MOVIE TRAILER: SUMMER STOCK

Here is a movie that is largely forgotten today. It is an important movie in that it was Judy Garland's last movie at MGM. She was joined by Gene Kelly,Eddie Bracken, and Phil Silvers. It actually was a pretty good movie, but Garland's weight went up and down surprisingly throughout the movie...

RIP: DENNIS HOPPER (1936-2010)

Legendary actor Dennis Hopper has passed away after a long battle with cancer. He was 74. From an appearance on the Johnny Cash show to movies like HOOSIERS and TRUE ROMANCE, Dennis Hopper was a true legend...

LAST APPEARANCES: ELEANOR POWELL

Here is the last public appearance that Eleanor Powell made at a tribute for Fred Astaire in April of 1981. She was already ill, but received a standing ovation. Eleanor Powell died February 11, 1982 of cancer at the age of 69...

MUSICAL MOMENT: JOHNNY MERCER

Here is a great rare clip of Johnny Mercer performing his own composition "Jamboree Jones". He was also joined by the Hi-Los. This was taken from the Rosemary Clooney show...

MOVIE TRAILER: THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME

Here is the movie trailer for the classic 1939 film THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME. It is hard to believe this film is 71 years old. It starred Charles Laughton and the beautiful Maureen O'Hara. It is truly a classic film...

UNUSUAL DUETS: ELLA FITZGERALD AND JIMMY DURANTE

Here is a short but interesting duet of Ella Fitzgerald and Jimmy Durante. I think they pull the number off nicely. This is from a Hollywood Palace TV show in 1969...

MOVIE TRAILER: TWELVE ANGRY MEN

I am not a huge Henry Fonda fan, but I do like the drama TWELVE ANGRY MEN(1957). It also starred E.G. Marshall, Lee J. Cobb, and Jack Klugman among others. The whole film took place in the jury room, but it is a great film...

BETTY HUTTON (1923-2007)

Betty Hutton was known as the "Blonde Bombshell" for her energetic performances in many movies of the 1940s and 1950s. Her greatest roles were in ANNIE GET YOUR GUN(1950) and THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH(1952). She also led a troubled life, but you would never know it from these great moments...

RIP: LAST SURVIVING ZIEGFELD GIRL

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York's Broadway will dim its lights on Wednesday to mark the death of the last of the famed Ziegfeld showgirls, performers renowned for their lavish costumes and elaborate stage routines.

Doris Eaton Travis died at age 106 on Tuesday in Michigan of undisclosed causes just two weeks after she last appeared on stage in New York, according to a statement on the website of Broadway public relations firm Boneau/Bryan-Brown.

She was one of the performers who rose to fame in the Ziegfeld Follies, a series of elaborate theater productions on Broadway that began in 1907 and remained popular until 1931. The show was inspired by the Folies Bergeres of Paris.

Many top entertainers of that era such as comedians W.C. Fields and Will Rogers appeared in the shows that were famous for their chorus girls in lavish costumes and feathered headdresses who became known as the Ziegfeld girls.

Travis joined the Ziegfeld Follies as the youngest ever showgirl in 1918 at the age of about 14, following in the footsteps of her sister Pearl. Four Eatons were in the Ziegfeld Follies over the years.

She performed with the Ziegfeld girls until 1920 then went on to star in various stage productions and silent films in the 1920s and 1930s before becoming a dance instructor after the Great Depression took its toll on Broadway. In her retirement she began a horse ranch in Oklahoma with her husband.

She returned to the spotlight in 1997 after she and four former Ziegfield girls reunited for the reopening of the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York, joking that she was the only one still able to dance.

RIP: LENA HORNE (1917-2010)

Lena Horne, the legendary actress-singer who broke new ground in Hollywood, has died. She was 92.

Horne passed away at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York on Sunday night (May 9), as announced by son-in-law Kevin Buckley, reports the New York Times.

As one of the first black performers to significantly infiltrate the studio system by signing a long-term contract with MGM, Horne was instrumental in integrating Hollywood. She appeared in a few well known musicals such as "Stormy Weather" -- which is also one of her signature songs -- and "Ziegfield Follies."

Horne was born in June 1917 in Brooklyn. By her teens she began singing in nightclubs, including the famed Cotton Club as a chorus girl.

Although her Hollywood career spanned six decades, she never really achieved any huge success in that arena often because of her African American heritage was seen by studios as a deterrent when casting for lead roles or roles that might necessitate an interracial relationship on screen.

She was best known in the entertainment world for her singing and showcased that in more nightclubs, on Broadway and on TV variety shows, including "The Ed Sullivan Show" and "The Judy Garland Show." Later in her career she appeared on "The Cosby Show" and "The Muppet Show."

She won several Grammy awards over her career and received a best actress Tony nomination for the musical "Jamaica." Later, she received a special Tony for her one-woman show, "Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music."

Horne is survived by her daughter, Gail Lumet Buckley, and granddaughter Jenny Lumet, screenwriter of "Rachel Getting Married."

MOVIE TRAILER: I REMEMBER MAMA

Just in time for Mother's Day, I wanted to spotlight a very good movie starring Irene Dunne. The movie I REMEMBER MAMA(1948) centers around the life of a Norwegian immigrant family in 1910 San Francisco. Rounding out the excellent cast was Barbara Bel Geddes, Cedric Hardwickw, Edgar Bergen, and Rudy Vallee among others. It is a great movie to watch on Mother's Day...

FRED ASTAIRE (1899-1987)

No tribute to great entertainers would be complete without a feature on Fred Astaire. He was one of the greatest movie icons from the 1930s to the 1980s. Astaire has been dead now for 23 years but the images he made on film will never disappear...

INTERVIEW: JAMES CAGNEY and PAT O'BRIEN - 1981

Here is a great interview with the legendary James Cagney and Pat O'Brien. Together they starred in many great gangster movies of the 1930s. This interview is from 1981...

CYD CHARISSE - 1958

Here is a great Cyd Charisse and a dancing sequence from PARTY GIRL(1958). The golden age of movie musicals were coming to an end, but this is a great number...

UNUSUAL DUETS: THE MILLS BROTHERS AND BETTE MIDLER

Here is a very unusual but fun duet. It is Bette Midler appearing with the Mills Brothers. This was taken from a 1977 Bing Crosby special, which showcased Bing's 50 years in show business...

BY REQUEST: LIZA MINNELLI

Here is a request from one of our blog readers. I am not the biggest Liza Minnelli fan, but I do agree she had a wonderful talent that she inherited from her mother...

DONALD O' CONNOR (1925-2003)

When you talk about greatest dancers, you always hear about Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly and rightfully so. However, Donald O' Connor deserves to be ranked up there as well. He spent his whole life in show business, and here are some great moments in his career...