It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals. In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.
This week’s musical:
The Eddy Duchin Story (1956) – Musical #697
Studio:
Columbia Pictures
Director:
George Sidney
Starring:
Tyrone Power, Kim Novak, Victoria Thompson, James Whitmore, Rex Thompson, Mickey Maga, Frieda Inescort, Shepperd Strudwick, Gloria Holden, Larry Keating, John Mylong
Themselves: Xavier Cugat
Plot:
Starting in 1927 until his 1951 death, the film follows pianist and bandleader Eddy Duchin (Power). It shows his rise in fame and marriage to his wife, Marjorie Oelrichs (Novak). When a tragedy occurs in his family, Eddy grieves alone and is separated from his son Peter (Maga, Thompson) for many years. He works to rebuild their relationship.
This is April’s edition of Comet Over Hollywood’s film references in music videos.
The band Faith No More, categorized as alternative metal and experimental rock, pays homage to the Alfred Hitchcock directed film, “Vertigo” (1958) in their music video “Last Cup of Sorrow.”
The band, formed in 1981 and who is coming out with a new studio album this year, released in 1997 “Last Cup of Sorrow” on their sixth album called “Album of the Year.”
The video doesn’t just reference “Vertigo” like many music videos do, but actually plays out various scenes from the movies but in a silly, satirical manner. The single’s album art also copies the film poster’s artwork.
In the video, lead singer Mike Patton is dressed as James Stewart’s character, Scottie Ferguson, while actress Jennifer Jason Leigh is dressed as Kim Novak’s character, Madeleine. Some of the camera angles and zooms also try to mimic the cinematography by Robert Burks under Hitchcock’s direction.
Here are a few scenes from “Vertigo” with Kim Novak and James Stewart that are directly referenced in the video:
It’s surprising that she wasn’t equally upset after Lady Gaga used Herrmann’s prelude to the film “Vertigo” in her music video “Born This Way.”
“Born This Way” was the first single released from the same name album “Born This Way.” Both the video and single debuted in February 2011.
The five minute video begins with Lady Gaga speaking over the “Vertigo” dream like music, calling the video and song “the manifesto of Mother Monster.”
““I want your psycho, Your vertigo stick, Want you in my rear window, Baby you’re sick””
Gaga also references Kim Novak in the single “So Happy I Could Die” from the album The Fame Monster with the line “I am that Lavender Blonde.”
In her early days of acting, Kim Novak was publicized as the Lavender Blonde or the Lavender Girl at Columbia studios. They tinted her blonde hair with lavender highlights, frequently dressed her in shades of purple and forced her to decorate her apartment in the color, according to the book “Leading Ladies: The 50 Most Unforgettable Actresses of the Studio Era.”
Lady Gaga and Brandon Flowers, lead singer of the Killers
I am always listening for classic movie information, facts or references. Imagine my surprise while listening to my two favorite musical artists, Lady Gaga and The Killers, when I ran across some classic film references.
I’m not talking about the old worn out “Bette Davis Eyes” where the whole song is dedicated to one actor, but these are subtle lyrics mentioning favorite actors.
It gives me joy that Lady Gaga and Brandon Flowers must have some respect for classic Hollywood. It seems so many of the people in Hollywood don’t care about the past or are unaware. Without the James Cagneys and Bette Davises, the actors in Hollywood wouldn’t have the freedom they exercise now.
• “The Ballad of Michael Valentine” by The Killers from the Sawdust album:
“But I’ve got a buzz like Marlon Brando straight faced with misery tonight”
“But I’ve got a buzz like Greta Garbo walking fowards in the sun”
• “Romeo and Juliet” covered by the Killers on the Sawdust album:
“There’s a place for us, you know the movie song”
-talking about “West Side Story”
•”A Dustland Fairytale” by the Killers on the Day & Age album:
“‘Moon River’ what you do to me, but I don’t believe you…”
-Mentions the theme from “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”
The video seems to be modeled after “Rebel Without a Cause” or “West Side Story” with the switch blade gang fighting.
• “Speechless” by Lady Gaga from The Fame Monster album: “With your James Dean glossy eyes In your tight jeans with your long hair”
“I can’t believe how you looked at me with your Johnnie Walker eyes”
-I actually had to look up who Johnnie Walker was. He was an actor in the 1920’s and 1930s
and he died in 1949.
• “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga from The Fame Monster album:
“I want your psycho, Your vertigo stick, Want you in my rear window, Baby you’re sick”
-Huge Hitchcock reference talking about “Psycho,” “Vertigo” and “Rear Window.” I
heard in an interview that she was sighting imperfect film romances and saying that she
would take your imperfections and still love you anyways.
• “Dance in the Dark” by Lady Gaga from The Fame Monster album:
“Marilyn, Judy, Sylvia, Tellem’ how you feel girls!”
-Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland and I’m assuming Sylvia Plath
“Work your blonde (Jean) Benet Ramsey, We’ll haunt like Liberace, find your freedom in the music find your Jesus, find your Kubrick”
-Pianist Liberace and director Stanley Kubrick
Kim Novak, the Lavender Blonde
• “So Happy I Could Die” by Lady Gaga from The Fame Monster album: “I love that lavender blonde, the way she moves, the way she walks….”
-In her early days of acting, Kim Novak was publicized as the Lavender Blonde or the Lavender
Girl at Columbia studios. They tinted her blonde hair with lavender highlights, frequently
dressed her in shades of purple and forced her to decorate her apartment in the color, according to the book “Leading Ladies: The 50 Most Unforgettable Actresses of the Studio Era.”
This week’s musical:
Comet Over Hollywood 