Tag Archives: Sammy Davis Jr.

Musical Monday: Sweet Charity (1969)

Posted on by

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:
Sweet Charity (1969) – Musical #646

Studio:
Universal Pictures

Director:
Bob Fosse

Starring:
Shirley MacLaine, John McMartin, Ricardo Montalban, Sammy Davis Jr., Chita Rivera, Paula Kelly, Stubby Kaye, Barbara Bouchet

Plot:
Charity (MacLaine) is a taxi dancer who wants to find love. However, she is unlucky in love. We first see her boyfriend Charlie (who is married) push her off a bridge into a lake in Central Park. Then she meets Italian actor Vittorio Vitale (Montalban) after he breaks up with his girlfriend and goes back to his apartment. Then she wants to get married so she can leave the dance hall.

Continue reading →

Musical Monday: Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964)

Posted on by

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:
Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964) – Musical #329

Studio:
Warner Bros.

Director:
Gordon Douglas

Starring:
Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Bing Crosby, Edward G. Robinson (uncredited), Peter Falk, Allen Jenkins, Jack La Rue, Victor Buono, Phillip Crosby, Toni Basil (uncredited), Hans Conried (uncredited), Tony Randall (uncredited), Sig Ruman (uncredited)

Plot:
Set in Chicago during the 1920s, two rival gangs compete for control of the city. Guy Gisborne (Falk) wants all the hoods in town to pay him for protection. His rival, Robbo (Sinatra) with his partners, Little John (Martin) and Will (Davis), get the reputation of robbing from the rich and giving to the poor when he donates money from Marian (Rush), the daughter of a deceased gang boss.

Continue reading →

Musical Monday: Porgy and Bess (1959)

Posted on by

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:
Porgy and Bess (1959) – Musical #601

Studio: Samuel Goldwyn Studios

Director: Otto Preminger, Rouben Mamoulian (uncredited)

Starring: Sidney Poitier, Dorothy Dandridge, Sammy Davis Jr., Pearl Bailey, Brock Peters, Diahann Carroll, Clarence Muse, Claude Atkins

Plot:
Set in 1912 Charleston, SC, in a black fishing community, Crown (Brock) kills a man and when he flees, his girlfriend Bess (Dandridge) is left behind. Scorned by most of the community because of her past with drug abuse, Porgy (Poitier), who is a crippled beggar, takes Bess in. Bess and Porgy fall in love and she tries to turn her life around, but is tempted by Crown and drug dealer Sportin’ Life (Davis Jr).

Continue reading →