Let's Talk about Movie Musicals

Annie Get Your Gun, is a good one too, but I've only seen that once. Betty Hutton replaced Judy Garland who had been cast but washed out of the film after only a very short time. Some of Garland's original work on the film survives.

Have you seen the original version of, 'I'm an Indian too'? It's a lot different than the same number done by Betty Hutton.

Yes, I've seen the Judy Garland version of "I'm an Indian Too". I love Judy Garland, but I prefer the Betty Hutton version. (Maybe because I saw it first, and it's kind of like trying to compare a remake of a movie to the original version.)

But it would have been interesting to see Judy Garland in the whole movie. Unfortunately that was near the end of her career, and she was having a lot of personal problems that she just couldn't overcome.

Did you know that she had an affair with Orson Welles? I think it was while he was married to Rita Hayworth.

No, I didn't know that, surprising though. The DVD extras of Annie Get Your Gun have some outtakes of scenes with Judy Garland. She seemed either really out of it or plastered. Nothing funny about it, the scenes are kind of sad actually.

Unfortunately from what I've read, in her private life she was very unhappy. She fought drugs and alcohol for many years, and that was the ultimate cause of her death at such a young age. It's such a shame because she was so talented.

I heard that when Judy was a teenager at MGM doing films with Mickey Rooney, the head of MGM, Louie B Mayer, referred to Judy as his 'ugly duckling'....He most likely meant it as a cute pet name, but to someone like Judy with a fragile ego, who did believe that she was ugly, it must have been devastating.

I've heard those stories, and I don't know why he called her that. She may not have been the prettiest actress at MGM, but she was far from the "ugly duckling".

I agree, I heard that during WW2 some of the servicemen had Judy Garland as their pin up sweetheart girl. I think Judy has an inner charm that makes her beautiful.

The Harvey Girls
Meet Me In St. Louis
In the Good Old Summertime

Are some of my favorites, I like the period piece set in the late 1800s in a nostalgic romanticized view.

I love "In the Good Old Summertime". I watched it after I saw "You've Got Mail", and I found out that it was a remake of that movie and "The Shop Around the Corner". I watched both earlier versions as a double feature one night. That's one of the few movies that the original and the remakes are all good movies.

That sounds like a good double feature, GB.

The Shop Around the Corner was Frank Capra? I'm too lazy to google it.

It seems like a Capra film. I know he liked working with Jean Arthur. Jean couldn't sing (that I know of) but along with Carol Lombard, she was one of the most talented comedians in the 1930s, IMO of course.

I would have to look it up, but I don't think it was a Capra film. I know that it starred Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullivan, but I don't remember who directed it.

Shows how good my memory is, I got both wrong. Not a Capra film but a Ernest Lubitsch film. And no Jean Arthur to be found. You're right Margaret Sullivan. I did remember Jimmy Stewart though.

That may not have been a Capra movie, but he made some great movies. Most people probably consider "It's a Wonderful Life" to be his best movie, but my favorite of his movies is "Arsenic and Old Lace" with Cary Grant. I think it's a very underrated movie.

Man! I just looked at Capra's movies, and he did a lot of them! Lot of good ones too.

Oh...way back there, you said you're a Gene Kelly fan. Have you seen the dance number Slaughter on Tenth Avenue with Vera-Ellen from "Words and Music". That's one of my favorite dance numbers.

Catch you latter, good night.

No, that doesn't sound familiar. I'll have to look it up.

Good night.

I found the dance on YouTube and watched it. It's good, but I wouldn't consider it one of Gene Kelly's best dances. He doesn't get to really shine until about 4 minutes into the dance, and he doesn't sing either. But every time he dances, he's amazing. There's just something hypnotic about his dancing.

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My favorite film musical is Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, with the great Howard Keel. I like the dancing of Gene Kelly, particularly in Brigadoon. And a favorite song from a musical is There Were Bells from The Music Man. My favorite overall musical score is from Grease. I loved the music from Xanadu but not the movie.

Oops! The song from The Music Man I was thinking of is called 'Til There Was You.

It depends on which one, and the music. From all I've seen, my top 5 would be:

1. Singin' in the Rain
2. Across the Universe
3. The Phantom of the Opera
4. Sweeney Todd
5. Chicago