sewhite2000 Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 Couldn't help but noticing the name of Ann Miller's character in Kiss Me Kate is Lois Lane! How did that name remain unchanged from story conception all the way to film release? Surely it caused giggles among the audience of 1953. Superman had been around for 15 years, and his TV show had started the year prior to the release of this movie. Is it possible no one at MGM knew who Lois Lane was? (I've also often wondered about the 1959 Coasters song "Charlie Brown" about a class cut-up that apparently had no connection to the character from Peanuts, at the time almost a decade old. Is it also possible Leiber and Stoller had never heard of Peanuts? The strip hadn't transitioned to TV yet, but I'm thinking it was probably pretty popular by 1959). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamradio Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 I'm surprised they were not sued for Copyright Infringement. Lois Lane is © From the DC Comic website... Except as noted, all books, titles, characters, character names, slogans, logos, and related indicia are trademarks of and copyright DC Comics and/or WildStorm Productions, an imprint of DC Comics. http://www.dccomics.com/copyright Lois Lane created in June 1938. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lois_Lane This is not just to adore the printed material. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 Yeah, good point here, sewhite. However, and I don't know about YOU, but I'VE sure never seen either Noel Niell, Phyllis Coates, Margot Kidder OR Teri Hatcher EVER move their body around like ANN here does in that flick, boy!... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 Darg, you'd have LOVED my ex's best friend's mother. SPITTIN' IMAGE of ANN MILLER! I used to LOVE goin' to that house for a visit! As for the Lois Lane/Charlie Brown thing...... All I can find out is that the Coaster's song wsn't intended to be a referrence to the comic strip character. Nor could I find any info on WHY Charles Schulz chose that name. Of course, "Charlie" from his OWN name "Charles", And him stating the character possessed many of his own characteristics from his childhood, and possibly "Brown" as just a simple, generic name. Who knows. And also possible, Schulz may have been FLATTERED by Leiber and Stoller using the name for their song. Sepiatone 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomasterryjr Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 I really like Ann Miller as Lois Lane in "Kiss Me Kate". But when she is dancing in front of that mirror in the "Its Too Darn Hot" number and there are three images of her I see a fabulous dancer at the top of her craft. I watch "Kiss Me Kate" just for that number. I wonder if Cyd Charisse was considered for "Kiss Me Kate"? I could picture her dancing and singing "Its Too Darn Hot" in her own special way. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
im4cinema2 Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 Cole Porter wrote Kiss Me Kate in 1948 and how did he come to use the name Lois Lane for one of his characters? Perhaps he like reading Superman himself. Maybe he was able to clear it back then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 You know, LOIS is a pretty common name( I knew a few) and LANE is fairly common too. (in film: CHARLES LANE, PRISCILLA LANE, ABBE LANE, ALLAN LANE) so I think even when the two names are put together, no one could actually lay claim to exclusivity. I knew a guy in grade school named PAUL NEUMANN. And even though the last name is SPELLED different, it didn't keep us from teasing him about it, and anyway, he was born in 1951, and that was before NEWMAN began his film career, wasn't it? Sepiatone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 You know, LOIS is a pretty common name( I knew a few) and LANE is fairly common too. (in film: CHARLES LANE, PRISCILLA LANE, ABBE LANE, ALLAN LANE) so I think even when the two names are put together, no one could actually lay claim to exclusivity. I knew a guy in grade school named PAUL NEUMANN. And even though the last name is SPELLED different, it didn't keep us from teasing him about it, and anyway, he was born in 1951, and that was before NEWMAN began his film career, wasn't it? Sepiatone Yep Sepia, and speaking of "Newmans"... And then of course you had this guy HERE whose name you'd see plastered on a lot of credits as the composer of many a 1930's-1960's movie's musical score you were about to watch... ...and who's name is VERY similar to this little guy's HERE that many of us of a certain age fondly remember... (...of course the difference being that it was decided the little guy pictured below would use HIS middle initial in his signature) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GordonCole Posted April 4, 2017 Share Posted April 4, 2017 One belief about the origin of the song Charlie Brown by Leiber and Stoller is that the name was a tribute to the blues singer, Charles Brown mostly famous for the song Merry Christmas, Baby. Charles Brown was considered to be a heavy influence on later hitmakers like Ivory Joe Hunter and the ill-fated Johnny Ace. Charles Brown was the singer who gave Leiber and Stoller their very first hit record called Hard Times in around 1951 on the Aladdin label. He later lost some popularity in the mid 1950's but was still considered one of the important early voices in rock and roll's roots. Hope that helps as to where the title came from since I don't believe Leiber and Stoller were referencing the Charles Schultz character but they were known to have an affinity for black performers and settings in their songs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewhite2000 Posted April 4, 2017 Author Share Posted April 4, 2017 Thanks. I'm aware of who Charles Brown is. I have the song "Drifting Blues" from Johnny Moore's Three Blazers (in which Brown was the pianist and lead singer) from 1946 in my iTunes collection, though I don't have any of his solo stuff. I didn't think about him being the inspiration for the song. That certainly makes sense. Charlie Brown the musician was no doubt infinitely more relevant to Leiber and Stoller than a kid from a comic strip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GordonCole Posted April 4, 2017 Share Posted April 4, 2017 Thanks. I'm aware of who Charles Brown is. I have the song "Drifting Blues" from Johnny Moore's Three Blazers (in which Brown was the pianist and lead singer) from 1946 in my iTunes collection, though I don't have any of his solo stuff. I didn't think about him being the inspiration for the song. That certainly makes sense. Charlie Brown the musician was no doubt infinitely more relevant to Leiber and Stoller than a kid from a comic strip. Great song and too bad he is not known more now but it is great that he did have a later resurgence. Being that Leiber and Stoller concentrated on much from the black culture surrounding them as in Smokey Joe's Cafe and such and revered Brown it seems more likely than them referencing whitebread Charlie and his pal Snoopy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 Great song and too bad he is not known more now but it is great that he did have a later resurgence. Being that Leiber and Stoller concentrated on much from the black culture surrounding them as in Smokey Joe's Cafe and such and revered Brown it seems more likely than them referencing whitebread Charlie and his pal Snoopy. I remember seeing this revue(it's not really a play of course) about 20 years ago or so at the Redondo Beach(CA) Performing Arts Center, and thought it pretty entertaining. In fact, I believe we were one of the tryout/preview audiences for it before it hit Broadway. And yes, I also remember walking out of the theater afterward singing many of those old Leiber & Stoller hits. (...well, at least until my wife said on the drive home, "Will you pleeeeease STOP that?!"...critics!...they're the worst, aren't THEY?!) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 I remember seeing this revue(it's not really a play of course) about 20 years ago or so at the Redondo Beach(CA) Performing Arts Center, and thought it pretty entertaining. In fact, I believe we were one of the tryout/preview audiences for it before it hit Broadway. And yes, I also remember walking out of the theater afterward singing many of those old Leiber & Stoller hits. (...well, at least until my wife said on the drive home, "Will you pleeeeease STOP that?!"...critics!...they're the worst, aren't THEY?!) PLEASE tell me you COULDN'T resist pouting for a minute or two after she said that, and then moaning..... "WHY is everybody always PICKIN' on me!" Sepiatone 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drednm Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 Cole Porter likely never read a comic book in his life. GASP! There was a time when adults were actually grown up and not just adult-sized children living in fantasy worlds far, far away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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