DownGoesFrazier Posted November 21, 2012 Kalmar and Ruby have to be the most obscure songwriters ever to have a film bio made about them. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sgt_Markoff Posted September 29, 2018 Uh...umm...heck no. What I mean is (and no offense to the OP) is that yeah maybe they became obscure as decades past; but in their own era they were BIG. If you know your basic history of American popular music you have to know how huge they were. All of those guys were. Lerner and Lowe, the Gerwshins, Johnny Mercer and Harold Arlen, Ray Evans and Jay Livingston...so many names and partnerships even I can't recall them. Kalmar and Ruby were right up there with the best. This flick is a sweet little fun musical, I'm not even a fan of the genre but this one is charming. Red Skelton scrapping with Fred Astaire, zippy tunes ...what's not to like? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Terrence1 Posted September 29, 2018 And don't forget the wonderful dance duets with Astaire and the beautiful Vera-Ellen. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sgt_Markoff Posted September 29, 2018 Yeah! It's odd that its one of my very few favorite musicals; but its so. Perhaps because its about the sheet-music era itself (which I admire) and perhaps because it also has two male leads. Somehow, it passes into something I can enjoy without triggering any of my usual reasons for dismissal. I think Skelton and Astaire (as Kalmar and Ruby) always battling with each other, makes it more of a manly musical. BTW, this article on how Mercer's song 'Blues in the Night' was written send chills up and down my spine. View the anecdote about how Garland and Martha Raye and everybody were first introduced to the song; their reaction. Can you imagine? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blues_in_the_Night Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
