Kismet, 1955

MGM's 1955 musical by Vincente Minnelli is actually rather wonderful, I hadn't realised - I enjoyed it enormously early today, and I have the dvd filed away too. Its lush, opulent, MGM at its best and Minnelli's wonderful eye for colour and movement are well to the fore here - unlike his previous one, the moribund BRIGADOON which only comes to life intermittently. 
Howard Keel is terrific here, as he was in KISS ME KATE, CALAMITY JANE, and as Hannibal in that other favourite of mine JUPITER'S DARLING, while stupendous Dolores Gray matches him .... 

The fifties were an odd decade for Vincente, starting with those enormous hits AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL and my personal favourite THE BANDWAGON in 1953 (see label).  His '53 comedy with Lucy and Desi THE LONG LONG TRAILER is an enduring childhood memory, but THE COBWEB is dreary, after KISMET came TEA AND SYMPATHY in 1956 and the wonderful DESIGNING WOMAN, a 1957 favourite where Peck, Bacall and Dolores Gray are all bliss - and Jack Cole too - Cole does the choreography in KISMET with his usual pizazz and chorus boys.   

Minnelli was big again in 1958: the Oscar-winning GIGI, THE RELUCTANT DEBUTANTE (Kay, Rex and Angela =  certified bliss) and SOME CAME RUNNING - could he have been busier? followed by his string of melodramas; HOME FROM THE HILL, TWO WEEKS IN ANOTHER TOWN, FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE and the tedious GOODBYE CHARLIE - his 1970 ON A CLEAR DAY is a mixed pleasure, Barbra as Daisy Gamble annoys, apart from the Beaton Regency flashbacks in Brighton, while Montand' s accent is as impenetrable as it was in LETS MAKE LOVE a decade earlier. 

I now though have a Minnelli rarity lined up to see sometime soon: that 1976 oddity and his last film A MATTER OF TIME with Liza and Ingrid Bergman, its meant to be so terrible it was never released, we will soon see why ... more on Minnelli and his films at label. 

Some Minnelli's for Easter ....

We have been enjoying some prime 1950s Minnelli films: musicals, dramas, comedies ..... THE BANDWAGON remains our favourite musical - see separate label. We recently covered TEA AND SYMPATHY, and also reviewed TWO WEEKS IN ANOTHER TOWN a while back, THE RELUCTANT DEBUTANTE and DESIGNING WOMAN are particular favourites, very stylish entertainments which find Minnelli in his element, as per previous posts on them - check all at Minnelli label. I may have to go back to SOME CAME RUNNING and GIGI again (we did not care forthe 1955 THE COBWEB at all though) ..... and those other dramas like HOME FROM THE HILL (1960) ..... I actually like 1954's BRIGADOON, that studio-bound Scottish highlands musical, a childhood favourite, though it has its very obvious limitations - but Minnelli makes the most of the glittering New York interlude. For today, its BELLS ARE RINGING and KISMET, and back to the DESIGNING DEBUTANTE.

The get-up in New York's get-up-and-go comes from the switchboard operators of 'Susanswerphone'. Need a wakeup call? Your appointments? Encouragement from 'Mom'? A racetrack bet? It all comes from that dutiful nerve - or naive - centre that keeps enterprises enterprising and maybe wedding bells ringing.

Judy Holliday reprises her Tony-winning Broadway role of irrepressible switchboard girl Ella in a jubilant adaptation that marked her final movie and the final teaming of movie-musical titans Arthur Freed and Vincente Minnelli. Dean Martin co-stars as a struggling playwright in for a surprise when he learns 'Mom's' identity. The sparkling Jule Styne/Betty Comden/Adolph Green score includes Holliday's heartfelt "The Party's Over" and the Martin/Holliday duet "Just In Time". You've dialled the right numer, musical fans!

So goes the nice blurb for this 1960 Minnelli musical, it starts with nice Scope views of New York (rather like THE BEST OF EVERYTHING or BUT NOT FOR ME) as we look in on that telephone service. Telephones play an important role (as in PILLOW TALK where Rock and Doris have to share a line, and of course that telephone service in SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY which relays messages to its users...).

BELLS ARE RINGING is a pleasant view but lacks the pizazz of THE PAJAMA GAME or FUNNY FACE or MY SISTER EILEEN or KISS ME KATE or ..... It is marvellous seeing Judy Holliday one more time, sadly in her final film, she is the whole show here as the telephone operator who meddles in the affairs of clients, with nice support from Dino, Jean Stapleton and Frank Gorshin doing a Brando. Minnelli seems rather subdued here but creates some nice colour schemes and decors, but the subplot about racketeers seems tedious. The score is conducted by Andre Previn. Holliday also sings up a storm when she tells us she is "going back to be me, at the Bonjour Tristesse Brassiere Company". Judy Holliday died aged 43 in 1965, but was marvellous in her movies ever since ADAM'S RIB in 1949.

Much more brash is Vincente's 1955 KISMET, a gaudy Arabian Nights fantasia, with that score adapted from Borodin, which thankfully provides good roles for Howard Keel and Dolores Gray - while Ann Blyth scores as Keel's daughter and Vic Damone as the Caliph. The convoluted plot features begger/poet Hajj (Keel) wanting a better life for his daughter, meanwhile she and the Caliph meet and fall in love, then Dolores Gray comes as as Lalume and she and Hajj end up together ..... the nice score includes "Stranger in Paradise", "This is my beloved", "Baubles, Bangles and Beads", "Night of my Night" and "Not Since Nineveh" as the wicked Wazir wants the Caliph to marry one of his choices, while the bandit chief is looking for his long lost son who turns ou to be the Wazir, who promptly has his father killed. This is all delirious fun as the various strands come together and the Wazir gets his just deserts. Minnelli makes it all look great too. Dolores Gray shines too as she does in her other MGM mid-50s movies (Dolores Gray label). We also liked Blyth in THE STUDENT PRINCE, 1954 and of course her immortal Veda in MILDRED PIERCE! 

The supporting cast has a nice bevy of old-timers with Monty Wooley, Sebastian Cabot, Jack Elam, Jay C Flippen and Mike Mazurki, This was another Sunday afternoon matinee favourite when I was young, and would b e a delicious double bill with the 1956 JUPITER'S DARLING another MGM extravaganza, with Esther Williams in her last musical, with Keel as Hannibal, with all those elephants ....

THE RELUCTANT DEBUTANTE, 1958, is all about Kay Kendall's Balmain wardrobe: Kay in champagne coloured Balmain chiffon and feathers, or that red suit with matching hat for her first scene, Rex looks bemused by it all and their apartment is a joy too - with those lovely green lamps and sofas, and yellow and red furnishings all very Minnelli. Angela Lansbury plays another bitch mother who wants that chinless wonder for her own deb daughter, while Americans Sandra Dee and John Saxon are the young couple. There is a lot more on this at the various Minnelli/Kendall labels. 

DESIGNING WOMAN is delicious fun too and so very 1957, another childhood favourite. Greg and Bacall are perfectly matched here and the plot is a joy. 

Sunday treats

What a busy day - "The Sunday Times" has "100 Soundtracks to Love" - fascinating, but does not include my favourite five: BLOW-UP, UN HOMME ET UNE FEMME, AMERICAN GIGOLO, CLEOPATRA or THE LION IN WINTER  (Kate Hepburn, below).... 

The Times also has a hilariously awful interview with Aretha Franklin (to plug her new album, see Aretha label) where it is obvious Aretha does want to to be there or do the interview .... this is compulsive stuff for Aretha fans here in England, as we do not get enough of her over here now.

Then there was that equally fascinating interview with Maggie Smith yesterday, as per post below, and now that Sophia Loren's book is out, there are some - yes, that word again - fascinating reviews plus a new interview she granted in Geneva to Chrissy Iley of The Sunday Telegraph .... 

Then we looked at THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT 3, recorded from yesterday, with some choice moments like Dolores Gray doing our favourite from IT'S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER: "Thanks a lot, but no thanks" (where she has a man "who's Clifton Webb and Marlon Brando combined") - and the juxtaposition of Joan Crawford in that lurid outfit and "tropical makeup" miming to India Adams' vocal for "Two Faced Woman" in TORCH SONG - which Cyd Charisse (those legs!) had also done for THE BANDWAGON, but that number was cut from the film. Both were in 1953 - at least Joan got to immortalise it, but Cyd's is nifty too. See them both here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LMUJtcID5c

Falling for Fred & Ginger again ...

It was fun discovering those Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musicals back in the Sixties, when I was a young movie buff. Back then one either saw them if on television or we trekked along to the National Film Theatre or other revival house if they were doing a season on Fred & Ginger, like they would do on Garbo so a new generation saw them for the first time. The BFI even ran an all-night Fred & Ginger marathon which some pals and I went to (as we did to their Mae West and Marilyn all-nighters)! Now of course, these musicals are always with us on disk and tape and constant revivals, like now as our BBC screen them once again. 

My favourite has to be THE GAY DIVORCEE which I have been watching a lot this last week. particularly that "Night and Day" and "The Continental" sequences, which repay endless replays. TOP HAT is terrific too and as for that "Pick Yourself Up" number from SWING TIME (with Eric Blore) - I can simply watch it on a loop. "I Won't Dance" is from ROBERTA, 1935. The great thing watching these numbers is they are shot full frame so we see their whole bodies dancing, and with no cuts - unlike modern musicals (CHICAGO) where it is all done in the editing ...

SILK STOCKINGS from 1957 was a treat again too ... Fred and Cyd - just as good as Fred and Ginger - not only here but also THE BANDWAGON. Bring them on ...and here's that skirt Cyd wears that turns into culottes - very odd! 

1956 double bill ...

A little seen musical and western ...

The big hitters of 1956 for me remain FRIENDLY PERSUASION (Cooper! young Tony Perkins! Pat Boone's song! Samantha the goose!), GIANT, THE SEARCHERS, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS, WAR AND PEACE as well as those iconic BUS STOP, THE GIRL CAN'T HELP IT, BABY DOLL, RICHARD III etc, but despite my love of those musicals of the '50s I grew up with, I somehow always missed MEET ME IN LAS VEGAS, maybe the last of the MGM musicals in 1956 - there was of course LES GIRLS in 1957, a key movie for me, but it is somehow more a sophisticated comedy than an out and out musical, as Cukor puts Kay Kendall and the other 2 (Mitzi and Taina) through their paces, with that hoofer guy Kelly - LES GIRLS label.

MEET ME IS LAS VEGAS is a star-studded entertainment highlighting Las Vegas, that temple of gambling and nightclub acts at those big hotels, heavily featured here. It re-teams Cyd Charisse and Dan Dailey from 1955's ITS ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER, which I posted about a while ago, another favourite musical - though Cyd is teamed with Kelly in that one while Dailey and Dolores Gray steal the show. It was Dailey's finest hour since Fox's 1954 THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS.

Here though in LAS VEGAS Dailey is the rancher on his annual trip to Vegas to gamble ... there is something rather oafish about him and his insistance of holding a woman's hand while spinning those dice. One girl he grabs is ballerina Cyd who is annoyed to find that the patrons will be eating while she dances, as hotel manager Jim Backus has just advised her. Cyd leads a very sheltered life as supervised by her manager Paul Henried and her chaperone/companion. So initially she fights off farmer Dan but they do have this amazing chemistry that they win whenever they hold hands ... so they become a well-known Vegas couple at the casinos constantly winning ... there are music interludes too, as in Fox's THE GIRL CAN'T HELP IT, we are treated to lots of cabaret acts at the clubs: Lena Horne sings one number but the other one which was cut out (and is on the dvd) is a lot better: "You got looks". Frankie Laine sings up a storm too as the chorus girls go wild behind him, as choreograophed by Hermes Pan. We see lots of the famous names of the era too: there's Debbie Reynolds, and isn't that Pier Angeli? Frank Sinatra has a few more seconds playing the slot machines, and contract players like Jeff Richards and Elaine Stewart are in the audience, and Peter Lorre has a moment too.

One ritzy number is "I refuse to Rock and Roll" by Cara Williams, its a hoot and Cara tries to sink her claws into Dan to Cyd's aloof annoyance - Cyd also does some ballet, and that terrific "Frankie and Johnnie" number, as sung by Sammy Davis Jr. Cyd's tipsy ballerina also dances up a storm with the Vegas chorus girls, and young George Chakiris (after his chorus boy spots with Marilyn Monroe and Rosemary Clooney) and Betty Lynn are a pair of naive newly-weds.

We also head back to the ranch, an idealised version of chicken factory farming and happy animals, as presided over by Dans mother - none other than Agnes Moorehead, who comes to approve of Cyd. The hens in their cages lay eggs and the oil well even gushes! There is also another terrific Hermes Pan number "The Girl with the Yellar Shoes" .... back at the casinos manager Paul Henreid turns up to protect his protege, and then they lose their magic touch at the gambling tables ... will they still stay in love and continue with their plan of 6 months at the farm and 6 months for her careeer ? It is nicely resolved, and there is a lot to appreciate here, as directed by a Roy Rowland, produced by Joe Pasternak and script by FUNNY GIRL's Isobel Lennart.

DAKOTA INCIDENT is basically a western B-movie but with a touch of class - its our old favourite: a group of disparate people on a stagecoach all with their reasons for reaching Laramie heading through hostile Indian country. Sure enough the redskins attack, the coach is over-turned and our survivors are picked off one by one as they squabble among themselves as the water runs out in their hideout gulley. Dale Robertson is the outlaw left for dead, Linda Darnell the showgirl - in that vivid red dress - and Ward Bond is the pompous politician who thinks he can understand the Indians ... the first half sets up our characters with Linda in her element. Ward asks her if Dale is bothering her to which she retorts "No, but I think I bother him". There is a surprising conclusion as white man and redskin come together and of course our leading couple head off into the sunset. As directed by Lewis R Foster, it has that Republic Pictures look in spades, and was one of Linda's last leading roles. Dale was popular too then as a cowboy star, his SITTING BULL and GAMBLER FROM NATCHEZ were among the first westerns I saw, after that iconic JOHNNY GUITAR, the first film I saw when I was 8, as reported elsewhere here ...

"Hollywood's most stylish director"

London's National Film Theatre is celebrating Vincente Minnelli "who directed some of the most successful films in 3 of the most successful modes of cinema: the musical, melodrama and comedy.... He is one of the screen's great colourists - even his black and white films handle tones brilliantly to evoke colour. The films are masterclasses in decoration, from his background in window dressing, fashion photography and revues and stage musicals." There is always a splash of yellow or red (or both as in Cyd Charisse's briefly seen number in THE BANDWAGON), and as I said before here (Minnelli, THE BANDWAGON labels) I love that yellow room in Jack Buchanan's townhouse, and the fabulous apartment of Rex and Kay Kendall in THE RELUCTANT DEBUTANTE (with those yellow and red armchairs and lamps, and those perfect green chairs), and of course the yellow LONG LONG TRAILER. Vincente too often wore a yellow jacket, as in some interviews with him.

I have the dvds but it is great to get the chance to see on the big screen the Harrisons with Sandra Dee and Angela Lansbury in THE RELUCTANT DEBUTANTE (written about here several times, Kay Kendall label) and Greg and Lauren perfectly cast in DESIGNING WOMAN - a key Minnelli [both already booked now]. Dolores Gray also shines here (Greg is about to get that plate of ravioli in his lap in the restaurant, below) and it also plays a lot on gender issues - the rather camp dancer friend of Bacall's saves the day at the end fighting off those gangsters and proudly shows the photos of his wife and kids! - and it has that 1950s look in spades. (The dancer friend is played by gay choreographer Jack Cole (who put Monroe and others through their paces in those great numbers he choreographed) but presumably his character could not be seen to be gay back in 1957! or maybe Vincente was playing with gender stereotypes...)

His '40s classics like MEET ME IN ST LOUIS remain so well-known (I have not seen his UNDERCURRENT from '47 though with Katharine Hepburn, Robert Taylor and Mitchum) so I am pleased to see they are showing all his films including those now little-seen delirious melodramas like THE COBWEB, TEA AND SYMPATHY, LUST FOR LIFE, SOME CAME RUNNING, HOME FROM THE HILL, TWO WEEKS IN ANOTHER TOWN and 4 HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALPYSE (both 1962), THE COURTSHIP OF EDDIE'S FATHER and the long-unseen GOODBYE CHARLE, and of course Streisand's Regency scenes (as dressed by Beaton) in ON A CLEAR DAY... Bring them on. BRIGADOON is a fond childhood Sunday afternon matinee memory, I was up close to the screen and loved those widescreen images) - pity it had to be shot on soundstages, the New York insert is a delight, and KISMET (another Sunday afternoon matinee) is more gaudy entertainment with another great turn by our favourite Dolores Gray. I have to admit though that I am less than enamoured by AN AMERICAN IN PARIS!

Lucy Schmeeler: "She's a grand girl"!

Let's end the year by picking up some sailors, going on the town and celebrating a great comic talent. Happy New Year !

Lucy Schmeeler (Alice Pearce) is the super-plain room-mate of Brunhilde Esterhazy (Betty Garrett) in the 1949 MGM musical ON THE TOWN, a perennial favourite I can enjoy anytime. I do not know Leonard Bernstein's original but it seems some of the songs were junked for the movie (but doesn't that always happen, as in FUNNY GIRL or CABARET?).

We enjoy following our 3 sailors on shore leave in late 40s New York, and the real locations help. Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Jules Munchin zoom around the city and the underground train system, Gabe (Gene) sees and falls for "Miss Turnstiles" (a monthly pin-up) whom he imagines is a celebrity, while she (Vera-Ellen at her loveliest) turns out to be from the same small town as his! Jules gets entangled with ritzy Ann Miller who has a thing about "Prehistoric men" and Jules' face fits just right, as they cause havoc at the museum and the dinosaur (or Dinah Shore!) collapses! Frank teams up with taxi driver Brunhilde - Betty Garrett who woos him back to "my place" - where Lucy Schmeeler ["she's a grand girl" says Betty with vitriolic sweetness...] is staying in with a cold. Betty finally gets to her leave so she can get close to Frank. They are supposed to be looking for the elusive Miss Turnstiles, but Gabe finds her at the rehearsal halls and they do that lovely dance to "Main Street" ....

Later they all team up at the top of the Empire State Building and head off "On The Town", this sequence is bliss as they visit one crowded nightclub after another where the revue girls always sing "thats all there is folks, and goodnight to you, we hope your enjoyed our .... revue" as the last girl always shoves her rear end in their faces... Miss Turnstiles has to flee though to her late night job as a coochie dancer at Coney Island, after Gabe gets stuck with Lucy Schmeeler who joins them for a riot of a number and some other sailors from the ship mistake her for Gabe's girl, so they will have a lot to tell the other guys back on the boat ... Gabe takes Lucy home and has to let her down gently as he is in love with Vera --- poor Lucy is back to her laundry lists and won't wash for a week after Gabe kisses her! Her plain character is being patronised of course but its part of the fun here.

Things work out ok at Coney Island and the 3 girls see off the 3 gobs back on their boat, as another flock of sailors disembark to explore "New York New York its a wonderful town"!. That's it in a nutshell, but it is so infectious and a sheer delight from start to finish [screenplay by Comden & Green] - a key musical then with Kelly and Stanley Donen co-directing, paving the way for all those 50s musicals ... including SINGING IN THE RAIN and IT'S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER (see post at musicals label) where their partnership broke up!

Alice Pearce's Lucy is a scream - Alice was a terrific comedienne, she was also Olga the "Jungle Red" manicurist spreading all the gossip in THE OPPOSITE SEX in 1956, [Dolores Gray label], that delicious musical remake of THE WOMEN, which I like so much. She was highly regarded also on tv, appearing in the BEWITCHED series, but she died aged only 48 in 1966. She also played Lucy Schmeeler in the original Broadway production of ON THE TOWN.

That iconic shot of Donen (below) with Kelly & Sinatra ...

Its too darn hot !

KISS ME KATE. I have enthused here about key musicals for me [musicals label] - A STAR IS BORN, THE BANDWAGON, ITS ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER, LES GIRLS, LES DEMOISELLES DE ROCHEFORT etc - so here is another addition. Sharing the acclaim with THE BANDWAGON for 1953s's most inventive musical is George Sidney's marvellous version of KISS ME KATE. No matter how many times one has seen it, and I have seen it quite a few, there is always something new going on, and the lyrics and performances still spellbind.

From that fabulous opening where Cole Porter (Ron Randall) has written a new score for a musical version of Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" and those two egotistical now divorced (from each other) stars Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson arrive for a run-through of the songs. Then Ann-Miller turns up with her combo to deliver her knockout "Its Too Darn Hot", probably the best staged for the camera number ever, as she advances on the audience dancing all over the room. This was initially shot in 3D so objects keep being thrown at the camera. Lily (Grayson) fumes but decides to star in the production, as rehersals get underway.



Ann though is now seeing dancer Tommy Rall - marvellous to see her with someone who can dance and sing as well as she can, he is only one of the greatest dancers ever (as shown in SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS, MY SISTER EILEEN, where he and Fosse also dance up a storm, and his comedy cameo in FUNNY GIRL) - their numbers like "Why Can't You Behave" and "Always True To You In My Fashion" sparkle and are full of inventive moments. Then there's Ann's number "From This Moment On" with that fabulous trio of Rall, Bob Fosse and Bobby Van, and speciality dancers Carol Haney (whose "Steam Heat" by Fosse in THE PYJAMA GAME deserves a post of its own) and Jeanne Coyne (who went on to marry Gene Kelly).



Among the backstage incidents are the arrival of two comic gangsters Keenan Wynn and James Whitmore who have to collect an IOU signed by Keel, but actually done by Rall faking Keel's signature, its beyond hilarious when they have to appear on stage to prevent Lily leaving, as her cattle baron beau also turns up, and they sing "Brush Up Your Shakespeare". Keel's swagger is perfectly utilised in his numbers, with those amazing costumes, like "Where Is The Life That Late I Led", while Grayson's solo "I Hate Men!" amuses. Miller as Bianca the younger sister has to choose between her 3 beaus in "Tom Harry or Dick" as the boys in tights dance up a storm. Sheer delirium! So, maybe Porter's best and wittiest score, endlessly inventive numbers, a cast of sheer perfection - what's not to love! It is as marvellous as ON THE TOWN. Chalk up another success to MGM.