Tag Archives: Musical biopic

Musical Monday: Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)

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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:
Till the Clouds Roll By (1946) – Musical #166

till the couds

Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director:
Richard Whorf
Vincente Minnelli (Judy Garland’s numbers)

Starring:
Robert Walker, Van Heflin, Lucille Bremer, Dorothy Patrick, Harry Hayden, Mary Nash, Paul Langton, Paul Maxey, William ‘Bill’ Phillips
Specialty Performances from: June Allyson, Judy Garland, Lena Horne, Kathryn Grayson, Angela Lansbury, Van Johnson, Tony Martin, Cyd Charisse, Gower Champion, Frank Sinatra, Dinah Shore, Ray Macdonald, Virginia O’Brien, Caleb Peterson, Karin Booth, Sally Forrest, Johnny Johnston, Matt Mattox, Lee Wilde, Lyn Wilde

Plot:
The musical biographical film on the life songwriter Jerome Kern (Walker) and his rise to fame, starting with his collaboration with song arranger James I. Hessler (Heflin).

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Musical Monday: The Best Things in Life Are Free (1956)

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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:
Best Things in Life Are Free (1956) – Musical #729

best thing in life

Studio:
20th Century Fox

Director:
Michael Curtiz

Starring:
Gordon MacRae, Dan Dailey, Ernest Borgnine, Sheree North, Tommy Noonan, Murvyn Vye, Phyllis Avery, Larry Keating, Julie Van Zandt, Jacques d’Amboise, Roxanne Arlen, Harold Miller, Linda Brace, Patty Lou Hudson, Robert Banas (uncredited), Barrie Chase (uncredited), Ann B. Davis (uncredited), Juliet Prowse (uncredited), Marion Ross (uncredited)

Plot:
Musical biographical film on the songwriting trio Buddy DeSylva (MacRae), Ray Henderson (Dailey) and Lew Brown (Borgnine) and the music they wrote together during the 1920s. The film depicts how the trio worked together and how they grew apart when De Sylva went to Hollywood and wanted to produce pictures, leaving Henderson and Brown behind.

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Musical Monday: The Five Pennies (1959)

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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.

five penniesThis week’s musical:
The Five Pennies (1959) – Musical #254

Studio:
Paramount Pictures

Director:
Melville Shavelson

Starring:
Danny Kaye, Barbara Bel Geddes, Harry Guardino, Bob Crosby, Bobby Troup, Tuesday Weld, Susan Gordon, Ray Anthony, Shelly Mane, Ray Daley, Blanche Sweet (uncredited)
Themselves: Louis Armstrong

Plot:
A biographical film on cornet player Loring “Red” Nichols (Kaye). It shows Nichols rise to fame as he creates the successful Five Pennies band, which specializes in playing Dixieland jazz. But at the top, Nichols abruptly retires due to a family emergency.

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Musical Monday: So This Is Love (1953)

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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.

so this is love 2This week’s musical:
So This is Love (1953) – Musical #325

Studio:
Warner Bros.

Director:
Gordon Douglas

Starring:
Kathryn Grayson, Merv Griffin, Joan Weldon, Walter Abel, Rosemary DeCamp, Ann Doran, Jeff Donnell, Douglas Dick, Mabel Albertson, Fortunio Bonanova, Marie Windsor, Tristram Coffin (uncredited), Barbara Pepper (uncredited), Moroni Olsen (uncredited)
Themselves: Francois and Giselle Szony

Plot:
Musical biographical film of opera singer and actress, Grace Moore (Grayson). The film follows Moore’s struggles in her early career, loss and regain of voice, and her rise to fame.

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Musical Monday: Your Cheatin’ Heart (1964)

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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:

Your Cheatin’ Heart – Musical #252

Your Cheatin Heart

Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director:
Gene Nelson

Starring:
George Hamilton, Susan Oliver, Red Buttons, Arthur O’Connell, Rex Ingram, Shary Williams, Chris Crosby

Plot:
A biographical film on the life and career of country singer Hank Williams.

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Musical Monday: Irish Eyes Are Smiling (1944)

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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:
Irish Eyes Are Smiling (1944) – Musical #630

Studio:
20th Century Fox

Director:
Gregory Ratoff

Starring:
Monty Woolley, June Haver, Dick Haymes, Anthony Quinn, Beverly Whitney, Maxie Rosenbloom, Veda Ann Borg, Clarence Kolb, Emma Dunn (uncredited), Kenny Williams (uncredited), Marietta Canty (uncredited)
Themselves: Leonard Warren, Blanche Thebom

Plot:
Fictional biographical film of songwriter Ernest R. Ball (Haymes). The film chronicles when Ernest struggles as a songwriter and works to get to New York to follow singer and dancer Mary ‘Irish’ O’Neill (Haver).

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Musical Monday: Shine on Harvest Moon (1944)

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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 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Shine on Harvest Moon (1944) – Musical #131

Studio:
Warner Brothers

Director:
David Butler

Starring:
Ann Sheridan, Dennis Morgan, Jack Carson, Irene Manning, S.Z. Sakall, Marie Wilson, Robert Shayne

Plot:
Set in the early 1900s, this fictional biographical film follows vaudeville and Broadway stars Nora Bayes (Sheridan) and Jack Norworth (Morgan). As the couple rises to the top, they are blackballed by an old show business enemy who buys all theater chains.

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Musical Monday: Interrupted Melody (1955)

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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 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Interrupted Melody (1955)– Musical #343

Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director:
Curtis Bernhardt

Starring:
Eleanor Parker, Glenn Ford, Roger Moore, Cecil Kellaway, Ann Codee

Plot:
Biographical film on Australian opera singer Marjorie Lawrence, whose rising fame comes to a halt when she becamesf ill with polio. Paralyzed from the waist down, Marjorie isn’t sure if she will ever be able to perform or have the will to.

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Musical Monday: Stars and Stripes Forever (1952)

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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 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Stars & Stripes Forever (1952)– Musical #466

Studio:
20th Century Fox

Director:
Henry Koster

Starring:
Clifton Webb, Robert Wagner, Debra Paget, Ruth Hussey, Finlay Currie, Roy Roberts, George Chakiris (uncredited)
Narrator: Max Showalter

Plot:
Biographical film on composer and conductor John Philip Sousa (Webb), known primarily for American military and patriotic marches.

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Musical Monday: The Perils of Pauline (1947)

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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 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
The Perils Of Pauline (1947) – Musical #127

Studio:
Paramount Pictures

Director:
George Marshall

Starring:
Betty Hutton, John Lund, Billy De Wolfe, William Demarest, Constance Collier, Frank Faylen

Plot:
Biographical film about actress Pearl White, who rose to fame during the silent film era in serial where she is constantly in danger.

Trivia:
-The height of the real Pearl White’s career was from 1910 to 1924. She died at age 49 in 1938 in France.
-Actors who performed in real Peril’s of Pauline films were featured in this movie such as; Paul Panzer who was in The Perils of Pauline (1914); Creighton Hale who was in The Exploits of Elaine (1914); William Farnum who played in Riders of the Purple Sage (1918).
-Edith Head designed the costumes for the films. Head copied costumes for Pearl White’s films for historical accuracy, according to Edith Head: The Fifty-Year Career of Hollywood’s Greatest Costume Designer by Jay Jorgensen
-Louis J. Gasnier, who directed The Perils of Pauline (1914), was a technical advisor on this film.

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