Summer Stock (1950) - Movie Review

 Jane Falbury (Judy Garland) is struggling to keep her farm afloat due to past bad crops and, being unable to pay wages, her hands are forced to find employment elsewhere. After managing to get a tractor on credit from the store owner and her future father-in-law, Jane is shocked to return to the farm and find the place crawling with actors. Jane's sister, Abigail (Gloria De Haven), has returned home after offering the barn to Joe Ross (Gene Kelly) to put on his show that Abigail stars in. Jane at first tells Joe and his acting troupe to clear out, but eventually relents and lets them stay on condition that they help out on the farm too.

 I personally love this movie! Judy is lovely and adorable as always. Gene Kelly's character is a bit different than his usual ones- in a good way, he's not cocky in this movie.

Some Trivia:
 Summer Stock was Judy Garland's last movie for MGM and was originally meant to star Mickey Rooney in the Gene Kelly role. Mickey Rooney's box office draw was not much, however, and they cast Gene Kelly in the role.

 Judy Garland starred in Gene Kelly's first picture for MGM and his screen debut, For Me and My Gal. Gene Kelly starred in Judy Garland's last picture for MGM, Summer Stock.

Music:
 Here are two of the songs from the movie. I'd do several more, only I don't want to spoil it all for you.

Dig, Dig, Dig, Dig for Your Dinner

Howdy Neighbor, Happy Harvest

~ Hanne-col

What's On? (1950s TV Shows)

 In the 1950s television became popular and movie stars began having their own shows. Jack Benny, Lucille Ball, Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, and Donna Reed had their own shows, but there was also a lovely TV show called What's My Line. In the show a panel had to try and guess what occupation their guests had. There would also be a mystery guest, usually a celebrity, who the panel would have to blindfold themselves for. Here are some of my favorites of both.

The Jack Benny Program - Guest Star Humphrey Bogart

The Jack Benny Program - Guest Star Ginger Rogers



What's My Line - Mystery Guest Debbie Reynolds



What's My Line - Mystery Guest Yul Brynner



What's My Line - Mystery Guest Fred Astaire



What's My Line - Mystery Guest Ronald Reagan



What's My Line - Mystery Guests Roy Rogers and Dale Evans



What's My Line - Mystery Guest Jack Benny

~ Hanne-col

Matinee Saturday - 1940s

 Today is Matinee Saturday for Going Through the Era's. There are so many movies I love from the 40s that I couldn't pick just one so I decided to make a list of some of my favorites.

His Girl Friday (1940) - Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, and Ralph Bellamy star in this hilarious screwball comedy. Newspaper editor Walter Burns (Cary Grant) is given a surprise visit by his ex-wife and ex-reportor Hildy Johnson (Rosalind Russell) when she tells him that she is going to remarry. Next ensues chaos as Burns gets Hildy to do one last newspaper story for him in exchange for buying life insurance from her fiance (Ralph Bellamy), but as murderer escapes jail Burn's is trying to get the story and his ex-wife back.

Babes on Broadway (1941) - The third of the Mickey and Judy 'Backyard Musicals' finds Tommy Williams (Mickey Rooney) and two pals trying to get their big break on Broadway. One day with the thought of the next days private audition with a broadway producer glimmering before them Tommy's happiness is dimmed when he sees a girl, Penny Morris (Judy Garland), crying in another booth at the drugstore. Determined to cheer her up he talks to her and then takes her to her home. The next day their audition is crashed hundreds of other hopefuls and they end up not being able to audition. Mickey and his chums decide to put on their own show for broadway producers to see them and soon find a cause in the orphanage that Penny helps out at.

It Started With Eve (1941) - Jonathan Reynolds (Charles Laughton) is on his deathbed and near death as his only son and child Johnny (Robert Cummings) arrives in New York City and rushes home. Before he dies Johnny's father wants to meet his son's fiancee and so Johnny promptly rushes to her hotel. His fiancee and her mother are not in however and he is unable to find them anywhere. In desperation he asks the hat check girl Anne Terry (Deanna Durbin) to pretend to be his fiancee so his father can die happy. Johnny's father is pleased with the girl he thinks is his sons fiancee and unexpectedly recovers, leaving Johnny frantic for a way to resolve the mix-up without throwing his father into a relapse and Anne determined to attend the engagement party his father is holding and meet some broadway producers.

Don't Fence Me In (1945) - Magazine photographer Toni Ames (Dale Evans) is sent west to Twin Wells from New York City to try and find the outlaw from the wild west Wildcat Kelly. There she meets an old man who claims to have been a friend of the outlaw (Gabby Hayes). She goes to the dude ranch where he works along with Roy Rogers and the rest of the Sons of the Pioneers and begins to snoop around for clues.

Well, those are just four of some of my favorite movies from the 1940s and let met tell you there are many, many more.

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I think I'll close off this post with some pictures of one of my favorite singers and actresses Judy Garland.

 A publicity still for the 1948 film Easter Parade starring Judy Garland and Fred Astaire. I really like this movie and wish Judy had been able to make another movie with Fred Astaire.

A movie still from the 1942 movie For Me and My Gal starring Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, and George Murphy. This movie was Kelly's big screen debut and another one of my favorites.

~Hanne-col

Modern Screen, November 1941

 Well, I'm back again with the other vintage movie magazine I bought alongside with the one last week. This time it is from 1941.

 The cover with some actor by the name of Stirling Hayden.

A pre-release movie review of the Deanna Durbin film It Started With Eve. Apparently before it's release they were calling it 'It Started With Adam'. 

An article on Roy Rogers the King of the Cowboys. It is really funny to see the publicity stunt that Republic Pictures did regarding Roy's birth place in here.

 A movie ad for the Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth film You'll Never Get Rich. Good movie by the way.

Here is a picture of Bonita Granville. She starred in four Nancy Drew films. 

 a closeup of the Bonita Granville picture.

 Gary Cooper

 An article on Judy Garland written by her mother.

And an article on Eddie "Rochester" Anderson. He was a regular on the Jack Benny Radio show starting with his very first appearance in 1937 and would later on become a regular as Jack's chauffeur/valet/butler. He would continue to become a regular on Jack Benny's television program too.

~ Hanne-col

Sing, Sing, Sing with a Swing (1940s Music)

Today is Fun Monday for Going Through the Era's and I am going to drown you with swing music! Well, maybe not really, but I do love music from the 1940s. Judy Garland, the Andrews Sisters, Benny Goodman and his Orchestra, and all those lovelies! *happy sigh* You get the idea.


"Sing, Sing, Sing" by Benny Goodman and his Orchestra. A particular favorite.

"Drummer Boy" sung by Judy Garland in the movie "Strike Up the Band."



"Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" sung by the Andrews Sisters in "Buck Privates"



"The Turntable Song" sung by Deanna Durbin in "Something in the Wind"



"Gotta Be This or That" sung by Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland on The Danny Kaye Show.



"Swinging on a Star" sung by Bing Crosby in the movie "Going My Way." The song won an Academy Award for Best Original Song. Bing Crosby would also win an oscar for best actor and his co-star Barry Fitzgerald won best supporting actor.



"The Nerve of Some People" sung by Roy Rogers and Dale Evans in the movie "Lights of Old Santa Fe."



"Cowboy Ham and Eggs" sung by Roy Rogers and The Sons of the Pioneers in the movie "Home in Oklahoma"



Well, I'd better close this before it gets too long, but I hope it has whet your appetite for more.

~ Hanne-col

Movie Review: Three Smart Girls (1936)

 Joan (Nan Grey), Kay (Barbara Read), and Penny Craig's (Deanna Durbin) parents have been divorced for ten years and girls live in Switzerland with their mother. Mrs. Craig, who still loves the girls' father, is heartbroken when she reads in the newspaper that their father is planning to remarry. So the girls decide to run away to New York City and prevent the wedding.

 Once in New York they surprise their father, millionaire Judson Craig (Charles Winninger), and shock his fiancee, Miss Donna Lyons (Binnie Barnes). The girls soon enlist the help of Bill Evans (John King), the man who manages their father's investments. Together they hatch a plot to get Miss Lyons away from their father by introducing her to someone even richer. But Bill is sent to Philadelphia and when the method for the girls to find him goes awry they end up getting the wrong man (Ray Milland).

 I LOVE this movie!! It is such a delightful movie, with some really funny movie lines. I highly recommend it. Oh, and I just found out you can find it on YouTube.

Movie Quotes:

Judson Craig: Do you realize that I have guests downstairs, that Miss Lyons was singing? I thought the ceiling would come down!
Penny Craig: Why didn't you stop her?

Kay Craig: Haven't you any conscience?
Michael Stuart: Conscience? About what?
Kay Craig: You were just about to cheat that poor man, weren't you?
Michael Stuart: Oh, no. I wouldn't cheat anybody. Uhh. I just wanted to buy a little gift, for you.
Kay Craig: For me?
Michael Stuart: Yes.
Kay Craig: Do you think I'd accept a seven-thousand dollar ring that wasn't paid for?
Michael Stuart: Oh, I would have paid it. Uhh, on terms you know. A dollar down, a dollar a week.
Kay Craig: For seven-thousand weeks?
Michael Stuart: Eh ... That is a rather long time, isn't it?

~ Hanne-col

Modern Screen, October 1936

 On the way back from Florida last December we stopped by an antique mall and I picked this delightful little goody. Modern Screen from October of 1936.

 The cover with a drawing of Jeannette MacDonald on it.

Only actress on this page that I know is Irene Dunne. 

 A closer look at the Irene Dunne picture and an interesting tid-bit on "Madame Curie." Hmm, I guess the movie ended up getting shelved or something. It didn't come out until 1943, and then Greer Garson had the title role.

 Claudette Colbert in what looks like a very good imitation of the dress she wore in It Happened One Night.

 an article on Katherine Hepburn.

 Two pages on Fall fashion, with Olivia de Haviland on the right.

 a closer look at the Olivia de Haviland page.

 My favorite part of the whole magazine though is this two-page beauty on Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers' Waltz in Swing Time which they performed in the movie Swing Time.

closer look at each page.

Isn't it lovely? And I bought this with another magazine for only $5!

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And now after looking at that two-page Astaire and Rogers spread I'm in the mood for some dance clips.

Waltz in Swing Time:



Hard to Handle:



Pick Yourself Up:



Aren't they just fabulous?

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Oh, by the way this post is for my older sister's blog event "Going Through the Eras."

~ Hanne-col