Tag Archives: fred astaire

Gene Kelly: the prettiest shortstop in baseball.

Posted on by under 4-star films, blogathon, carrie's faves, classic pairings, cmba blogathon, magnificent musicals, summer under the stars

Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949) is one of several films to feature Gene Kelly partnered with Frank Sinatra. I am a huge fan of both performers, so I love these movies. On the Town (1949) and Anchors Aweigh (1945) are on my list of favorite Gene Kelly films, and the Gene Kelly Blogathon (hosted by the Classic Movie Blog Association) gave me an excuse (in case I needed one) to explore the third in the series. If you’re interested, there is a film collection on DVD.  What’s more, TCM’s Summer Under the Stars is honoring Gene Kelly today in recognition of his one hundredth birthday, and that just fills my heart with glee.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game portrays the adventures of Dennis Ryan (Sinatra) and Eddie O’Brien (Kelly), two baseball players doubling as a vaudeville act. They help lead the Wolves through championship years and provide musical entertainment everywhere they go. In addition to Kelly and Sinatra, this film features Esther Williams (the Million Dollar Mermaid), Betty Garrett, Edward Arnold, and Jules Munshin as the fantastic character Goldberg. Entertaining connections: Betty Garrett also plays Brunhilde Esterhazy (a cab driver who has a thing for Frank Sinatra’s character “Chip”) in On the Town, and played in Neptune’s Daughter with Esther Williams. Betty Garrett gets to spend a lot of time chasing Frank Sinatra. That’s all I’m going to say about that.

Seriously–entertainment EVERYWHERE. I really did like this number, too.

Williams plays K.C. Higgens, who has just inherited ownership of the team and knows more about baseball than they would think and has more opinions than they would like. Too bad she’s beautiful …  Yet again, we watch Gene Kelly teach Frank Sinatra about attracting the opposite sex. Naturally, Higgens and O’Brien end up falling in love and endure a complicated courtship. Ryan falls in love with her, too, but Shirley (Garrett) manages to win his affections in the end, and believe me, she earns it.

As you might expect, Ryan and O’Brien perform the famous “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” (the 1927 version, not the 1908, if you’re astute enough to know the difference. I wasn’t so knowledgeable, but I know a lot about using Google–I looked it up). My other favorite number was “O’Brien to Ryan to Goldberg,” depicting their famous double-play strategy that’s the key to their victories. The number is catchy and  entertaining, even if you are a blasphemer, like myself, who doesn’t particularly care for baseball. It’s all about the rhythm, and I tend to love Gene Kelly’s trio numbers, anyway (“Good Morning,” anyone?). They may not all be as famous as his other routines, but I enjoy them quite well.

O’Brien to Ryan to Goldberg! The triangle that trumps the diamond!

Interestingly, several songs were deleted from the film: one of Frank Sinatra crooning to Shirley (which makes me kind of sad, but it was deemed “too slow”) and “Baby Doll,” which features a bizarre dance number between Kelly and Williams that could easily have inspired the toy routine in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) and is just plain weird in this film. Removing Sinatra crooning is just wrong, but they did spare us the somewhat awkward (in the context of the film) number that did no justice to the dancing talent. For this reason, I give the editing 3.5 stars.

Despite re-running many elements amongst each other, I love the films in this series. Each one is its own delight. Overall, I have to say I prefer the sailor films to baseball, but this is one is still a lot of fun. We get the pleasure of the singing Sinatra and dancing Gene Kelly, which is what matters most. Gene Kelly performs with his usual charm and enthusiasm. He plays a character that would be obnoxious, except that he’s Gene Kelly. He often plays these characters, and I cannot help but love them. It doesn’t seem to matter if the musical numbers are excellent (think Singin’ in the Rain) or maybe longer than they needed to be (this film did have some of those, I’m sorry to say)–watching him dance makes you want to join him. If you could keep up. Which I can’t. It’s pure joy onscreen every time.

No matter what he’s doing, you just know it’s Gene Kelly. I have strolled through a room, glanced at the television, and known that it was a Gene Kelly piece–even without knowing the film. He brings all of his “Kelly-ness” to everything. You have to appreciate that sort of thing.

This film is a winner when you want something light and frivolous. It’s a good choice for a Memorial Day or Fourth of July film that’s a little different, since it is baseball after all, and it does have some patriotic undertones and a patriotic number. Perhaps it’s cliche, but I think I would definitely recommend this one with a hot dog, chased by peanuts and Cracker Jacks.

 

This post has a double function: as a contribution to the Gene Kelly Centennial Blogathon hosted by the Classic Movie Blog Association, and as another entry in the 2012 TCM SUTS blogathon hosted by Sittin’ on a Backyard Fence and ScribeHard on Film. Share the Gene Kelly love with everyone you know today!

Who’s that girl?: Helen Broderick

Posted on by under who's that girl

Her name may not be well-known to modern audiences, but her face is immediately recognizable to classic film fans. Throughout the 1930s and 40s, actress Helen Broderick appeared as the wisecracking pal of numerous Hollywood stars, always bringing a shot of well-timed droll humor to every role. In many ways, Broderick was the prototype for the sarcastic female sidekick, a persona that would later be filled (and taken to new, snarky heights) by such memorable character actresses as Eve Arden and Thelma Ritter. Her career in films amounted to a little more than two dozen pictures over the course of two decades, and even in the smallest of parts, Broderick was a welcome comedic presence.

Broderick had grown up determined to avoid show business due to a stage-obsessed mother, but when she left home at the age of fourteen, she found there was no better way to support herself than to reluctantly embrace the field she loathed. Broderick kicked off her career as a chorus girl on Broadway, appearing in the first Ziegfeld Follies in 1907 when she was barely sixteen years old. As one of the glamorous Ziegfeld Girls, Broderick shared the stage with some of the most notable performers of the day, including Will Rogers, Sophie Tucker, W.C. Fields, and Ed Wynn, among many others. Soon she moved on to the dramatic stage, understudying to popular Broadway star Ina Claire. When Broderick was forced to stand in for Claire one evening, her deliberately hilarious mangling of the play Jumping Jupiter made her a star. She went on to appear in a number of shows, most notably the Cole Porter-scored musical Fifty Million Frenchmen, which debuted in 1929.

Though Broderick had appeared in a handful of short films while living in New York, it was the big-screen adaptation of Frenchmen that ultimately brought her to Hollywood in 1931. In the movie, she reprises her role as Violet, a naughty American tourist. The film was not a strict adaptation of the stage show–the musical numbers were removed from the film before its release, as the public had reportedly grown weary of the genre by that time. The movie itself is relatively unremarkable, though The New York Times singled out Broderick positively in an otherwise lackluster review of the picture.

Broderick’s most notable roles may have been in the two films she made opposite Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire–and they just happen to be two of the dancing pair’s very best. In 1935′s Top Hat, Broderick appears as Madge Hardwick, exasperated wife of Edward Everett Horton’s Horace. Madge is good friends with Rogers’ Dale Tremont, who in a case of mistaken identity believes that Astaire’s character, Jerry–the man with whom she has fallen in love–is actually Horace. Broderick is hilarious as Madge, particularly when needling hapless husband Horton (when Jerry realizes that Dale has rejected his proposal because she believes he is married to her friend, Madge wryly replies, “Well, no wonder she said he was interesting”).

The following year, Broderick again partnered with Astaire and Rogers (as well as the subject of our last “Who’s That Girl?” profile, Betty Furness) in Swing Time. This go-round, Broderick plays Mabel, Rogers’ tart-tongued friend and confidant who gets caught up in the complicated romance between the two leads, as Lucky (Astaire) tries to hide his engagement to Margaret (Furness) from new love Penny (Rogers). Broderick gets some of the best zingers in the film–though most of them tend to reference her supposedly decrepit age (she was barely in her mid-40s at the time)–and she has a great rapport with costar Victor Moore, who plays Lucky’s older pal Pop.

Throughout the decade following her appearance in Swing Time, Broderick was featured in supporting roles opposite some of the biggest names in Hollywood: Barbara Stanwyck, Constance Bennett, Ann Sheridan, Dick Powell, Fred MacMurray, Adolphe Menjou, and Gloria Swanson among them. The actress also appeared in leading roles in several B-movies during that time as well, though she never broke through to mainstream leading-lady success. She eventually retired from the screen after completing the 1946 film Because of Him, in which she appeared opposite Deanna Durbin and Franchot Tone.

Though Helen Broderick may not be well-remembered today for her own career, she has a very special connection to a noteworthy Oscar-winning star. While still a teenager, she married fellow actor and vaudevillian Lester Crawford (who would go to appear with her both on Broadway and onscreen in Frenchmen), and in 1911, she gave birth to their son, Broderick Crawford (pictured to the right). And in 1949, Broderick won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his searing portrayal of Willie Stark in the film adaptation of All the King’s Men.

Helen Broderick passed away in 1959 at the age of sixty-eight. Though she had not wanted a career in entertainment, it found her nonetheless–and quite thankfully, for all of us who enjoy revisiting her films to witness anew her smart-mouthed charm.

SUtS: Katharine Hepburn

Posted on by under 5-star films, best.films.ever., brandie's faves, carrie's faves, classic pairings, hahas, magnificent musicals, screwball legends, summer under the stars

Brandie’s choice: Bringing Up Baby (1938)

Airing at 12:00AM EST

There are a handful of movies I would personally label the funniest films of all time, and Bringing Up Baby would be near the top of that list. In fact, when I endeavor to introduce someone to the world of classic film, this is one of the first films I recommend viewing. It just sucks you in–in the very best way. And screwball comedy–of which this movie is one of the supremest examples–is always a great way to introduce a reluctant party into the world of classic cinema because … well, who doesn’t love to laugh?

Baby stars Katharine Hepburn as a dizzy heiress, Susan Vance, who falls head over heels in love with a hapless paleontologist, David Huxley (a sexily disheveled and bewildered Cary Grant). Through her machinations, David loses a very valuable bone–the “intercostal clavicle”–that belongs to the skeleton of a brontosaurus. Susan also inadvertently jeopardizes David’s attempts to secure a million dollars’ worth of funding for his museum. And to add to the craziness, Susan has recently received a rather intimidating gift–a large leopard named Baby–which she plans to take to her family’s farm in Connecticut, of all places. Add in a nosy aunt, a bumbling big-game hunter, a concerned psychiatrist, and an idiotic constable, and you can imagine the chaos that ensues.

Considering how hilarious and utterly charming this film is, it’s amazing to think today that this movie was once considered a notorious flop, even contributing to star Katharine Hepburn’s assignation as “box office poison” in the late 1930s. Hell, it’s difficult to think of a time when Kate Hepburn wasn’t considered a monumental success and a pinnacle of movie stardom. Her legendary career came complete with four Academy Awards for Best Actress–a feat unmatched by any other actress (or actor!) in the history of film–and a litany of iconic film roles opposite some of the biggest names to ever grace the screen. But once this film was completed, Hepburn, in the midst of a string of unsuccessful films, chose to buy out her RKO contract to avoid being cast in the low-budget drama Mother Carey’s Chickens (which had been assigned to Hepburn as a sort of studio punishment because of her poor box-office performance). She would spend the next two years on the stage until her triumphant return to the screen in 1940′s wildly popular The Philadelphia Story (also co-starring Grant; see Carrie’s rec below).

Hepburn and Grant made a total of four films together; in addition to Baby and Philadelphia, these included the delightful Holiday (1938) and the cross-dressing romantic comedy Sylvia Scarlett (1935). In each of their pairings, Hepburn and Grant are a wonder to behold–not only do they play off of one another very well, but their on-screen interactions demonstrate a true camaraderie and mutual respect that only heightens the chemistry between them.

And that chemistry was never more sparkling than it was in Baby. Grant, whose career began in vaudeville, takes a page from acrobatic silent screen legend Buster Keaton and throws his body around without reservation, all in pursuit of a laugh. And Hepburn is right there with him, shattering the normally reserved persona she had crafted in previous films and demonstrating a comedic timing that had heretofore only been hinted at in her career. Each brings out the best in the other, and neither was ever really able to capture that same effortless, effervescent magic with another co-star (though Hepburn came close with some of her later screen partnerships with Spencer Tracy, particularly 1949′s Adam’s Rib).

The film is not all about Hepburn and Grant, however; there are some great supporting performances, too. Charlie Ruggles is delightful as the befuddled Major Horace Applegate, who can’t understand why he’s hearing leopard calls in the middle of Connecticut. Walter Catlett, who plays the overzealous constable, Slocum, and May Robson, who plays Susan’s Aunt Elizabeth, are both sharply funny. And classic film fans might recognize the little terrier playing George, the dog who steals David’s bone: the same dog, Skippy, also played Asta in the Thin Man movies and almost stole the show in 1937′s The Awful Truth (also co-starring Grant).

It’s not hyperbole to say that Bringing Up Baby is one of the BEST DAMN FILMS ever made. If you have never had the opportunity to see this movie, this is your chance. You won’t stop laughing until the final credits roll.

Carrie’s choice: The Philadelphia Story (1940)

Airing at 2:00AM EST

I’m so excited- it’s Katharine Hepburn Day!!!!  Katharine Hepburn is one of my biggest heroines. She’s amazing, and I flat out adore her. The spunk. The attitude. The coolness. Her well-honed sneer and smooth sarcasm served her well in Hollywood, and especially in The Philadelphia Story.

I love this movie, and oddly, I love the remake High Society. It took me a while to decide which I preferred, and I’d like to take you through my debate very quickly. Actual debate took a number of years.

The Philadelphia Story has Katharine Hepburn playing a snide, wealthy young woman whose father has been discovered in a scandalous affair. To save face, her wedding (second marriage) is now open to the press, in particular a sleazy operation–with pictures. To make matters worse, her ex-husband is hanging around, “not” sabotaging the wedding. Father  believes he has done nothing wrong-no remorse–and Tracy (KH) wants to torture them all. Yes, cast KH, because, let’s face it, no one knows how to emotionally destroy with pitch-perfect style and class quite like her.  For this reason, she’s an awesome Tracy. Add to this that she’s starring …

… between Cary Grant and James Stewart, and the  most casual reader of this blog needs no further comments on the matter.

High Society: Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra

Later, High Society does well, but Tracy, played by Grace Kelly (also talented and lovely, no argument) is not quite as, say, conniving and snarky as KH. Tracy is a little softer in this version, which has the added musical charms of Bing Crosby (Dexter, the ex), Frank Sinatra (Mike, the reporter) and Louis Armstrong (as himself, added to the plot because, let’s face it–he’s Louis Armstrong, and why not?) Because that trio is a trio I also adore, points to High Society. I also prefer the little sister (two different names in the different movies–go figure) in High Society. She’s just hilarious, and possibly a bit of a stronger character.

Yet, my winner is still The Philadelphia Story.  Don’t get me wrong–I’ll watch High Society any time I see that it’s on, and I own it. It’s great, but there is one essential element (other than the obvious–KH) that makes The Philadelphia Story work for me more than High Society.  That is a detail in the plot.

In the end (I guess a spoiler …), Tracy apologizes for her behavior and basically accepts a human fallibility. In High Society, she does this to her father, and while forgiving him and thus having a release would be acceptable, she actually capitulates and admits that she really is at fault and shouldn’t be angry that he humiliated the family by publicly cheating on Mother, even though he has never asked for forgiveness or admitted any wrong-doing. This bothers me. A lot. It always did bother me, but I pushed it aside.

Then I paid due attention to The Philadelphia Story. In this film, Tracy makes her admission to Dexter, who has actually done good things for her, and possibly was judged unfairly. He actually is there for Tracy and has some redeeming qualities, despite his imperfections.

Now, we can play philosophy a little here, for those who have seen these films. Part of the theme is loving someone unconditionally, even if unworthy. That’s great. Perhaps Tracy apologizing to her father was to solidify that, showing Tracy’s growth. She made a mistake and is still lovable, and so it’s a two-way street–Dad is lovable, too. Now, I’m great with forgiveness–it’s healthy. But they still went a little far. Tracy falls only short of condoning his behavior; she blames herself for how she felt about it and that actually seeing a problem with his long-term cheating is wrong, all the while actually taking responsibility for her single indiscretion. It does tie their parallels together, but not in any kind of realistic, human, very believable, or particularly healthy way (IMHO).

So, with her apology to Dexter, who actually is redeemed throughout the movie and who actually does show her unconditional love (which her father fails to do), I have to give the best of the two to The Philadelphia Story.

That said, definitely watch both. They’re fabulous.  And without question, make time for The Philadelphia Story. The lines are fabulous. The acting is fabulous. It’s a real winner and is Katharine Hepburn in a role written with her in mind–it simply can’t miss!

Uh-oh … it’s one of those monthly experiment-type things.

Posted on by under brandie's faves, carrie's faves, daily recommendation, tcm spotlight

So you may recall that February’s experiment in “let’s make a recommendation every day!” didn’t exactly work out the way I wanted it to. But as Fred and Ginger sang in one of their best, Swing Time, “pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again.”

(Well, now I just need to post that clip.)

In that spirit, we’re going to try this again, this time with TCM’s Summer Under the Stars celebration, which makes August one of my very favorite months of the year despite the oppressive heat down here in Mississippi (can’t … breathe … need … A/C).

As most of you (hopefully) already know, every August, TCM dedicates each day of programming to the films of one star. There’s a great lineup this year, filled with the requisite “big” names (Bob Hope on the 8th, Katharine Hepburn on the 20th, Clint Eastwood on the 31st), some not-so-generally-familiar folks (Woody Strode on the 5th, Robert Ryan on the 13th, Thelma Todd on the 30th), and everything in between.

Carrie and I will each choose one film to recommend per day this month (except on those occasions on which we want to share the same film!). Some of these recommendations will be our favorite films from that day’s lineup, and some will be choices we have never personally seen, but will be watching ourselves for the very first time and dissecting later. Regardless, we hope you’ll join us in discussing these films and that you will feel free to share your own favorites!

Check back tomorrow for our first selections of the month!

March is a month of Ginger and spice.

Posted on by under 4-star films, ahh romance, brandie's faves, classic disney, hahas, screwball legends

Between mystery illnesses and miscellaneous bothers, it’s been a crazy couple of weeks, but hopefully we can get back into the swing of things this week.

Another 31 Days of Oscar celebration has come and gone, and my resolution to post a recommendation a day kind of fell apart there in the middle, didn’t it? Oh, well. There’s always next year. And in the meantime, TCM is celebrating a return to regular programming by anointing one of my absolute favorites, Ginger Rogers, as Star of the Month.

What makes Ginger so special, you may ask? Well, if you have to ask, you obviously have not seen very many of her films, or else you just know her from her very successful pairing with Fred Astaire in ten films. But if that’s your only exposure to the divine Miss R., this month’s film lineup can easily rectify that for you.

In my review of The Major and the Minor (still one of my favorite Ginger performances of all time), I touched on some of the reasons why I love this woman’s films. Yes, she was a remarkable dancer, but even now, she remains somewhat underrated as a performer, so intertwined is her film persona with that of Astaire. And while many casual movie fans remember other parts of Fred’s–other dancing partners, really, like Judy Garland (Easter Parade), Cyd Charisse (The Band Wagon), and Rita Hayworth (You’ll Never Get Rich and You Were Never Lovelier)–not many can easily recall a non-Fred-paired role of Ginger’s.

And that really is a shame, because her comedic skills outstripped her dancing prowess by a mile, at least in my opinion. Don’t get me wrong: I love watching those Fred and Ginger classics, particularly Top Hat, Swing Time, and Shall We Dance, my personal favorites. And when TCM aired all ten Fred and Ginger pics in a row recently, I was barely able to pry myself away from the television.

While there are quite a few treasures coming up in the next two Wednesdays (among them the screwball Vivacious Lady, the relatively racy Primrose Path, and the aforementioned Major), I particularly want to encourage you to catch one of Rogers’ best comedic performances, in 1939′s Bachelor Mother.

Ginger plays Polly Parrish, a single store clerk who has just been fired from her holiday sales job right before Christmas. On her lunch break, she walks by a foundling home and finds an abandoned baby boy on the front steps. The administrators of the home, mistaking Polly for the baby’s mother, resolve to return “her” child to her care, enlisting the help of Polly’s former boss, David Merlin. David hires Polly back and arranges for the baby to be delivered to Polly’s apartment that evening, much to her chagrin. But when David threatens to fire Polly if she does not accept responsibility for “her” child, she finds herself taking on the role of “bachelor mother” to the sweet little boy, losing her heart to him AND to the man who forced her into assumed motherhood in the first place!

In this film, you see the funny side of Rogers’ talent that had heretofore only been hinted at in her dance flicks and other films such as 1937′s Stage Door. Her timing is impeccable, her facial expressions perfectly sliding from quizzical amusement to relief, from confused anger to luminous adoration, in the blink of an eye. Watch as she skirts around her nervousness at dining with a group of tony dilettantes by pretending to be Swedish. Her joy at the charade is obvious, yet she slides into the sophisticated facade quickly and elegantly:

David Niven appears here in his first major leading role (after making a splash earlier in the year as Linton in Wuthering Heights). As the romantic lead, he induces the necessary swoons, but also many of the laughs as he reacts to the craziness surrounding him. In one scene, his character, the son of the store’s owner, tries to return a defective toy, despite Polly’s warnings that the store’s exchange department never exchanges anything. His growing frustration results in pure hilarity as the scene dissolves into utter chaos (complete with a great display of physical comedy from the rather dignified Niven).

The delightful Charles Coburn also appears in one of his many wealthy, fatherly roles, this time as David’s outraged papa. As John B. Merlin, Coburn gesticulates, yells, and plots, stealing the show along the way (and delivering one of the best lines, too). And Frank Albertson is just the right mix of bemusement and sliminess necessary to play scheming floor clerk Freddie, whose interference makes things difficult for David and Polly.

Also notable: the very important supporting role of Donald Duck, who plays a large role in uniting the film’s two lovers! You’ll have to watch the movie to see exactly how he accomplishes that.  :)

To my continuing horror, Bachelor Mother is not available on DVD, and the only versions available on videotape (rare as they are) have been–GASP!–colorized. No, thanks. I’d rather go swimming in a shark-filled pond wearing bacon pants than watch a pathetically-colored version of this fantastic movie.

Make sure you catch this one while it’s on, or DVR it for later viewing! It’s airing at 9:45PM EST on Wednesday the 24th, and again on May 9th at 6:30AM.

I hope you love it as much as I do!

“New York, New York, it’s a helluva town.”

Posted on by under 3-star films, 31 days of oscar, brandie's faves, magnificent musicals

On the Town (1949)

Airing 10:15AM EST

Absolute effervescence. This is the feeling that comes to mind when I think of Gene Kelly’s musicals. Add in Frank Sinatra and the city of New York, and you have one of the greats: 1949′s On the Town, co-starring Jules Munshin, Ann Miller, Vera-Ellen, and Betty Garrett.

Carrie can speak a bit more fervently about this film, and the other two Kelly-Sinatra collaborations, than can I, but I’ll try to match her enthusiasm. Of the three, which also include Anchors Aweigh (1945) and Take Me Out to the Ballgame (1949), I prefer the joys of the earlier film, including its celebrated centerpiece, Kelly’s dancing duet with Jerry Mouse. But On the Town has its charms, and they are many.

The story revolves around the romantic adventures of three sailors on leave in New York for twenty-four hours, who try to fit all of the sights and sounds and women of the city into their single day on shore. But the story is relatively unimportant, all things considered: the real draw are the song and dance numbers, and the film fittingly won the Academy Award for Best Score. The undeniable highlight of the film, “New York, New York,” is simply a delight to watch.

Kelly co-directs the film along with Stanley Donen (the frequent collaborator who also worked with Kelly on Singin’ in the Rain) and choreographed all of the dance numbers, and the performances bear the hallmark of his athletic, gracefully powerful style of dance. It’s in this film that Kelly first dabbles with inserting elements of modern dance into the routines, an approach that would reach its pinnacle just three years later in the marvelous An American in Paris. That Kelly and Donen take the action outside the studio and into the streets of the real New York also adds much to the film; had the movie been filmed primarily on a soundstage, it would not have nearly the same impact.

The film will also air on April 13th at 6AM EST, so if you miss it today, you can catch it then. The film is also available on DVD, and quite cheaply through TCM (Movies Unlimited is on FI-YAH this month). And Carrie will hopefully be able to post a review of the Kelly-Sinatra box set that she recently received as a gift, so you can determine if it’s worth your dime to just go ahead and gather up all three (hint: it is)!

Oscar checklist:

Won: Best Score