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You are here: Home / Archives for Vera-Ellen

Vera-Ellen, Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Betty Garrett, Ann Miller, and Jules Munshin: On the Town (Wonderful Musical, Perfect Cast)

September 24, 2022 By Joi

Vera-Ellen and Gene Kelly, On the Town

Vera-Ellen and Gene Kelly, On the Town

On the Town (1949, directed by Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly) is such a wonderful musical – each time I see it, the same thoughts swirl around my head….

  • We simply do NOT talk enough about Vera-Ellen. She was an absolute treasure and treasures should be loudly celebrated.
  • Frank Sinatra, while (deservedly) celebrated for his music, voice, entertainment skills, and charisma, does not get enough credit for his acting. He had so much talent as an actor and was VERY versatile. Drama, musicals, comedy – there wasn’t a role out of his reach.
  • Betty Garrett was the very definition of a flawless performer. She was mesmerizing in every role, every scene… so much energy and always so fun to watch. Whatever film this actress made, she made you fall in love with her character AND her!
  • Jules Munshin was an absolute GENIUS… he managed (with aplomb!) not to get lost in scenes with not one but TWO iconic legends in Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra. Seriously.. how does one even think about pulling that off? What’s more, he even manages to steal a few scenes. This wonderful performer should have been given more roles. He was truly something else!
  • Speaking of “should have been given more,” one of the first names that always comes to mind with these words is the stunningly beautiful and talented Ann Miller. She was never anything less than a knock-out and, like Jules, a complete scene-stealer… yet, Hollywood consistently relegated her to supporting roles or the “second female.” She was capable and deserving of so much more.

Frank Sinatra, On the Town

Frank Sinatra

On the Town was the third (and final) movie Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra made together. Frank Sinatra would go on to say in an interview, “I could never dance, but Gene Kelly made me look like I could.”

Could have fooled me!

Betty Garrett and Frank Sinatra, On the Town

Betty Garrett and Frank Sinatra

Ironically, when I first saw the movie (as a teenager), my initial response to the pairing of Betty Garrett and Frank Sinatra was negative…. okay, hugely negative. Why? I have no idea. But I distinctly remember the characters all showing up on my tv screen and my mentally pairing them up differently… Frank Sinatra with Vera-Ellen, Gene Kelly with Ann Miller, and Betty Garrett with Jules Munshin.

Yes… pairing them completely different than they were in actuality! When it became apparent how each couple was to be paired, I was okay with two of the three but completely not buying into Betty and Frank.

Long story short, they won me over before the movie was even half over. What’s more, guess which pair is my favorite each and every time I revisit this movie. You guessed it, Frank and Betty.

Having said that, I love each couple with all my heart, but… well…  feel a little something extra for the one I took a few minutes to warm up to.

Ann Miller and Jules Munshin, On the Town

Ann Miller and Jules Munshin

You can find On the Town on dvd (Amazon link) or watch the magic on Prime Video.

Filed Under: Ann Miller, Frank Sinatra, Jules Munshin, On the Town Tagged With: Ann Miller, Betty Garrett, Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, Jules Munshin, musicals, On the Town, Vera-Ellen

Vera-Ellen, Letting Us Know There are Just 10 More Days till Christmas

December 15, 2021 By Joi

Vera-Ellen, White Christmas

Vera-Ellen, White Christmas

Adorable Vera-Ellen (always so extraordinary in musicals!) is here to let us know there are just 10 more days until Christmas. TEN?!?! How did this happen?!

It honestly seems like I was just watching baseball while eating grilled hamburgers with ripe tomatoes, talking about how hot it was outside! My grandmother was absolutely right and there is no doubt about it… time flies.

May as well watch all the great old movies and classic tv shows during the flight, I always say. Okay, I don’t always say it. That’s actually the first time.

Sorry I fibbed. Don’t tell Santa.

You can buy White Christmas on dvd (Amazon link) or watch on Prime Video. This is one of those movies that seems to get even better with time.

 

Filed Under: Perfect Movies, Picture of the Day, Vera-Ellen, White Christmas Tagged With: Vera-Ellen, Vera-Ellen pictures, White Christmas

Vera-Ellen, White Christmas

December 5, 2021 By Joi

Vera-Ellen, White Christmas

Vera-Ellen

One of the most magical and wonderful Christmas films ever made boasted a cast that was equally wonderful and magical. White Christmas (1954, directed by Michael Curtiz) starred Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Vera-Ellen, and Rosemary Clooney.

How could it miss?!

You can buy White Christmas on dvd (Amazon link) or watch on Prime Video. This is one of those movies that seems to get even better with time.

Vera-Ellen, White Christmas

Vera-Ellen

 

Filed Under: Musicals, Perfect Movies, Picture of the Day, Vera-Ellen, White Christmas Tagged With: Vera-Ellen, White Christmas

White Christmas Promotional Art: Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Danny Kaye, and Vera-Ellen

December 8, 2019 By Joi

White Christmas Promotional Picture

Danny Kay, Rosemary Clooney, Bing Crosby, and Vera-Ellen

I love everything about the movie White Christmas (Amazon Link), but if you want to know the one thing that makes this such a magical film… just look at the photo above. The cast is phenomenal and, from the singing to the acting to the laughter to the dancing – Danny Kay, Rosemary Clooney, Bing Crosby, and Vera-Ellen take a wonderful film and make it… well, there’s no other word for it… magical.

Plot: Bob (Bing Crosby) and Phil (Danny Kaye) create a song and dance act following WWII. They become romantically involved with a beautiful sister act Betty (Rosemary Clooney) and Judy (Vera-Ellen) and team up to save a failing Vermont inn.

The costumes, music, dance, and laughs are almost too good to be true in this visually beautiful film. It’s a classic for many reasons!


Filed Under: Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Picture of the Day, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen Tagged With: Bing Crosby, Danny Kay, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen, White Christmas

White Christmas: One of My Favorite Christmas Movies!

December 4, 2019 By Joi

Promotional Picture for White Christmas

It isn’t difficult to tell what my favorite Christmas films are around Christmas is it? You’ll see them plastered all over the blog as well as Twitter! White Christmas is certainly one of my favorites. You’ll see a lot of people name my other favorites as well – Miracle on 34th Street and It’s a Wonderful Life but few consistently name a few of my more off-the-beaten-path favorites, White Christmas and Christmas in Connecticut.

I think part of the reason is the fact that Miracle and Wonderful Life are the types of films you watch with kids, whereas the other two are more for adults. Having said that, I think most kids would love the singing, dancing, colors, and laughs in White Christmas. I certainly did when I was a kid – and I’ve loved them since.

Nevermind how many Christmases that’s been!

Danny Kaye, Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen are perfectly cast in this colorful and fun musical – they obviously had a wonderful time making this film and the mutual respect comes through the screen.

If you have never seen White Christmas (Amazon Link), I hope you’ll check it out. The cast is outstanding and the entire movie will make you fall head over heels in love with everything about it.

Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen White Christmas

Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen, White Christmas

 

Filed Under: Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Musicals, Picture of the Day, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen, White Christmas Tagged With: Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen, White Christmas

Vera-Ellen & John Brascia Tap Dancing Number from White Christmas

May 16, 2019 By Joi

Vera-Ellen and John Brascia Tap Dancing in White Christmas

Vera-Ellen and John Brascia in White Christmas

When you look around these days, there seems to be a lot of argumentativeness, anger, and anxiety (three terrible “A”s, if you ask me). You can see it in a lot of faces, hear it in a lot of voices, and detect it in a lot of lives. I certainly don’t have the answer – heck, I don’t even have a band-aid.

If I did, I’d make it my mission to bring happiness, peace, and joy back to as many people as possible.

Earlier, I was researching something for an upcoming post about Vera-Ellen and it occurred to me… someone needs to bring back musicals! If we were to think of movies as people – musicals would be the happiest people in the county.

My kind of people!

Truth be told, they may just be the band-aid we were talking about a moment ago.

When you feel stressed (My remedy for that? Step away from the news and don’t take EVERYTHING on social media so seriously.), kick back with a great musical.

A few I highly recommend…

  • You Were Never Lovelier
  • Top Hat
  • Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
  • The Pirate
  • Singing in the Rain
  • Funny Face
  • Oklahoma!
  • Three Little Words
  • Easter Parade
  • For Me and My Gal
  • The Barkleys of Broadway
  • White Christmas… YES, White Christmas NO MATTER WHAT TIME OF YEAR IT IS!  It’s fun, entertaining, beautiful, has Danny Kaye and is just the thing to bring sunshine into even the cloudiest day.

See Also: 16 Fast Facts About Vera-Ellen

Filed Under: Musicals, Vera-Ellen, White Christmas Tagged With: musicals, Vera-Ellen

16 Fast Facts About Vera-Ellen

December 11, 2017 By Joi

Vera-Ellen

Adorable Vera-Ellen

Getting to Know Vera-Ellen:

  • Vera-Ellen (an only child )was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1921.
  • Her nickname was “Bunny.”
  • Vera was painfully shy as a child and, by nine, had developed health problems.
  • Went to the same Cincinnati ballroom dance studio as a child as Doris Day. Their parents even carpooled together to the dance studio.
  • When asked about causing a sensation when she wore a form-fitting gold lame sheath to the Oscars in 1958, Vera-Ellen perfectly replied, “Why not? It’s the way Oscar dresses.”
  • She was a Radio City Rockette (and one of the youngest) but was fired after two weeks because she showed too much individuality on stage.
  • The beautiful star silently battled anorexia before doctors even understood the condition, let alone how to treat it.
  • Vera-Ellen co-starred with Donald O’Connor in Call Me Madam (1953). One of her all-time personal favorite dances was in this film. She and the wonderful O’Connor danced to  “Something to Dance About,” choreographed by the renowned Robert Alton.
  • When studios (sadly) began making fewer musicals (in the 1950s), Vera-Ellen began to fade from the public eye.
  • One of the few actresses to have danced with both Fred Astaire AND Gene Kelly onscreen. Other actresses that are in this exclusive little club include Judy Garland, Cyd Charisse, Rita Hayworth, Debbie Reynolds, and Leslie Caron.
  • Fred Astaire said about her, “She was a real accomplished dancer, that girl. Ballet, tap dancing, anything you wanted to do.“
  • During the filming of White Christmas, the costumes were made to cover Vera-Ellen’s neck because, due to anorexia, it appeared much older than her face.
  • Once said, “Fred Astaire will never say, though he’s always asked, which of his dancing ladies was his favorite partner. If you ask me, he preferred the solo turns.”
  •  The beloved classic White Christmas (1954) is the movie Vera-Ellen is most remembered for.  Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, and Rosemary Clooney were her costars in this iconic Christmas film.
  • Vera-Ellen apparently was a bit of a bookworm as a child! In her own words, “I was called a bookish child. Mother sent me to a ballet teacher in Cincinnati when I was nine years old. I guess I was an awkward child and the family wanted me to be graceful. When I found out I liked to dance and people seemed to like to watch me, I was determined to go places.”
  • She enjoys a lasting legacy as one of Hollywood’s finest dancing stars from Musicals’ cherished glory days.

 


Filed Under: Getting to Know..., Vera-Ellen Tagged With: Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen

Welcome to Hollywood Yesterday!

Ann Sheridan, It All Came True

Ann Sheridan
My name is Joi (“Joy”) and I created Hollywood Yesterday as my personal tribute to Old Hollywood. It’s my effort to help keep the stars from Old Hollywood, Classic Television, and Old Radio Shows alive and shining forever. Old Hollywood was positively magical and I see no reason for the magic to ever die.

Be warned, I am (by nature) overtly positive, I never take anything too seriously, I say extraordinary so often you’d think I invented the word, and I overuse exclamation points to distraction. I’m perpetually over-caffeinated.. we’ll blame that.

Read more about Hollywood Yesterday (and see my personal favorites) here!

Old Hollywood Actresses

Lena Horne, Meet Me in Las Vegas

See the Old Hollywood Actresses page for the index of Classic Hollywood Actresses and Classic TV Actresses.

Old Hollywood Actors

Henry Fonda, Behind the Scenes The Grapes of Wrath

See the Old Hollywood Actors page for the index of Old Hollywood and Classic TV actors.

Old Hollywood Book Reviews

Ann Dvorak: Hollywood's Forgotten Rebel by Christina Rice

I love reading old Hollywood biographies and memoirs as much as I love watching classic movies, and that’s truly saying something!

To see my Old Hollywood book reviews, please see the index listed here: Book Reviews.

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Maureen O'Hara, The Parent Trap

Maureen O’Hara

The Old Hollywood & Classic TV Pictures of the Day are published as regularly as possible. If I miss a few days, please just know that the husband, daughters, sons-in-law, grandbabies, and/or my cats were demanding my attention. I’ll be honest, nothing comes before any of them! Not even Maureen O’Hara or Henry Fonda.

Priorities, y’all.

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  • Joan Fontaine Gives One of Her Most Memorable Performances in Ivy (1947)
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Paulette Goddard and Charlie Chaplin, Modern Times
Thank you so much for visiting Hollywood Yesterday! You truly HONOR me with your presence. ~ Joi (“Joy”)

Olivia de Havilland

Olivia de Havilland, The Adventures of Robin Hood

My main goal with Hollywood Yesterday is to keep the names, faces, and films of the stars that mean so much to me shining brightly. When I’m guilty of focusing more time on my personal favorites (such as Olivia de Havilland) than other stars, I hope you’ll forgive me. I am, by all indications, very human!

Also, please know that I try to keep my posts (except for book reviews) short and to the point, so you can enjoy the pictures, grab the information, and get back to your life. I don’t appreciate anything that’s overly wordy, so I don’t want to do that to others. For better or worse, I write as I talk, so if you ever feel like you’re reading the words of someone who’s a cross between Lucy Ricardo, Daisy Duck, and a Jerry Lewis character, that’s just because you are!

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Barbara Stanwyck Quotes

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Old Hollywood Movies

Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire Top Hat Cheek to Cheek

There’s nothing quite like watching a movie from the Golden Age of Hollywood. Whether it’s a Musical, Western, Comedy, Romance, Film Noir, or Drama – if it’s on, I’m not too far away… with popcorn and raspberry tea in hand and a couple of cats nearby.

Below are a few Old Hollywood movie reviews I’ve done on the blog. There are, as you’d imagine, a lot more to come. – Joi (“Joy”)

We’re in the Money (Joan Blondell, Glenda Farrell)

The Naked Spur (James Stewart, Janet Leigh)

The Prince and the Showgirl (Marilyn Monroe, Laurence Olivier)

The White Sister (Helen Hayes, Clark Gable)

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (Howard Keel, Jane Powell, Russ Tamblyn, Julie Newmar)

Rio Bravo (John Wayne, Dean Martin, Angie Dickinson, Ricky Nelson, Walter Brennan)

El Dorado (John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, James Caan, Charlene Holt, Michele Carey)

Rio Grande (John Wayne, Maureen O’Hara)

Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein (What is it With Me and These Movies??)

The Stooge (Jerry Lewis’ favorite Lewis and Martin Movie… for good reason.)

Critic’s Choice (Hilarious movie starring Bob Hope and Lucille Ball)

To Please a Lady (Clark Gable and Barbara Stanwyck team up in a fast track movie)

Grand Hotel (Joan Crawford, Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore)

Hearts Divided (Marion Davies, Dick Powell)

The Quiet Man (John Wayne, Maureen O’Hara, Barry Fitzgerald)

More Old Hollywood Movie Reviews

Classic Hollywood Books & Biographies (Reviews)

Maureen O'Hara's Autobiography 'Tis Herself

‘Tis Herself by Maureen O’Hara
I Know Where I'm Going (Katharine Hepburn Biography) and Princess

I Know Where I’m Going: Katharine Hepburn

 

Debbie Reynolds Unsinkable
Unsinkable: A Memoir by Debbie Reynolds

 

Ginger Rogers Autobiography - Ginger: My Story

Ginger by Ginger Rogers
Love, Lucy by Lucille Ball

Love, Lucy by Lucille Ball
Vitagraph by Andrew A. Erish
Vitagraph by Andrew A. Erish
More Old Hollywood Book Reviews!

Dorothy Dandridge

Dorothy Dandridge Carmen Jones Poster

Getting to Know the Gorgeous and Talented Dorothy Dandridge

My Lucy Obsession

Lucille Ball

Find out just how much I (truly) Love Lucy in the Lucille Ball category. I’m warning you, I call it an obsession for a very good reason…

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