Footlight Parade (1933) - James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler

Swell flick. About a producer of prologues, Chester Kent (Cagney), who has a lot of trouble getting ideas for prologues made before the rivaling company, Galdstone, steals them. Finally, Chester gets an ingenous idea. If you have one store, you have to sell aspirin for twenty-five cents, but if you're selling for a hundred stores, you can name your own price -- the same goes for prologues. The problem is, he has to have them done by that Saturday. Meanwhile, singing star Powell won't leave the supposedly unfeminine Keeler alone about her "singing friends" -- that is, him -- and the whole thing leaves room for plenty of laughs and wonderful Busby Berkeley numbers. The songs include "Honeymoon Hotel" -- remember the Bugtown cartoon? with the bug couple honeymooning? Well, does this act look familiar? Hmm.... :> --, "By a Waterfall" -- I think this was in a cartoon as well, do you remember a "You-ho-ho-ho"? Uh, didn't think so.... --, "Shanghai Lil". Wonderful. See it. Rating (1-10 stars): 8 1/2 stars

Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933) - Warren William, Joan Blondell, Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler, Aline MacMahon, Guy Kibbee

Pretty good -- about a certain rich brother (William) of a certain singer and songwriter (Powell) trying to get his brother out of love with a certain "gold digger" (Keeler) -- chorus girl, that is -- but he has to find out which gold digger his certain brother is in love with first. Nice and funny, with wonderful numbers which include "Petting in the Park", "I've Got to Sing a Torch Song", "My Forgotten Man". Great reflection of the Depression. Rating: 8 stars

With a Song In My Heart (1952) - Susan Hayward, David Wayne, Rory Calhoun, and look for a 21/22-year-old Robert Wagner

My gosh, how swell.  I really thought this was a wonderful movie.  The songs were good, it was a swell plot....  Oh, yeah, the plot.  Susan Hayward stars in this bio about singer Jane Froman's recovery from a near-fatal accident.  Touching, funny, kinda romantic (um, if you call it that).  At the recommendation of my mom, a Hayward fan, I saw this... and you can expect I Want To Live on my  Classic Movies Homepage whenever I get around to updating it (I'm ashamed to say it's been a loooooong while....).  Speaking of updating, gosh, sorry, readers, that it has taken me months to update this homepage!  My ISP was being difficult and kept hanging -- I was lucky to get even my small  Remember WENN fan page to upload!  Um, anyway.  I definitely recommend this.  Rating: 8 3/4 stars

Can Can (1961) - Shirley MacLaine, Frank Sinatra, Louis Jourdan, Maurice Chevalier

Relatively swell.  I'll say, had I known Louis Jourdan was in this, I probably would have seen this a lot sooner....  But anyway.  About a can-can dancer in Paris (funny, three years earlier, it was "boring" to Jourdan....), her lawyer trying to keep her from getting arrested (the can-can is "forbidden"), another lawyer trying to get her arrested (this is getting confusing), and Maurice Chevalier.  Just when you think this is going to end, it doesn't (IMPO)....  I mean the movie.  This review, too, but I mean the movie.  :>  The Cole Porter songs aren't ALL that good ("Live and Let Live" is pretty cool, "Let's Do It" got old, and quickly).  Rating: 7 3/4

Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937, actually) - Eleanor Powell, Robert Taylor, George Murphy, Buddy Ebsen, Judy Garland

Delightful songs and numbers in this swell flick -- the second in a series of Broadway Melodys (see Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940)).  The Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown score is wonderful, nice humor (with Buddy Ebsen, what could NOT be funny?  And with the singer's father....  ("If that dog sues me, I'll bite you!")) and swell dancing!  The plot lacks slightly -- okay, the horse hates opera....  You have to see it, um....  Score includes Eleanor Powell's, George Murphy's, and Buddy Ebsen's number "Follow in my Footsteps", George Murphy and Eleanor Powell doing a delightful song and dance to "Feelin' Like a Million", Judy Garland's "Everybody Sing", her famous "Dear Mr. Gable, You Made Me Love You", and part of Bizet's Carmen.  :>  If anyone has this soundtrack, tell me where you got it!!  :>
Rating: 8 stars

Three Little Words (1950) - Fred Astaire, Red Skelton, Vera-Ellen, Arlene Dahl, look for Debbie Reynolds

This has got to have one of the dullest plots, but that's unnoticable when it's joined by some of the swellest (um, that's not a word) songs by Kalmar and Ruby (BTW, Ruby was a friend of George Gershwin... or is that off-subject?).  Find most of these songs on the NEW Fred Astaire CD, "Fred Astaire at M-G-M (1997)"!!  I've GOT to get that album!!  :>  Um, anyway....  Look for Debbie Reynolds as Helen Kane -- think "boop-boop-be-doop".  Score includes "I Wanna Be Loved By You", "So Long, Oolong", "My Sunny Tennessee", "Thinking of You", "All Alone", "Nevertheless (I Love You)", "Where Did You Get That Girl?", and the tune Harry Ruby won't let go of, but I'm not going to give it away, if you haven't figured it out....  :>
Rating: 7 1/2 stars

Anastasia (1997) - Voices of Meg Ryan, John Cusack, Kelsey Grammar, Christopher Lloyd

Well, in short, this flick RULES!! Fox's feature cartoon based on the novel, um, what was it... Anastasia. Seems like an attempt to give Disney a run for it's money (you don't think Disney re-released The Little Mermaid for no reason (at least they did that here, down yonder)) -- that it does! With a wonderful score (music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahren -- I made my mom hang around after the flick to see the composers, and, dang it, I'm gonna post 'em! :>), swell animation (catch the 3D snowflakes -- I think I missed part of the dialog trying to find the layers) (okay, so everyone looks the same... that's irrelevant, er, almost), some groovy (generation merge ahead) [and a little excessive ;>] choreography, and a romantic love story (reminds me of myself and my old crush... but that's another story), I think that Disney might consider re-releasing all of their major blockbusters since Snow White... or would that be too obvious? The score, as I previously hinted at :>, is magnificent! -- "Once Upon a December" is swell and haunting (catch the animation that goes with that reprise -- match this, Disney! :>), Rasputin has that "ballad" that sets a nice mood :>, as well as my personal favorite, "I Can Learn To Do It" (eey! What a nifty song! Ahem. I'm fine now.), with other SWELL songs (I'm not even going to -start- with the groovy background music -- I missed dialog thinking about that, too) -- check the number in Paris (Maurice Chevalier! :>) (My first reaction when they mentioned France: "Paris in the '20s... oboy.")! So, just in case you did -not- get that drift, SWELL score (did I mention it was really SWELL?)!! Let's just say I plan to see this again... and maybe again... again, even... and, Mom, for Christmas, well, this has a SWELL score -- hint hint. Let's have this flick one more time.... Good going, Fox!! Encore!
Rating: 10 stars (or couldn't you have guessed?)
Note (same time, same place): Sorry I haven't updated this page in two ages and a generation -- Earthlink FTP has been down, and, well, you try uploading a page without FTP....

Coming Soon: The Harvey Girls, Lovely to Look At, Yolanda and the Thief, Carousel

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