RECENTLY VIEWED: FOR ME AND MY GAL

Last month was the 90th birthday of Judy Garland. I must admit though she is not one of my favorite actresses. I do enjoy her movies, but I like the fresh faced kid of The Wizard of Oz and Andy Hardy movies. I would say anything before she was kicked out of MGM in 1950 was more to my liking than the worn out and strung out Garland of the late 1950s and 1960s. One of my all-time favorite musicals, and one of the first movies I saw Garland in was "For Me And My Gal".

"For Me and My Gal" is a 1942 American musical film directed by Busby Berkeley and starring Judy Garland, Gene Kelly – in his screen debut – and George Murphy, and featuring Martha Eggerth and Ben Blue. The film was written by Richard Sherman, Fred F. Finklehoffe and Sid Silvers, based on a story by Howard Emmett Rogers inspired by a true story about vaudeville actors Harry Palmer and Jo Hayden, when Palmer was drafted into World War I. It was a production of the Arthur Freed unit at MGM.

For Me and My Gal marked the first real "adult" role for the nineteen-year-old Judy Garland, who had played juvenile parts until then, many of them opposite Mickey Rooney. The original script had called for Harry Palmer to be involved with two women, a singer, which was to be Garland's role, and a dancer, who would have most of the dramatic scenes, but acting coach Stella Adler, who was an advisor to MGM at the time, suggested to producer Arthur Freed that the two roles be combined, and that Garland be given the part. Adler also suggested Gene Kelly for the lead.



Kelly was 29 years old at the time, and had made a mark on Broadway as the star of Pal Joey and the choreographer of Best Foot Forward. When David O. Selznick signed him to a film contract, Kelly's intention was to return to Broadway after fulfilling his contractual obligation, but he ended up staying in Hollywood for a year because Selznick didn't have a role for him. When Arthur Freed inquired about getting Kelly for For Me and My Gal, Selznick handed over the contract, and Kelly got the part, over the objections of Freed's bosses at MGM. The casting of Kelly meant that George Murphy, who was originally going to play "Harry Palmer", was switched to playing "Jimmy Metcalf".

Gene Kelly and Judy Garland got along well – she had been in favor of his getting the part, and during shooting she helped Kelly adjust his stage acting for films, and backed him in disagreements with director Busby Berkeley, whom she did not like. Kelly and Garland went on to star together in two other films, The Pirate (1948) and Summer Stock (1950).

The film was also the American motion picture debut of Hungarian singer Martha Eggerth, who had appeared in over thirty films in Germany. Her career in Hollywood did not last long: she appeared in only two other American films.

For Me and My Gal had an estimated budget of $803,000, and was in production at MGM's Culver City studios from 3 April until 23 May 1942, with additional scenes shot in June. Working titles for the film while it was in production were "My and My Gal" and "The Big Time".



When the film was initially previewed, the audience was dissatisfied with the ending: they thought that Jo (Garland) should end up with Jimmy (Murphy) rather than Harry (Kelly). This prompted Louis B. Mayer to order three weeks of additional shooting to give Kelly's character more of a conscience and to reduce Murphy's presence in the film. It was also interesting to note that all of the stars were ten years apart in ages: George Murphy was born in 1902, Gene Kelly in 1912, and Garland in 1922. Murphy had appeared with Judy as her father in "Little Nellie Kelly"(1940).

I remember my grandfather telling me that the first movie he ever saw in theaters was "For Me And My Gal" when he was 14. In turn my grandfather had fun introducing the movie to me when I was younger. I did not care that all of the songs sung in the film were even old by 1942 standards. Now when I watched this movie last month, my two year old son was "Ballin The Jack" right with Judy Garland and Gene Kelly. That alone warrants giving a movie 10 out 10, but add the tear jerking moments of the film, and it is a true classic musical that I can not miss when it is on...

MY RATING: 10 OUT OF 10

RIP: ERNEST BORGNINE

Oscar-winning film star Ernest Borgnine dies in LA at age 95
By Associated Press

Ernest Borgnine, who won the best-actor Oscar as a lovesick butcher in "Marty" in 1955, died Sunday. He was 95.

His longtime spokesman, Harry Flynn, told The Associated Press that Borgnine died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles with his family by his side.

A prolific and talented character actor, Borgnine was known for gruff, villainous roles such as the heavy who beats up Frank Sinatra in "From Here to Eternity" and one of the bad guys who harasses Spencer Tracy in "Bad Day at Black Rock."

Borgnine, who earned a salary of $5,000 for playing his Academy-Award winning role as Marty, once said "I would have done it for nothing."

He was also known as the Navy officer in the television series "McHale's Navy," which aired from 1962-66. Borgnine earned an Emmy Award nomination at age 92 for his work on the series "ER."

"The Oscar made me a star, and I'm grateful," Borgnine told an interviewer in 1966, according to AP. "But I feel had I not won the Oscar I wouldn't have gotten into the messes I did in my personal life."

The actor was married five times, including to singer Ethel Merman, who became his third wife in 1964. The marriage barely lasted a month.

Borgnine is survived by his fifth wife, Tova Traesnaes — whom he married in 1973 — son Christopher and daughters Sharon and Diana.

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BORN ON THIS DAY: MARTY FELDMAN

Marty Feldman had a face made for comedy. He was a modern day Buster Keaton, who genius never was fully recognized. Feldman was born on this day, June 8th, in 1934. Feldman was born in the East End of London, the son of Jewish immigrants from Kiev. He recalled his childhood as "solitary".

A BBC documentary also explained that an operation due to his Graves' disease resulted in his eyes being more protruded and misaligned (strabismus).[Leaving school at 15, he worked at the Dreamland fun fair in Margate. By the age of 20, he had decided to pursue a career as a comedian.

Feldman's performances on American television included The Dean Martin Show and Marty Feldman's Comedy Machine. On film, he was Igor (pronounced "EYE-gore") in Young Frankenstein where many lines were improvised. Gene Wilder says he had Feldman in mind when he wrote the part. At one point, Dr Frankenstein (Wilder) scolds Igor with the phrase, "Damn your eyes!" Feldman turns to the camera, points to his misaligned eyes, grins and says, "Too late!"

Feldman met American comedy writer Alan Spencer on the set of Young Frankenstein when Spencer was a teenager. Spencer was a fan of Feldman as a writer and performer. Feldman offered Spencer guidance that led him to create the television show Sledge Hammer!



He also made one LP, I Feel a Song Going Off (1969), re-released as The Crazy World of Marty Feldman. The songs were written by Dennis King, John Junkin and Bill Solly (a writer for Max Bygraves and The Two Ronnies). It was re-released as a CD in 2007.

In 1976, Feldman ventured into Italian cinema, starring with Barbara Bouchet in 40 gradi all'ombra del lenzuolo (Sex with a Smile), a sex comedy. He appeared in The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother and Mel Brooks' Silent Movie, as well as directing and starring in The Last Remake of Beau Geste. He guest-starred in the "Arabian Nights" episode of The Muppet Show with several Sesame Street characters.

Feldman died from a heart attack in a hotel room in Mexico City on 2 December 1982, during the making of the film Yellowbeard. Michael Mileham, who made the behind-the-scenes movie Group Madness about the making of Yellowbeard, said he and Feldman swam to an island where a local was selling lobster and coconuts. Mileham and Feldman used the same knife on their lobsters; Mileham claimed he got shellfish poisoning the next day, and theorised that this could also have contributed to Feldman's death.

He is buried in Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills Cemetery near his idol, Buster Keaton, in the Garden of Heritage...

REMEMBERING: MY GRANDFATHER

My grandfather was like an icon to me. He was someone that I was sure would always be there for me. I counted on his strong shoulder for all sorts of advice a young adult would need. His words of wisdom and most importantly his friendship I depended upon on for everything. That would all change suddenly on July 6, 2002.

On that day my grandparents were eating dinner out. Leaving dinner, my grandfather pulled the car over suddenly without warning, laid his head back, and died of a heart attack next to my grandmother. They had just celebrated their 54th wedding anniversary with the whole family days earlier. My grandfather was 73.

It's hard to believe that it has been ten years since his death. I still miss him tremendously, but I am not that sad anymore. Now I have a wonderful wife and family of my own, and the lessons that my grandfather taught me through the years and continuing to help me. It is like he is still here.

My grandfather was also the person who first got me into classic movies and music. I spent a lot of time over my grandparent's house, and he instilled in me a love of this classic age of great entertainment. Together we would cry watching Cary Grant in "Penny Serenade"(1941) or laugh at Eddie Cantor looking lost in "Roman Scandals"(1933). His basement was full of 78rpms, and I would call his cluttered basement "record heaven", and it was a heaven to me. I had problems with my own father, and my grandparents' house and my grandfather's basement was an escape to me. It seemed to me that my grandfather had every record I could possibly listen to from Bing Crosby to Vera Lynn and from Betty Hutton to Al Jolson. I spent many happy days in that hot and non air conditioned basement. I loved every minute of it.

So now ten years later I am reflecting on my grandfather's life with a mix of emotions. I think of him with sadness that he died too soon and too young. I think of him with happiness on what he passed on to me and of all the great moments we shared. Mostly I think of what a great man he was. There are many legends in Hollywood like Cary Grant, Spencer Tracy, and James Cagney, but my grandfather was the biggest and greatest legend in my eyes...and he always will be.

GOD BLESS KATE SMITH

One of the greatest patriotic songs written in the last century was Irving Berlin's "God Bless America". While Berlin wrote the music and lyrics, it was singer Kate Smith that gave the song its popularity and its dramatic interpretation. Kate Smith gave her all in every song she sang and every performance she performed, and that is why she was popular in the entertainment field for close to fifty years.

Kate Smith was born Kathryn Elizabeth Smith on May 1, 1907 in Greenville, Virginia. Her professional musical career began in 1930, when she was discovered by Columbia Records vice president Ted Collins, who became her longtime partner and manager. Collins put her on radio in 1931. She sang the controversial top twenty song of 1931, "That's Why Darkies Were Born". She appeared in 1932 in Hello Everybody!, with co-stars Randolph Scott and Sally Blane, and in the 1943 wartime movie This is the Army she sang "God Bless America".

Smith began recording in 1926; in 1931, she sang "Dream a Little Dream of Me." Her biggest hits were "River, Stay 'Way From My Door" (1931), "The Woodpecker Song" (1940), "The White Cliffs of Dover" (1941), "Rose O'Day" (1941), "I Don't Want to Walk Without You" (1942), "There Goes That Song Again" (1944), "Seems Like Old Times" (1946), and "Now Is the Hour" (1947). Her theme song was "When the Moon Comes Over the Mountain"; she had helped write the lyrics. Smith greeted her audience with "Hello, everybody!" and signed off with "Thanks for listenin'."



Her feature film Hello, Everybody (1932) was released shortly before Mae West's She Done Him Wrong (1933). At this time, Paramount Pictures was in deep financial trouble. Paramount initially promoted Smith's film and it proved to be disappointing at the box office. On the other hand, West's first starring film was a huge success. This situation added to the ridicule of Smith's size and appearance, but she was featured in a number of Paramount shorts without issue. She continued to be successful on radio throughout the 1930s into the 1940s.

Kate Smith, who never married, rented various apartments in New York City during her long career. She had a home in Arlington, Va., and kept a summer home on a small island in Lake Placid, New York. She led an active social life and loved having house guests both in town and at Lake Placid.

Her public image was of a happy, agreeable, buoyant personality, very bright and very informed. But those who worked with her in show business also knew her as an executive who knew better than anyone else how to stage her shows, how to present herself at her best and how to keep everything at the highest professional level. New Yorkers privileged to sit in on her radio broadcasts saw her supervising every aspect of her programs with great knowledge and utmost taste. She was also known for being ahead of the trends. Even on her later tours she was presenting all her hit songs in a long medley at the end and devoting her repertoire to the Beatles, Jimmy Webb, Michel Legrand, and other contemporary composers. In the later days "God Bless America" was sung in a medley with "Sing" from "Sesame Street."



In her later years also, her usually conservative dark gowns were replaced by colorful sequined creations worthy of the Supremes (and, slimmed down, she wore them just as well). Along with Peggy Lee she was one of the few long-careered singers to wade into rock music fearlessly and effectively and that placed her on T.V. variety shows including those of Sonny and Cher, Tony Orlando and Dawn and Donny and Marie Osmond. She also, against all odds, enjoyed some of her greatest recording success in her later years with a series of outstanding albums of contemporary music on RCA Victor. She often said she wasn't much one for nostalgia and also said she was always willing to try something new, at least once. For a living legend, she also was one hip and savvy lady. She was also a cook of considerable note and her name was on a series of best-selling cookbooks which today are collectors' items.

Kate Smith was impaired by diabetes and her weight problem during her last years, and eventually used a wheelchair. She had a diabetic stroke in 1976 that she never recovered from. She died in Raleigh on June 17, 1986 at the age of 79. For over a year following her death, her remains were stored in a vault at Saint Agnes Cemetery in Lake Placid, while officials of St. Agnes Roman Catholic Church and the singer's executors disputed the meaning of a clause in her will.

God bless America and God bless Kate Smith...

RIP: ANDY GRIFFITH

Andy Griffith, a television legend who starred in two iconic series that debuted a quarter-century apart, has died. He was 86.

Bill Friday, former UNC president and a close friend of Andy Griffith confirmed to North Carolina NBC affiliate WITN-TV that he died this morning. The death has not been independently confirmed by NBC News.

Emergency Medical Services responded to an early morning call Tuesday from Griffith's home in Roanoke Island, N.C., according to reports.

Griffith was already a star of Broadway, comedy recordings and film when "The Andy Griffith Show" debuted on Oct. 3, 1960. Griffith starred as Sheriff Andy Taylor of Mayberry, North Carolina, a widower with a young son known only as Opie, played by Ron Howard, who would go on to star as Richie on "Happy Days" before becoming an award-winning director.

With its earworm of a theme song and a cast of eccentric supporting players, including Don Knotts and Jim Nabors, "The Andy Griffith Show" was an instant hit with ratings perennially in the top 10 during its eight-season run.

The show's popularity was so enduring that it spawned a pair of spin-offs, "Mayberry R.F.D." and "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C."

Nearly 20 years later, Griffith would emerge anew in 1986 on network TV as "Matlock," an aged country lawyer from Georgia with a southern drawl, a winning smile and an unblemished record in the courtroom.

Though the show isn't viewed with the same esteem as "The Andy Griffith Show"—it was a frequent punch line on shows like "The Simpson"—it would run for nine seasons.

Born on June 1, 1926, in Mt. Airy, N.C., Griffith first gained famed as a monologist, on the strength of his recording "What It Was, Was Football," which is told from the perspective of a backwoods yokel telling of setting eyes on the game for the first time. The recording would be a hit in some parts of the country, earning Griffith an appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show," and was later turned into a feature in Mad magazine.

In 1996, Griffith would return to the recording studio to cut an album, "I Love to Tell the Story, - 25 Timeless Hymns," which would earn him a Grammy for Best Southern, Country, or Bluegrass Gospel Album.

Griffith is survived by his third wife, Cindi Knight, whom he wed in 1983, and his daughter Dixie Nan, from his first marriage, to Barbara Bray Edwards.

Perhaps no one better captured Griffith's legacy than President George W. Bush.

“TV shows come and go, but there’s only one Andy Griffith,” said President Bush upon awarding Griffith the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005. “And we thank him for being such a friendly and beloved presence in our American life.”

SOURCE

OLIVIA AND JOAN: THE LONGEST FEUD

Two years ago, amid the formal splendour of the Élysée Palace in Paris, President Nicolas Sarkozy conferred France’s most prestigious accolade, the Légion d’honneur, on a little, silver-haired lady, then aged 94, with sparkling brown eyes and an impishly familiar smile. That bewitching smile and those amazing eyes once made Olivia de Havilland the queen of Hollywood and the winner of two Oscars. Today, she is the last surviving star of the most famous epic film ever brought to the screen, Gone With the Wind. Her daughter Gisele, and other members of her family, were at the Élysée to watch Miss de Havilland, a resident of Paris for almost 60 years, honoured.

But one member of her immediate family — and the one who has known her longer and better than anyone in this world — her only sibling, Joan Fontaine, then 92, herself an Oscar-winner of equally illustrious status as a legend of stage and screen, was conspicuous by her absence from the ceremony.

When the President placed the blood-red ribbon and star of the Légion d’honneur around Olivia’s neck, Joan was 6,000 miles away at her home in Carmel, California, studiously ignoring the occasion — just as she has ignored every aspect of her sister’s existence for decades.

These two formidable grandes dames of the screen have been at loggerheads for most of their lives. Both frankly confess that, even as children, they detested one another.

Of the two sisters, de Havilland was the first to become an actress; when Fontaine tried to follow her lead, their mother, who allegedly favored de Havilland, refused to let her use the family name. Subsequently, Fontaine was forced to invent a name, taking first Joan Burfield, and later Joan Fontaine. Biographer Charles Higham records that the sisters have always had an uneasy relationship, starting in early childhood when de Havilland would rip up the clothes Fontaine had to wear as hand-me-downs, forcing Fontaine to sew them back together. A large part of the resentment between the sisters allegedly stemmed from Fontaine's perception that de Havilland was their mother's favorite child.

Both de Havilland and Fontaine were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1942. Fontaine won that year for her role in Alfred Hitchcock's Suspicion over de Havilland's performance in Hold Back the Dawn. Charles Higham states that Fontaine "felt guilty about winning given her lack of obsessive career drive...". Higham has described the events of the awards ceremony, stating that as Fontaine stepped forward to collect her award, she pointedly rejected de Havilland's attempts at congratulating her and that de Havilland was both offended and embarrassed by her behavior.

Several years later, de Havilland remembered the slight and exacted her own revenge by brushing past Fontaine, who was waiting with her hand extended, because de Havilland allegedly took offense at a comment Fontaine had made about de Havilland's husband. De Havilland's relationship with Fontaine continued to deteriorate after the two incidents. Charles Higham has stated that this was the near final straw for what became a lifelong feud, but the sisters did not completely stop speaking to each other until 1975. According to Fontaine, de Havilland did not invite her to a memorial service for their mother, who had recently died. De Havilland claims she informed Fontaine, but Fontaine brushed her off, claiming she was too busy to attend.

Charles Higham records that Fontaine has an estranged relationship with her own daughters as well, possibly because she discovered that they were secretly maintaining a relationship with de Havilland. Both sisters have refused to comment publicly about their feud and dysfunctional family relationships, though in an interview with John Kobal, Fontaine stated categorically that the so-called rivalry was a pure hoax, cooked up by the studio publicity hounds.

In a 1979 interview, Fontaine says the reason she stopped speaking with her sister was because Olivia wanted their mother (who was suffering from cancer) operated on at the age of 88. Joan also says that when their mother died, Olivia didn't even bother to phone to find out where she could be reached (Fontaine was on tour). Instead, Olivia sent a telegram, but it was delivered to Joan two weeks later at her next stop.

Whatever the reason, it does not look like Olivia DeHavilland and Joan Fontaine will ever mend the fences. This has to be one of the longest family feuds of all-time, and it is the stuff only Hollywood could dream up...

SOURCE