Tag Archives: Musical Monday

Musical Monday: The Slipper and the Rose: The Story of Cinderella (1976)

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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:
Slipper and The Rose: The Story of Cinderella (1976) – Musical #567

Studio:
Paradine Co-Productions

Director:
Bryan Forbes

Starring:
Richard Chamberlain, Margaret Lockwood, Kenneth More, Gemma Craven, Annette Crosbie, Edith Evans, Michael Hordern, Lally Bowers, Christopher Gable, Sherrie Hewson, Sherrie Hewson, Julian Orchard

Plot:
Prince Edward (Chamberlain) of the small kingdom of Euphrania wants to marry for love. But his father the King (Hordern) needs to arrange a political marriage with a princess from another kingdom so their small domain is not invaded. Outside the palace walls, Cinderella’s (Craven) father dies and her stepmother (Lockwood) forces her into servitude. The King holds a ball so Prince Edward can find a wife and Cinderella’s fairy godmother (Crosbie) fixes it so Cinderella can go. Prince Edward and Cinderella fall in love, but their romance is complicated because she isn’t of noble blood.

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Musical Monday: Eve Knew Her Apples (1945)

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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:
Eve Knew Her Apples (1945)– Musical #282

Studio:
Columbia Pictures

Director:
Will Jason

Starring:
Ann Miller, William Wright, Robert Williams, Charles D. Brown, Ray Walker

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Musical Monday: The French Line (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 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
The French Line (1953) – Musical #154

Studio:
RKO Pictures

Director:
Lloyd Bacon

Starring:
Jane Russell, Gilbert Roland, Arthur Hunnicutt, Craig Stevens, Mary McCarty, Rita Corday, Theresa Harris (uncredited), Kim Novak (uncredited), Joi Lansing (uncredited), Charles Smith (uncredited), Sandy Descher (uncredited)

Plot:
Oil heiress Mary Carson (Russell) is jilted by her fiancé Phil (Stevens). Fed up with men being intimidated by her millions, Mary takes a cruise on the French Line posing as a model and her friend poses as her. She wants to see if a man will love her for her personality (and not money) or if they will go for the girl who they believe is rich.

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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: Three Little Girls in Blue (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 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Three Little Girls In Blue (1946) – Musical #535

Studio:
20th Century Fox

Director:
H. Bruce Humberstone

Starring:
June Haver, George Montgomery, Vivian Blaine, Vera-Ellen, Celeste Holm, Frank Latimore, Charles Smith, Coleen Gray (uncredited), Gary Gray (uncredited), Ruby Dandridge (uncredited)

Plot:
Set in 1902, Pam (Haver), Liz (Blaine) and Myra (Ellen) are three sisters hoping to come into a large inheritance. When their windfall is less than expected, they decide to head to Atlantic City, NJ, to find rich husbands. Pam dresses as an elegant lady while Liz is her secretary and Myra the maid.

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Musical Monday: Sunny Side Up (1929)

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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:
Sunny Side Up (1929) – Musical #396

Studio:
Fox Film Corporation

Director:
David Butler

Starring:
Janet Gaynor, Charles Farrell, Marjorie White, Sharon Lynn, El Brendel, Frank Richardson, Jackie Cooper (uncredited)

Plot:
Wealthy Jack Cromwell (Farrell) is fed up with his flirting fiance, Jane (Lynn). One night he drives to New York City and meets working girl Molly (Gaynor), who recognizes him from the society pages. Jack decides to take Molly back to Long Island to make Jane jealous. Jack sets up Molly in an apartment and she poses as a society woman. Molly is in love with Jack, but rumors start that Molly is Jack’s “kept woman.”

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Musical Monday: Go, Johnny, Go! (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 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Go, Johnny, Go! (1959) – Musical #564

Studio:
Hal Roach Studios

Director:
Paul Landres

Starring:
Jimmy Clanton, Sandy Stewart
Themselves: Chuck Berry, Alan Freed, Ritchie Valens, Jackie Wilson, Jo Ann Campbell, The Cadillacs, The Flamingos, Harvey Fuqua, Eddie Cochran, Jimmy Cavalio and the House Rockers

Plot:
Talent scout and producer Alan Freed (himself) is hunting for a new singing star that he will name Johnny Melody. Johnny (Clanton) is an orphan with hopes of becoming a rock star. When he reconnects with fellow former orphan Julie (Stewart), she encourages him to cut a record and send it to Alan Freed. The plot is dispersed with performances of rock-n-roll performances from singers popular in 1959.

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Musical Monday: Balalaika (1939)

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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:
Balalaika (1939) – Musical #227

Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director:
Reinhold Schünzel

Starring:
Nelson Eddy, Ilona Massey, Charles Ruggles, Frank Morgan, Lionel Atwill, C. Aubrey Smith, Joyce Compton, Phillip Terry, George Tobias

Plot:
Beginning in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1914, Lydia Pavlovna Marakova (Massey) is a singer in a cafe and the daughter of a political activist. She meets and falls in love with Prince Peter Karagin (Eddy), who poses as a commoner. World War I begins the same day it’s revealed that Lydia’s family had a plot to kill the prince and his father (Smith). The war seperated Lydia and Peter.

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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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Musical Monday: Anchors Aweigh (1945)

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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:
Anchors Aweigh (1945) – Musical #18

Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director:
George Sidney

Starring:
Gene Kelly, Kathryn Grayson, Frank Sinatra, Dean Stockwell, Pamela Britton, Rags Ragland, Billy Gilbert, Henry O’Neill, Leon Ames, Grady Sutton,
Themselves: Jose Iturbi, Carlos Ramírez

Plot:
Two sailors (Kelly, Sinatra) are on leave in Los Angeles when they meet a lost little boy, Donald (Stockwell). When they return Donald home, they meet his Aunt Susan (Grayson), who raises the boy and has dreams of becoming a singer. To impress her, the sailors mislead Aunt Susan and tell her they know famous pianist Jose Iturbi, so she can audition for him. Now they just have to find Jose Iturbi.

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