HOORAY FOR HOLLYWOOD: SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952)

Since my slavish devotion to Lina Lamont is well known to anyone who might have stumbled by here in the past, I simply had to include Singin’ in the Rain as part of the Hooray for Hollywood series.

I can’t help viewing this film as a musical counterpoint to Sunset Boulevard; sort of the positive to the negative/the sun to the shade. There are those who made the transition to sound (Don Lockwood/Garbo) and those who didn’t (poor Lina/poor Norma Desmond). Filmed 20 years after the last of the silent films hit the theaters, it is an occasionally nasty, sometimes affectionate look at that moment in time when Hollywood was turned on its ear and then turned on its own.

 

Written by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, the film is based, in part, on the memories of producer Arthur Freed and costume designer Walter Plunkett, both who lived through those traumatic changes. At the advent of sound and musicals, Freed was a lyricist, working with composer Nacio Herb Brown (their music is used throughout the film) and Walter Plunkett was wrestling with sound in such early sound musicals as Rio Rita and Dixiana. He remembered only too well how the swish of a dress or the random fingering of a string of pearls could record like a thundering herd of buffalo during those early days. Singin’ in the Rain perfectly captures the panic and the joy of the new medium. It was a topsy-turvy world where great stars (John Gilbert/Clara Bow/Lina Lamont) were toppled from their thrones and virtual unknowns were elevated to star status (Kathy Selden/Alice White/Clark Gable). Some survivors thrived (Joan Crawford, Ronald Colman) while some merely or barely survived (Gloria Swanson).

 

Beyond the sorrow of the twilight of the silents lay the joy of those goofy, innocent early musicals. The Dueling Cavalier becomes the Dancing Cavalier. And Don Lockwood can dance! Who knew? Beyond the diction lessons and the technical mishaps was a feeling of joy and creativity. In the depths of the Depression, silly, gleeful musicals lifted the spirits (even if some of those chorus girls could barely lift their thighs). High spirits abounded, at least for a while. Here's the 1929 version of that famous song (from the finale of The Hollywood Revue of 1929). See how many stars you can identify.

 

Singin’ in the Rain is a bow to the Nancy Carrolls, the Buddy Rogers, the Zelma O’Neils and the John Boles - and all those crazy kids who made us feel like singing and dancing in the rain. Zelma who? Nany who? Check out Nancy Carroll and Buddy Rogers and Zelma and Jack from 1930's Follow Thu.

 

And really, what’s not to love? Kelly’s Don Lockwood is a dancing Fairbanks – dashing, masculine and a joy to behold. It is my favorite Kelly performance (and that’s saying a lot).

 

Gene and the Louise Brooks-inspired leg of the delicious Cyd Charisse

 

The great Donald O'Connor really gets a chance to show how talented he was. His signature number of Make “em Laugh is unforgettable.

 

Debbie Reynolds was cute, but probably the most expendable cast member. She was only 19 when this was made. Her tales of Kelly as a tough task-master legendary and her gratitude to him is a testament to her professionalism.

 

And of course, there is Jean Hagen, as Lina Lamont. There are few things in this world that are perfect and her performance here is one of them. Totally, 100% perfect. As a charter member of the Lina Lamont fan club I can only hope that she went on to buy the studio.

 

A lovely look back at themselves by the insiders who were there without the venom and with out the sadness that a parade had indeed passed by, Singin’ in the Rain remains a joy to behold.

 

Gene Kelly in Marjorie Morningstar: Dig That Heel!

This is my contribution to the Gene Kelly Centennial Blogathon, hosted by the Classic Movie Blog Association, honoring the actor, director, choreographer and all around charmer's 100th birthday. To view the other fantastic contributions about all things Gene, click here.

Not the Gene Kelly I first fell in love with

We all know Gene Kelly is one of the very best dancers in the history of musical film, his only serious rival being the incomparable Fred Astaire (you can easily switch their names in this sentence). Who doesn't love Gene in the rain, Gene in Paris or Gene in his Navy whites?

However, the Gene I first fell in love with is a drop dead gorgeous, doomed, womanizing heel by the name of Noel Airman in 1958's "Marjorie Morningstar." Back in the 1960s, local TV stations easily obtained rights to less than classic films. So, as an impressionable and tender tween stuck at home on a rainy Saturday afternoon, I was introduced to May-December love with all of the glamour and caution Hollywood could provide. It planted a seed of a romantic vision that never left me.

Based on Herman Wouk's 1955 novel of the same name, "Marjorie Morningstar" tells the tale of nice Jewish girl Marjorie Morgenstern and her desire to live the life of an artist and break free from the conventions of the life her parents planned for her. We first meet Marjorie (played by an endearing, yearning Natalie Wood) as a lovely but restless student at Hunter College. She rejects the perfectly nice boy she is dating because she wants more than the predictable life he offers. You see, Marjorie wants to be an actress.

The restless Marjorie and her trouble-making friend, Marsha (played by Carolyn Jones) spend their summer as counselors at a girl's camp in upstate New York. Egged on by Marsha, the 2 girls sneak across the lake to an adult camp called "Southwind." This was the era of the Jewish Alps and the Borscht Belt, terms for resorts where performers went to learn their craft. There, Marjorie meets Noel Airman, the camp's social director and admitted big fish in the little pond. Marjorie also strikes up a friendship with Airman protege and aspiring playwright Wally Wronkin (Martin Milner), but Marjorie falls madly in love with Noel and he with her. He basks in her adoration and her belief in his genius and he encourages her to transform from Marjorie Morgenstern to Marjorie Morningstar (just as he had changed his name from Ehrman to Airman).

Marjorie and Wally openly adore Noel

And thus begins the undoing of Noel Airman. Marjorie's love makes him take a respectable job in advertising, but the office life is not for him. Cruelly, he cheats on Marjorie and flaunts his fling in her face. Still, Noel and Marjorie manage to patch thing up. When former protege Wally pens a hit play, Airman finally takes the leap into the big pond of Broadway professionals with his show "Princess Jones" and fails miserably. He goes back to Southwind, where he once again can be the object of the young girls' adoration and the big fish in the little pond. Marjorie reluctantly faces the truth and leaves him behind while faithful Wally, who has loved her all along, is waiting for her.

He knew the romance was doomed from the start

So, here we have Gene, the egotistical, womanizing, romantic loser - and I love him! He is every young woman's fantasy older man: gorgeous, charming and not too old. I remember feeling envious of Marjorie. If she had to have a doomed love affair, at least it was with Gene Kelly! I know that "Marjorie Morningstar" hardly registers as a blip on either Kelly's or Wood's resumes, but, being that tender, romantic tween at first viewing, I never forgot it. Gene does do some dancing in the film, but it's just a brief scene or two. Imagine how thrilled I was to later learn how well Gene could really dance! 

There are 3 things in this film that I can never forget.

One was Gene's rendition of "A Very Precious Love." I still know all the words. Sigh...

Another was Natalie's metallic weave black one-piece bathing suit that I coveted for years (and which sold for $6,000 at auction)

And, the last was the discovery that Gene was one great kisser.

All of this goes to show that Gene Kelly plays a great, sexy heel. This isn't news, since his great Broadway hit was as that all-time heel of heels, "Pal Joey." This darkness was also on display in "Les Girls" and "Christmas Holiday." 

Behind the blinding smile was a deep darkness that Kelly, the actor, "tapped" into with great result. He never was light as a feather, even when dancing. Instead, an earthly force seemed always to be pulling at him, making him conflicted, complex, intriguing, and oh-so desirable.

THAT'S HOT! 10 SEXY PERFORMANCES FOR A STEAMY SUMMER

Yes, it's hot here in my neck of the woods. Words like steamy and sultry and sizzling are bandied about and, while it should make me think of air conditioning, it is making me think of sexy movies (I know, I'm hopeless!). Because they all come rushing into my head like bargain hunters at a one-hour sale at Walmart, I need to put them in some order. Otherwise, I may just pass out from the excitement!

So, in no particular order, here are my top 5 sexy male and female film performances. This list is totally subjective and based upon my feelings today (things change on a daily basis here sometimes).

*** WARNING ***

IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR AN ABOVE-THE-WAIST INTELLECTUAL DISSECTION OF WHAT MAKES THE LIBIDO TICK, MOVE ON!

Women

1. Clara Bow in "Call her Savage"

This poster pretty much says it all: "The throbbing adventures of a woman who unleashed her heart... so revelatory... so courageous in its searching depiction of the secret things in a woman's life that its burning words left a trail of readers breathless and amazed."

Clara is unbelievably sexy in this one, especially when she is horsewhipping Gilbert Roland's "Moonglow" (don't ask) and frolicking - clearly sans undergarments - on the floor with her Great Danes. Just outrageous pre-code stuff.

Clara, just 27, would only make one more film.

2. Rita Hayworth in "Gilda"

If you have never seen this, all I can say is fasten your safety belts. While my lists of top 5 may change ever so slightly depending on mood, this one will never fall out. 

This is one of the sexiest female performances ever committed to film. Rita is beautiful, daring and totally uninhibited. In other words, she is Gilda.

3. Louise Brooks in "Pandora's Box"

The legendary Louise Brooks is so unconsciously sexy as the conscienceless Lulu that it is impossible to take your eyes off of her.

Besides that face, that hair, that attitude, she also had a beautiful back and neck, with which Pabst was apparently fascinated!

4. Ingrid Bergman "Notorious"

I admit that I am a sucker for Hitchcock and Grant and think those 2 could make any woman feel and act sexy. However, for Ingrid, who was plenty sexy enough, this combo just upped the ante.

As the good-bad-girl who dabbles in espionage, she is all woman. Little girls need not apply for this role!

5. Eva Marie Saint "North by Northwest"

This one will never fall off of my list of tops, either. Eva is Hitchcock's sexiest leading lady in this film - bar none. 

Always cool, always a lady (no matter how many men she beds), but sexy down to her tippy-toes, she is a sweetheart underneath it all (not to mention a knock-out in those fabulous Edith Head costumes). She is fearlessly sexy in this film -  alarmingly, but charmingly, so.

Men

1. Rudolph Valentino in "The Son of the Sheik"

Unself-consciously romantic, macho and hot, Valentino lays it all out there for the world to adore.

Who needs subtlety when you look like that, kiss like that and have biceps like that? 


2. William Holden in "Picnic"

Need I say more?

Okay, if you insist. Aside from the fact that Holden was at the peak of his beauty and that the shirt kept coming off at the drop of a hat, when he and Kim Novak started dancing to "Moonglow," which segued into the "Theme from Picnic" there were never 2 more beautiful people on a lantern-lit dance floor.

3. Gene Kelly in "The Pirate"

Gene Kelly is a beautiufl, sexy man. Period.

In this film he gets to showcase his Fairbanksian charm, devastating smile and dangerous edge. His joie de vivre was never more evident as "Mack the Black" and he was never sexier. And that's saying a lot.

4. Laurence Olivier in "Wuthering Heights"

Again - you need more?

Okay, besides being impossibly handsome, earthy and sexy, his heartbreak over Cathy's demise was unutterably romantic. Great actor and great looks - some people get it all!

5. Cary Grant in "An Affair to Remember"

Notice how Cary crept into a few of the women's performances? Well, I can't help it and I really have a hard time just picking one, so I'm going with "An Affair to Remember," even though it is far from my favorite Cary Grant film.

I'm selecting this film because here Cary plays the pursuer. He is usually more the object of desire than the initiator ('though he always finishes up just fine). Here he is is the playboy who really wants Deborah Kerr. And what Cary wants, Cary should get! I can't think of anything sexier than being pursued by Cary Grant.

And finally, I am adding this photo because it looks fine on any day, but on a 104 degree day? I'd love to cool off with Cary, but I have a feeling you'd be able to boil an egg in that water!

Well, I could go on and on and on and on and have left out so many, but I did limit it to 5. Sorry Clark, Greta, Marilyn, Paul, etc.

So, how about you? Who steams up your glasses and sets you heart racing over the long, hot summer?

Lina Lamont's Lament

Dora Bailey reporting here from Hollywood!

Imagine that you have been a loyal employee for many years. Suddenly, new technology is introduced into your workplace and your employer no longer needs nor wants you. To make matters worse, he ridicules you in front of the entire world. This, my friends, was poor Lina Lamont's fate.

It's time Lina had her say!

We decided to interview Miss Lamont at her spacious Beverly Hills home. It has been five years since Lina has appeared in a film. However, she seems to be doing well, as her home is as well-maintained and as luxurious as ever. As we motor up the sweeping driveway to her front door, we are greeted by none other than Lina, herself (draped in jade silk pajamas with a white fox trim).
DB: Lina! You never looked lovelier!
LL: Thank you, Dora. I do try my best.

Lina escorts me into her lovely sitting room. Freshly brewed iced tea with a fragrant hint of mint and finger sandwiches are awaiting us.

DB: Lina, the last time I interviewed you was at the premier of "The Royal Rascal," your next-to-last motion picture before your sudden retirement.

At the time, you were engaged to Don Lockwood. Your's was one of Hollywood's most popular and glamorous romances. With all of that chemistry on screen and off, everyone just assumed you'd get married. It seemed like a match made in the stars.

LL: Well, Dora, I just assumed it, too. After all, we were engaged. But then that Selden woman wormed her way into my Donny's heart.

Lina's eyes well with tiny, pearl-shaped tears, but she courageously tells her story in her charming, little-girl voice.

LL: Oh Dora, it was a terrible time for me. Here I was, the biggest star at Monumental Studios. It was me, ME, who gave Donny his start. He was just a lowly stunt man when I saw something special in him. Over time I came to love him deeply, but I found out the hard way that he was just interested in me to advance his career. Once  he thought that this Selden creature could be of more use to him, he dumped me.

DB: You were indeed Monumental Studio's biggest star!
Lina retrieves a yellowing scrap of newspaper from a Louis XIV writing desk.
LL: I was "a shimmering, glowing star in the cinema firmament." Says so, right here.
DB: Yes you were, sweetheart.  On that fateful evening of the premier of "The Dancing Cavalier," your first talking picture, Lockwood cruelly exposed that Kathy Selden had dubbed your voice. Lockwood then went on to marry her. Talk to me about that.

LL: Dora, Donny was a good man until he met that horrible Kathy Selden! He would never think of such cruelty until he took up with her. Why, did you know that she actually assaulted me at a party with a cake? A party, I might add, where she made her entrance jumping out of a cake.The woman is a menace!

DB: Oh Lina, that's terrible. Have you been following Don and Kathy's careers?

LL: I pay them no mind. I have no use for second rate talents. I only follow big stars.

DB: Speaking of big stars, do you ever see any of the old gang anymore?

LL: Not so much. I still talk to Zelda Zanders from time to time. She's doing well in talkies. I lost touch with Olga Mara and while I still see Norma Desmond being driven around town, I never speak to her any more. I hope she is doing well. I guess you could say I am no longer in the movie business.

DB: That's too bad, because "The Dancing Cavalier" was a very big hit and you were just beautiful in it.

LL: Thank you, Dora. You're very sweet to say that. But let me tell you, that wig weighed a ton! 

And I just didn't like all of the dangers that wiring for sound presented. In fact, on of the reasons I stopped working is due to an injury I suffered on the set while they were wiring me for sound. Some jerk pulled on the microphone cord they had sewn in my dress and I went you-know-what over tea kettle! Landed right on my derrière! I always suspected it was R.F. Simpson, but I could never be sure.

DB: Oh my! You really took some physical abuse! Can you tell our readers what is next for Lina Lamont?

LL: I can indeed! In fact, that's why I am allowing you to speak to me today. I have a bit of news.

DB: A scoop?

LL: Yes! I am getting married.

Lina waves her dainty hand, revealing a gorgeous diamond ring that has to be at least 20 carats

But her glow was not just from the glittering gem.

LL: Remember Cosmo Brown, the brains behind Don Lockwood? Cosmo and I never used to like each other. In fact, I thought he was a real pill. But Cosmo and I have been keeping company for some time now. Donny also turned his back on Cosmo after he married that Selden woman and they were the best of friends. Cosmo and I commiserated and gradually fell in love. 

DB: Oh you sly young lovers! You really kept that on the QT! Didn't I just read that Cosmo Brown had been fired from Monumental Studios for jumping through another wall? Apparently, he has destroyed one too many.

LL: Now, Dora, you know you can't believe everything you read! The truth is, Donny had Cosmo fired because of our relationship. Apparently, he is still jealous. Well, it's his loss. He can sit home and knit with Miss Mousy. Cosmo is leaving for Broadway to write the music for a new show and I'm gonna star in it! I'll show them I ain't just people! Goodbye, Hollywood, Hello Broadway!

We all wish Lina great success. She is a grand gal and I, for one, know she will be a big hit on Broadway. What do you have to say about that Don and Kathy?

This is Dora Bailey signing off from Hollywood!