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You can rate and share your favorite classic movie posts here.
Monday Serenade: Vesta the Tap Dancing Xylophonist (1938)
Classic Movies Posted by KC on Jun 7, 2010
Thank heaven for vaudeville and the old English musical halls. I mean what else could give birth to a tap dancing xylophonist who does the splits without missing a note? I've haven't been able to learn anything else about this Vesta gal; have any of you ever heard of her? I'm curious to kn read more
Monday Serenade: Bette Davis Sings--Again
Classic Movies Posted by KC on May 31, 2010
Oh Bette Davis, even from beyond the grave, you keep giving and giving. Here she shares her golden throat with a performance of Single on The Hollwood Palace (1965). read more
Serenade me, Mr. Powell
Comet Over Hollywood Posted by Jnpickens on May 24, 2010
Ginger Rogers was the Star of the Month for March on Turner Classic Movies. Ginger Rogers is a triple threat. She can sing, act and dance. She even won an Oscar for her 1941 performance in “Kitty Foyle.” I taped several of her films that I haven’t seen (I’m trying to see all of her mov read more
Monday Serenade: Gus Visser and His Singing Duck (1925)
Classic Movies Posted by KC on May 24, 2010
This early sound short is also known as Theodore Case Sound Test: Gus Visser and his Singing Duck (named after the director). Case made the test, and several others, while he was in the process of perfecting a new sound on film process. The short was added to the National Registry of Film read more
Monday Serenade: Lena Horne on Sesame Street
Classic Movies Posted by KC on May 17, 2010
I found these Sesame Street clips as I was trotting down memory lane with Lena Horne (via YouTube). This is my favorite version of Bein' Green. (When I played the clip, an ad for True Blood popped up. Hmmm, I know this is vintage Sesame Street, but I still think they're a bit off target with their d read more
Monday Serenade: Fred Astaire on the Tonight Show
Classic Movies Posted by KC on May 10, 2010
I can't think of another classic star who aged as gracefully as Fred Astaire did (please feel free to challenge me on that one). I believe he ripened into an even more charming character than he was in his youth. To celebrate what would have been his birthday, I'm sharing this lovely 1976 read more
Monday Serenade: Flying High (1931)
Classic Movies Posted by KC on May 3, 2010
Kathryn Crawford charmingly introduces We'll Dance Until the Dawn while trotting around the dance floor with Pat O'Brien. The lively production number that follows bears the unmistakable mark of Busby Berkeley. Crawford and O'Brien were actually supporting players; Bert Lahr (AKA The Cowar read more
Monday Serenade: Bea Arthur and Rock Hudson Sniff, Swig and Puff
Classic Movies Posted by KC on Apr 26, 2010
It has been a year since Bea Arthur left us. Let's remember the great lady with a song about drugs and alcohol! Arthur may not have been a big movie star, but she had her moments (she's the only thing in Mame (1974) that I found remotely entertaining). Rock Hudson adds Holly read more
Monday Serenade: Pre-code Chorus Girls
Classic Movies Posted by KC on Apr 19, 2010
I love this rendition of Who's Your Little Who-Zis? from the pre-code drama, Night World (1932). The chorus girls carelessly prance through their routine as if they are working on an assembly line. They know they're not on Broadway, and they're not going to work any harder than their pay g read more
Monday Serenade: The Boswell Sisters
Classic Movies Posted by KC on Apr 12, 2010
Martha, Connie and Vet Boswell sing Crazy People in this clip from The Big Broadcast (1932). Billed as The Boswell Sisters, the family act from New Orleans was primarily a 1930s radio sensation, though they did appear in a few Hollywood musicals and short features. Though the trio’s read more
Monday Serenade: Bette Davis Sings on a Quiz Show
Classic Movies Posted by KC on Apr 5, 2010
Behold--the glorious horror of Bette Davis singing Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte on a 1965 episode of the quiz show, I've Got a Secret. Love her. A perfect way to celebrate the birthday of the gutsy, unique actress who sparked my interest in classic Hollywood--and who I still deeply admire. read more
Monday Serenade: The King of Jazz (1930)
Classic Movies Posted by KC on Mar 29, 2010
I love this lively closing number from the early Technicolor musical King of Jazz (1930). It isn't really a serenade, but it makes me smile, so I had to share. This is the perfect rebuttal to anyone who tells you early musicals were clunky. read more
Monday Serenade: Clara Bow Sings
Classic Movies Posted by KC on Mar 22, 2010
Well, as you can see from this promo, Clara Bow wasn't meant to be a musical star. That said, she's awfully cute--and quite a sport for dancing and singing when she was terrified to even speak on film. After hearing the many stories of Bow's negative experiences with the talkies, I was so read more
Monday Serenade: Chico Marx Plays Slapstick Piano
Classic Movies Posted by KC on Mar 15, 2010
I get giddy with delight whenever I watch Chico Marx playing the piano. He always manages to incorporate a heavy dose of slapstick into his light-hearted performances, and because he keeps that happy anarchy going, it never feels like his musical interludes stop the action. read more
Monday Serenade: Janet Gaynor (1)
Classic Movies Posted by KC on Mar 8, 2010
Janet Gaynor wasn't made for musicals, but her charming warble always brings a smile to my face. It always seems as though she is just an ordinary woman, wandering around singing happily to herself--and the cameras just happen to be there. Here she sings My Heart's Desire in Adorable (1933 read more
Monday Serenade: Marilyn Monroe in 1948
Classic Movies Posted by KC on Mar 1, 2010
Norma Jean isn't quite "Marilyn Monroe" yet in this 1948 clip from Ladies of the Chorus, but she's already singing about diamonds and sugar daddies.(The part with the dolls is bizarre.) read more
Monday Serenade: Paul Robeson
Classic Movies Posted by KC on Feb 22, 2010
Though I like the second film version of Show Boat (1936), the rest of the movie tends to melt away every time I see Paul Robeson sing Ol' Man River. The combination of his rich, uplifting voice and James Whale's stylized direction could make this number a distinctive short on its ow read more
Monday Serenade: Nina Mae McKinney
Classic Movies Posted by KC on Feb 15, 2010
Nina Mae McKinney sings Everything I've Got Belongs to You with mischievous glee in the 1932 short Pie, Pie Blackbird. The chefs accompanying her in that enormous pie are Eubie Blake and his orchestra. Though McKinney had musical chops, I think it would have been great to see her in read more
Monday Serenade: Dorothy Dandridge
Classic Movies Posted by KC on Feb 8, 2010
Dorothy Dandridge is irresistably fresh-faced and enthusisastic in the 1942 soundie A Zoot Suit with a Reet Pleat. It would have been wonderful to see her star in a high-stepping forties musical, but I'm glad we at least have performances like this to savor:
Here's read more
Monday Serenade: Hazel Scott (1)
Classic Movies Posted by KC on Feb 1, 2010
Piano player and singer Hazel Scott was one of the rare African American women of her time to avoid being cast as a maid when she made it to Hollywood. She accomplished this feat by refusing to play anyone but herself.
Born in Trinidad in 1920, Scott was recognized as a child prodigy by the read more