Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers

There never was, nor will there ever be, a greater song and dance team on the screen that Astaire and Rogers. While there were other great male dancers during his era, and afterwards (think Kelly, O'Connor, and others). There were other male singers to whom Fred couldn't hold a candle, like Gordon MacRea, Howard Keel, or Nelson Eddy. The same goes for Ginger Rogers. Cyd Charisse, Eleanor Powell and Leslie Caron were all better dancers than she, and as to singers? Think Jane Powell, Deanna Durbin or Judy Garland; all better singers than Ginger Rogers.

But put the two of them together with an Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern or Gershwin tune, and you get Heaven. (From the move, Top Hat.)

"The Court Jester"

Last night, as we watched our favorite TV show, "Chuck," we were brought to attention by a funny homage to Danny Kaye and the Jester. In the movie's most famous scene, Danny is warned that there is poison in one of the two drinking cups that will be used to toast before the joust between him and Sir Griswold. Danny's delightful repetition as he's trying to remember the warning message, "The pellet with the poison's in the vessel with the pestle; the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true" is the stuff of great comedy. As a singer, dancer and comedic actor, Kaye was unsurpassed. But what he excelled at was wonderful word play.


The homage from Chuck? When looking for a specific bottle of wine at a wine-tasting, Chuck was told to look for the bottle with "The stable with the label and the stork on the cork." It was done very fast-paced, and was a fitting send-up to Danny Kaye and "The Court Jester."


Here is the clip of the tongue-twister: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzM8MgJxcEY

John Ford Can Do No Wrong!!

A few months ago, we watched "Stagecoach," the iconic western by John Ford that made John Wayne a star and started a filmic partnership that produced some of the greatest pictures ever produced by a director/actor team. We decided that we wanted to see more John Ford movies, and "3 Godfathers" arrived this week. This 1948 movie is overshadowed in the Ford/Wayne canon by such classics as "The Searchers," "Stagecoach" and "The Quiet Man." However, there is no denying the genius that is Ford's vision and storytelling.

Yes, there is the 'hokum' that sells films to those of us in the great unwashed. Yes, my wife and I are suckers for good-hearted bankrobbers who are redeemd by the events that surround them. Yes, as Christians, we love it when Hollywood throws us a bone and puts Bibles, hymns, and moral uprightness in a picture without mocking them. And Ford puts in all these and more. Deathbed promises and prayers, honor among thieves, commonsense sheriffs and judges, and acts of kindness testify to Ford's belief in the nobility of the common man.

Wayne is the leader of three outlaws who come to a Arizona town to rob the bank and have the misfortune to run up against a good sheriff, whose task it is to track them down over the desert. Coming upon a woman giving birth in a covered wagon, the outlaws make a promise to her as she is dying that they will take care of her child and serve as godfathers. Without horses or water, they keep their promise to fend for the baby, trying to make it to a town where they can find water.

With Ward Bond giving his usual great performance as Sheriff Purley Sweet and introducing Harry Carey, Jr., as the Abilene Kid, the film boasts great performances from the ensemble cast, and Ford again creates a unique vision of the Old West on film. Not to be missed is the scene of where Pedro is shown looking into the wagon, talking to the woman about to give birth. It is reminiscent of the final scene in "The Searchers," with Wayne silhouetted by the door. As well, the scene where John Wayne takes care of the new-born baby is delightful.

"A Slight Case of Murder"

A few months ago, we watched an old gangster movie and got to discussing prototypical gangster actors, throwing out names like Humphrey Bogart and Alan Ladd. Of course, the name of Edward G. Robinson came up, and I decided to put Robinson movies in our online rental queue. One that I was looking forward to was this one, because of the description: "a breakneck-paced comedy starring Edward G. Robinson as a tough but good-hearted bootlegger."

We finally got the DVD in, and we were so delighted with this movie. "Slight Case..." was a complete surprise, although the credits should have warned us of the mirth to come. The story is from a story by Damon Runyon, one of America's most gifted humorists, and his skewed look at life translates well onto the screen.

The story of Remy Marco, a bootlegger who goes legit when Prohibition is repealed, is delightfully portrayed by Robinson, who is equally at home handling drama and comedy. Marco is a man who made his fortune selling beer during Prohibition, and when Prohibition is repealed, the good-hearted gangster tells his mob that they are now salesmen for his now-legitimate brewery. The only problem is that while Marco's beer sold well during Prohibition, it is actually a pretty putrid beverage. With other beers now available, Marco's Gold Velvet beer tanks on the market, forcing him into financial crisis.

Deciding to go on vacation, Marco rents a summer home in Saratoga and takes his family away for a rest. However, the bodies of a gang that has just pulled a half-million dollar robbery are in an upstairs bedroom, waiting to be discovered, just has his daughter's fiance, a newly-minted state trooper comes to visit. The scene where Marco and his boys decide where to stash the bodies is not to be missed, as we howled at the reasoning for the apportioning of the stiffs throughout the community. One body, No-Nose Cohen, is to be put on another bootlegger's doorstep because he's ugly.

This is one of the funniest movies I have seen in a long time, and is a treat not to be missed. (BTW: two of Hollywood's great character actors, Allen Jenkins and Ruth Donnelly give stellar performances, showing why they had such long careers in the movies.)

The Perfect Wingman

I know what the term "Wingman" means in today's vernacular, a friend who's there to help you in dating, and in the movie "Singin' in the Rain," Donald O'Connor is Gene Kelly's perfect Buck-and-wing-man.

When MGM decided to make "Singin'....," they felt that they needed someone who could keep up with Gene Kelly, one of the two top dancers in the world. I haven't read how Don was chosen from all of the dancers but a more felicitous choice for second lead could not have been made. Don's delightfully goofy presence gives the movie extra charge, as his face and mannerisms help him steal the scene every time he is on screen.

In fact, I do believe that I am going to honor O'Connor with the First Screen Thief award (which I am just now creating, off the top of my head.) It is to Gene Kelly's credit that he lets O'Connor steal the movie out from under him. I am not knocking Gene Kelly; I love his dancing and truly feel that he is one of the top two dancers in film history (fight it out among yourselves), but when I watch "Good Morning," "Moses" and "Good Morning," I am watching Donald O'Connor and not Gene Kelly. He not only keep up with Gene Kelly, but makes it look as effortless and Kelly does. And through it all, he has that delightfully goofy expression and head-bob when he shim-shams that makes Cosmo Brown so endearing.

And he creates another iconic piece of American theater with the song "Make 'Em Laugh." This such a truly wonderful number that never gets old. I could watch this every day and never get tired of it. Enjoy Make 'Em Laugh

The Greatest Musical of All Time

And now we come to it. This is not up for debate: "Singing in the Rain" is the greatest musical, if not the greatest movie of all time. The movie is the amalgamation of everything that makes movies great: great stars, great story, great music and great performances.

(The more I think about it, I realize that I am going to have to post for several days on this film just to do it justice.)

To try to begin, Gene Kelly. One of the two greatest dancers to ever appear on the silver screen. Enthusiasts will argue through eternity as to the artistry of Gene Kelly vs. Fred Astaire, and I won't even try to go there. (Except to say that I think that I will make February Fred Astaire month.)

Gene Kelly's iconic performance of the title song is the stuff of legend. Filmed on a day when he was running a fever of 103, he created the definitive symbol of dance in the movies. The song is an old one (in fact, all the songs from the movie had appeared in numerous MGM movies. The song "Singing in the Rain" was 25 years old, dating back to the movie "Hollywood Revue of 1929.") Do a Google search for "Singing in the Rain" and you will find at the top of the results page are links to this one clip. Again, it is the definitive image of song and dance.

This movie is such an part of the American psyche that a Broadway musical was created to tell the same story, scene by scene, line by line, dance by dance, as the movie. And even though the DVD of "Singing in the Rain" are readily available, audiences flocked to see it performed live. Two years ago, we went to see a production of it at the theater department of Regent University in Virginia Beach, VA. Done by theater students at Regent, it was a wonderful experience to see the show done live, right down to the Rain. There was a 'rain cart' that provided the rain on the stage for the scene of Don Lockwood dancing down the street and jumping in the puddles.

What more can be said? The movie has been voted the #1 musical of all time; the movie has been listed in the top 5 of ALL movies. It is truly great, and the only thing I can to is to leave you with this link: Singing in the Rain

WHAT??!!???!!!

Yes, I have entitled this blog "Twice As Gay As Anchors Aweigh." No, this is not a sex blog, nor is it a gay-themed blog. It is a movie blog.

So how did I choose that name? From a movie trailer for the MGM musical "On the Town." I love old movies, pure and simple. I do NOT like movies that are made today, for the most part. I will go to see a movie 2-3 times a year. (Just went to see Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader on Friday, so I'm probably good until April or May.)

Anyway, back to my explanation. For several years, we have had a subscription to Blockbuster Online, and one day, after renting "Anchors Aweigh," we rented the sequel, "On the Town." Of course, on the DVD there was a Special Features section and included the theatrical trailer for the movie. And you can imagine how we howled, my wife, my two daughters and I, when emblazoned on the screen and read aloud dramatically and enthusiastically by the announcer, were the words "Twice As Gay As Anchors Aweigh." We had to stop the DVD just to give us time to catch our breaths from the howling laughter that that advertisement engendered. And as you can imagine, that phrase has stuck with us.

In fact, that very evening two years ago, I got the idea for this blog and the title. But when I shared it with my wife and girls they unanimously said, "OH NO YOU DON'T!!" But my craziness and skewed sense of humor finally won out over sensible reasoning, and here I am, and here is "Twice As Gay As Anchors Aweigh."

What is the purpose of this blog?

To talk about movies, when movies were good.

As I was growing up, my mom had tons of soundtrack LPs from Broadway and Hollywood musicals, and I basically have the American theater as my personal soundtrack. To this day, my favorite movies are MGM musicals, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movies, etc. Back in the 60's there was not wall-to-wall children's programming in the after-school afternoons or Saturday mornings. Nor was there wall-to-wall daytime programming such as these made-up judge programs or Maury/Jerry Springer/The View/Ellen. If there were programs for kids, they were local shows that interspersed skits with cartoons made for the movie theaters (Popey/Bugs Bunny/etc.) And often times there were the afternoon 'theaters' where the local stations would play old movies. Oh how I looked forward to those movies on our old b&w TV.

I learned to love those old movies as I was growing up, and my disenchantment with the cynical crap that passes for entertainment today has only increased my love of those old films.

So what do I envision for this blog? A personal revisiting of my favorite movies and actors, and a sharing of some of the things I'm learning about the making of these older movies. I hope that I am able to pass on the love for these older films to others and in some small way, add to the enriching of the internet by what I share.

Remember folks, to tune in next time. Same Time, Same Station.