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Virginia O'Brien
Virginia Lee O'Brien (April 18, 1919 – January 16, 2001) was an American actress, singer, and radio personality known for her comedic singing roles in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musicals of the 1940s. Life and career O'Brien primarily performed in comedic roles during the height of her formal film career. This was in part due to her intentionally humorous singing style, which involved her singing in a deadpan manner, with no facial expressions and very little movement– reportedly she stumbled upon this "gimmick" by accident during a stage show when she became virtually paralyzed with stage fright before singing a number in the Los Angeles stage production ''Meet the People''. The audience found the performance to be hilarious and she was soon hired to repeat this performance in a number of movies beginning in 1940, for which she gained the nicknames "Frozen Face" and "Miss Ice Glacier" amongst others. When she was not singing, her acting style was just as emotive as other actresses ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world's most populous megacities. Los Angeles is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Southern California. With a population of roughly 3.9 million residents within the city limits , Los Angeles is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic and cultural diversity, being the home of the Hollywood film industry, and its sprawling metropolitan area. The city of Los Angeles lies in a basin in Southern California adjacent to the Pacific Ocean in the west and extending through the Santa Monica Mountains and north into the San Fernando Valley, with the city bordering the San Gabriel Valley to it's east. It covers about , and is the county seat of Los Angeles County, which is the most populous county in the United States with an estim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ship Ahoy
''Ship Ahoy'' is a 1942 American musical-comedy film directed by Edward Buzzell and starring Eleanor Powell and Red Skelton. It was produced by MGM. Background ''Ship Ahoy'' was the first of two films in which Powell and Skelton co-starred. It is considered a lesser effort on both actors' behalf, however the film is chiefly remembered today for including Frank Sinatra, who appears in an uncredited performance as a singer with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. The movie also is credited with one of the most unusual displays of dance on screen for a sequence in which Powell's character, needing to communicate a message to a (real) US agent in the audience of one of her shows, manages to tap out the message in morse code. (Reportedly, Powell taps genuine code during the performance.) The film was to be called ''Ill Take Manila'', but was renamed after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Skelton and Powell next paired up in 1943's ''I Dood It''. In that film, they appeared with Jimmy Dorsey, Tomm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Francis In The Navy
''Francis in the Navy'' is a 1955 American black-and-white comedy film from Universal-International, produced by Stanley Rubin and directed by Arthur Lubin. The film stars Donald O'Connor and Martha Hyer, and marked the first credited film role of Clint Eastwood.Eliot (2009), p. 35 The distinctive voice of Francis is a voice-over by actor Chill Wills. This is the sixth film in Universal-International Francis the Talking Mule series. Plot U.S. Army officer Lt. Peter Sterling gets mistaken for his lookalike in the U.S. Navy, Bosun's Mate 'Slicker' Donevan, and as a result gets promptly shipped to Donevan's base. With his old pal Francis, Sterling continues his military career misadventures, this time in the Navy. Cast *Donald O'Connor as Peter Stirling/Bosun's Mate 'Slicker' Donevan *Martha Hyer as Betsy Donevan *Richard Erdman as Murph *Jim Backus as Commander E.T. Hutch *Clint Eastwood as Jonesy *David Janssen as Lieutenant Anders *Leigh Snowden as Nurse Appleby *Martin Milner a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Musical Merry-Go-Round
''Musical Merry-Go-Round'' is an NBC TV series which aired from July 25, 1947, to 1949. The series featured live music performances. Production history Each 30-minute episode was hosted by Jack Kilty, "who sat in front of the camera and played records." Little else is known about this early television series. ''Musical Merry-Go-Round'' was an early innovative and pioneering effort to do music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...s on TV. It was renamed from its predecessor, a groundbreaking series called ''Disc Magic''. Martin Block, the orchestra leader, hosted as one of the emcees presenting musical performances. See also * 1947-48 United States network television schedule (Thursdays at 8:30pm ET) * 1948-49 United States network television schedule (Fridays at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Merton Of The Movies (1947 Film)
''Merton of the Movies'' is a 1947 American comedy film, based on the 1922 Merton of the Movies (novel), novel of the same name written by Harry Leon Wilson, and the play of the same name written by George S. Kaufmann and Marc Connelly, which opened on Broadway in 1922. It was previously adapted as a Merton of the Movies (1924 film), 1924 silent film and as the 1932 film ''Make Me a Star (film), Make Me a Star.'' The 1947 version stars Red Skelton and is directed by choreographer Robert Alton in his directorial debut. Cast Production Due to negative reception from sneak preview audiences, extensive reshoots were required before a widespread release. Reception According to MGM records the movie earned $1,274,000 in the US and Canada and $438,000 elsewhere, making a loss to the studio of $367,000. Comic book adaptation * Fiction House Movie Comics #4 (1947) References External links *''Merton of the Movies'' at TCMDB 1947 films 1947 romantic comedy films American romanti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ziegfeld Follies (film)
''Ziegfeld Follies'' is a 1945 American musical comedy film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, primarily directed by Vincente Minnelli, with segments directed by Lemuel Ayers, Roy Del Ruth, Robert Lewis, and George Sidney, the film's original director before Minnelli took over. Other directors that are claimed to have made uncredited contributions to the film are Merrill Pye, Norman Taurog, and Charles Walters. It stars many MGM leading talents, including Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, Lucille Bremer, Fanny Brice (the only member of the ensemble who was a star of the original Follies), Judy Garland, Kathryn Grayson, Lena Horne, Gene Kelly, James Melton, Victor Moore, William Powell, Red Skelton, and Esther Williams. Producer Arthur Freed wanted to create a film along the lines of the Ziegfeld Follies Broadway shows, and so, the film is composed of a sequence of unrelated lavish musical numbers and comedy sketches. Some of them, such as '' Pay the Two Dollars'', originated in ''Geor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Judy Garland
Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The Wizard of Oz'' (1939). She attained international stardom as an actress in both musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage. Renowned for her versatility, she received an Academy Juvenile Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Special Tony Award. Garland was the first woman to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, which she won for her 1961 live recording titled ''Judy at Carnegie Hall''. Garland began performing as a child with her two older sisters, in a vaudeville group " The Gumm Sisters" and was later signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as a teenager. She appeared in more than two dozen films for MGM. Garland was a frequent on-screen partner of both Mickey Rooney and Gene Kelly and regularly collaborated w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Harvey Girls
''The Harvey Girls'' is a 1946 Technicolor American musical film produced by Arthur Freed for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It is based on the 1942 The Harvey Girls (novel), novel of the same name by Samuel Hopkins Adams, about Fred Harvey (entrepreneur), Fred Harvey's Fred Harvey Company#Harvey Girls, Harvey House waitresses. Directed by George Sidney, the film stars Judy Garland and features John Hodiak, Ray Bolger, and Angela Lansbury, as well as Preston Foster, Virginia O'Brien, Kenny Baker (American performer), Kenny Baker, Marjorie Main and Chill Wills. Future star Cyd Charisse appears in her first speaking role on film. ''The Harvey Girls'' won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe", written by Harry Warren and Johnny Mercer. Plot In the 1890s, a group of "Harvey Girls" – new waitresses for Fred Harvey (entrepreneur), Fred Harvey's pioneering chain of Fred Harvey Company, Harvey House restaurants – travels on the Atch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dick Powell
Richard Ewing Powell (November 14, 1904 – January 2, 1963) was an American actor, musician, producer, director, and studio head. Though he came to stardom as a musical comedy performer, he showed versatility, and successfully transformed into a hardboiled leading man, starring in projects of a more dramatic nature. He was the first actor to portray private detective Philip Marlowe on screen. Early life Powell was born the middle of three sons of mother Sally Rowena in Mountain View, the seat of Stone County in northern Arkansas. His brothers were Luther (the eldest) and Howard (the youngest). The family moved the boys to Little Rock in 1914, where Powell sang in church choirs and with local orchestras, and started his own band. Powell attended the former Little Rock College, before he started his entertainment career as a singer with the Royal Peacock Band, which toured throughout the Midwest. During this time, he married Mildred Maund, a model, but she found being married ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedienne and producer. She was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five times, and was the recipient of several other accolades, such as the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award and two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She earned many honors, including the Women in Film Crystal Award, an induction into the Television Hall of Fame, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Kennedy Center Honors, and the Governors Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Ball's career began in 1929 when she landed work as a model. Shortly thereafter, she began her performing career on Broadway using the stage name Diane (or Dianne) Belmont. She later appeared in films in the 1930s and 1940s as a contract player for RKO Radio Pictures, being cast as a chorus girl or in similar roles, with lead roles in B-pictures and supporting roles in A-pictures. During this time, she met Cuban bandlea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
DuBarry Was A Lady (film)
''Du Barry Was a Lady'' is a 1943 American musical comedy film directed by Roy Del Ruth, starring Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Gene Kelly, and Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra. It is based on the 1939 stage musical of the same name. Shot in Technicolor, the film was produced and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Plot Entertainer May Daly's nightclub act includes her portrayal of Madame Du Barry of days of yore. Equally smitten with her are coatroom attendant Louis Blore and master of ceremonies Alec Howe, but unfortunately for both, May persists in holding out for a wealthy husband, her current interest being rich, haughty Willie. A telegram arrives notifying Louis that in the Irish Sweepstakes he is the winner of a prize of $150,000. Louis immediately and publicly declares his love for May, who is teased by Alec that she now has no reason to stay with Willie and avoid Louis, who is a sweeter fellow. After accidentally swallowing a drugged drink, Louis falls into a deep sleep an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney (born Joseph Yule Jr.; other pseudonym Mickey Maguire; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor. In a career spanning nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last surviving stars of the silent-film era. He was the top box-office attraction from 1939 to 1941, and one of the best-paid actors of that era. At the height of a career marked by declines and comebacks, Rooney performed the role of Andy Hardy in a series of 16 films in the 1930s and 1940s that epitomized mainstream America's self-image. At the peak of his career between ages 15 and 25, he made 43 films, and was one of MGM's most consistently successful actors. A versatile performer, he became a celebrated character actor later in his career. Laurence Olivier once said he considered Rooney "the best there has ever been". Clarence Brown, who directed him in two of his earliest dramatic roles in ''National Velvet'' and '' The Human Comedy'', said Rooney was "the cl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
