Film: The Philadelphia Story

In a powerhouse cast that included Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, and Jimmy Stewart, only one earned an Academy Award for acting - Jimmy Stewart. Uploaded by listal.com.

This movie starred Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, and Jimmy Stewart.

Really, do I need to say anything else? Could that incredible cast possibly produce anything less than a timeless gem? We don’t know the answer to that, but The Philadelphia Storyis one of the best representations of the romantic comedy, probably the most popular film genre. Directed by the great George

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Cukor and released in 1940, the movie is taken from the play of the same name in which Hepburn also starred. (Joseph Cotten played the Cary Grant role, and Van Heflin had Jimmy Stewart’s part. Hepburn had wanted Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy for the movie roles.)

The Philadelphia Story received seven Academy Award nominations, winning two – Best Actor (Stewart) and Best Writing, Screenplay. In the AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies, it ranked number 51. By the way, the film was adapted to a musical (High Society) in 1956 with another blockbuster cast: Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Grace Kelly. You can bet that movie will be on this list before long.

Film: Movies of 1954

 

Sabrina, starring Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, and William Holden, didn't win any of the year's major awards, but it's one of the most-beloved - largely because of Hepburn. Uploaded by dailyfill.com.

Most of us think of the 1950s as a bland, forgettable decade. The calm before the storm. On the movie front, however, it was a decade of spectacle and style. One of its best years was 1954, which featured these movies:

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea – Shared the prize as the year’s box office champ. Starring Kirk Douglas and James Mason. The first sci-fi film from Disney.

The Barefoot Contessa – Perhaps Ava Gardner’s finest role. Humphrey Bogart co-starred.

The Caine Mutiny – Humphrey Bogart and those little steel balls. (Great American Things, July 15, 2010)

The Country Girl – Grace Kelly won the Academy Award for Best Actress in this film that co-starred Bing Crosby and William Holden.

Dial M for Murder. Uploaded by imdb.com.

Dial M for Murder – Hitchcock’s second-most-successful film of the year. Starred Ray Milland and Grace Kelly.

On the Waterfront – The critical hit of the year, winning eight Oscars, including Best Picture. Elia Kazan directed Marlon Brando, Eva Marie Saint and Rod Steiger.

Rear Window – Big at the box office, and one of Hitchcock’s best. With Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly. (Great American Things, September 6, 2010)

Sabrina – Billy Wilder’s comedy-drama starring Audrey Hepburn, William Holden, and Humphrey Bogart.

A Star Is Born – Maybe Judy Garland’s most famous (adult) performance. With James Mason.

White Christmas – The other co-leader at the box office. No snow in Vermont. Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney. (Great American Things, December 24, 2009)

Song: “White Christmas”

"White Christmas" was released in July 1942 - and did nothing. Must have been the season. By the end of October it was number one, and upon re-releases reached the charts an astounding 20 times. Uploaded by ecx.images-amazon.com.

My favorite Christmas album in my childhood was Bing Crosby’s Merry Christmas, which was released as an LP in 1949 and has never since been out of print. It’s still one of the most popular Christmas albums ever, and of course it contains the classic Irving Berlin song, “White Christmas.”

Crosby first performed “White Christmas” on his NBC radio show on Christmas Day, 1941. He recorded it the following year, and included it in an album of songs from the movie Holiday Inn. The album debuted in July, and maybe the season wasn’t right, because the song floundered. But by the end of October it topped the charts, where it stayed for eleven weeks. Re-released each holiday season, it also went to number one in 1945 and 1946. In fact, it appeared on the

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charts for twenty separate years, eventually leading Billboard to create a separate chart just for holiday music.

The song as it appeared in Holiday Inn received the Academy Award for Best Original Song, and it helped make the movie White Christmas the runaway box office champion of 1954. The song’s many appearances on the charts have led to it being the best-selling single of all time – more than 50 million sold, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Counting the albums it’s been on, that total exceeds 100 million. Bing Crosby gets the credit, and deserves it; but don’t forget the brilliance of Irving Berlin (Great American Things, May 11, 2010) who wrote this wonderful song.

Film: The Hope and Crosby “Road” Movies

Hope, Crosby, and Lamour made six movies together, and the best was probably The Road to Morocco. Uploaded by girl-world-decor.blogspot.com.

There were seven produced: The Road to Singapore (1940), The Road to Zanzibar (1941), The Road to Morocco (1942), The Road to Utopia (1946), The Road to Rio (1947), The Road to Bali (1952), and The Road to Hong Kong (1962). The weakest? Probably the last, made not by Paramount but by United Artists. The best? Probably The Road to Morocco.

The pairing of Hope (Great American Things, October 7, 2009) and Crosby (Great American Things, December 19, 2009), both successful at the start of the Forties, was inspired. The movies were scripted, of course, but a significant portion of the repartee between the two main characters was always improvised. And it was brilliant.

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One other character graced the films, and earned a handsome living from them: Dorothy Lamour. She was pretty enough to be the love interest of both men, and could sing well enough to accompany Crosby. She only appeared in a minor role in the last film, having aged out of the “love interest” part.

The movies often parodied other popular films of the day. And they featured some recurring bits, most famously the “patty cake” routine, in which Hope and Crosby would play the kids game to distract bad guys before punching them. Hope would sometimes talk to the audience as well, most famously in The Road to Bali when he said, “He’s (Crosby) gonna sing folks. Now’s the time to go and get the popcorn.”

Film: White Christmas

With wonderful songs by Irving Berlin, it was the first movie ever filmed in VistaVision. Wow. Uploaded by timeout.com.

Viewing a special movie on Christmas Eve is a tradition in many families. Some watch It’s a Wonderful Life (Great American Things, December 1, 2009), or A Christmas Story (Great American Things, December 9, 2009). At our house, though, it’s the 1954 classic, White Christmas.

Bing Crosby (Great American Things, December 19, 2009) and Danny Kaye are two Army buddies who form a hugely successful musical act. They then fall in love with a sister act (Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen) and scheme how to save their commanding general’s Vermont inn.

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As you might expect, though, it’s the music that makes the movie. Great, memorable songs by Irving Berlin, including “Sisters,” “It’s Cold Outside,” “Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep,” and of course, “White Christmas.”

Some interesting facts about the movie:
* Danny Kaye’s part was originally written for Fred Astaire, then Donald O’Connor, then rewritten for Kaye.
* The film’s recording rights were with Decca, but Rosemary Clooney was contracted to Columbia. As a result there were two “White Christmas” albums. Peggy Lee sang Clooney’s parts on the Decca version. On the Columbia version, Clooney sang “Sisters” with her real-life sister, Betty.
* “White Christmas” did not first appear in this movie. In fact, this was the third movie to include the song.
* It was the top-grossing film of 1954.

Song: “Silver Bells”

The song Silver Bells first was heard in the Bob Hope movie The Lemon Drop Kid. Uploaded by midmart.com.

This reminds me of my childhood more than almost any other Christmas song. Its imagery calls to mind the way Christmas used to be. Before malls, when people shopped for Christmas downtown. And people actually dressed like Santa Claus to ring the silver bells at the Salvation Army kettles.

The REAL Santa Claus at Miller & Rhoads, Richmond. Uploaded to Flickr by Cindy Woods.

And when everyone knew the real Santa Claus was at Miller & Rhoads in Richmond.

“Silver Bells” was written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans, and was first recorded by Bing Crosby and Carol Richards in 1950. Bing also recorded it with Ella Fitzgerald, with Rosemary Clooney, and by himself. Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell performed it in the 1951 film, Lemon Drop Kid.

Believe it or not, the song was originally written as “Tinkle Bells.” Fortunately, Jay Livingston went home and told his wife about the song. Mrs. L. informed her clueless husband what “tinkle” was slang for.

“Silver Bells” has been recorded by just about everyone who’s ever made a Christmas record, but here are some of the more unusual artists who have covered it: Jeannie C. Riley, The Brady Bunch, Regis Philbin, R.E.M., Boxcar Willie, and Twisted Sister.

Song: “Autumn Leaves”

This hauntingly beautiful song had French origins, but was adapted to English by American Johnny Mercer. Uploaded by mukurahat.us.

We would share this wonderful classic with Great French Things, were there such a thing, because its melody was written by a French songwriter, Joseph Kosma. American Johnny Mercer gave it English lyrics in 1947.

Johnny Mercer. Uploaded by broadwayworld.com.

Johnny Mercer founded and co-owned Capitol Records. Jo Stafford was under contract to Capitol Records. Therefore, Jo Stafford was the first to record Kosma and Mercer’s beautiful song.

Even though such popular artists as Bing Crosby and Artie Shaw did their own versions, “Autumn Leaves” didn’t really catch on for almost a decade. Then pianist Roger Williams took it to number one – the only piano instrumental ever to reach the top of the charts. From then on it became a jazz standard, brought to life by Duke Ellington, Bill Evans, Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, and Cannonball Adderley.

Most of the jazz versions are, understandably, instrumentals. Until recently, the essential vocal version was performed by Nat King Cole for a movie called – surprise! – Autumn Leaves. But once you’ve heard Eva Cassidy’s unbelievable version, you’ll realize that she now owns this song. OWNS it.

“Les feuilles mortes” (literally “The Dead Leaves”)