WHERE ARE THEY NOW: DOLORES HOPE

Dolores Hope, as many of you know, is the widow of comedian Bob Hope. They were married for many years from 1934 until Bob's death in 2003. She was born as Dolores DeFina in New York City of Italian and Irish descent in 1909 and was raised in the Bronx. After the death of her father, her mother, Theresa, raised her.

During the 1930s, she began her professional singing career under the name Dolores Reade on the advice of her agent. In 1933, after appearing at the Vogue Club, a Manhattan nightclub, Reade was introduced to Bob Hope. The couple were married on February 19, 1934 in Erie, Pennsylvania. They later adopted four children from The Cradle in Evanston, Illinois.

On May 29, 2003, Dolores was at her husband's side as he celebrated his 100th birthday; he died two months later on July 27, 2003. The following year their son, Anthony J. Hope, died at the age of 63 on June 28, 2004.

On May 27, 2009, Dolores Hope became a centenarian herself, and her birthday was featured on The Today Show. On May 29, 2010, Mrs. Hope was quoted as saying to local press, of her 101st birthday, "I’m still recovering from my 100th birthday bash, so I’m going to keep this year’s celebration much quieter.”

UPDATE: SADLY, DOLORES HOPE PASSED AWAY ON SEPTEMBER 19, 2011. YOU CAN READ HER OBITUARY HERE

REMEMBERING: WHY MGM MUSICALS WERE THE BEST

One brand of musical towers head and shoulders above every other: the MGM musical. The mere phrase conjures up a string of iconic images – Gene Kelly ecstatically splashing about in puddles, a be-ginghamed Judy Garland skipping off down the Yellow Brick Road, Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby singing while supping at the bar, Fred Astaire and Judy Garland slumming it as tramps, Maurice Chevalier crooning his way through a park packed with pretty Parisiennes ...

Between 1939 and 1959, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer took the musical genre to a new level – well, several new levels, actually. They gave us the first musical with black stars in the leading roles, in the shape of 1943’s Cabin in the Sky, and six years later, they took the musical out of the studio and on location with the groundbreaking, New York-set classic On the Town.

And whereas the musicals up to that point had been very self-conscious about the use of song’n’dance routines – they invariably featured in “let’s put on the show right here” style plots – The Wizard of Oz blended them seamlessly into the story, just as the songs, by Harold Arlen and EY Harburg, rose organically out of Arlen’s score.

Requiring 29 sound stages, 65 sets, hundreds of costumes, 150 singing and dancing midgets and breathtaking special effects, The Wizard of Oz was typical of MGM’s opulent, no-expense-spared house style – but it was their most ambitious musical to date, and the first in colour. As a result of its success, studio chief Louis B Mayer decided to set up a musical unit at MGM with Oz producer Arthur Freed (the man who ensured Over the Rainbow was reinstated to the film, after it had been cut) at the helm.

And it is to Arthur Freed, that much of the credit for these glorious musicals is due. He puts the unrivalled greatness and splendour of the MGM musicals down to the fact that “MGM had a sort of repertory company, in the shape of the Freed Unit. Their musicals were the best ever made because Freed had this extraordinary gift of assembling talent, and he had a very loyal group of craftsmen that he used time and time again – directors Vincente Minnelli and Charles Walters, composer/arrangers Conrad Salinger, Johnny Green and Andre Previn, choreographers Gene Kelly and Hermes Pan and costume designer Helen Rose. He had the same people doing the same job year in, year out – they really knew what they were doing.” As a result, every aspect of films such as Meet Me In St Louis, Singin’ in the Rain, The Band Wagon and Gigi was absolutely first class.

Of course the perfect example of that – and much else besides – is Singin’ in the Rain (1952), the ultimate Freed Unit production (not least because he also co-wrote the title song). As Gene Kelly later pointed out, “You could watch that and enjoy it even without the music.”

But, oh, what music. Pick any legend of American popular songwriting and you’ll find he worked for MGM during the glory years. Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Richard Rodgers, Harry Warren – they all wrote songs for MGM – and in some cases, the songs outlived or outshone the films. And it wasn’t just the songwriters whose music enchants.

The MGM movies endure because they are meticulously crafted works of art which offer pure unadulterated escapism and complete and utter joy. As Gene Kelly sang in the 1951 MGM extravaganza An American in Paris, “who could ask for anything more?”

SOURCE

UNUSUAL DUETS: DEAN MARTIN AND FABIAN

Here is a duet I never thought I would see. It is one of my favorite crooners Dean Martin swinging with 1960s pop idol Fabian. Even though Fabian was popular, Dean shows the kid how its done. This was taken from one of Dino's shows...

INTERVIEW: GREER GARSON

Here is an interview with the great Greer Garson (1904-1996). Garson was very popular during the War years.She was one of the top box office draws in 1942, 1943, 1944, and 1945. As one of MGM's major stars of the 1940s, Garson received seven Academy Award nominations, winning the Best Actress award for Mrs. Miniver (1942). This great interview is from 1985...

MOVIE TRAILER: METROPOLIS

The 1927 expressionistic masterpiece Metropolis has been re-released in a new 147 minute version, called “The Complete Metropolis”. The film premiered in February 2010at the Berlin Film at Friederichstrasse Palast, accompanied by a 60-piece orchestra playing the original 1927 score by Gottfried Huppertz. The response was overwhelming from both the German press and public. It has now been announced that there will be a North American release of the new restoration, including Blu-ray and DVD versions. A total of 35 minutes of lost footage has been added, as well as the original Huppertz score. This movie is a timeless classic, far ahead of its time...

SILENT SCREEN CHILD STAR DIES

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. – Silent film child star Marie Osborne Yeats, who was known as Baby Marie Osborne in films such as "Little Mary Sunshine," has died in California. She was 99.

Daughter Joan Young tells the Los Angeles Times that Yeats died Nov. 11 at her San Clemente home. The cause of death wasn't disclosed, but Yeats had suffered three strokes in her later years.

Director Henry King launched Baby Marie to stardom in 1916 with "Little Mary Sunshine," a film written for her.

"Little Mary Sunshine" was the first in a series of Baby Marie Osborne films that captivated audiences worldwide and led to Baby Marie dolls and paper dolls.

Her film career ended after the 1919 comedy "Miss Gingersnap," and she later worked as a studio costume supervisor.

FORGOTTEN ONES: VERA-ELLEN

Even to people that watch old movies, dancer Vera-Ellen is mostly known to the world as the younger sister of Rosemary Clooney in the movie WHITE CHRISTMAS(1954). However, she was a great dancer who had many demons that 1940s and 1950s audiences never knew.

She was born Vera Ellen Westmeier Rohe on February 16, 1921 in Norwood, Ohio , an enclave within Cincinnati, to Martin Rohe and Alma Catherine Westmeier, both descended from German immigrants. She began dancing at age 10 and quickly became very proficient. At 16 she was a winner on the Major Bowes Amateur Hour, and embarked upon a professional careerIn 1939, Vera-Ellen made her Broadway theatre debut in the Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein musical Very Warm for May at the age of 18. She became one of the youngest Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall, although she was not tall. This led to roles on Broadway in Panama Hattie, By Jupiter, and A Connecticut Yankee, where she was spotted by Samuel Goldwyn, who cast her opposite Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo in the film WONDER MAN(1945).

She danced with Gene Kelly in the Hollywood musicals WORDS AND MUSIC(1948)and ON THE TOWN(1949), while also appearing in the last Marx Brothers film, LOVE HAPPY(1950). She received top billing alongside Fred Astaire in Three Little Words and The Belle of New York (1952). Then came co-starring roles with Bing Crosby in the blockbuster hit WHITE CHRISTMAS(1954). During the 1950s, she was reputed to have the "smallest waist in Hollywood", and is believed to have suffered from anorexia nervosa. She retired from the screen in 1957. Guest appearances on the television variety shows of Dinah Shore and Perry Como in 1958 and 1959 were among the last of her entertainment career.

Vera-Ellen was married twice. Her first husband was fellow dancer Robert Hightower (from 1941 to 1946).Her second husband, from 1954 to 1966, was millionaire Victor Rothschild. Both marriages ended in divorce. While married to Rothschild, she gave birth to a daughter, Victoria Ellen Rothschild, who died at three months old of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in 1963. Following the death of her child, Vera-Ellen withdrew from public life and never recovered from it. She died of cancer in Los Angeles, California in 1981...

For more on Vera-Ellen's later years go to this article:

VERA-ELLEN: THE LATER YEARS