I grew up on Danny Kaye movies. Specifically, three of them. I didn't know who Micheal Jackson was, but I knew the Court Jester by heart. I'm not a connoisseur of musicals, I'm more of a specialist. What I have seen, I've seen a million times. But with this new project, I've decided to expand my repertoire. So here's a basic rundown of the history of the musicals that I care about:
Okay, I lied. I have to include this even though it's not about musicals.
Late 20s, early 30s: Mae West moved from stage to film. She's like nothing else I've seen. Bawdy, broad, and full of wit. She rocked the film industry! This was pre-censorship, and she was full speed ahead. "It's not the men in your life that count. It's the life in your men." One after another. Gotta love her. Oh, also, the New Old Lompoc on 21st has one of those cardboard cut outs of her from I'm No Angel, but they've stretched her. She was actually kind of chunky, like a box, and they made her much more modern-sized. Kind of irritating. I'm not going for a fat-positive lecture here, it's just that so much of her appeal was in how she carried herself. And her size was part of that. So, grrr.
The 1940s: A lot of good stuff, but not a lot of movies that I've actually seen start to finish. Danny Kaye got his start here. Up In Arms, Kid From Brooklyn and others. I need a refresher on early Kaye films. Also, Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, and Fred and Ginger.
The Glorious 1950s: I've been boning up a little bit on the history here, and learned that the process of making a musical back then was a lot different than the way movies are made now. The big studios would have a talent pool of actors and actresses, and just kind of cycle through them. One interesting example is Debbie Reynolds in Singing In The Rain. She didn't know how to dance but Arthur Freed at MGM decided it was time for her to have a leading role. Evidently it was rough going, but she was able to learn the moves with the help of Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire. She said, in an interview, that she passed out one time while rehearsing the Good Morning number. Here's another number with Kelly and O'Connor from a TV clip.
White Christmas came out in 54. It's great, any time of the year. Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, and George Clooney's aunt, Rosemary Clooney. I always love it when these musicals work in a performance, as a way to show some song and dance numbers that don't really fit with the plot. This one has one of my favorite numbers of all time, where Danny Kaye is making fun of the advant garde theater movement. "Sisters," as done by the boys, is another great one.
I could ramble on more, and probably will do so in later posts, but for now, let's move on.
The 50s was also the end of the musical era. Everything changed with television and rock and roll. The teenagers had never before been a leading consumer group. Adults and children more often stayed home and watched the TV, while the teens were the ones going out to the movies. The stars of the time had expected to be able to keep going for years, like those before them had, but the carpet was pulled out from under them. They were on top of the world one year, and then the next, no one's contracts were renewed. Gene Kelly made twenty movies in fifteen years, from 1942 to 1957, then only made three after that. And it wasn't for lack of talent. Just watch him soft shoe with Olivia Newton-John in Xanadu. There just wasn't an audience for him anymore.
While I do adore these musicals, they aren't really pertinent to the rockabilly movement. That's a little more about Buddy Holly, Elvis, and the like. Here's Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers singing Teenage Delinquent. So good! And here he is at 13 talking about how he wrote "Fools Fall In Love."
In 1990, John Waters came out with Cry Baby featuring Johnny Depp. Waters said that he wanted to show how kids new how to be bad, even before rock and roll hit the big time. It's also got Ricki Lake, Iggy Pop, Tracy Lords and Mink Stole to round out its awesomeness!
Yesterday I finished watching "Cover Girl," a 1944 musical with Rita Hayworth. It was the first movie of her's that I'd seen. Gene Kelly's in it as the male romantic interest. She's good. Brassy, and pretty close to being a strong female role model. She does cry into her liquor a little bit over her man, but she also goes against what folks tell her to do, which is pretty good for that time. She's also super adorable.
I'm halfway through "No Business Like Show Business" with Donald O'Connor and Marilyn Monroe. Ethyl Merman is in it too, and I feel like I should care about her, but I just don't know enough to be partial. She's funny, but I haven't gotten much more from her.
That's all for today. I'm going to be a good little wife and go clean the house in my curlers now.
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