This film stars Audrey Hepburn, Fred Astaire and Kay Thompson, and is a wonderfully cheerful musical made in 1957.  Astaire is Dick Avery, photographer for fashion magazine Quality.  When he meets Jo Stockton (Hepburn) working in a bookshop specialising in titles about philosophy, he decides that she would make a perfect model.  But Jo is not interested in the world of fashion, believing it to be shallow and unimportant.  However, she is desperate to go to Paris and meet her hero, philosopher Emil Flostre, and when she learns that the modelling assignment Dick wants her for is in Paris, she agrees to go.  Inevitably they start to fall for one another, but Jo and Dick are from different worlds, and sometimes those world clash…

Even though I don’t often choose to watch musicals, I found this film enchanting, and great fun.  Audrey Hepburn is as beautiful as ever, and it’s impossible not to love her.  She is great as the idealistic Jo, who finds herself drawn into an unfamiliar world.  Fred Astaire is also great as Dick Avery, and showcases his fabulous dancing.  (However, my favourite dance sequence from the film was that which Hepburn performed the first time she went to the philosophy hang out – with her hair scraped back and dressed in plain black top and trousers, she is still luminescent and stunning.)  Kay Thompson, as the editor of Quality was simply outstanding – she was hilarious, and her dancing and singing was great.

The film looks gorgeous – it’s set in New York, then Paris, and the latter city is shown off extremely well.  There are also some lovely outfits on show (it is a film about a model for a fashion magazine after all).  I really liked the songs and the dancing – as well as my aforementioned favourite dance sequence, I also especially liked the ‘Bonjour Paris’ song, where the three main characters all explore Paris on their own before meeting up at the Eiffel Tower.

Even if you’re not a fan of musicals, I’d recommend giving this film a watch – it’s feel-good, it looks good, and it’s a lot of fun.

Year of release: 1957

Director: Stanley Donen

Writer: Leonard Gershe

Main cast: Audrey Hepburn, Fred Astaire, Kay Thompson

Monday, March 14, 2011
Waxing Moon
Saturn Retrograde
Gloomy and COLD!

Saturday was just a very disjoined, disconnected day. I’m not really sure why. I did a few loads of laundry, but that was the only tangible accomplishment.

I caught up with student work, which was great, and always exciting. I finished the Kay Thompson biography — but not early enough to get it to the library before they closed for the weekend. I discovered that I can get a separate card for the Sandwich Library (one of my favorite libraries on the Cape), which also plugs me into a network of 28 off-Cape libraries, expanding my research capabilities even further. I wrote material for the conference board and threw it all out, because both tone and content SUCKED.

Started the next assignment for Confidential Job #1. Stylistically, it’s well done, but it’s rather depressing and certainly not enjoyable. So it’s a bit of a slog, but it’s the last of this set, and once I’m done, I can invoice, so I’m going to grit my teeth and get through it in the next few days.

My treat for the evening was to dive into a book given to me by Costume Imp, Mercedes Lackey’s TRIO OF SORCERY. I read the first novella in it, “Arcanum 101”, which is a Diana Tregarde story. Diana Tregarde was one of the early kick-butt urban fantasy heroines before it was called “urban fantasy” –I used to find the books shelved with paranormal mystery. She is one of my all-out favorite characters. While I completely support any writer’s choice to stop writing in any given series, I still always hunger for more Diana Tregarde stories, and was delighted that this book, published in 2010, had a novella with her, front-and-center, and, even better, it took place during her college days in Harvard in the 1970’s. Loved it, loved it, loved it.

Overslept on Sunday, due to Daylight Savings Time — I HATE “springing forward”, I resent losing that hour, and it takes me weeks to feel like I’ve caught up. Got in the papers, comments on student work. Had hoped to get in a walk at Ashumet, but then it clouded over. There was talk of snow flurries, and I would have just burst into tears if I had to look at one more flake of snow. I LIKE snow and I’m done!

Read the papers — so at least I know what’s going on around here — and read the second of the TRIO OF SORCERY, called “Drums.” Also fascinating.

Headed down to the library for the discussion on ornamental grasses. I wasn’t in the mood for it — I was worried about the work I had stacked up at home. But I’m really glad I went — it was fascinating. I learned a lot. I also met some of the people with whom I’ll be going to the Flower Show on Thursday, and I won an adorable little birdhouse! I’ll have to post a photograph at some point. The refreshments were also great– everywhere there’s an event here, they put out a great spread!

I came home, pulled out a book on New England Gardening, and got some ideas on how I can apply what I learned to this property, which is always good.

Cooked dinner, and finished a local history book — the diary of a sixteen year old girl writing about her life in Woods Hole (only a few miles from here) in 1881.

Weird dreams last night, everything from cats lost in transit (not mine) to . . .I don’t know. Woke up just before 5; should have gotten up, didn’t, and then, thanks to the damn time change, overslept.

I have A LOT to get done today, especially on the seminar and on the play. So I better get to it. I’d hoped to go to Ashumet today to walk, but it’s dreary and cold, with talk of either showers or a snow flurry, so I think I’ll pass! This week is insanely busy, but in a good way. I just have to make sure everything gets done on time, and nothing is left dangling.

Devon

Today’s my birthday, so I’ll be offline most of the day. I’ve got Fun Stuff to do!

Yesterday was busy — spent time on the workshop, got some great work done on the play, had to do some research for the play (why do I insist on writing about lost civilizations and lost languages all the time, and then I have to go find them?), and working on the landing page for the seminar.

Web Design is not my forte, and, of course, because I could design a pretty nifty page on iWeb, I couldn’t upload it to my host. So I deleted one of my sub-domains (which needs revamping anyway) and used the host’s site builder to create a simple landing page. Not a lot of bells and whistles, but all the info is there. It wasn’t too much of a gut-wrenching nightmare, actually. It even let me cut-and-paste (usually I have to hand-enter every keystroke). It didn’t let me do everything of course, and I’m not particularly quick, but it’s done, and now we can tweak it over the next few days and jazz it up a bit, and then promote it. I also started setting up the conference board, but then hit the point where I couldn’t think straight any more. I’ll have to go back to it tomorrow.

I even spent some time cleaning up the fallen branches in the front yard, and, lo and behold, as I hauled them to the back to pile ‘em up, I found crocuses valiantly peeking up and around the rose bushes on the side of the house.

But that’s a post for tomorrow’s Gratitude and Growth!

The next assignment has come in from Confidential Job #1, and I will start tackling that this weekend.

I’m reading a biography of Kay Thompson — I didn’t realize she had a long career in radio and in Hollywood as a singer and musical arranger before she wrote the Eloise books! Very interesting to see how radio worked in the thirties, forties, fifties, etc.

Last night’s kundalini yoga kicked my ass, but it sure helped my hip! This morning’s session was pretty good, too.

Tomorrow, it’s back to commenting on student work, setting up the conference, and working on my deadlined material, but today is all mine!

Devon

Here’s what I like
Dandelions”
(Kay Thompson’s Eloise)

In writing about Eloise, I am aware that I am only adding my name to a long, long list of completely devoted fans. But I must say that the scantily illustrated picture book won my heart and soul almost immediately, as only George and Martha ever has. Since so much has been said about this cheerful little book over the years, I’ll spend my two cents talking about a seemingly insignificant point: grammar.

After writing down the quotation for this post, I started to notice that Eloise is simply above the use of grammar. In a cursory look over the text, I found only one period in the book. Even though I would turn my nose up if someone merely told me a book existed without the benefit of grammar, not only do I hardly noticed it in Eloise, but I love it. Kay Thompson forms a visual, intuitive grammar by placing all of her poetic sentences next to the accompanying drawing, like a careful blend between a traditional picture book and a graphic novel. Thompson’s breaking of grammatical rules parallels the literal rules her imaginative character also breaks, which, I think, forms an essential part of the charm of Eloise.

Beverage: Champagne.

Reminds me of… although Eloise is completely original, her temper tantrum scene reminds me of Don’t let the Pigeon Ride the Bus by Mo Williems.

★ I watch; therefore, I am It’s Sunday night, you’re channel surfing until something catches your eye. Though you may think that you’ve merely selecting something that piques your interest; your choice has more to do with your personality…or so ad targeters believe. According to marketers, what TV shows you watch is determined by your personality – those who are considered rule breakers oftentimes find themselves watching Family Guy; a creative mind may tune in to Mad Men; and traditional personalities love the realism of reality TV, such as Dancing with the Stars. Ad Age.

★ Quidditch to snag NCAA status The ability to fly may be lacking; but Quidditch has been a popular sport on high school and college campuses across the United States for years thanks to a little thing called Harry Potter – and now those who participate are eager to have the sport recognized by the NCAA [National Collegiate Athletic Association] in the hopes that it will someday be accepted for the Olympics. The game is modeled after the descriptions found within the pages of Rowling’s novels, and played with capes, goggles, broomsticks, hula hoops, and balls – much like the Potter characters. The Quidditch World Cup will take place on November 13 and 14 in a Manhattan park – already more than 60 high school and college teams have registered to participate. Wall Street Journal.

Over to you…do you read biographies about your favorite authors – why or why not? Are you curious to learn more about Kay Thompson’s life? Do you feel that what you watch relies upon your personality? What personality type are you? Would you like to see Quidditch become an Olympic sport in the future? Would you ever play Quidditch – why or why not?

Share your thoughts in the comments section!

Erika (aka inkpoperika)

October Vogue Italia (couldn’t find November):

November American Vogue:

Thoughts?

I’ll give you mine….American Vogue needs to wake up!

The Paris Vogue has a boho 70s vibe to it – promising some intrigue, developing some interest, and as we all know, there is always something risque or just a little bit questionable to cause discussion. Also, the cover image, while reminding us of previous covers isn’t recycling anything current.

Vogue Italia is simple, all about the fashion – just the way we want it.

American Vogue is giving us another actress (remember? October was Carey Mulligan, September was Halle Berry, etc. – where are the models?). This time, Anne Hathaway, who looks beautiful but whom I would hardly put on the level of Charlotte Gainsbourg, Alice Dellal, etc who would grace the pages of Paris Vogue with their trendsetting, cool ways. Anne Hathaway has never cut it for me, she delivers nothing original. Flipping through at the store, I noticed that her pictures were all images we have seen before. How many times has an actress (again, unsuccessfully) attempted to channel Audrey Hepburn? Her Maxim’s shots and especially the stairwell shot look like they just came out of Gigi. (I’m not going to even get onto the topic of the big red ballgown she’s wearing on the cover…NEVER seen that before – please note the sarcasm!!)

Where is the originality? That pop in the magazine that will make us take note, that will trendset, that will provide a reference for generations to come on the fashion of the day. Unfortunately, it’s not there. The clothes are just pretty, the models are all the same, the covers are all actresses promoting films. American Vogue – give us back the edge!

I am reminded of my favourite scene from one of my favourite movies: Funny Face. Kay Thompson plays an Anna Wintour type (but with some warmth, singing, dancing, and comedy) editor of Quality magazine. Which stands in for Vogue in the movie as the benchmark for women’s fashion. Sitting at her desk, addressing her secretaries, she laments the current issue for being “D for Down, D for Dull, D for Dreary, and Depressing”. She searches for a new idea and comes up with it: Think Pink! She ends up changing all of society’s dressing. Addressing this new trend to “Women everywhere”. Maybe Wintour should give her magazine a D, think of something new, get everyone excited. When that happens, I will kick up my heels and do the dancing for her.

Kay Thompson, addressing “Women everywhere”:

(All images via Plaza Hotel)

]]> http://dallasmambo.wordpress.com/2010/09/13/think-pink-a-better-way-of-life-eloise-aht-the-plahzao/ Mon, 13 Sep 2010 19:00:36 +0000 Sherlock Spice http://dallasmambo.wordpress.com/2010/09/13/think-pink-a-better-way-of-life-eloise-aht-the-plahzao/ I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the PLAHZA! (in the words of Eloise, New Yorks’ most famous and favorite 6 year old)

Eloise Book Cover

Eloise, the precocious, french speaking, frou frou dressing, millionairess and 6 year old Plaza resident who poured Perrier water down the Plaza’s mail chute, is alive and kicking (quite literally:) at THE PLAZA!

The Plaza at Night - New York City

Eloise first came to life in the mind of Kay Thompson, who penned her creative & loveable ideas of a wealthy six-year-old living in the Plaza during the 1950′s. Hilary Knight beautifully illustrated the child and brought her into 3D on the pages of Kay Thompson’s Eloise books.

Plaza Entrance *Picture taken from The Plaza's Website

The first children’s book was published in 1955 while Kay Thompson was a resident at The Plaza. There has been some speculation that the books were inspired by Liza Minnelli, Judy Garland‘s daughter, who was a resident at The Plaza during the same time period that Kay was writing the Eloise Books.

A young Liza Minnelli with mom, Judy Garland

I tend to believe the persistent rumors that have caused speculation for years  – Kay Thompson was a close friend of Judy Garland, and after Judy’s death, she took charge of Liza, and in fact even lived the last 10 years in Liza’s penthouse on East 69th St. One of the most telling facts that lends truth to the Liza/Eloise connection, is the charge Kay gave Liza, shortly before her death (it would be the last things Kay ever said to Liza). “Take care of Eloise”.

Kay & Eloise - 1969

Little girls have been visiting The Plaza for years now, hoping for a glimpse of Eloise running through the hallways with her pets, Weenie (the pug puppy) and Skipperdee (the turtle) and her faithful and “mostly companion”, Nanny chasing her down. Raphael Pallais, concierge of The Plaza, has said that, “Little girls ask for Eloise, and often their parents will ask them to ask us.”

Edwin Trinka, Plaza doorman since 1963, retired this year-I bet he has many Eloise stories to tell his grandkids! *Update-Mr Trinka is now the doorman for the Plaza Residences

Eloise has multigenerational appeal, and our fondness and nostalgic love of her, has been passed down from Grandmother to daughter, to granddaughter throughout the last 60 years.

Finally, after reading of her life in the picture books, and seeing the loveable and enjoyable child come alive on the big screen, we finally have a place to go and experience the life of Eloise!

On December 1st, 2009, The Plaza opened her doors to the world of Eloise, in the form of a 2,100 sq.ft. gift shop, with the warmth and feel of a giant playhouse complete with a fantasy pink tea party room, beauty salon, reading room, and mirrored dress up nook.

The gift shop offers everything Eloise-even Madame Alexander’s Eloise dolls.

Madame Alexander's soft 18in. "Eloise" doll

Now, in 2010, The Plaza has announced its newest Eloise fantasy development, and it has been creating quite a bit of buzz from little girls and their mommies everywhere. The Plaza is now offering the first ever, Eloise’s Suite, room 1832, on the 18th floor.

Eloise Suite

The fantasy of any little girl, the posh and adequately frou frou suite has been decorated by none other than our favorite pink designer, Betsey Johnson.

Betsey Johnson in Eloise Suite

The closet is fully stocked with fluffy and elaborate, Eloise approved, dress up clothes-just in case you forgot your own. Many girls will be dreaming of this suite, but alas, since this is THE PLAZA, all this beautiful Eloiseness will of course cost you a pretty penny. Starting at $995.00 a night, this suite welcomes pets under 25 lbs, and comes with a $100.00 gift card for the Eloise gift shop down below. Oh well, after all, it IS “THE PLAZA”.

Seeing all the excitement surrounding Eloise, and her new “diggs” at The Plaza, makes me pause and think; Why has this uber michevious and confident 6-year-old captivated girls across the world for the last 60 years? Maybe, because deep down, we all have a bit of “Eloise” in all of us. I know I do. Sometimes I just want to Sklonk around, have Dior make a dress for me, live at The Plaza, be a city child, travel the world at the drop of a hat-saying “Charge it, please” everywhere, and tell people that my mother knows Coco Chanel. Yes, and sometimes I even want to pour a bottle of Perrier down the mail chute because I have so much to do and I just feel like being bad, bad, bad. “Oh my Lord!”

I would love to hear if any of you have seen or stayed in the Eloise Suite, and I adore feedback from my readers! A little birdy told me that there are 700 of you guys out there that have read this post, and not a single commenter among you! Catastrophe! Eloise stories are always fun, so don’t forget to share!

Forever Your Eloise

P.S. From one “Eloise” to another, and the mother of a 3 year old ”Eloise”, I wanted to let you know that I found quite a selection of Madame Alexander’s soft body 18″Eloise dolls on ebay.com

Related Articles

• Betsey Johnson Designs the ‘Eloise Suite’ at the Plaza Hotel (stylelist.com)

★ A ‘Reckless’ new release from Cornelia Funke After much success with her books The Thief Lord, Inkheart, and other popular stories; it should come as no surprise that author Cornelia Funke plans to continue on her path of literary success – which is precisely what she plans to do with her newest effort, Reckless. Inspired by the fantastical works of The Brothers Grimm; Reckless tells the tale of young Jacob Reckless, a boy who has spent years escaping to a world in the midst of a horrendous war in which he discovered behind a mirror. Though the book will not hit shelves until September 14, 2010; you can read the first two chapters here. Entertainment Weekly.

★ The code word is…style For years amateur literary detectives have attempted to dethrone the Roadster-driving Nancy Drew as reigning teen queen of the mystery world with little success. Perhaps what these characters were lacking was style; the very thing Lucie Larkspur, the star of Fred Flare’s Teen Agent! has plenty of. In a unique marketing move, kitschy teen shopping haven Fred Flare – home of the Holly GoNightly Sleep Mask and Ice Cream Lamp – has introduced its first ever serialized fashion mystery; wherein a stylish story will make it Online each day starring the ever-chic girl detective Lucie Larkspur! Fred Flare.

Over to you…are you a fan of Eloise? On a scale of 1 to 10, how badly would you like to spend a night in The Eloise Suite? What do you think of Funke’s newest effort? Are you excited for September 14, 2010, when you’ll be able to read Reckless in its entirety? What is your favorite Funke book, and why? What do you think of a fashion-focused serial? Will you be tuning in to Lucie’s daily fashion-forward adventures? Who is your favorite literary girl sleuth and why?

Share your thoughts in the comments section!

Erika (aka inkpoperika)

Despite the studio’s boast on the theatrical release poster that Ziegfeld Follies is the “greatest production since the birth of motion pictures,” I really didn’t enjoy it that much. The musical numbers are hit and miss, and the comedy bits all hit the ground like lead zeppelins. There are a lot of impressive set pieces, and the colors are really bright, but as far as plotless extravaganzas go, it just doesn’t have the latter-day stoner appeal of Fantasia (1940).

The film begins with little models of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, then P.T. Barnum’s big top, then Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr.’s theater. That’s it, folks. The only three shows in the history of the world that matter. Clearly humility is not on the program for the evening.

William Powell, who played “Flo” Ziegfeld in The Great Ziegfeld (1936), reprises his role for the first segment of the picture. He’s on a set that looks like the kind of pad Liberace and Louis XVI might have picked out for themselves if they were roommates, talking a lot of nonsense about magic and the theater (it took me a little while to catch on to the fact that he’s supposed to be in heaven). We’re then treated to an elaborate stop-motion recreation of Ziegfeld’s 1907 opening by the Bunin puppets. All of his great stars are recreated as puppets; Marilyn Miller, Fanny Brice, Will Rogers, and even Eddie Cantor in blackface.

Each segment that follows is introduced by a storybook page. Fred Astaire appears in the first, “Here’s to the Girls.” He acknowledges that “Ziggy,” as he calls him, never had much use for villains or plots, then sings an ode to the American girls who were Ziegfeld’s main attractions. Cyd Charisse dances a little solo and then Lucille Ball cracks a whip over eight chorus girls dressed as panthers. Finally, Virginia O’Brien hollers for some fellers, and then sings, “Bring on Those Wonderful Men.” It’s a punishing spectacle that sets the tone for what is to come.

In the next segment, Esther Williams appears in … surprise, surprise … a water ballet. It’s fine, and she spends a lot of time underwater, which is neat, but what is the sequence even doing in this picture?

Next, Keenan Wynn appears in the comedy short “Number, Please.” I found it completely unfunny, but maybe that’s because I can’t stand “frustrating” humor. Basically, all he wants to do is make a phone call, but he’s thwarted at every turn, until his face is red and steam is coming out of his ears. For me it dragged the movie to a halt like a sweaty punchline comic working the in-betweens at a burlesque strip show.

Next, James Melton and Marion Bell sing “La Traviata.” Yawn.

Ooh, goody, more comedy! Victor Moore and Edward Arnold appear in “Pay the Two Dollars,” in which a man spits on the subway and is trapped in a legal nightmare because his attorney won’t let him just pay the $2 fine. Again, what’s up with the horribly frustrating situational humor? Not only did this segment not make me laugh, it made me feel as if I was watching a stage adaptation of a Kafka story.

Next, Fred Astaire and Lucille Bremer appear in a “dance story” called “This Heart of Mine,” with music by Harry Warren and words by Arthur Freed. It’s pretty good. It took me back to the days when lighting a girl’s cigarette and then dancing while smoking was still classy. On the other hand, no one glides across a ballroom like old Fred, so the rotating circular centerpiece seemed wholly unnecessary. Who did the director think he was dealing with, Clark Gable?

The next comedy segment is called “A Sweepstakes Ticket,” and for some reason it’s filmed on a regular set, not the impressionistic “stage” sets used in all the previous comedy bits. Hume Cronyn gives away a winning Irish sweepstakes ticket to make up the few bucks he was short on the rent, and he and his wife Fanny Brice try to get it back from their landlord. Again, it’s not at all funny, just frustrating.

The next segment, “Love,” with Lena Horne (R.I.P.), was a nice opportunity to see black people in Technicolor, and in a steamy tropical setting no less. It should have been longer.

Next, Red Skelton shows us all what will happen “When Television Comes.” He does a promo for “Guzzler’s Gin.” He drinks a whole bunch each take and acts more and more stinko. If you’re amused by cross-eyed drunkenness and double-takes, this will still do the trick. Although it’s possible audiences in 1946 were amused by this segment, I can’t imagine they were left with a very clear idea of what the advent of television would mean for the country.

Up next is “Limehouse Blues,” in which Fred Astaire and Lucille Bremer return, only this time in yellowface. The Chinatown tropes are offensive, but the colors and imagery are quite beautiful and impressive, in a non-P.C. sort of way. Once we get to the actual dance number, however, the piece is hamstrung by its own ridiculous conceit. It doesn’t help that in all the medium shots, Astaire’s makeup makes him look a lot like Boris Karloff in The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932).

In “A Great Lady Has an Interview,” Judy Garland seems to be lampooning Katharine Hepburn or possibly Greer Garson. I got the feeling that there were a lot of industry in-jokes that I wasn’t getting. For me, Garland is always a treat, however, so I didn’t mind it that much.

And then, like a terrible party that suddenly becomes fun 20 minutes before the police arrive to break it up, Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly appear in “The Babbitt and the Bromide,” by George and Ira Gershwin. Their dialogue is funnier than any of the “comedy” bits in the movie, and their side-by-side dance number is transcendent. Ziegfeld Follies is worth seeing for this sequence alone.

Finally, Kathryn Grayson sings “Beauty,” by Warren and Freed. It’s standard stuff, but there are enormous piles of bubbles that I thought were pretty cool.

In other news, the last living Ziegfeld Follies “girl,” Doris Eaton Travis, died yesterday at the age of 106. I hope it doesn’t seem as if I’m beating up on the Follies themselves. I’d love to go back in time and see a Ziegfeld revue on Broadway. This film just doesn’t really capture the magic.

Funny Face was one of the films I decided I needed to see after watching My Fair Lady last month.  I didn’t know the name of it, but I knew it had Audrey Hepburn and she did a dance in a tight black outfit.  The dance had been featured in an ad a couple years back for The Gap and stuck in my mind.  I was in Big Lots on Friday and in the new stick they had received were two different versions of Funny Face.  One was labeled as part of the Fred Astaire or Audrey Hepburn collection, while the other was the 50th Anniversary Edition.  The cover on the 50th Anniversary Edition featured a picture of Audrey in the skinny black pants.  Surprisingly, Fred Astaire is barely mentioned on the DVD cover and only a tiny full body side shot of him as his Dick Avery character is featured on the cover.

The plot to Funny Face is very simple and versions of the same story have been told for decades.  A bookish girl is transformed into a gorgeous model, falls in love, and changes the life of the man who changes her life.  The thread bare plot is wrapped around several Gershwin songs and (as in the case of An American in Paris) several dance numbers.  Obviously Fred Astaire is a marvelous dancer and Hepburn is wonderful as well, but it just made the movie seem like less of a film to me.  I enjoy a good musical, but the musical numbers here seem secondary to the dance sequences.  I did enjoy the number (Clap Yo’ Hands) that Astaire and Kay Thompson perform at the professor’s party and the Bonjour, Paris! number functions as a song and dance number as well as a travelogue of Paris.  Never the less, the songs and dancing didn’t seem as integrated into the movie as the ones in My Fair Lady for example.

Funny Face is also one of those films where the look of the film is incredibly important.  It reminded me of the early Image comic books where the art is gorgeous, but the writing is not on the same level or even Kubrick’s 2001 where the visuals over shadow the story.  The colors are so vivid and the imagery so striking, that there is no mistaking this film with any other, but as I said earlier, the story line is formulaic.

One other issue I had with Funny Face had to do with Fred Astaire as the leading man and love interest.  While he shows a touch of comedic charm in several scenes, I just had a hard time buying him as the romantic leading man.  Astaire looks to me more like the creepy uncle in a lot of his scenes.

The DVD has several bonus featurettes.  One featurette covers the fashions, one covers Paris and one covers Paramount films of the 50s.  All three were decent, but not eye-opening.  There is not a lot of information on the making of the film in any of the featurettes. The DVD also features the trailer, which shows the end of the movie, thus earning a 9 1/2 on the Quarantine scale. 

The movie itself gets a 2 1/2.  The songs were fine.  Audrey Hepburn was gorgeous.  The art direction and cinematography were top-notch.  Kay Thompson was incredibly entertaining.  But there needed to be a better story holding it all together.

A restaurant chain might seem an unlikely subject for a big-budget, Technicolor, Hollywood musical, but clearly the young, attractive waitresses in their crisp black and white uniforms were enough of a hook. The film opens with the following portentous prologue:

“When Fred Harvey pushed his chain of restaurants farther and farther west along the lengthening tracks of the Santa Fe, he brought with him one of the first civilizing forces this land had known … the Harvey Girls. These winsome waitresses conquered the west as surely as the Davy Crocketts and the Kit Carsons — not with powder horn and rifle, but with a beefsteak and a cup of coffee. To these unsung pioneers, whose successors today still carry on in the same tradition, we sincerely dedicate this motion picture.”

If all this is to be taken seriously, then who wouldn’t want to lionize these distaff settlers? I haven’t read Samuel Hopkins Adams’s 1942 novel that this film is based on, but it must have been a good story for Hollywood to want to pick it up. Or maybe it was just that Johnny Mercer and Harry Warren realized what a catchy rhythm the phrase “on the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe” had.

After the prologue and credits, the film opens on a shot of a moving train. Susan Bradley (Garland) is standing on the deck of the caboose, singing a forgettable song about love. She is heading out west to marry a man whom she only knows from the florid love letters he has written her. When her suitor, H.H. Hartsey (Chill Wills), turns out to be a functionally illiterate cowpoke who had a friend play Cyrano for him by penning the letters himself, Susan parts with him (mostly amicably), and becomes a Harvey girl.

The dramatic conflict, such as it is, comes from the local saloon and gambling house, which also features dancing girls. The owner of the palace of sin, Ned Trent (John Hodiak), and his star attraction, Em (played by a young and foxy Angela Lansbury), fear that the opening of the Harvey House will usher in a new era of respectability and crush their business. In real life of course, Trent’s girls would have been prostitutes and Em would have been their madam, but in the world of 1940s M-G-M musicals, dancing the cancan for hooting and hollering cowboys was about as scandalous as they could get.

Garland and Lansbury both give good performances, and are backed up by a large and talented cast. Virginia O’Brien (as the Harvey girl “Alma from Ohio”) is tough and sassy, and Ray Bolger, most famous for playing the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz (1939), here gets to play the Cowardly Homosexual, a popular character type in Hollywood pictures for decades. While his sexual preference is never identified outright, Bolger’s character’s effeminacy and fear of any butch labor (such as shoeing horses), as well as his spirited prancing, leaping, and tap dancing make it clear that he doesn’t have any designs on the ladies.

The Harvey Girls is an entertaining mix of musical and western. But if director George Sidney aspired for it to be anything more than breezy entertainment, it doesn’t show. Judy Garland is always a delight, but Vincente Minnelli’s ability to coax a nuanced performance from her and to tell an engaging story from beginning to end in a musical is sorely missed here. The Harvey Girls is enjoyable, but it’s no Meet Me in St. Louis (1944). Also, aside from the standout song, “On the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe” (which won an Academy Award for best song), no musical number in the picture really stands out.

Here are my top 10 favorite movie musicals – at least as of today.  Tomorrow I may remember another one I love and wish I’d put it on the list!

 10.  Funny Face

Fred Astaire, Audrey Hepburn, Kay Thompson, beautiful tunes by Gershwin, gorgeous ‘50s Paris, and super chic fashion by Givenchy.  What’s not to love?  Think Pink!

Favorite number:  “Clap Yo Hands”

9.  The Sound of Music

I almost can’t believe this movie is so far down on my list, considering that I’ve loved it since before I was even born!  It’s my mom’s favorite musical, so I think I listened to “Do Re Mi” and “My Favorite Things” in utero.  This is the warmest, most loveable story, and yet in spite of singing nuns, adorable children, and breathtaking mountain vistas it’s never too cute or precious.  The melancholy of impending war hangs like a cloud over everything.  I never fail to weep when Captain Von Trapp sings “Edelweiss” at the festival and can’t make it through the song, so heartsick is he about leaving his beloved Austria.

Favorite number:  “Something Good.”  What can I say?  I’m a romantic. 

 8.  Singin’ in the Rain

Pure joy.  This is a movie that always cheers me up whenever I’m feeling blue.  Gene Kelly dancing with an umbrella, Donald O’Connor bouncing off the walls, Debbie Reynolds popping out of cakes – this movie has everything.  I don’t know what else to say except that it’s hilarious, romantic, and contains some of the happiest song and dance numbers ever filmed.

Favorite number:  “Moses Supposes”

7.  Calamity Jane

I love, worship and adore Doris Day (making it all the more shocking that I haven’t talked about her here before this), and this is my favorite of her musicals.  Calamity Jane was Warner’s answer to MGM’s Annie Get Your Gun, and as much as I like Annie, I enjoy Calamity Jane even more.  It may not have as many instantly recognizable songs (although “Secret Love” and “Black Hills of Dakota” are classics), but I like the story more and I think Doris Day gives one of her best performances as the rough and tumble tomboy Calamity Jane.  She’s a hoot to watch sparring with Wild Bill Hickok, played the handsome Howard Keel.  (He was also in Annie Get Your Gun, because you can’t have a western musical without Howard Keel!)

Favorite number: “Black Hills of Dakota”

 6.  My Fair Lady

One of the wittiest, most erudite musicals ever, and one of the most deliciously snarky.  Rex Harrison simply is Henry Higgins.  I’ve seen quite a few stage productions of My Fair Lady, and while there’ve been some very passable Eliza Doolittles, I’ve yet to see a Professor Higgins who can remotely touch Harrison’s performance.  He’s marvelous as the arrogant, misanthropic, sexist bachelor who finds he can’t quite live without the squashed cabbage leaf he found in Covent Garden.  Audrey Hepburn makes a lovely, touching Eliza.  Nobody played ugly duckling (ugly, ha!) to swan stories quite like her.

Favorite number: “Just You Wait”

 5.  Easter Parade

It seems wrong that only one Judy Garland musical made it onto this list, because I completely adore her and think she was the greatest woman in movie musicals ever.  (See, these lists are such baloney!)  Still, she’s here in Easter Parade, beautiful, vulnerable, spunky, and with more talent than pretty much anyone.  Anyone other than Fred Astaire, that is.  I love how much fun they seem to have together in numbers like “We’re a Couple of Swells.”  Ann Miller is fabulous in this movie, and while Peter Lawford might not have much in the way of musical talent, he’s very pretty to look at.

Favorite number:  “Drum Crazy”

 4.  An American in Paris

For a movie filmed entirely on the MGM lot, An American in Paris certainly influenced what everyone imagines Paris to be like!  Gene Kelly took his dancing to another level with this movie, particularly in the “American in Paris Ballet.”  It’s so innovative and beautiful, with its painting-come-to-life feel.  Leslie Caron is adorable in her screen debut and Oscar Levant is too funny as Kelly’s grouchy concert pianist friend.  Plus – can I say this without sounding like a weirdo? – Gene Kelly has an ass that just won’t quit.  (Apparently I’m not the only one who thinks so.  This blog post is hilarious!)

Favorite number:  “Tra-La-La”

3.  The Band Wagon

For many years I couldn’t stand MGM musicals like The Band Wagon.  They hardly had a plot!  The songs were just thrown in there!  I liked the more story-driven musicals like those by Rogers and Hammerstein.  Gradually I came to appreciate the “let’s put on a show” musicals, however, and this one is a great example of that.  I love the colorfulness, the costumes, the amazing performances by uber-talented stars.  There’s a story here, but it’s not the main thing.  Mostly it’s about song and dance numbers that transport you, take you out of yourself and your humdrum life, and fill you will joy.  Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse make sublime dance partners.  Also, this movie makes me wish Nanette Fabray had been in more musicals.  She’s so endearing dancing with Fred to “I Love Louisa” and singing “Louisiana Hayride.”

Favorite number:  “Dancing in the Dark”

 2.  Swing Time

One of the quintessential Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers movies, and the one I can never see too many times.  It was hard to choose between this and Top Hat, but since Swing Time features my all-time favorite Astaire/Rogers dance number, “Pick Yourself Up,” it’s the one that made the cut.

Favorite number: “Pick Yourself Up”

 1.  Gigi

I love every moment, every song, every little thing about this movie.  It’s absolutely perfectly cast, starting with Leslie Caron’s charming turn as Gigi.  Her transformation from gangly schoolgirl to elegant young woman is completely believable.  Louis Jourdan is a dreamy French dreamboat as  world-weary Gaston, and Maurice Chevalier steals the show every time he’s on screen.  No one could have played Gaston’s elderly playboy uncle like Chevalier.  Hermione Gingold and Isabel Jeans are fantastic, too.  The lush, painterly sets and costumes, memorable music, and a story in which love wins out over cynicism all come together to make this my favorite musical.

Favorite numbers:  “The Night They Invented Champagne”, “I Remember it Well”, “She Is Not Thinking of Me”, “Gigi”

On a Garland fan discussion list about a year ago, a colleague posed an almost impossible query/challenge for those of us similarly smitten with this great artist’s gifts. If you had to choose, my pal asked, which performance from the 1963-64 television series, “The Judy Garland Show”, would you select as your favorite, the keeper, the be all and end all. Your personal gem.

I don’t have to pause over this admittedly very subjective question. As might be otherwise apparent from other notes and appreciations, I admire skill and I especially admire skilled artistry when tempered by humanity and strength. Humility and humanity and honesty and communication. That’s the package. And one particular performance of “Just In Time” recorded on October 4, 1963, in the series episode that features a very young Barbra Streisand (and in which the famous Garland-Streisand duet of “Get Happy” and “Happy Days Are Here Again” is introduced), still takes my breath away.  This performance is  my choice for the timeless, “if you could only choose one”, close to my heart, laughter and tears and understanding .. gem.

The image at the beginning of this note captures Judy early in this performance. She begins this performance seated on a piano bench beside the music director Mort Lindsay. I wrote the following in a response to a fellow fan’s query about why I preferred this particular performance to one later in the series that is more crisp and concert-like, more arranged and pristine. More practiced. My response:

I have always been entranced by this performance of “Just in Time” for a range of reasons:

• Judy’s clear comfort and joy in performing with Mort. The intimacy on the piano bench. Little looks exchanged.
• The gentle beginning .. as she is starting to tell us a story.
• The pow transition .. standing up .. taking us where we go. And her joy at taking us there (the kick, the smile, the turn back to enjoy that moment with Mort at the end).

And for my own personal tastes, I love the imperfections in her voice , the genuine emotion, the story telling in this particular performance of the tune.

I attended a public master class with Barbara Cook at Northwestern University in October 2008.  Ms. Cook is a serious appreciator of Garland and made note of this fact several times during the event including the comment “Mabel Mercer and Judy Garland had the most impact on my work.”  Lyrics, emotion, the package.  Ms. Cook said to one of the six graduate voice students in this class: “I’m less interested in your singing voice than in your BEING voice.” And somehow that’s part of my appreciation of episode 9′s performance of “Just in Time”.  Available.  Solemn at points and joyous at others. Being there for us in the song.

Judy in this performance allows herself to be imperfect and resonant and exuberant, and takes us with her.

The Plaza has opened up a 21,000 square foot  Eloise Shop. The boutique is covered in pink and filled with Eloise swag. Everything from “Do Not Disturb” signs to charm bracelets to signature bedding is up for sale. And of course, of course, of course there is a tea party section which can be reserved for birthday parties, along with etiquette classes for your little princess. A dreamland such as this would not be complete without a pedestal for playing dress up.

In case you can’t get enough of the blonde-haired imp, look into the Live Like Eloise package offered by the Plaza. Your luxurious experience will include a night in a Deluxe Rose Suite, $100 gift certificate to the aforementioned Eloise Shop, a copy of Kay Thompson’s famous book, a Super Duper Sundae from In-Room Dining (now I’m really sold), and Eloise post cards with complimentary postage to say “Hello!” to all of your dearest friends.

Sorry – Nanny, Weenie, and Skipperdee not included.

Posted by Daisy