Wednesday, March 31, 2010

UNUSUAL DUETS: VIC DAMONE AND ELIZABETH MONTGOMERY

Here is an unusual pairing of the great crooner Vic Damone with Elizabeth Montgomery. Montgomery gained her greatest fame on TV's BEWITCHED. This clip is from a Hollywood Palace broadcast in 1966...

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

RIP: JUNE HAVOC (1912-2010)

A forgotten actress recently passed away. June Havoc was the sister of Gypsy Rose Lee, and she was billed as "Baby June" in her mother's act that was portrayed in the musical GYPSY. June was a great actress on her own as well, performing up until 1991...






Monday, March 29, 2010

MARGARET WHITING - 1952

Margaret Whiting is the daughter of songwriter Richard Whiting. She also was one of the most popular female vocalists of the 1940s and 1950s...

Sunday, March 28, 2010

BETTY GRABLE - 1941

Even though Betty Grable never thought of herself as much of a singer or dancer, I think she was excellent. Here is one of her best numbers from MOON OVER MIAMI(1941)...

Friday, March 26, 2010

VIRGINIA O'BRIEN (1919-2001)

A lot of people will not know who Virginia O'Brien is, but in many MGM musicals she was known as the "Deadpan Diva". She did have a great voice too. Here are some of her movie moments...





Thursday, March 25, 2010

AL JOLSON - 1935

Here is the legendary Al Jolson in a clip from the forgotten film GO INTO YOUR DANCE from 1935...

Monday, March 22, 2010

GUY MITCHELL (1927-1999)

Guy Mitchell suffered the curse of working for Mitch Miller, so he was forced to do a lot of novelty songs in the 1950s. Guy had a great voice and here are some moments with him...





UNUSUAL DUETS: DORIS DAY AND JOHN DENVER

This definitely fits the bill for an unusual pairing. This is from a Doris Day special in 1975...

JOHN GARFIELD - 1943

John Garfield was one of the great leading men of the 1940s, but unfortunately he died too young. Here is a great number from THANK YOUR LUCKY STARS with Eddie Cantor, and John Garfield even sings...

Sunday, March 21, 2010

LOUIS ARMSTRONG (1901-1971)

Louis Armstrong was one of the greatest influences on bringing jazz to the masses. His talent and ability is near genius. Here are some great moments with Satchmo...





GENE KELLY AND VERA-ELLEN - 1948

Here is a great musical number that Gene Kelly and Vera-Ellen performed in the film WORDS AND MUSIC in 1948...

Saturday, March 20, 2010

JACKIE GLEASON (1917-1987)

In my opinion Jackie Gleason was one of the greatest comedians of all time. Here are some great moments from this wonderful actor...




UNUSUAL DUETS: JAMES CAGNEY AND BOB HOPE

Here is a great dance routine that the great James Cagney did with Bob Hope. It is taken from the Bob Hope drama (yes drama) BEAU JAMES. In the movie Hope plays Mayor Jimmy Walker of New York, and Cagney made an appearance as George M. Cohan. The clip is from 1957...

Thursday, March 18, 2010

THE NICHOLAS BROTHERS - 1943

Here is the great dancing team The Nicholas Brothers. Their dance moves were simply amazing. Here they are from STORMY WEATHER in 1943...

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

PAUL ROBESON - 1935

This version of Ol Man River performed by Paul Robeson is often considered the best version of this timeless song. This clip is from SHOW BOAT(1935)...

THE BROX SISTERS - 1930

The Brox Sisters were famous for awhile but are now forgotten. They were no Boswell Sisters, but they were very talented...



clips courtesy of Jarbie.

JANE WYMAN - 1952

You don't normally associate Jane Wyman with singing and dancing, but here is a great number from the movie JUST FOR YOU...



clip courtesy of Jarbie

Monday, March 15, 2010

THEN AND NOW: TONY MARTIN

I had the pleasure of meeting Tony Martin in 1999 when he was 86, and he was great. Here are two videos of Tony Martin. The first one is Tony at the height of his singing ability and the second is from a performance he gave in 2007. Tony is currently 96...



HELEN O'CONNELL (1920-1993)

Helen O'Connell was one of the most pleasant of the Big Band singers and she had a load of hits with the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra in the 1940s. Here are some great performances she made...





Sunday, March 14, 2010

UNUSUAL DUETS: DEAN MARTIN AND PERRY COMO

Here is a rare appearance by these two great Italian crooners...



clip courtesy of Martin Knight.

UNUSUAL DUETS: PHIL HARRIS AND JOHNNY CASH

Here is another feature where we highlight unusual duets by some of the greats. This one is a duet between Phil Harris(1904-1995) and Johnny Cash(1932-2003). This is from Johnny Cash's show...

Saturday, March 13, 2010

VERA LYNN - 1942

Here is Great Britain's greatest female vocalist of all-time: Dame Vera Lynn. Here she is singing with Geraldo's Orchestra from 1942...

JIMMY DURANTE - 1969

Here is the great Jimmy Durante from an old Hollywood Palace broadcast. He was no singer, but he was a great entertainer...

Friday, March 12, 2010

EDDIE CANTOR - 1930

Here is the great Eddie Cantor singing a typical early 30s tune. This is from Cantor's first offical full length talkie WHOOPEE(1930)...

JO STAFFORD (1917-2008)

My favorite female singer is the underrated Jo Stafford. She nearly had perfect pitch and I don't think she ever made a bad album! Here are a few video moments with Jo Stafford...

BING CROSBY (1903-1977)

For the first blog entry on this site, I have to dedicate it to my favorite singer and entertainer of all time...BING CROSBY!