these to keep us all posted as to what our ladies and gentlemen of the silver screen are up to and singing for this holdiay season, so let's get a good egg nog and put the lights down for some fun yule tides!!!! Happy watching. : )
Arlene Dahl is someone's lucky gift!
Debbie Reynolds is ready to dance this holida season!
Susan Hayward looks stunning for the holidays!!!
Esther Williams and her reindeer, what a lucky reindeer!!!
Ziegfeld Follies (1945) MGM Studios Directed By: Charles Walters, George Sidney, Merrill Pye, Vincent Minnelli, Robert Lewis, Roy Del Ruth, & Lemuel Ayers. Each director contributed to at least one segment of this musical filled with many segments.
Starring: Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, Cyd Charisse, Esther Williams, Lena Horne, Kathryn Grayson, Virginia O'Brien, Gene Kelly, Lucille Bremer, Red Skelton, William Powell, Keenan Wynn, Fanny Brice, Victor Moore, Edward Arnold, & Marion Bell.
Lucille Ball!
MGM Studios allowed this film the entire lot of stars to use for the filming and had a HUGE budget of one million dollars!
Cyd Charisse!
Fun Facts:
The original cut film ran two hours and fivty-three minutes which was to be found too long by audiences whom orginially screened it. Leaving the only option to scrap out many scenes that were left on the cutting room floor, a shame!!!
Lena Horne did not like the ghetto enivonment that was the setting for her segment of "Love" that she never recorded a commercial single for the film until years later. She did cover the song on her own shows and concerts but not speciifaclly for the MGM soundtrack for the film.
The horse that Lucille Ball rides in her segment is in fact that horse for the Lone Ranger's stallion, Silver!
Several older ladies are highlighed in the segment of "Bring on those Beuatiful Girls" whom are actually original Ziegfeld Follies ladies.
Esther Williams the bathing beauty!
Plot:
This is the first MGM musical to actually not have a plot what so ever! It is simply a musical with several segments to be exactly like "Ziegfeld Follies" was done on Broadway to be a musical and eye delight filled with musical splender and large sets. This classic is the take of what Florence Ziegfeld since passed would have done in the age of the motion picture with his beloved follies. I believe he would have done it exactly the same with the availability of the star power of MGM along with the grand sets, directors, costume designers, cinematographers, make-up artists and more that only MGM and it's MEGA POWER of a studio could do!
Fred Astiare & Gene Kelly!!
What a lovely musical that is delightful for any musical fan to watch several segments with your favorite stars of the day such as Luciclle Ball & Cyd Charisse in a segment entitled "Here's to the Girls" which Lucille is a ravishing lion tamer whom happen to be taming ladies! Along with Cyd Charisse's dancing through a beautiful set and bubbles, then it is off to watch Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire sing "The Babbit and the Bromide" then we see the sultry Lena Horne sing one of her trademark songs "Love" which is one of my favorites!
Lena Horne belting out "Love!"
My eyes are simply glues to the screen when watching this gem of a film going back and foth of all the lovely sets and segments, I just love it! More noteworthy segements is with Judy Garland singing, "A Great Lady Has An Interview" along with Esther Williams doing a beautiful swimming number along with the deadpan Virginia O'Brien doing "Bring On The Wonderful Men" also James Melton and Marion Bell do a simply lovely part of "La Traviata" which is oohhh soo red and spectacular! Another is the pairing of dance partners of Fred Astaire and Lucille Bremer doing a number entitled, "This Hearf of Mine" I voulf go on and on with such lovely numbers...wait there is of course Fanny Brice's segment I just can not forget which is from her radio show entitled, "The Sweepstakes Ticket" which is simply brilliant, what a comedian!!!
This is one of those true classic and all time MUST SEE MGM Musicals!!!!
Starring: Judy Garland, John Hodiak, Angela Lansbury, Ray Bolger, Marjorie Main, Virgina O'Brien, & Cyd Charisse
This is one classic MGM musical and one of my all time favs of Judy Garland's!!! Lovely musical sequences with Judy at her height! Music by Harry Warren and Lyrics by Johnny Mercer.
Taglines: "It's Blazing, Blistering Romance . . . in the wide open spaces ! "
Ray Bolger & Judy Garland
Plot:
Susan Bradley (Garland) a mail order bride makes a trip out west on train to meet her new fiance. This long train ride and husband is what she hopes to bring her a new and joyous life. A new wedding gown and a basket full of food is what she has along with dreams to this new territory in the great oopen wild west. During this journey Susan is running out of food and money and meets up with a group of very musical and talented ladies named "The Harvey Girls." This group of merry ladies are going to the same small western town that she is and are there to open a restaurant being one of the famous "Harvey House's" This group has ladies from all over the country joining forces for this new opportunity such as Alma from Ohio (O'Brien).
Virginia O'Brien, Judy Garland & Cyd Charisse
These girls are going to serve and maintain the finest restaurant in the area. Susan with all of her new found freinds finally arrive to the destination to find that her fiance is not that interested in marriage to her any longer. Plans now have changed and Susna becomes a Harvey Girl! During this course while setting-up the new restaurant the competition in the town is a wild saloon ran by Ned Trent (Hodiak) and has a headliner for a star named Em (Lansbury). The saloon does not like the idea of the new rastaurant trying to sweep in and take business and clean-up the streets of decency.
Both places then are rivals for business. Ned sets his eyes on the lovely Susan which does not make Em any the happeir since her attention has been towards him for a long time. The Harvey Girls have a cook named Sonora (Main) whom is a bit rough around the edges and the ladies help her get her man named Chris Maule (Bolger). Ned is in a love triangle between Em and Susan and has to decide whom he truly loves. At the end of the day Ned chooses Susan to spend the rest of his life with. They are both happy and ride off into the sunset together.
There are many lovely musical numbers in this film such as; "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe," "Oh You Kid" "The Wild, Wild West," & "Swing Your Partner Round and Round."
