Princess of Tap

1918

Russ Tamblyn was billed as Rusty Tamblyn when he played Elizabeth Taylor's younger brother in Father of the Bride.

Charlie McCarthy was like a brother to Candice Bergen - - Charlie McCarthy and the voluptuous Miss Mae West appeared together on NBC in 1937 on the Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy show in an appearance that was so outrageous that Miss West was banned from the network for a number of years.

Humphrey Bogart Next: Movie star who was discovered by another movie star

Howard Hawks' Bringing Up Baby, starring Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant and Asta, Didn't do very well at the box office or with the reviewers when it opened in 1938. I think it may have contributed to Katharine Hepburn's box office poison labeling. Of course, today the film is the critics delight and the iconic example of what a screwball should be. This movie is just about my favorite movie and certainly my favorite screwball. I first saw it when I was 9 or 10 years old; I thought it was the greatest movie I'd ever seen. I don't understand why people didn't like it. But it was Katharine Hepburn's first real screwball. I think, maybe, the public had a particular conception of her, so they weren't going to accept her in this role. During the shooting, Kate studied comedy with veteran comic actor Walter Catlett, who played the sheriff. I love the commentary that Peter Bogdanovich does for this movie. It's almost as entertaining as the movie!

My Favorite Supporting Acting Performances of 1944 Supporting actress 1)* Margaret O'Brien*-- Meet Me in St. Louis--"Tootie" 2) Cornelia Otis Skinner - - The Uninvited-- Miss Holloway 3) Anne Revere-- National Velvet-- Mrs. Brown 4) Claire Trevor-- Murder, My Sweet --Velma 5) Barbara Everest-- The Uninvited--( The Very Irish) "Lizzie" Supporting actor 1)* Mike Mazurki*-- Murder, My Sweet-- "Moose" 2) Edward G Robinson - - Double Indemnity 3) Donald Crisp - - The Uninvited 4) Leon Ames - - Meet Me in St. Louis 5) John Alexander - - Arsenic and Old Lace-- Rough Rider "Teddy" Roosevelt

Let me see if anybody's heard of this plot before-- A young tap dancer is the understudy for a star who is nasty and pigheaded and egotistical-- The young understudy has a very nice young supporter, a young man who also may be in love with her. Something unforeseen happens to the female star of the show. The young understudy has to take over at the last minute and is understandably a little nervous. But her boyfriend supporter gives her a lot of support. Overnight she becomes a star. If you can think of one classic movie with this plot, I bet you can think of several - - Please answer this with at least 2 movies and 2 tap dancers, who could ask for anything more? But more will win you a trip to Disney World, if you want to pay for it--

You Were Never Lovelier - - starring Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth Star--I knew it was a Fred Astaire movie; I just couldn't remember which one!

Loretta Young's youngest sister was really her half-sister. Georgiana Young was the wife of actor Ricardo Montalban.

Lawrence, I just remembered. I did see Clambake at the gym. I certainly didn't pay any money for it. And it seems like he switched identities with someone and I didn't know if that was a crime or not. The correct answer, according to me, is King Creole. It's the scene where Elvis is singing Lover Doll, as a diversion to a full-scale cleaning out of Woolworth's. Dolores Hart is the dime store cashier who was watching the whole thing come off. Elvis starts to sing and a whole crowd gathers around him, a bunch of girls are really digging it. Meanwhile, Blackboard Jungle juvenile delinquent Vic Morrow and a friend are carrying out the store. Elvis is so good that they carry out bicycles from the back of the store to the front. But I could believe that Elvis singing at Woolworths would be quite a diversion. King Creole was one of the best movies that Elvis made , along with Loving You- - that includes the music and it was directed by Casablanca director Michael Curtiz. In addition, he had fantastic supporting actors - - Academy Award-Winning Dean Jagger, Carolyn Jones, and the Academy Award-Winning Walter Matthau. Dolores Hart and Vic Morrow of course were great. Well, Lawrence-- If you'Re looking for trouble, you came to the right place. If you'Re look for trouble, just look right in my face. I was born standing up and talking back. My daddy was a green-eyed Mountain Jack! Lawrence, it's still your turn--

I got Conway Twitty's first record It's Only Make Believe. It was really good - - even though it was such an embarrassing imitation of Elvis Presley. But I really liked it. Unfortunately for Twitty, his face was not an imitation of Elvis Presley's. LOL Lawrence is still up--

William Powell was married to Carole Lombard.

Lawrence, I'm not ashamed to admit that I have not seen all of Elvis Presley's movies, although I may have heard all of the hit records from these films. I was thinking of a different movie. But since I know you to be a man of honesty and integrity, I will take your word for it that indeed Elvis' character was an accomplice in a crime in the film Clambake. Lawrence, your turn--

What we are talking about here isn't that complicated. We're talking about character motivation and character appearance. Mary Astor's character in The Maltese Falcon was frantic, frentic and frightened, not just because she was a murderer, but also because she had to hide a lot of things from different groups of people, so she had to keep her stories straight. So for that kind of characterization you would have a frenzied look, which could be displayed with unkempt hair. And the character that Mary Astor played in The Great lie had particular characteristics in her personality that would best be displayed with a classy and neat hairdo. We're not talking about plot devices--as in what people do in real life is not the same as what people do in the movies-- here is just simple characterization. It was really just that simple.

Azure, you're absolutely correct. And if you really want to get incestuous - - Gene was married to the Great costume/dress designer Oleg Cassini. Mr. Cassini became famous in Middle America when ladies all over America were copying his dress styles in the early 1960s. You may well ask why - - because Mr. Cassini was the designer of all those fabulous, sophisticated, unforgettable clothes that Jackie Kennedy wore during the White House years. Mr. Cassini is a National Treasure. Azure-- you're right again, thanks, your turn--

I can answer the question about Burt Lancaster's blue eyes. Apache was a movie made in 1954. In 1951 Burt Lancaster played Jim Thorpe :All American-- the story of a Native American who had his Olympic gold medals stripped from him because of racism. This may have been a black and white film but rest assured that Burt Lancaster had those same blue eyes in 1951 when he played this Native American Sac & Fox athletic hero. So, using Mr. Spock's logic here, if a Sac & Fox Native American can have blue eyes, then why can't an Apache Native American have blue eyes? But I don't think Mr. Spock's logic can explain Audrey Hepburn's sophisticated, Continental European English accent in The Unforgiven, where she played a Native American who was adopted by a backwoods white family-- You're going to be on your own to try to explain that one!

Exactly - - Except he was dressed in a gold military sequins suit.

I met Michael Jackson once in 1984. Now I don't know what part of his life this movie will portray, but none of those photographs on this thread look the way that he looked when I met him in 1984 at the beginning of the Victory Tour with his brothers.

I don't care who wrote it as long as they put Freddie Mercury's picture on the cover of the CD.

The general rule of thumb is that when you're murdering people you don't stop to comb your hair and look in the mirror. Also you may not feel like taking the time to comb your hair when you're trying to think up a good alibi for a murder and the police are knocking at the door to question you. Whereas, Mary Astor's character in The Great Lie was a self-indulgent, egotistical concert pianist who was concerned only with herself. So, of course, she spent time making sure that every hair was in place.

Definitely the man who directed Sunset Boulevard-- Next: Jackie Gleason or Red Skelton

She looks like Irene Dunne.

Audrey Hepburn has appeared on the Broadway stage, but I wasn't aware that she started her career on the Broadway stage. Nor do I have any proof or evidence that she ever dated a future president. But if you have that I'd be curious to know who that was too. Please, guess again.

Yes, Sepia. I agree with you that Beethoven's 9th Symphony in D Minor is truly great. But which approach to this symphony would we pick for our listening pleasure? Would we pick the live experience or a performance that had been recorded in a recording studio and carefully produced? Then after we have carefully picked an approach, what Orchestra will be picked to play that approach, whether it was live or recorded in a studio? Do I pick a legendary Orchestra and conductor from the past or something that is more current? The recording that I own is Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Others might insist upon more authenticity and demand a German conductor like the iconic Harold Von Karajan, conducting the Berlin Philharmonic. Still those wanting a live performance may want to bring it all together with a live performance in Vienna,the classical musical capital, conducted by Leonard Bernstein with the Vienna Philharmonic and starring operatic greats--Placido Domingo and Shirley Verrett. Who could beat that? Well let's get modern - - in 2012 Daniel Barenboim conducted Beethoven's 9th Symphony in D Minor at the 2012 Proms in London, England at Royal Albert Hall. He conducted the West Eastern Divan Orchestra with the National Youth Choir of Great Britain--most impressive. And I'm sure we would have many other hundreds of choices. But the point I'm trying to make is that unless we have Beethoven here to conduct we have a great many choices and we have to make some lists to figure out how we're going to organize this thing and where we go from here. That's how all of us organize our thoughts to achieve our goals. And, of course, we would have to make some kind of commentary about each choice as part of our discernment in our selections. Even though you and I agree on Beethoven's 9th Symphony, I don't know if we would agree on the orchestra, the conductor, or anything else. For those we would need a list with the appropriate accompanying commentary, or basic remarks. By the way - - I agree that Beethoven's 9th is the greatest Symphony I've ever heard. But Brahms 3rd there is still my favorite. I can be objective and I do know the difference. Sepia--BTW-- you have great taste with Beethoven and Aretha, but I'd have to disagree with you about George Michael. LOL Chacun à son goût.

Top Acting Performances for 1944 Actresses 1) * Barbara Stanwyck*-- Double Indemnity 2) Ingrid Bergman - - Gaslight 3) Judy Garland - - Meet Me in St. Louis 4) Elizabeth Taylor - - National Velvet 5) Bette Davis - - Mr. Skeffington 6) Claire Trevor - - Murder, My Sweet 7) Ginger Rogers - - I'll Be Seeing You 8) Claudette Colbert - - Since You Went Away Actors 1)* Fred MacMurray*-- Double Indemnity 2) Dick Powell - - Murder, My Sweet 3) Dana Andrews - - Laura 4) Charles Boyer - - Gaslight 5) Claude Rains - - Mr. Skeffington 6) Mickey Rooney - - National Velvet 7) Ray Milland - - The Uninvited 8) Joseph Cotten - - I'll Be Seeing You