One of 2024’s obsessions is “Feud: “Capote vs. the Swans.” The FX on Hulu limited series revolves around the best-selling novelist Truman Capote‘s friendship with several of the highest of New York’s society women include Babe Paley, Slim Keith and Lee Radziwill, the sister of Jackie Kennedy Onassis. The women treat him as a sort of father confessor, but when he publishes an excerpt from what he considers his will be his masterwork “Answered Prayers” in Esquire — a thinly veiled account of their lives and secrets –they feel betrayed and turn their back on their once trusted friend. He spends the rest of his life trying to get back into their good graces.
Everyone knows Capote wrote “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and his superb “In Cold Blood” and was a witty albeit inebriated guest on countless talk shows, but how much do you really know about him?
Capote was...
Everyone knows Capote wrote “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and his superb “In Cold Blood” and was a witty albeit inebriated guest on countless talk shows, but how much do you really know about him?
Capote was...
- 3/19/2024
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Norwegian pianist Rune Alver carefully unfolded the brittle sheet music and began caressing the keys of the baby grand. He had found the classical piece buried in an archive and believed it hadn’t been heard in maybe a century. But as he delved into the second section, Cantando, he felt a shiver run down his spine. The melody wasn’t just reminiscent of something he’d heard before — it was iconic. He instantly recognized the unforgettable, yearning opening notes of “Over the Rainbow,” the Academy Award-winning anthem Judy Garland performed in The Wizard of Oz, perhaps the most famous song to come out of Hollywood. How could this be? The sheet music was dated 1910, and The Wizard of Oz premiered nearly 30 years later. But the melody hung there (“Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high …”). It was hauntingly similar. Too similar, he thought.
About 10 years ago, Alver, now 67, was...
About 10 years ago, Alver, now 67, was...
- 3/6/2024
- by Anthony Tringali and Stephen Cox
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Jewel and Melissa Etheridge will be going on tour together this year.
Last Tuesday, the 90s icons announced their upcoming tour, which will have them go around the country to make stops in cities like Las Vegas, Los Angeles and St. Augustine, Florida.
The tour will last through most of the summer and it won’t end there, as it will continue through the beginning weeks of fall.
They are scheduled to kick off on July 11 in Bonner, Montana, and end in Rogers, Arkansas, on October 5.
The last time Jewel was on stage was last September in Lincoln, California. Etheridge, on the other hand, is currently preparing for her “I’m Not Broken” Tour, which begins in March and ends in April.
In December last year, Jewel and newly divorced Kevin Costner sparked dating rumors when they were spotted in the Virgin Islands.
>Get Jewel & Melissa Etheridge Concert Tickets Now!
Last Tuesday, the 90s icons announced their upcoming tour, which will have them go around the country to make stops in cities like Las Vegas, Los Angeles and St. Augustine, Florida.
The tour will last through most of the summer and it won’t end there, as it will continue through the beginning weeks of fall.
They are scheduled to kick off on July 11 in Bonner, Montana, and end in Rogers, Arkansas, on October 5.
The last time Jewel was on stage was last September in Lincoln, California. Etheridge, on the other hand, is currently preparing for her “I’m Not Broken” Tour, which begins in March and ends in April.
In December last year, Jewel and newly divorced Kevin Costner sparked dating rumors when they were spotted in the Virgin Islands.
>Get Jewel & Melissa Etheridge Concert Tickets Now!
- 1/28/2024
- by Rose Anne Cox-Peralta
- Uinterview
Tony Bennett accepted the boundaries of his universe.
In the last few decades of his life, the period of his greatest success, he never tried to do a Rick Rubin/Johnny Cash-style album of recent pop and rock hits tweaked to suit his voice. Instead, he transported the contemporary artists he worked with — Lady Gaga especially — to his preferred musical arena: the Great American Songbook classics of Johnny Mercer, Irving Berlin, Rodgers and Hart, the Gershwins, Harold Arlen, and so many more. Without seeing the cover, you’d never even know his “MTV Unplugged” album was an “MTV Unplugged” album just by listening to it. His last studio album, “The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern,” speaks to his appreciation of the craft of songwriting embodied by the entire Great American Songbook era, and how a singer can work in dialogue with that songwriter even decades after their death to create meaning.
In the last few decades of his life, the period of his greatest success, he never tried to do a Rick Rubin/Johnny Cash-style album of recent pop and rock hits tweaked to suit his voice. Instead, he transported the contemporary artists he worked with — Lady Gaga especially — to his preferred musical arena: the Great American Songbook classics of Johnny Mercer, Irving Berlin, Rodgers and Hart, the Gershwins, Harold Arlen, and so many more. Without seeing the cover, you’d never even know his “MTV Unplugged” album was an “MTV Unplugged” album just by listening to it. His last studio album, “The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern,” speaks to his appreciation of the craft of songwriting embodied by the entire Great American Songbook era, and how a singer can work in dialogue with that songwriter even decades after their death to create meaning.
- 7/23/2023
- by Christian Blauvelt
- Indiewire
Tony Bennett's first record, "Because of You" was released in 1952 and it instantly codified the entertainer as one of the music world's great crooners. In 1962, his 15th record, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" was certified platinum by the RIAA, but that was after he had already established himself with Count Basie and his Orchestra and as a great fan of songwriter Harold Arlen. All told, he released 61 records in his decades-long career, not including his eight albums of collaborations and duets. He sang with Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Ray Charles, Carrie Underwood, Stevie Wonder, Natalie Cole, Mariah Carey, Bono, Sting, Paul McCartney, Diana Krall, and many others. Most recently, he released two collaborations with Lady Gaga in 2018 and 2021. Bennett passed away on July 21, 2023 at the age of 96. He will be deeply missed.
Naturally, a talent of Bennett's stature couldn't be ignored by Hollywood, and he would appear...
Naturally, a talent of Bennett's stature couldn't be ignored by Hollywood, and he would appear...
- 7/21/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 and an Irish song tradition inspired Paul McCartney on The Beatles‘ “I Saw Her Standing There.” Paul used many of his literary and musical favorites in his songs.
The Beatles, who released ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ in 1963 | Mark and Colleen Hayward/Getty Images Paul McCartney said ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ had rough beginnings
In The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present, Paul wrote that he loves The Beatles’ “I Saw Her Standing” and considers it one of the best songs he’s ever written. However, it had challenging beginnings. Paul played the song for John Lennon as they smoked tea in Paul’s father’s pipe.
There was an issue with one of the lyrics. Paul wrote, “I said, ‘She was just seventeen. She’d never been a beauty queen.’ And John said, ‘I’m not sure about that.’ So our main task was to get rid of the beauty queen.
The Beatles, who released ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ in 1963 | Mark and Colleen Hayward/Getty Images Paul McCartney said ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ had rough beginnings
In The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present, Paul wrote that he loves The Beatles’ “I Saw Her Standing” and considers it one of the best songs he’s ever written. However, it had challenging beginnings. Paul played the song for John Lennon as they smoked tea in Paul’s father’s pipe.
There was an issue with one of the lyrics. Paul wrote, “I said, ‘She was just seventeen. She’d never been a beauty queen.’ And John said, ‘I’m not sure about that.’ So our main task was to get rid of the beauty queen.
- 2/26/2023
- by Hannah Wigandt
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Paul McCartney thinks it’s interesting singing The Beatles‘ “I Saw Her Standing There” because it has a “naïveté” that you “can’t invent.” The singer-songwriter recognizes that he was a completely different person when he wrote the song.
Paul McCartney and The Beatles | Mirrorpix/Getty Images Paul McCartney loves ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ but it had tough beginnings
In The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present, Paul wrote that he’d include The Beates’ “I Saw Her Standing There” in the group of songs he considers his best work. He remembers playing the song for John Lennon for the first time. They smoked tea in Paul’s father’s pipe.
Despite his love for the tune, Paul explained that it had tough beginnings. There was an issue with one of the lyrics. Paul wrote, “I said, ‘She was just seventeen. She’d never been a beauty queen.’ And John said,...
Paul McCartney and The Beatles | Mirrorpix/Getty Images Paul McCartney loves ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ but it had tough beginnings
In The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present, Paul wrote that he’d include The Beates’ “I Saw Her Standing There” in the group of songs he considers his best work. He remembers playing the song for John Lennon for the first time. They smoked tea in Paul’s father’s pipe.
Despite his love for the tune, Paul explained that it had tough beginnings. There was an issue with one of the lyrics. Paul wrote, “I said, ‘She was just seventeen. She’d never been a beauty queen.’ And John said,...
- 2/20/2023
- by Hannah Wigandt
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Actor Austin Stoker, best known for playing Lt. Ethan Bishop in director John Carpenter‘s 1976 classic Assault on Precinct 13, was born on October 7, 1930 in Trinidad… and sadly, it has been confirmed that he passed away on October 7th of this year. His 92nd birthday. Stoker’s wife Robin told The Hollywood Reporter that he died of renal failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. She said, “His transition was beautiful.”
Born Alphonso Marshall, Stoker was in a dance troupe with fellow Trinidadian actor Geoffrey Holder (you may remember him as Baron Samedi in the James Bond movie Live and Let Die), and the pair moved to New York together to pursue careers in the entertainment industry. The Hollywood Reporter says, “In 1954, he played the steel drums on Broadway in Truman Capote and Harold Arlen’s House of Flowers, starring Pearl Bailey, Alvin Ailey and Diahann Carroll, then toured in...
Born Alphonso Marshall, Stoker was in a dance troupe with fellow Trinidadian actor Geoffrey Holder (you may remember him as Baron Samedi in the James Bond movie Live and Let Die), and the pair moved to New York together to pursue careers in the entertainment industry. The Hollywood Reporter says, “In 1954, he played the steel drums on Broadway in Truman Capote and Harold Arlen’s House of Flowers, starring Pearl Bailey, Alvin Ailey and Diahann Carroll, then toured in...
- 10/11/2022
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Click here to read the full article.
Austin Stoker, the actor from Trinidad who starred as the heroic cop battling a band of marauding gang members inside a decommissioned police station in the John Carpenter thriller Assault on Precinct 13, has died. He was 92.
Stoker died Friday of renal failure on his birthday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, his wife, Robin, told The Hollywood Reporter. “His transition was beautiful,” she said.
Stoker also portrayed Macdonald, the human assistant of Roddy McDowall’s Caesar, in Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973), the fifth and final chapter in the original movie series, and he was Brick Williams, the love interest of Pam Grier’s private investigator, in Sheba, Baby (1975).
On the landmark 1977 ABC miniseries Roots, he played Virgil Harvey, father of Olivia Cole‘s Mathilda.
In the cult classic Assault on Precinct 13 (1976), Stoker starred as Lt. Ethan Bishop, who goes...
Austin Stoker, the actor from Trinidad who starred as the heroic cop battling a band of marauding gang members inside a decommissioned police station in the John Carpenter thriller Assault on Precinct 13, has died. He was 92.
Stoker died Friday of renal failure on his birthday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, his wife, Robin, told The Hollywood Reporter. “His transition was beautiful,” she said.
Stoker also portrayed Macdonald, the human assistant of Roddy McDowall’s Caesar, in Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973), the fifth and final chapter in the original movie series, and he was Brick Williams, the love interest of Pam Grier’s private investigator, in Sheba, Baby (1975).
On the landmark 1977 ABC miniseries Roots, he played Virgil Harvey, father of Olivia Cole‘s Mathilda.
In the cult classic Assault on Precinct 13 (1976), Stoker starred as Lt. Ethan Bishop, who goes...
- 10/11/2022
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Barbra Streisand’s fabled run of 1962 shows at the Greenwich Village nightclub, Bon Soir, will be released as a new live album, Live at Bon Soir, on Nov. 4 via Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings. To tease the release, Streisand shared a powerhouse rendition of the Arthur Hamilton-penned song, “Cry Me a River.”
Live at Bon Soir was recorded over three nights, Nov. 4 through Nov. 6, 1962: Streisand was just 20 years old, and she’d signed her first record deal with Columbia only a month earlier. The recordings were originally supposed to become Streisand’s debut album,...
Live at Bon Soir was recorded over three nights, Nov. 4 through Nov. 6, 1962: Streisand was just 20 years old, and she’d signed her first record deal with Columbia only a month earlier. The recordings were originally supposed to become Streisand’s debut album,...
- 9/23/2022
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Tony Bennett has been part of the pop cultural landscape for over seven decades. The 96-year-old scored his first hit song, “Because of You,” in 1951, the year he made his first TV appearances on a long-forgotten variety series “Star of the Family.” He recorded his signature tune, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco’ in 1962. Other hits included “Rags to Riches,” which Martin Scorsese used brilliantly on the soundtrack of his 1990 masterpiece “Goodfellas” and the Oscar-winning “The Shadow of Your Smile” from 1965’s “The Sandpiper.”
Unlike the crooners Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, movie success eluded Bennett. Just check out his film debut in the overstuff 1966 turkey “The Oscar.” His career waned. Rock was hot and Bennett wasn’t. He stopped recording in the late 1970s and was in lot of debt. He turned to drugs but a near death drowning experience in his bathtub changed his life and lifestyle.
Unlike the crooners Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, movie success eluded Bennett. Just check out his film debut in the overstuff 1966 turkey “The Oscar.” His career waned. Rock was hot and Bennett wasn’t. He stopped recording in the late 1970s and was in lot of debt. He turned to drugs but a near death drowning experience in his bathtub changed his life and lifestyle.
- 9/1/2022
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
The Academy Museum’s Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898-1971 is not to be missed. Not only does the exhibition celebrate Black representation in film, it serves as an important reminder and lesson about the contributions of Black filmmakers and stars to the world of cinema.
Opening Aug. 21, seven galleries make up the exhibit exploring Oscar Micheaux’s low-budget dramas in the silent-film era to the works of Melvin Van Peebles.
The exhibition also introduces audiences to stars largely unknown to mainstream moviegoers — Ralph Cooper, Clarence Brooks and Francine Everett — alongside iconic screen legends Paul Robeson, Josephine Baker, Harry Belafonte, Sidney Poitier and Lena Horne.
Poiter’s Oscar for “Lillies of the Field” is just one of the many artifacts on display in this historic exhibition. Alongside the award are tap shoes worn by the Nicholas Brothers and one of Louis Armstrong’s trumpets.
Cowboy Boots worn by Herb Jeffries in 1937’s...
Opening Aug. 21, seven galleries make up the exhibit exploring Oscar Micheaux’s low-budget dramas in the silent-film era to the works of Melvin Van Peebles.
The exhibition also introduces audiences to stars largely unknown to mainstream moviegoers — Ralph Cooper, Clarence Brooks and Francine Everett — alongside iconic screen legends Paul Robeson, Josephine Baker, Harry Belafonte, Sidney Poitier and Lena Horne.
Poiter’s Oscar for “Lillies of the Field” is just one of the many artifacts on display in this historic exhibition. Alongside the award are tap shoes worn by the Nicholas Brothers and one of Louis Armstrong’s trumpets.
Cowboy Boots worn by Herb Jeffries in 1937’s...
- 8/19/2022
- by Jazz Tangcay and Michaela Zee
- Variety Film + TV
Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none
“BEHIND Every MAN…â€.
By Raymond Benson
One of the more popular Hollywood movies of 1954 was The Country Girl, written and directed by George Seaton, adapted from a stage play by Clifford Odets. The Academy liked it well enough to nominate it for Best Picture, Director, Actor (Bing Crosby), Black and White Art Direction, and Black and White Cinematography (John F. Warren). The movie won Oscars for Actress (Grace Kelly) and for the Adapted Screenplay by Seaton.
The Academy sure loves it when a beautiful actress dispenses with any hint of glamour and presents herself in a dowdy, plain, or even “uglyâ€. appearance. And while Grace Kelly could never not be beautiful, her role as Georgie Elgin is not known to emphasize her timeless attractiveness and sensuality. Furthermore, she delivers an outstanding performance that was good enough to surpass the likes...
“BEHIND Every MAN…â€.
By Raymond Benson
One of the more popular Hollywood movies of 1954 was The Country Girl, written and directed by George Seaton, adapted from a stage play by Clifford Odets. The Academy liked it well enough to nominate it for Best Picture, Director, Actor (Bing Crosby), Black and White Art Direction, and Black and White Cinematography (John F. Warren). The movie won Oscars for Actress (Grace Kelly) and for the Adapted Screenplay by Seaton.
The Academy sure loves it when a beautiful actress dispenses with any hint of glamour and presents herself in a dowdy, plain, or even “uglyâ€. appearance. And while Grace Kelly could never not be beautiful, her role as Georgie Elgin is not known to emphasize her timeless attractiveness and sensuality. Furthermore, she delivers an outstanding performance that was good enough to surpass the likes...
- 2/7/2022
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Legendary icon, Barbra Streisand, recently announced that her new album, Release Me 2, will be available on Friday, August 6th. Streisand's first Release Me album debuted in September 2012, and contained tracks recorded between her 1967 Simply Streisand and 2011 What Matters Most albums. Featuring a personal collection of songs, written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Barry Gibb, Paul Williams, Randy Newman, Michel Legrand and Alan Marilyn Bergman, Harold Arlen and Carole King, this 10-track compilation brilliantly showcases the vulnerability and beauty of the human spirit chock full of honest truths and gratitude for the simple pleasures.
- 8/6/2021
- by Courtney Savoia
- BroadwayWorld.com
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Even the most iconic films wouldn’t be the same without music. A good film score knows how to hit the right notes in accurately conveying everything from mood and theme, to emotions and tone. Similar to a soundtrack, which is a collection of music that wasn’t written specifically for the film but fits the overall theme, musical scores are meant to enrich the viewing experience. And if you’ve watched a movie that gave you goosebumps, the music could have something to do with it.
If you’re a cinephile or movie buff who enjoys musical scores, we rounded up a list of some of the best scores to buy on...
Even the most iconic films wouldn’t be the same without music. A good film score knows how to hit the right notes in accurately conveying everything from mood and theme, to emotions and tone. Similar to a soundtrack, which is a collection of music that wasn’t written specifically for the film but fits the overall theme, musical scores are meant to enrich the viewing experience. And if you’ve watched a movie that gave you goosebumps, the music could have something to do with it.
If you’re a cinephile or movie buff who enjoys musical scores, we rounded up a list of some of the best scores to buy on...
- 7/29/2021
- by Latifah Muhammad
- Indiewire
With the Oscars coronating another winner for best original song, it’s an occasion to look back at 20 of the times when the golden guy got it most right with the tune he carried, from “Lullaby of Broadway” to “Lose Yourself.”
1: “White Christmas”
from “Holiday Inn” (1942), by Irving Berlin
It always feels strange watching the “Holiday Inn” scene where Bing Crosby, playing a songwriter, teaches this song to Marjorie Reynolds as something that had recently come off the top of his head, because implicit in the scene is the idea that “White Christmas” was written by a human, not God. The same could be said of its status of an Oscar winner, which never fails to surprise younger generations: Isn’t it from a hymnal of some sort? If it’s true that Berlin said at the time that it wasn’t just the best song he ever wrote...
1: “White Christmas”
from “Holiday Inn” (1942), by Irving Berlin
It always feels strange watching the “Holiday Inn” scene where Bing Crosby, playing a songwriter, teaches this song to Marjorie Reynolds as something that had recently come off the top of his head, because implicit in the scene is the idea that “White Christmas” was written by a human, not God. The same could be said of its status of an Oscar winner, which never fails to surprise younger generations: Isn’t it from a hymnal of some sort? If it’s true that Berlin said at the time that it wasn’t just the best song he ever wrote...
- 4/25/2021
- by Chris Willman
- Variety Film + TV
Singer-songwriter Gretchen Lieberum, who co-founded the Prince cover band Princess with Maya Rudolph, has released a rendition of “Come Rain or Come Shine” from her upcoming collection of standards, This May Only Be a Dream, out May 7th.
Lieberum’s take on “Come Rain Or Come Shine” — penned in 1946 by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer — opens with an experimental flourish, as if an old recording of the song had been shot through a wormhole. While the song settles into a slightly more traditional swoon about halfway through, Lieberum deftly balances...
Lieberum’s take on “Come Rain Or Come Shine” — penned in 1946 by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer — opens with an experimental flourish, as if an old recording of the song had been shot through a wormhole. While the song settles into a slightly more traditional swoon about halfway through, Lieberum deftly balances...
- 3/16/2021
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Billie Holiday’s ‘God Bless the Child’ Gave Blacks Their Own Mournful But Hopeful ‘Over the Rainbow’
Of all the words of wisdom my mother has passed on to me, the earliest ones I remember have been the most useful. She told me I could achieve any goal I set for myself, but being Black, I would have to work harder than most.
My mom inspired my DIY work ethic, and Billie Holiday’s inspired her to write her best-known song, the classic “God Bless the Child.” The jazz and blues legend also known as Lady Day shared its origin story in her 1956 autobiography “Lady Sings the Blues,” published three years before her death from complications of cirrhosis of the liver at age 44. She got the idea for the song after approaching her mother for a loan. When the woman who had given birth to her and who had often benefited from her daughter’s financial assistance refused, Holiday shouted back: “God bless the child that’s got his own.
My mom inspired my DIY work ethic, and Billie Holiday’s inspired her to write her best-known song, the classic “God Bless the Child.” The jazz and blues legend also known as Lady Day shared its origin story in her 1956 autobiography “Lady Sings the Blues,” published three years before her death from complications of cirrhosis of the liver at age 44. She got the idea for the song after approaching her mother for a loan. When the woman who had given birth to her and who had often benefited from her daughter’s financial assistance refused, Holiday shouted back: “God bless the child that’s got his own.
- 2/12/2021
- by Jeremy Helligar
- Variety Film + TV
How the 1940s standard “Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe” failed to be adapted into a Joe Biden campaign song until now is a mystery, but Cher recognized the obvious pairing of classic song and candidate and has recorded her rewrite of the tune, which was originally sung by Ethel Waters in the 1943 film “Cabin in the Sky.”
The song, with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg, was nominated for an Oscar after Waters sang it in the Black-themed Vincente Minnelli film. Many of the original lyrics would not do — Waters refers to “little Joe” in the film version, which sounds more like a nickname Donald Trump would apply to the candidate than something they’d want in a campaign anthem. So that reference gets changed to “president Joe” in Cher’s version, among other alterations.
Cher introduced the song Sunday night in closing “I Will Vote,...
The song, with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg, was nominated for an Oscar after Waters sang it in the Black-themed Vincente Minnelli film. Many of the original lyrics would not do — Waters refers to “little Joe” in the film version, which sounds more like a nickname Donald Trump would apply to the candidate than something they’d want in a campaign anthem. So that reference gets changed to “president Joe” in Cher’s version, among other alterations.
Cher introduced the song Sunday night in closing “I Will Vote,...
- 10/26/2020
- by Chris Willman
- Variety Film + TV
Cher gave the finale performance on Sunday night’s I Will Vote livestream concert, reworking an old Hollywood showtune from the 1943 movie musical Cabin in the Sky to show her support for Joe Biden.
The song, aptly titled “Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe,” was originally written by Harold Arlen and Yip Hapburn and sung by Ethel Waters in one of the earliest Hollywood musicals to feature an all-black cast.
For her performance of “Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe,” Cher reworked the lyrics to fit the message of the presidential campaign.
The song, aptly titled “Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe,” was originally written by Harold Arlen and Yip Hapburn and sung by Ethel Waters in one of the earliest Hollywood musicals to feature an all-black cast.
For her performance of “Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe,” Cher reworked the lyrics to fit the message of the presidential campaign.
- 10/26/2020
- by Claire Shaffer
- Rollingstone.com
Don’t you know, happiness is a thing called Joe. Don’t believe us, just ask Cher.
The legendary entertainer is throwing her considerable clout behind Joe Biden’s run for the presidency with the release of a new single, “Happiness Is Just a Thing Called Joe”
The Academy Award and Grammy winner closed Sunday night’s I Will Vote concert with a performance of “Happiness” ahead of its official release on Monday, a rep tells Billboard.
The number was originally composed by Harold Arlen for the 1943 film musical Cabin in the Sky, earning an Oscar nomination for best original song.
Cher, an ...
The legendary entertainer is throwing her considerable clout behind Joe Biden’s run for the presidency with the release of a new single, “Happiness Is Just a Thing Called Joe”
The Academy Award and Grammy winner closed Sunday night’s I Will Vote concert with a performance of “Happiness” ahead of its official release on Monday, a rep tells Billboard.
The number was originally composed by Harold Arlen for the 1943 film musical Cabin in the Sky, earning an Oscar nomination for best original song.
Cher, an ...
- 10/26/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Don’t you know, happiness is a thing called Joe. Don’t believe us, just ask Cher.
The legendary entertainer is throwing her considerable clout behind Joe Biden’s run for the presidency with the release of a new single, “Happiness Is Just a Thing Called Joe”
The Academy Award and Grammy winner closed Sunday night’s I Will Vote concert with a performance of “Happiness” ahead of its official release on Monday, a rep tells Billboard.
The number was originally composed by Harold Arlen for the 1943 film musical Cabin in the Sky, earning an Oscar nomination for best original song.
Cher, an ...
The legendary entertainer is throwing her considerable clout behind Joe Biden’s run for the presidency with the release of a new single, “Happiness Is Just a Thing Called Joe”
The Academy Award and Grammy winner closed Sunday night’s I Will Vote concert with a performance of “Happiness” ahead of its official release on Monday, a rep tells Billboard.
The number was originally composed by Harold Arlen for the 1943 film musical Cabin in the Sky, earning an Oscar nomination for best original song.
Cher, an ...
- 10/26/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Early on in “Ella Fitzgerald: Just One of Those Things,” singer Patti Austin tells the story of how Fitzgerald — traveling with a big band in the 1930s and apparently the only one on the bus with no interest in getting high — would sit in the back with her coat over her head to act as her “own personal filtration system.” That’s good for a laugh, and it’s also good for a sense of relief, in being reminded that this will be the rare film about a 20th century jazz giant that doesn’t have to worry about when to start in on the tragic foreshadowing. Living to a ripe old age, in this genre of documentary, is not just one of those things.
It’s suggested in director Leslie Woodhead’s film that Fitzgerald lived a fairly lonely life when she was off the road — but it’s...
It’s suggested in director Leslie Woodhead’s film that Fitzgerald lived a fairly lonely life when she was off the road — but it’s...
- 6/27/2020
- by Chris Willman
- Variety Film + TV
James Taylor will take on the Great American Songbook on the singer’s upcoming album American Standard, due out February 28th. The LP is Taylor’s first since 2015’s Before This World and 19th overall.
“I’ve always had songs I grew up with that I remember really well, that were part of the family record collection — and I had a sense of how to approach, so it was a natural to put American Standard together,” Taylor said in a statement. “I know most of these songs from the original...
“I’ve always had songs I grew up with that I remember really well, that were part of the family record collection — and I had a sense of how to approach, so it was a natural to put American Standard together,” Taylor said in a statement. “I know most of these songs from the original...
- 1/23/2020
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
Tony Sokol Oct 4, 2019
Richard Rodgers wrote a musical for Diahann Carroll to star in after hearing her sing on The Tonight Show.
Pioneering TV, film and stage actor Diahann Carroll, who broke barriers as the star of the 60s series Julia, died of Friday in Los Angeles at 84 due to cancer, according to the Associated Press.
Carroll performed on stages in Las Vegas nightclubs, Broadway theaters, and feature film adaptations like Carmen Jones and Porgy & Bess before she was cast in the title role on the comedy Julia. Her character was the first time an African-American was cast as the star of a show in a non-servant role. Julia Baker was a nurse raising a young son as a single mother following the death of her husband in the Vietnam War. The series ran for 86 episodes on NBC between 1968 and 1971.
Carol Diahann Johnson was born in the Bronx, but grew up in Harlem,...
Richard Rodgers wrote a musical for Diahann Carroll to star in after hearing her sing on The Tonight Show.
Pioneering TV, film and stage actor Diahann Carroll, who broke barriers as the star of the 60s series Julia, died of Friday in Los Angeles at 84 due to cancer, according to the Associated Press.
Carroll performed on stages in Las Vegas nightclubs, Broadway theaters, and feature film adaptations like Carmen Jones and Porgy & Bess before she was cast in the title role on the comedy Julia. Her character was the first time an African-American was cast as the star of a show in a non-servant role. Julia Baker was a nurse raising a young son as a single mother following the death of her husband in the Vietnam War. The series ran for 86 episodes on NBC between 1968 and 1971.
Carol Diahann Johnson was born in the Bronx, but grew up in Harlem,...
- 10/4/2019
- Den of Geek
With Diahann Carroll’s death having been announced Friday, and with Judy Garland mania in as full a swing as it’s likely to ever be in the 21st century, due to the biopic “Judy” having just landed in theaters, there could be no better moment in history — at least since 1964 — to take a look back at the time when these two legends met up for a television duet.
They paired up on Garland’s weekly prime-time show 55 years ago to sing a duet of Harold Arlen and Richard Rodgers songs. If you’re thinking that Arlen and Rodgers were not a songwriting team, that was part of the gambit: The two of them took turns singing one classic songwriter’s work or the other’s. “You sing Arlen and I’ll sing Rodgers,” Carroll says at the beginning of the flip. “Roy Rogers?” asks Garland.
Carroll had good reason...
They paired up on Garland’s weekly prime-time show 55 years ago to sing a duet of Harold Arlen and Richard Rodgers songs. If you’re thinking that Arlen and Rodgers were not a songwriting team, that was part of the gambit: The two of them took turns singing one classic songwriter’s work or the other’s. “You sing Arlen and I’ll sing Rodgers,” Carroll says at the beginning of the flip. “Roy Rogers?” asks Garland.
Carroll had good reason...
- 10/4/2019
- by Chris Willman
- Variety Film + TV
Diahann Carroll, who played Dominique Deveraux on the original iteration of Dynasty, died Friday.
She was 84.
The Hollywood Reporter first shared the news, stating the actress passed away following a long battle with cancer.
Carroll appeared on multiple episodes of Dynasty, as well as the spinoff series, The Colbys in the 1980s.
Her character was the half-sister of John Forsythe's Blake Carrington.
The actress was also well known for her role in Julia, a 1970s comedy that focused on a widowed nurse raising her young son.
The role gave Carroll much prominence. It lasted three seasons on NBC.
It was praised for featuring an African American in the title role.
Her first TV role was on The Red Skelton Show.
Carroll was also a prolific singer and Broadway star.
She made her Broadway debut at 19 years old in the musical "House of Flowers," from Harold Arlen.
Carroll was married four times,...
She was 84.
The Hollywood Reporter first shared the news, stating the actress passed away following a long battle with cancer.
Carroll appeared on multiple episodes of Dynasty, as well as the spinoff series, The Colbys in the 1980s.
Her character was the half-sister of John Forsythe's Blake Carrington.
The actress was also well known for her role in Julia, a 1970s comedy that focused on a widowed nurse raising her young son.
The role gave Carroll much prominence. It lasted three seasons on NBC.
It was praised for featuring an African American in the title role.
Her first TV role was on The Red Skelton Show.
Carroll was also a prolific singer and Broadway star.
She made her Broadway debut at 19 years old in the musical "House of Flowers," from Harold Arlen.
Carroll was married four times,...
- 10/4/2019
- by Paul Dailly
- TVfanatic
Diahann Carroll, TV’s history-making star of NBC’s 1960s sitcom Julia and Broadway’s first black Tony Award-winner in a leading role for the 1962 musical No Strings, died today of cancer. The Dynasty star was 84.
“My personal world has taken a downward spiral,” said singer and friend Dionne Warwick in a statement. “Losing my dear friend and Mentor comes as a true hurt to my heart!! I know I’ll miss her as I’m certain all that knew her will. Rest In Peace my dear friend.”
Carroll’s death was announced by her daughter, Suzanne Kay.
Already a popular stage and nightclub performer when she signed on to star in Julia, Carroll is credited with being the first African-American actress to lead a primetime series in a non-stereotypical role, and the first overall since Beulah, the 1950s sitcom about a maid.
Julia became an immediate hit when it...
“My personal world has taken a downward spiral,” said singer and friend Dionne Warwick in a statement. “Losing my dear friend and Mentor comes as a true hurt to my heart!! I know I’ll miss her as I’m certain all that knew her will. Rest In Peace my dear friend.”
Carroll’s death was announced by her daughter, Suzanne Kay.
Already a popular stage and nightclub performer when she signed on to star in Julia, Carroll is credited with being the first African-American actress to lead a primetime series in a non-stereotypical role, and the first overall since Beulah, the 1950s sitcom about a maid.
Julia became an immediate hit when it...
- 10/4/2019
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Singer and Tony-winning, Oscar-nominated actress Diahann Carroll, the first African American woman to star in her own TV series, has died at at her home in Los Angeles after a long bout with cancer. She was 84.
Her daughter, Suzanne Kay, confirmed the news.
Carroll is perhaps best remembered by younger audiences for her role as the conniving Dominique Deveraux on the nighttime soap “Dynasty” in the mid-’80s. But her first major television assignment was starring as the middle-class single mother Julia in a 1968 sitcom that was praised for featuring an African American in the title role — as much as it was criticized for ignoring the civil rights struggle. The series, which ran for three years, was a trailblazer in leading to greater visibility for African American characters on series television.
The actress characterized by svelte cosmopolitan sophistication had come to television via the musical theater. In the early 1960s...
Her daughter, Suzanne Kay, confirmed the news.
Carroll is perhaps best remembered by younger audiences for her role as the conniving Dominique Deveraux on the nighttime soap “Dynasty” in the mid-’80s. But her first major television assignment was starring as the middle-class single mother Julia in a 1968 sitcom that was praised for featuring an African American in the title role — as much as it was criticized for ignoring the civil rights struggle. The series, which ran for three years, was a trailblazer in leading to greater visibility for African American characters on series television.
The actress characterized by svelte cosmopolitan sophistication had come to television via the musical theater. In the early 1960s...
- 10/4/2019
- by Richard Natale
- Variety Film + TV
Burbank, CA, August 22, 2019 – Warner Bros. Home Entertainment announced today that 1939’s acclaimed and beloved classic The Wizard of Oz will be released on Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack and Digital on October 29th. Directed by Victor Fleming (Gone With the Wind) and starring Judy Garland as Dorothy Gayle, The Wizard of Oz is widely considered to be one of the most influential films in cinematic history.
Adapted from L. Frank Baum’s timeless children’s tale about a Kansas girl’s journey over the rainbow, The Wizard of Oz officially premiered at Grauman’s Chinese Theater on August 15, 1939. The film was directed by Victor Fleming (who that same year directed Gone With the Wind), produced by Mervyn LeRoy, and scored by Herbert Stothart, with music and lyrics by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg. Ray Bolger appeared as the Scarecrow; Bert Lahr as the Cowardly Lion, Jack Haley as the Tin Woodman.
Adapted from L. Frank Baum’s timeless children’s tale about a Kansas girl’s journey over the rainbow, The Wizard of Oz officially premiered at Grauman’s Chinese Theater on August 15, 1939. The film was directed by Victor Fleming (who that same year directed Gone With the Wind), produced by Mervyn LeRoy, and scored by Herbert Stothart, with music and lyrics by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg. Ray Bolger appeared as the Scarecrow; Bert Lahr as the Cowardly Lion, Jack Haley as the Tin Woodman.
- 8/24/2019
- by ComicMix Staff
- Comicmix.com
Next month, John Coltrane’s label, Impulse!/Ume, will release Blue World, a new album by the legendary saxophonist. Recorded in 1964 and largely unreleased until now, the 37-minute session was intended as a soundtrack for Le chat dans le sac (“The Cat in the Bag”), a film by the Quebecois director Gilles Groulx. Only 10 minutes’ worth of the music actually appeared in the film, and none of it has appeared on any prior album.
Like Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album, an unearthed mid-Sixties Coltrane LP released for the...
Like Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album, an unearthed mid-Sixties Coltrane LP released for the...
- 8/16/2019
- by Hank Shteamer
- Rollingstone.com
“A Star Is Born” has always been a great talent vehicle, including the new Bradley Cooper-Lady Gaga version, which Warner Bros. opened Oct. 5. Previous versions showcased big-name talent, but there’s also a stellar lineup of people who almost made the film but didn’t, including Cary Grant, Cher, Elvis Presley, Whitney Houston, Denzel Washington, Tom Cruise, Beyoncé Knowles and, behind the cameras, Mike Nichols, Quincy Jones and Clint Eastwood.
The new film is officially the fourth version, but it’s sort of the fifth. In 1932, Rko made “What Price Hollywood?” about an L.A. waitress who becomes a movie star while her alcoholic mentor declines. In the July 19, 1932, review, Variety shrugged, “It’s a fan magazine interpretation of Hollywood.” Five years later, Selznick Intl. Pictures’ “A Star Is Born” had so many similarities that Rko considered suing.
Each version added an innovation: Technicolor in 1937, musical numbers for the 1954 Judy Garland film,...
The new film is officially the fourth version, but it’s sort of the fifth. In 1932, Rko made “What Price Hollywood?” about an L.A. waitress who becomes a movie star while her alcoholic mentor declines. In the July 19, 1932, review, Variety shrugged, “It’s a fan magazine interpretation of Hollywood.” Five years later, Selznick Intl. Pictures’ “A Star Is Born” had so many similarities that Rko considered suing.
Each version added an innovation: Technicolor in 1937, musical numbers for the 1954 Judy Garland film,...
- 1/18/2019
- by Tim Gray
- Variety Film + TV
Hollywood’s allure, insatiable ambition, and the price of fame are at the center of one of the most oft-told stories in show-biz history: “A Star Is Born.” The latest edition, with Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga, is the fourth to be made, and the third to be music-centric. Variety has already written many articles about that one, which is released today — read Owen Gleiberman’s review here — but how do the previous renditions stack up?
1937
Producer David O. Selznick’s original rendering won Oscars for its cinematography and its original story. While the story was written by director William A. Wellman and novelist Robert Carson, many of its sharpest and most cutting lines are believed to have been penned by famed writer Dorothy Parker and husband Alan Campbell (who were nominated in a separate Oscar category but didn’t win).
Janet Gaynor played Esther Blodgett-turned-Vicki Lester, a starry-eyed...
1937
Producer David O. Selznick’s original rendering won Oscars for its cinematography and its original story. While the story was written by director William A. Wellman and novelist Robert Carson, many of its sharpest and most cutting lines are believed to have been penned by famed writer Dorothy Parker and husband Alan Campbell (who were nominated in a separate Oscar category but didn’t win).
Janet Gaynor played Esther Blodgett-turned-Vicki Lester, a starry-eyed...
- 10/5/2018
- by Jon Burlingame
- Variety Film + TV
This article marks Part 6 of the Gold Derby series analyzing 84 years of Best Original Song at the Oscars. Join us as we look back at the timeless tunes recognized in this category, the results of each race and the overall rankings of the Academy Awards winners.
The 1954 Oscar nominees in Best Original Song were:
“The High and the Mighty” from “The High and the Mighty”
“The Man That Got Away” from “A Star Is Born”
“Hold My Hand” from “Susan Slept Here”
“Three Coins in the Fountain” from “Three Coins in the Fountain”
“Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep)” from “White Christmas”
Won: “Three Coins in the Fountain” from “Three Coins in the Fountain”
Should’ve won: “The Man That Got Away” from “A Star Is Born”
Sure, the 1954 Oscar ceremony could have gone a lot worse. “On the Waterfront” and leading man Marlon Brando could have, for instance, fallen...
The 1954 Oscar nominees in Best Original Song were:
“The High and the Mighty” from “The High and the Mighty”
“The Man That Got Away” from “A Star Is Born”
“Hold My Hand” from “Susan Slept Here”
“Three Coins in the Fountain” from “Three Coins in the Fountain”
“Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep)” from “White Christmas”
Won: “Three Coins in the Fountain” from “Three Coins in the Fountain”
Should’ve won: “The Man That Got Away” from “A Star Is Born”
Sure, the 1954 Oscar ceremony could have gone a lot worse. “On the Waterfront” and leading man Marlon Brando could have, for instance, fallen...
- 8/27/2018
- by Andrew Carden
- Gold Derby
Capitol Theatre, Sydney
The Australian production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s adaptation holds no surprises – but it won’t disappoint the die-hards
When beloved classic films turn into cultural touchstones, they become potential box office gold. The Wizard of Oz is no exception, and at the opening night of the latest stage adaptation, Sydney’s Capitol Theatre is full of Dorothys – some in full costume, others wearing red shoes or clutching plush Totos, and all bubbling with excitement.
Who can blame them? The movie has walked away with so many hearts since 1939, just like the original novels had done almost 40 years earlier. Harold Arlen’s original score is packed with wonder, longing and adventure, and Over the Rainbow was voted the greatest song of the 20th century.
Continue reading...
The Australian production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s adaptation holds no surprises – but it won’t disappoint the die-hards
When beloved classic films turn into cultural touchstones, they become potential box office gold. The Wizard of Oz is no exception, and at the opening night of the latest stage adaptation, Sydney’s Capitol Theatre is full of Dorothys – some in full costume, others wearing red shoes or clutching plush Totos, and all bubbling with excitement.
Who can blame them? The movie has walked away with so many hearts since 1939, just like the original novels had done almost 40 years earlier. Harold Arlen’s original score is packed with wonder, longing and adventure, and Over the Rainbow was voted the greatest song of the 20th century.
Continue reading...
- 1/5/2018
- by Cassie Tongue
- The Guardian - Film News
Having played a significant role in the delivery of three of the most high profile musical feature films in recent years – namely Dreamgirls, Chicago, and the upcoming Beauty And The Beast – writer-director Bill Condon is now preparing to bring the big screen to Broadway, by signing on with Warner Bros Theatre Ventures to develop a stage production of A Star Is Born.
Condon’s pedigree brings a great deal of weight to this news. The Academy Award winner wrote the screenplays for Dreamgirls and Chicago – both of which were highly successful screen adaptations of hit Broadway musicals. He directed Dreamgirls himself, and returns to the feature film musical genre this year with Disney’s live-action re-make of Beauty And The Beast. In between, he sharpened his skill-set on a number of dramatic projects – such as The Twilight Saga and The Fifth Estate – before making his Braodway directorial debut in 2014 with Side Show.
Condon’s pedigree brings a great deal of weight to this news. The Academy Award winner wrote the screenplays for Dreamgirls and Chicago – both of which were highly successful screen adaptations of hit Broadway musicals. He directed Dreamgirls himself, and returns to the feature film musical genre this year with Disney’s live-action re-make of Beauty And The Beast. In between, he sharpened his skill-set on a number of dramatic projects – such as The Twilight Saga and The Fifth Estate – before making his Braodway directorial debut in 2014 with Side Show.
- 3/10/2017
- by Sarah Myles
- We Got This Covered
As a musical it’s excellent — fine tunes and lyrics, great singing and dancing by the ever-youthful Fred Astaire, the glorious songbird Petula Clark, and the impishly weird Tommy Steele cast appropriately as a grimacing Leprechaun. The update of what was a politically acute Broadway hit in 1947 is awkward but the show is a melodious pleasure — great color, fine voices and peppy direction by Francis Ford Coppola on his first big studio feature.
Finian’s Rainbow
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1968 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 145 141 min. / Street Date March 7, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Fred Astaire, Petula Clark, Tommy Steele, Don Francks, Keenan Wynn, Barbara Hancock, Al Freeman Jr., Ronald Colby, Dolph Sweet, Wright King, Louis Silas.
Cinematography: Philip Lathrop
Film Editor: Melvin Shapiro
Original Music: Ray Heindorf
Written by E.Y. Harburg, Fred Saidy
Produced by Joseph Landon
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Finian’s Rainbow is a unique musical with a strange history.
Finian’s Rainbow
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1968 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 145 141 min. / Street Date March 7, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Fred Astaire, Petula Clark, Tommy Steele, Don Francks, Keenan Wynn, Barbara Hancock, Al Freeman Jr., Ronald Colby, Dolph Sweet, Wright King, Louis Silas.
Cinematography: Philip Lathrop
Film Editor: Melvin Shapiro
Original Music: Ray Heindorf
Written by E.Y. Harburg, Fred Saidy
Produced by Joseph Landon
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Finian’s Rainbow is a unique musical with a strange history.
- 3/4/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Neurotic coward Eddie Cantor decides to defend an amusement park against gangsters, and nothing but fun ensues! Ethel Merman has a small role here, but we're more than entertained by Parkyakarkus, Brian Donlevy, William Frawley, Jack Larue. Plus Sally Eilers, the Goldwyn Girls and a terrific forgotten talent, billed in this movie as Rita Rio. Strike Me Pink DVD-r The Warner Archive Collection 1936 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 100 min. / Street Date August 4,, 2015 / available through the WBshop / 21.99 Starring Eddie Cantor, Ethel Merman, Sally Eilers, Parkyakarkus, Rita Rio (Dona Drake), Brian Donlevy, William Frawley, Jack Larue, Gordon Jones, Helen Lowell The Goldwyn Girls. Cinematography Merritt Gerstad, Gregg Toland Film Editor Sherman Todd Original Music (Alfred Newman) Dance Director Robert Alton Special Effects Gilbert Pratt, Ray Binger, Paul Eagler Written by Francis Martin, Frank Butler, Walter Deleon from the story and novel Dreamland by Clarence Buddington Kelland Produced by Samuel Goldwyn Directed by...
- 11/5/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
by Anne Marie
We have reached the end of Juy Garland's film career. From this point forward, this series will be focused exclusively on her television appearances. So, why not play Judy out the way she's remembered best, belting a big number in glorious Technicolor? But the hopeful title and Judy's brassy voice belie a darker truth. This week's number serves not only as the title song of the film, but also as a thesis for Judy Garland's later career.
The Movie: I Could Go On Singing (United Artists, 1964)
The Songwriters: Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg
The Players: Judy Garland & Dick Bogarde, directed by Ronald Nearne
The Story: If A Star Is Born represents Judy Garland's image as a tragic, romantic figure in Hollywood, then I Could Go On Singing may be the closest Garland got to a public confession of how messy the tragic parts of her life coud be.
We have reached the end of Juy Garland's film career. From this point forward, this series will be focused exclusively on her television appearances. So, why not play Judy out the way she's remembered best, belting a big number in glorious Technicolor? But the hopeful title and Judy's brassy voice belie a darker truth. This week's number serves not only as the title song of the film, but also as a thesis for Judy Garland's later career.
The Movie: I Could Go On Singing (United Artists, 1964)
The Songwriters: Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg
The Players: Judy Garland & Dick Bogarde, directed by Ronald Nearne
The Story: If A Star Is Born represents Judy Garland's image as a tragic, romantic figure in Hollywood, then I Could Go On Singing may be the closest Garland got to a public confession of how messy the tragic parts of her life coud be.
- 9/14/2016
- by Anne Marie
- FilmExperience
This week's number is hands down the weirdest entry in Judy's filmography. It doesn't fit neatly into Judy's biography or star image; it really appears to be one of those things that happened because the timing was right. In 1962, Warner Bros released a Upa animated feature called Gay Purr-ee. It's a movie about Parisian cats that feels like An American in Paris meets The Aristocats as played by the Looney Tunes. In a bit of early celebrity stunt casting Upa cast two big voices for its dimunitive feline leads: Judy Garland and Robert Goulet.
The Movie: Gay Purr-ee (WB, 1962)
The Songwriters: Harold Arlen (music) & E.Y. Yarburg (lyrics)
The Cast: Judy Garland, Robert Goulet, Red Buttons, Hermione Gingold, Paul Frees, Mel Blanc, directed by Abe Levitow.
The Story: Gay Purr-ee really needs to be seen to be believed. Done in the limited-animation style of Upa, the movie sets...
The Movie: Gay Purr-ee (WB, 1962)
The Songwriters: Harold Arlen (music) & E.Y. Yarburg (lyrics)
The Cast: Judy Garland, Robert Goulet, Red Buttons, Hermione Gingold, Paul Frees, Mel Blanc, directed by Abe Levitow.
The Story: Gay Purr-ee really needs to be seen to be believed. Done in the limited-animation style of Upa, the movie sets...
- 8/24/2016
- by Anne Marie
- FilmExperience
When Judy Garland and George Cukor made A Star Is Born for Warner Bros, both Judy and the industry were changing. The Paramount Case and The De Havilland ruling had weakened the paternalistic power of the studio system by forcing studios to sell their theaters and release their stars, while widescreen technology changed the shape of the movies. Similarly, Judy's previously squeaky-clean MGM image had transformed. In the early 1950s, she divorced Vincente Minnelli, married Sidney Luft, survived a suicide attempt and rehab and launched a successful concert series and an even more successful concert album. It was no coincidence that in the middle of this maelstrom Judy Garland's comeback vehicle was a remake of a 1937 Technicolor classic.
The Movie: A Star is Born (Warner Bros 1954)
The Songwriter: Harold Arlen (music), Ira Gershwin (lyrics)
The Players: Judy Garland, James Mason, Jack Carson, Charles Bickford, directed by George Cukor
I'm breaking with tradition slightly,...
The Movie: A Star is Born (Warner Bros 1954)
The Songwriter: Harold Arlen (music), Ira Gershwin (lyrics)
The Players: Judy Garland, James Mason, Jack Carson, Charles Bickford, directed by George Cukor
I'm breaking with tradition slightly,...
- 7/27/2016
- by Anne Marie
- FilmExperience
In 'Judy by the Numbers' Anne Marie looks back at Garland's career through key songs
By the time Judy Garland turned 28, her entire adult life and her entire star persona had been a product of MGM. In 1950, Judy Garland's image - as cultivated by MGM and the Freed Unit - was of an exuberant talent, small in stature but big in heart and voice; a buoyant box office sensation. However, the reality was different. In the 13 months between the release of In The Good Old Summertime and Summer Stock, Judy Garland fought drug addiction, rehab, an increasingly strained marriage, an unsympathetic studio, and a suicide attempt that made headlines worldwide. Filmed before her attempt but released two months after it, Summer Stock is a record of the conflict between the image of Judy Garland and the reality of Frances Gumm.
The Movie: Summer Stock (1950)
The Songwriters: Harold Arlen (music...
By the time Judy Garland turned 28, her entire adult life and her entire star persona had been a product of MGM. In 1950, Judy Garland's image - as cultivated by MGM and the Freed Unit - was of an exuberant talent, small in stature but big in heart and voice; a buoyant box office sensation. However, the reality was different. In the 13 months between the release of In The Good Old Summertime and Summer Stock, Judy Garland fought drug addiction, rehab, an increasingly strained marriage, an unsympathetic studio, and a suicide attempt that made headlines worldwide. Filmed before her attempt but released two months after it, Summer Stock is a record of the conflict between the image of Judy Garland and the reality of Frances Gumm.
The Movie: Summer Stock (1950)
The Songwriters: Harold Arlen (music...
- 7/20/2016
- by Anne Marie
- FilmExperience
Lorna Luft, daughter of the late Judy Garland, gave an emotional performance of her mother's signature tune "Over the Rainbow" at New York City's Feinstein's/54 Below on Wednesday night - the first she's ever given of the song, she says. "I've never sung this song," Luft told concertgoers before the performance. "Not because it was too hard for me emotionally, but because I always felt you can't improve on perfect. But I thought to myself, if I'm ever going to sing this, now is the time." The emotional moment came 47 years to the day after Garland died at the age...
- 6/24/2016
- by Dave Quinn, @NineDaves
- PEOPLE.com
Lorna Luft, daughter of the late Judy Garland, gave an emotional performance of her mother's signature tune "Over the Rainbow" at New York City's Feinstein's/54 Below on Wednesday night - the first she's ever given of the song, she says. "I've never sung this song," Luft told concertgoers before the performance. "Not because it was too hard for me emotionally, but because I always felt you can't improve on perfect. But I thought to myself, if I'm ever going to sing this, now is the time." The emotional moment came 47 years to the day after Garland died at the age...
- 6/24/2016
- by Dave Quinn, @NineDaves
- PEOPLE.com
It's been 77 years since Judy Garland made Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg's 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' forever famous. Just last night, her daughter, Lorna Luft, brought the beloved song back to life something she has never done before now at Feinstein's54 Below, in a moving tribute to Stonewall, Orlando, and of course, her late mother. Check out the entire, emotional performance below...
- 6/23/2016
- by BroadwayWorld TV
- BroadwayWorld.com
"I'm the kind of girl who's tried everything once," Valerine Perrine purrs in Lenny. As Mrs. Bruce in the Bob Fosse film, her claim, let's say, contained slightly off-color elements.
Not so for the chanteuse Arlene Wolff, who can make the same assertion and whose career path followed a similar timeline (the 1960s onward). She, however, always took the high road. Yes, her notable achievements are indisputably aboveboard and even more varied. She opened for Jackie Mason in his early days, toured Europe as a singer of standards, and as Assistant to New York City's Mayor Abraham Beame, Wolff devised the Big Apple's now iconic street fairs. If that were not enough, for you sailor buffs, she organized the arrival of the tall ships in New York Harbor for the Bicentennial. Then because she had some free time on her hands, she married Manhattan's then Chief of Police (Mickey Schwartz...
Not so for the chanteuse Arlene Wolff, who can make the same assertion and whose career path followed a similar timeline (the 1960s onward). She, however, always took the high road. Yes, her notable achievements are indisputably aboveboard and even more varied. She opened for Jackie Mason in his early days, toured Europe as a singer of standards, and as Assistant to New York City's Mayor Abraham Beame, Wolff devised the Big Apple's now iconic street fairs. If that were not enough, for you sailor buffs, she organized the arrival of the tall ships in New York Harbor for the Bicentennial. Then because she had some free time on her hands, she married Manhattan's then Chief of Police (Mickey Schwartz...
- 5/24/2016
- by Brandon Judell
- www.culturecatch.com
Anne Marie is tracking Judy Garland's career through musical numbers…
How do you talk about this movie? How do you talk about this song? Sure, there are star-turns. There are underdog stories. But there is nothing in Hollywood legend so powerfully wedded as Judy Garland and The Wizard of Oz. It's the kind of lightning-in-a-bottle marriage of star and song that comes once every couple of generations. This was the number that would define Judy Garland as she defined it. It would be her biggest hit; one she recorded and re-recorded. It would follow her throughout her career, and outlive her when she died. Every moment before and after in the story of Judy Garland, MGM, and Studio System Hollywood lives in the shadow of "Over The Rainbow."
The Movie: The Wizard of Oz (MGM, 1939)
The Songwriter: Harold Arlen (Music & Lyrics)
The Players: Judy Garland, Margaret Hamilton, Billie Burke,...
How do you talk about this movie? How do you talk about this song? Sure, there are star-turns. There are underdog stories. But there is nothing in Hollywood legend so powerfully wedded as Judy Garland and The Wizard of Oz. It's the kind of lightning-in-a-bottle marriage of star and song that comes once every couple of generations. This was the number that would define Judy Garland as she defined it. It would be her biggest hit; one she recorded and re-recorded. It would follow her throughout her career, and outlive her when she died. Every moment before and after in the story of Judy Garland, MGM, and Studio System Hollywood lives in the shadow of "Over The Rainbow."
The Movie: The Wizard of Oz (MGM, 1939)
The Songwriter: Harold Arlen (Music & Lyrics)
The Players: Judy Garland, Margaret Hamilton, Billie Burke,...
- 3/2/2016
- by Anne Marie
- FilmExperience
Today in 1905, Harold Arlen was born. Having written over 500 songs, a number of which have become known the world over, Arlen is best known for writing the songs for The Wizard of Oz, including the classic 1938 song, 'Over the Rainbow.' Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the Great American Songbook. Harlen's music has been featured in a number of other early Broadway shows including Hooray for What, Bloomer Girl, St. Louis Woman, House of Flowers, Mr. Imperium, Jamaica, Saratoga, and many more.
- 2/15/2016
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
Happy Birthday, Ira Gershwin A lyricist, Gershwin collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs of the 20th century. With George he wrote more than a dozen Broadway shows, featuring songs such as 'I Got Rhythm', 'Embraceable You', 'The Man I Love' and 'Someone to Watch Over Me'. He was also responsible, along with DuBose Heyward, for the libretto to George's opera Porgy and Bess. The success the brothers had with their collaborative works has often overshadowed the creative role that Ira played. However, his mastery of songwriting continued after the early death of George. He wrote additional hit songs with composers Jerome Kern 'Long Ago and Far Away', Kurt Weill and Harold Arlen.
- 12/6/2015
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
Songs On Screen: HitFix recurring feature of tributes by writers to their favorite musical moments from TV and film. Check out all the entries in the series here. There are three great songs from American film, and they are all about rainbows. “Over the Rainbow,” “Moon River” and “The Rainbow Connection” – are the three most quintessentially American songs ever to appear on screen, sung by three quintessentially American characters; and all three stand apart as plaintive cries of lonely souls dreaming of someplace far away..”Waiting round the bend” ”where troubles melt like lemondrops” for “the lovers, the dreamers and me” The things these songs share tell you everything needs to know about the character of 20th Century America. The things they don’t share tell you everything you need to know about how that character changed as the era wore on. Let’s start at the top, and the very top it is.
- 6/26/2015
- by Richard Rushfield
- Hitfix
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