Let's play dress up

As demonstrated so well by Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis in Some Like it Hot, men in drag will always be a great source of comedy in American film. The tradition of men dressing as woman goes back to the plays of Shakespeare being used as a comic device as early as the 16th century. The sexual confusion that comes from the characters in these films has been revisited several times in other American comedies with varying levels of success.

Here are two of my personal favorites.





Tootsie, starring Dustin Hoffman and directed by the recently departed Sydney Pollack, came out in 1982 and became a massive critical and financial success. The multilayered love triangles that are explored in this film are very reminiscent to the plot of Some Like It Hot. In the film Hoffman plays an out of work actor who can only get work if he auditions for a female role on a hit soap opera. This plot device is very similar to the situation of Curtis and Lemmon in Some Like It Hot minus the gangster violence.




Another great example of cross-dressing explored in comedy is The Bird Cage. A remake of an earlier French film called La Cage Aux Folles. Here Robin Williams and Nathan Lane a committed gay couple who own a drag bar must play it straight when their sons fiancés family comes to meet their new in-laws. Obviously the fiancés father is an extremely conservative politician running for reelection. The snappy dialogue and situational comedy is hilarious every time I see it.

If you haven’t seen these movies you should because they stand the test of time as classics just like Some Like It Hot.

Here is a list of Cross Dressing on Film

Clang Clang Clang Went The Trolley!

Meet Me In St. Louis is one of Judy Garland's most memorable musicals. It is the story of the Smiths, a suburban family living in the midwest around the turn of the century. It has a variety of genres threaded through it including romance, drama, and especially comedy. Judy Garland plays Esther, who falls in love with the boy next-door. The film follows the family through different seasons of the year and shows how much they are attached to their town and community. I don't want to give too much of the story away, but for a great summary of the plot visit this site.

The film is based on a collection of short stories by Sally Benson known as the "Kensington Stories." In the film, the Smiths live on Kensington Ave, which is named after these stories. MGM purchased the rights for the stories from Sally Benson in 1942 for $25,000, which was a large amount of money for the time period. A variety of screenwriters attempted to develop the story, however the final screenplay was written by Irving Brecher and Fred F. Finklehoffe. In the end, MGM spent over $86,000 to have the script finished.

After the screenplay was complete, producer Arthur Freed hired Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane to compose original songs for the film. Of their original compositions, the songs "The Trolley Song," "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," and "The Boy Next-door" have become classics. Arthur Freed then hired Vincent Minnelli to direct the film, and many felt uncomfortable about this decision because the film was such a high budget project that they wanted someone more experienced. However, Freed loved Minnelli's artistic style and trusted his intuition.

With all the elements in place, some studio executives doubted the film's success. Some even called it "Freed's Flop" (thejudyroom.com) The film's budget was about $1.5 Million, $156,000 of which was to construct the St. Louis street (a main set of the film). During the production of the film, Judy Garland was frequently ill which delayed filming. It took a total of 58 days to complete production, and the film was released in New York City on November 28, 1944. Additional production information, and a complete timeline of the film can be found at The Judy Room.

The film was very successful and received great critical acclaim. It was nominated for 4 Oscars and is considered to be Arthur Freed's best film. Read an analysis of the film here.

When the movie was made, Judy Garland was only 21 years old, though she appears to be even younger. After working with Minnelli, the two developed a strong relationship and were married in 1945, only a year after the film's release. 

Meet Me In St. Louis is truly a classic. If you have yet to watch the film, I encourage you to go see it! It is filled with amazing musical numbers, romanticism, hilarious moments, and lots of Judy Garland's wonderful charm.

Watch the incredible "Trolley Song" Here:

Elvis: The King of Kings of Rock and Roll

Although Elvis has been toted as the king of rock and roll for many years he recorded a plethora of tracks that were in no manner rock and roll. His gospel records, for example, were certainly not rockish, and also his blues songs and pop ballads could not be categorized as rock, even by a deaf mute. For this breadth in musical genre Elvis has been inducted into 4 music halls of fame.

Elvis also made 31 movies, most of the chock full of musical numbers and very few of which were appreciated by the critics. His first film was "Love Me Tender" which he made in 1956 for Twentieth Century Fox. It was a western set immediately after the civil war. The producer of "love Me Tender" went on to produce three other Elvis films; "Flaming Star", "Follow That Dream" and "Kid Gallahad". This was the only film that Elvis was to receive second billing for.



His last film was made for Universal and was called "Change of Habit".



As you can probably tell throughout the length of the sixties Elvis became, whats a good word for this... fucked up. And I think comparing the two films is a pretty good means by which to gauge that... fucked-up-ed-ness.

http://www.elvis.com.au/presley/biography/elvis_presley_movies.shtml

http://www.ibiblio.org/elvis/elvishom.html

http://www.elvispresley.com.au/elvis/presley/love_me_tender.shtml

I'm dreaming of a White Christmas (in June)

So I’m well aware that it’s June, but one of my favorite musical comedy films is “White Christmas” (1954), so too bad – I’m going to talk about it.  (And no, the title is not supposed to be racist.)  It’s a “jukebox musical,” just like “Singin’ in the Rain,” using songs from the Irving Berlin catalog - like the title song, duh - that had already been popular prior to the movie’s conception.

The main cast is outstanding, headlined by Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney (who were known for their pipes).  Danny Kaye, a comic actor and a great dancer, was cast opposite Crosby’s lead after Fred Astaire declined and Donald O’Connor of “Singin’ in the Rain” passed due to illness.  (Still exhausted from “Make ‘em Laugh”…?)

Vera Ellen, who was cast as Rosemary Clooney’s sister, was probably the best dancer of this era, having appeared as “Miss Turnstiles,” Ivy Smith, in “On The Town” with Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra.  Although she was a phenomenal dancer, she couldn’t sing, and so in the duet she sings with Clooney (“Sisters”), Clooney actually recorded both parts.

The story is of two WWII army buddies (Crosby & Kaye) who come home after the war and start a musical act, eventually becoming Broadway producers.  They agree to audition another musical act, the Haynes sisters, to join their company.  They are smitten with the two blondes at first sight and convince them to put on a show up in Vermont over the holidays.  But they get there and THERE’S NO SNOW.  They’re afraid no one’s going to come, and so they have to cook something up to save the hotel from closing down (and of course, they fall in love).  The plot is complicated and convoluted, with schemes, mix-ups, and twists, but it doesn’t matter, because it’s all a backdrop for the wonderful songs of Irving Berlin and fabulous dance numbers choreographed (though uncredited) by Bob Fosse.

The pairings of the producers and the sisters are clever – Crosby & Clooney are better at singing, and thus this forms the basis of their characters’ relationship.  Kaye and Vera Ellen are both better at dancing and funnier, so this forms the basis of their relationship.  Crosby & Clooney get the pretty songs, while Kaye and Vera Ellen get the flashy dance numbers.

But Crosby and Kaye do make a great team, especially in this scene, where they are covering for the sisters as they run for the cops and perform their number in drag, a la “Some Like it Hot":

There is a number entitled “Choreography” in which Danny Kaye’s character laments over what the spectacle of the Hollywood musical has done to the art of dance:

The theater, the theater, what happened to the theater?

Especially where dancing is concerned –

Chaps who did taps aren’t tapping anymore, they’re doing choreography

Chicks who did kicks aren’t kicking anymore, they’re doing choreography 

Bottom line, it's a great musical with a great cast, great music, and great dance numbers.  I enjoy it any time of the year, but if you want to check it out, it's always on cable in December.

There was a stage revival of this musical in Boston last year at the Wang.

Tony Curtis

Tony's real name is Bernard Schwartz. He was born in New York in the Bronx on June 3, 1925. He started his career as a theater actor and later in 1949 he joined the movie industry. The names that he used previous to Tony Curtis were James Curtis and later he used the name Anthony Curtis.
Tony is the son of Jewish Hungarian immigrant parents. In the early years his family lived in the back of his father's store. Tony Curtis has two brothers named Julius and Robert. His father was diagnosed with schizophrenia, which also affected his brother Robert. When Tony was 8 years old he had to live in an orphanage with his brother Julius for about a month because their parents couldn’t afford to feed them. When Tony was 12 years old his brother Julius was hit by a car and died in the accident. (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000348/)

Between 1942 and 1945 Tony was part of the United States Navy aboard the submarine tender, the USS Proteus. After Tony served the army he decided to study acting in New York. His talent was discovered by talent agent, and casting director Joyce Selznick. It is said that Tony liked to work in different genres to avoid being typecast.
Tony acted in more than a 100 movies, he also acted in television. Some of his famous movies are: Goodbye Charlie in 1964, The Vikings in 1958, Some Like it Hot in 1959 and The Boston Strangler in 1968.

Tony Curtis has been married six times, his first wife was Janet Leigh from 1951-1962 with whom he had 2 children, than he married Christine Kaufmann in 1963-1967 and they had two children, than he married Leslie Allen from 1968-1982 and they also had two children, than he married Lisa Deutsch from 1993-1994 and finally he married Jill Vandenberg from November 1998 until know. Tony Curtis currently works but mostly he paints. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Curtis)

One of the quotes that defines Tony Curtis personality is:

“What's the secret to a long and happy life? Young women's saliva!”

Here is an interview of Tony Curtis, he talks about his life, his education, and career.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMYz-snQrWI&feature=related

In this video we can look at Tony Curtis personality while he waits for his interview to start.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28jGfk-HK_M

Filmmakers Love Singin' in The Rain

Singin' in the Rain is obviously one of the most memorable and recognizable movies of all time. The song and dance numbers featured in the film have become iconic and a large part of simple film vernacular. Even those who have not seen the film know enough about it to recognize Gene Kelly's famous dance sequence through that drenched city street. In that scene, Kelly creates an iconic movie moment that has been steadily featured and referenced in other movies. Many films have characters that sing and dance and create their own versions of the numbers made famous by Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O' Conner.

Released in 1994, Luc Besson's film The Professional has several references to Singin in the Rain. Within the first few major scenes of the movie, the audience becomes emotionally introduced to the main character, Leon, when he goes to a theater and watches Singin in the Rain. Leon, who lives alone and has a rather dark existence, watches Gene Kelly with a huge smile on his face. For the first time in the movie, he laughs and grins. In this case, Singin in the Rain is used to signify a capacity for happiness in Leon. Later in the film, after Leon becomes acquainted with a young girl, the pair play a game involving dressing up and acting out movies. The young girl dresses up as Gene Kelly and acts out the famous sequence in the street (http://youtube.com/watch?v=-YoNzlS0hIw).

Singin' in the Rain has also been used in several other movies. There is an infamous scene in Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange in which the main character, Alex, sexually assaults a woman while dancing around as a crude, sarcastic version of Gene Kelly. The use of such a happy and light-hearted reference is seemingly supposed to add a level of irony and depth to Alex's brutal actions. He belts out the title song from Singin in the Rain while kicking and bashing people with a stick. This gimmick used by Kubrick would probably not have been as nearly as effective if Singin' in the Rain wasn't so unanimously associated with brightness, life and happiness. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066921/soundtrack). The title song was also used in the 1991 movie What About Bob? (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103241/soundtrack).

It's a grand achievement to create something so perfect and beautiful that it becomes synonymous with happiness. Directors Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen achieved just that and, in doing so, gave new filmmakers a whole new series of references to draw upon in their owns works.

Other Links:
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19980618/REVIEWS/806180301/1023
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19720211/REVIEWS/202110301/1023

Elvis Presely in Love Me Tender

In 1956, Elvis Presley made his film debut with a western musical: Love Me Tender.
The story revolves around the Reno Brothers, a gang of criminals that actually operated after the civil war. According to the library of Congress, the Reno Brothers committed the first train robbery in October 6, 1886 wearing masks and toting guns. Elvis plays one of the brothers that stayed home during the civil war. The drama begins when Elvis ends up marrying his brother’s girlfriend after being mistakenly told his brother had died during the war.

Originally titled The Reno Brothers, the studio ended up changing the title and the script to cash in on Elvis’s immense popularity. One can even notice this in the poster above; Elvis is third on the billing yet he takes up most of the poster. Indeed, the studio must have been delighted as the film grossed over a million dollars opening weekend, and made it into the top ten box office films of that year.

Perhaps this is where it went wrong. Hollywood studios knew that Elvis would guarantee an audience no matter what. This led to a majority of Elvis’s film being done with 2nd rate directors, lousy scripts, and little attention given to the music as well. In the end, Elvis acted in 31 films.

His films may have ruined his career. Nonetheless, his films can almost be considered a musical genre of its own. As a B movie musical genre Elvis lives on in the film history.