Princess of Tap

Judy and Gene sang Cole Porter's be a clown in the pirate. Donald O'Connor sang make them laugh in Singing in the Rain, starring Gene Kelly. Song by Arthur freed and nacio Brown. Arthur freed was the producer of both movies at MGM. Same song Different lyrics - - since Cole Porter also worked for arthur, he was nice enough to ignore it.

I never cared very much for George's Indian songs. But as a big fan, when he died, I was shocked at how many songs he had actually written that I was unaware of. Revolver is my favorite Beatle album. I think the Taxman is the best album opening number for The Beatles. George really captured his own personality in his first album song-- Don't Bother Me. I can still hear him complaining about the Mania. He seemed to be truly adversely affected by all that notoriety. I guess he really was "The Quiet One".

Lawrence, this was my next question so now I don't have one-- The Dave Clark Five movie in the US was called Catch Me if You Can, and in the UK it was called Having a Wild Weekend. Dave Clark and Mike Smith actually wrote two different songs for the movie.

Yes, Marsha, well done, your turn--

James Whale has been one of my favorite directors all my life because of his Frankenstein movies. Along with Tod Browning, Whale is one of the directors responsible for the creation of the classic horror movie. Whale was much influencd by German expressionism and the Bauhaus movement. Prisoner of war in Germany during World War 1, Whale become quite interested in German culture. After the war he got involved with the theater. The theatrical success of Journey's End, a World War I play directed by Whale, led to a Broadway engagement which led to a film adaptation of the play. Colin Clive was the star and all three vehicles directed by Whale. The film's success led to the Universal contract. After filming Waterloo Bridge with Mae Clarke, Whale got caught up in the Universal specialty of Horror. From 1931 to 1935 Whale directed such successful films as Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, the old dark house and the Bride of Frankenstein. In 1936 he took a drastic turn to direct the musical Showboat; this is the critically acclaimed version starring Paul Robeson. What happened next no one could foresee.The Carl Laemmle Family lost control of Universal Studio. Except for the Man in the Iron Mask in 1939, Whale didn't direct any more significant films. There's been much speculation about what ended James Whale's career so early. A lot put out about him being openly Gay--and that was a problem for him. But I've never seen any proof of that. His permanent companion was David Lewis, a high-ranking executive at MGM. And the famously popular and openly Gay "women's director", George Cukor, was one of the most successful A directors in Hollywood. For whatever reasons, Whale retired and eventually committed suicide in 1957. Ian McKellen was nominated for the 1998 best actor Oscar for his portrayal of James in Gods and Monsters, historical fictionalized account of James Whale's retirement and suicide. Whale also directed a number dramas, including Wives Under Suspicion from 1938, the last film for his Universal contract. This was a remake of the 1933 film he directed The Kiss Before the Mirror. Even with this kind of a staple drama, Whale was able to interject social comment and his characteristic comic relief.

You know Jim Morrison wouldn't do that. Mick Jagger was much easier period. Lawrence, your turn - -

Fred Astaire

Nimoy co-starred in Star Trek 3 --The Search for Spock with William Shatner.

Ed Sullivan Show rock and roll video - - Which British Invasion group had to change the lyrics of one of their current hits to suit Sullivan in order to perfom it on his show? We also need the name of the song and how the group had to change it to get Sullivan's approval.

Bee Gees Cucumber Castle ( Blind Faith)

Albert Finney played Poirot in Murder on the Orient Express with Ingrid Bergman.

For some reason this sounds like Richard Brooks who directed Paul Newman and Cat on the Hot Tin Roof, Betty Davis in The Catered Affair, and Bogart in deadline USA. He wrote a lot of scripts; he won the Oscar for the Elmer Gantry script. Also he adapted several Tennessee Williams plays for the movies. His cinema seems to have a gritty realism and that was always seeking to find some truth in it. For me his essential film is Blackboard Jungle; way ahead of its time it's still quite relevant today. Other scripts I like are Crossfire and any number can play. I think in cold blood is his most realistic movie.

Richard Burton

Gary Cooper?

1)Shirley Jones had the lead in two Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals-- Oklahoma! and Carousel.

Colin Clive

Vautrin-- thanks for the info. Re: Pete Best Since Ringo Starr is my favorite Beatle and since he made such a great contribution to the group, I'm just glad that we got Pete Best out of the way, whatever the reason, and we got Ringo. I truly believe the Beatles would not have been as great musically or culturally without Ringo. As a drummer, he may not have been the greatest or flashy, but he knew how to make the Beatles sound good, how to minimalize or augment, whatever was best for the music. And he knew how to sublimate his own ego for the good of the group. John Lennon knew what he was getting when he hired Ringo from Rory Storm and the Hurricanes in August 1962.

It Happens every Thursday His Girl Friday Showboat The High and the Mighty Meet John Doe

Alan Arkin starred in the Heart is a Lonely Hunter with Sondra Locke.

Jack Warden

Vautrin-- I've got the Anthology tape somewhere. Can you tell me which tracks that Pete Best played on? I'd like to check it out.

Vautrin-- I'm so glad you mentioned Murray the K because, now I recall,he was the one who originally had that moniker as the fifth Beatle-- he must have given it to himself. As for the White Album, I think George Martin was disappointed that the work was so disjointed and segregated. He always wanted a cohesive piece of art for the Beatles as a group. At that time psychologically and emotionally, they were like four separate entities and that's the way the album turned out. As I can recall, they didn't even sit for a group album portrait. When we got the White Album-- no picture on the cover just 4 separate portraits, of four separate Beatles inside the jacket. On the subject of Pete Best - - a few years back he came through Kansas City for a show. And he had a big interview with the Kansas City Star. He said that Paul McCartney was jealous of him because he was good-looking and the girls really preferred him over Paul. So, he claimed that's why he was fired. That was his story.

Fra-- bringing up Stu Sutcliffe, you reminded me of a story that George Martin used to tell. When The Beatles were making the first record, they had just hired Pete Best. Pete Best left something to be desired with his drumming skills. George Martin said he told John that they could easily get a studio drummer to take his place for the records. And Pete could still perform live, on tour with them. Martin said that Paul and John would have none of that. They wanted to fire Peter immediately and hire a drummer they knew in Liverpool named Richard Starkey.

I think Brian Epstein held the title of the 5th Beatle for the longest time but George Martin certainly had to be the 6th. It's truly amazing the commitment that George Martin made to The Beatles despite his musical background. And when he made his commitment to The Beatles he made a commitment to rock and roll music. He said that he was very gratified with the work he did with the Bee Gees in the movie Sergeant Pepper's. I saw a fairly recent documentary that he made with Brian Wilson. He went to Southern California to talk with Brian Wilson to ask him how he produced Pet Sounds. And Brian let him work with the original master tape of Carl Wilson singing God Only knows. Brian said he improved it. That embarrassed George. About my fondest and really saddest memory of George Martin was the day after John Lennon was murdered. He flew to New York to appear on the Today Show to try to make some sense of the whole thing. To explain the importance of the Beatles music and John Lennon's contribution to rock and roll music. Really he was just there to represent The Beatles in the midst of this tragedy. And finally he's the person really responsible for Abbey Road. He was the one that convinced them to go back into the studio one last time for a Capstone production that would show them at the height of their accomplished ability. We owe a great deal to George Martin.

Hint?