I've got a beautiful feeling everything's going my way... Oklahoma!, a musical written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, opened on Broadway in 1943. It was based on the 1931 play Green Grow the Lilacs, written by Lynn Riggs. The Broadway production was a box office hit, running for over 2,000 performances, an astounding feat. … Continue reading OKLAHOMA! (1955)
During this worrisome time, staying inside has never been so important. As many people are afraid, it's nice to be able to turn to movies to help comfort and calm us. Here is a list of films I personally recommend watching to lift your spirits. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) One of the … Continue reading Comfort Films
Before the 1961 and 1998 versions of The Parent Trap, there was Three Smart Girls. It was released in 1936 and it was Deanna Durbin's feature film debut. She had made her onscreen debut in a musical short with Judy Garland called Every Sunday. Durbin, who had just turned fifteen at the time of its release, was … Continue reading Three Smart Girls: The Original Parent Trap
Just think - tonight...tonight when the moon is sneaking around the clouds I'll be sneaking around you. I'll meet you tonight under the moon. Oh, I can see it now - you and the moon. Wear a neck-tie so I'll know you. Ninety years (and a few weeks) ago - August 3rd, 1929 - the … Continue reading Happy 90th Anniversary to The Cocoanuts
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are Anything your heart desires will come to you... ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ Cliff Edwards (AKA "Ukulele Ike") was born Clifton Avon Edwards in a small river town called Hannibal, Missouri on June 14, 1895 to Edward and Nellie (Farnum) … Continue reading Hannibal + Film History, Part 1 : Cliff Edwards (“Ukulele Ike”)
Arguably the greatest movie musical of all time, Singin' in the Rain, in its sixty-sixth year of existence, continues to prove that a Technicolor musical comedy all about the transition from the silent film era to the talkie era has the power to hold up in this ever-changing digital age. Most of the songs in the … Continue reading The History Behind the Songs of Singin’ in the Rain
The ninth annual TCM Classic Film Festival was held on April 26 - 29 in Hollywood, CA. This year's theme was Powerful Words: The Page Onscreen so many of the films screened were based on novels, created from original screenplays, or depicted the life of writers - real and fictitious - onscreen. I find it so … Continue reading TCM Classic Film Festival 2018: My Story
Men have been buzzing around here like flies ever since you gave up baseball. This place is beginning to look like the YMCA on a rainy afternoon! Happy 96th birthday to Ms. Doris Day, one of the brightest lights to ever illuminate Hollywood. She was born Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff on April 3, 1922 in Cincinnati, … Continue reading ON MOONLIGHT BAY (1951)
"You think anything's going to stand in the way of us playing the Palace this time? Oh no, not even a war." For Me and My Gal was released in theaters in late 1942, when America was fully emerged in World War II. After the US entered the War in December 1941, Hollywood joined in on … Continue reading For Me and My Gal (1942)
Welcome to Tait College circa 1927, where football rules and romance is aplenty. This is Good News. This film is a remake of the 1930 film musical, which was based on the 1927 play. (The 1930 version was a full-out Pre-Code production filled with sexual innuendos. By the 1940s, it was no longer screened in the … Continue reading GOOD NEWS (1947)
vitaphonedreamer.wordpress.com 