MyFavoriteFilms Posted February 8, 2011 Author Share Posted February 8, 2011 That is NOT what the thread is about. Please do not simplify it into something a kindergarten film fan would write. It is about how critics comment on whether an actor or actress (any actor or actress) can muster up enough talent to be convincing in a role that requires both musical and dramatic skill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 I find your reply rude and insulting but thanks for setting the record here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyFavoriteFilms Posted February 8, 2011 Author Share Posted February 8, 2011 > ... thanks for setting the record here. Glad to have been of help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 How much pure acting did Sammy Davis actually do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosebette Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 If you listen to German cabaret singers (Lotte Lenya from the 30s) or even contemporary singers who model themselves on them, like Ute Lemper, you will find that their sound is similar to Marlene's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Ok, maybe Sammy was limited in his acting since the only roles I can remember is what he did with the Rat Pack. My focus was more on singers and entertainers that did some acting and not the other way around. People like Frank and Bing did 'pure acting' but of course where singers and entertainers (i.e. they would be well known if they never did a movie). Judy fills so same boots. I admit I'm not to knowledge about actors that are not classified as singer that did some singing in their roles (i.e. they pulled it off). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kriegerg69 Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 How about the opposite: Performers who sing/dance and c-a-n-n-o-t act? I'd put Ruby Keeler up there...I enjoy her dancing, but think she was a lousy actress. I've never understood her popularity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosebette Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 As for Ruby Keeler, the word "sing" could also be used rather loosely. But on the same topic, how about Dick Powell? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Eddie Fisher and Tony Bennett. They kept putting Dick Haymes into films, but I think he was a lousy actor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LonesomePolecat Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 What about Gene Kelly? A great actor, not just a musical performer. Dick Powell is a good one to discuss. He got better as the years went on. In the early years he was pretty stagey and awful (Gold DIggers, 42nd Street, Midsummer's, etc), but starting, I think, with Christmas in July, he becomes a much better actor. I guess he just needed experience and a good director, eh? Fred Astaire is kind of the same way. His early acting isn't very good, but later on he does better and better, so by the time he's in On the Beach he's a good actor who doesn't have to sing or dance to be cast in a film. (Though why waste him like that?) On that, a person with a lovely singing voice, in fact a professional singer, who did a great job acting, IMHO, was Petula Clark, who was the lead opposite Fred Astaire in Finian's Rainbow. I was surprised at how good she was. And a "singer" who can't act? Esther WIlliams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 In fact, ON THE BEACH is the first role Astaire was ever even offered, that didn't require him to sing or dance. Subsequent to that, he played quite a few....... Anyone know Kelly's first non-musical role? I'm sure there were some prior to INHERIT THE WIND. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Well I feel Ruby is just cute and this is why I look past those limitation! Edited by: jamesjazzguitar on Feb 8, 2011 5:58 PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyFavouriteFilms Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Gene Kelly had many non-musical roles. I am going to do a post on that in the film themes thread tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosebette Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 Esther couldn't sing. She was always dubbed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traceyk65 Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 > {quote:title=ValentineXavier wrote:}{quote} > > {quote:title=finance wrote:}{quote} > > I don't know whether you are being tongue in cheek, but later in life, when her film career was winding down, Marlene DID tour with a singing act, with a young Burt Bacharach spending time as her accompanist. > > Not tongue in cheek at all, just countering tracyk65's assertion that Marlene's singing was an "acquired taste," and not widely appreciated. Touring a singing act after a successful acting career doesn't necessarily prove one is a good singer, just that one has a following from the acting. My assertion was that if she hadn't been a film star, she could have been a singing star. I think it just may be an acquired taste for modern audiences? Most people for whom I have played her songs just look at me like I am crazy (but then I get that about old movies a lot too)..,and there are several people on these boards who don't care for her singing either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lzcutter Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 *How much pure acting did Sammy Davis actually do?* He had good reviews for his role as Sportin' Life in *Porgy and Bess* holding his own with Sidney Poitier, Pearl Bailey and Dorothy Dandridge. He was nominated for a Tony for his role in the musical version of *Golden Boy* losing to Zero Mostel in *Fiddler*. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyFavouriteFilms Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 > Gene Kelly had many non-musical roles. I am going to do a post on that in the film themes thread tomorrow. I found 13 films that Gene did in which he did not sing or dance. That's a lot considering he's so known for his work in musicals. He's probably one of the more versatile talents of the MGM studio era. Plus he went on to have a successful career in directing and would do choreography on films in which he did not appear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cujas Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 Dick Haymes was one of our greatest pop singers--have you ever seen *State Fair*? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 I didn't say he wasn't a good singer. I just thought he wasn't a very good actor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Faiola Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 George Sanders was a great actor and a very, very good singer! Fred Astaire was a very good actor and a very fine singer - more for his phrasing than vocal quality. Oliver Hardy was a very good actor and a very good singer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Hardy a very good singer? Wow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terrence1 Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Actually, Hardy sang in a number of the Laurel and Hardy comedies. I wouldn't call him a great singer, but he definitely had a very pleasant voice. Terrence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ennisdelmar2 Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Glad to see someone agrees with me regarding Garland's talent as an actress. I really believe she was a really good actress. She never got the recognition for it she deserved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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