#m: it's always fair weather (1955)

[musicalfilm]

cyd charisse in it’s always fair weather (1955)

[crushongene]

It’s Always Fair Weather (1955)

FAIR WEATHER CHRISTMAS GREETINGS...from Hollywood find the cast of M-G-M's "It's Always Fair Weather" working telephones overtime with, left to right, Dan Dailey, Cyd Charisse, Gene Kelly, Dolores Gray and Michael Kidd as the busy dialers. Kelly also co-directs the new musical with Stanley Donen. Arthur Freed is the producer.

[whatamigonnawatchtoday]

It's Always Fair Weather

1955. Satirical Musical

By Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen

Starring: Gene Kelly, Dan Dailey, Cyd Charisse, Dolores Gray, Michael Kidd, David Burns, Jay C. Flippen, Steve Mitchell, Hal March, Paul Maxey, Peter Leeds, Alex Gerry, Madge Blake, Wilson Wood...

Country: United States

Language: English

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 3/19/2024

boy hope i never run out of zelda games to play or my mental health is going to Tank. there are very vague endgame stuff spoilers (not where zelda is, but some of the time fuckery) but i am going to spoil a bit of the rito sage quest. nothing is rot-13'ed. i feel like that's a fair compromise since this game has been out for about a year? please let me know YOUR opinions on recent game spoilers

listening

Thanks A Lot But No Thanks from the 1955 musical It's Always Fair Weather, sung by Dolores Grey. this was Dolores Grey propaganda in the @hotvintagepoll. i love a sugar baby song and this is sort of an. anti-sugar-baby song? a satitrical sugar baby song? she thanks suitors for increasingly improbable gifts (the state of Maine, et al) before killing them??

the PIPES on this woman!!! the comedic timing!!! she pulls out a gun and shoots suitors dead while thanking them for an autographed picture of john wayne!!! she pulls a big lever and they all fall under the stage!!! ive been having kind of a Time in the depths of unemployment and this made me genuinely laugh (not one short sharp bark of laughter, full on cackling).

thanks for the darling uranium mine indeed

reading

the moonstone by wilkie collins (and philip). this has been my falling asleep reading book. this is decidedly not a cozy mystery but the stakes are not like. so high i have to keep reading through the night to find out what happens. i'm having a good time with it, currently about halfway and still very irritated with rachel, the main character right now. i have not revised my "spoiled brat" opinion and i look forward to seeing if i ever revise it.

-

watching

The Three Musketeers (2011, dir. Paul W.S. Anderson). thank you mackintosh (this is a discard from my hometown library and no one needs to know where that is thanks). it's pretty widely available on free platforms rn which is how you know it's good. it's not Good is the thing but it is extremely fun. it is straight up the three musketeers but with an airship. milla jovovich jumps off an airship into the channel. milla jovovich does some assassins creed shit. luke evans does some assassins creed shit. there is an airship fight and an airship chase. it is So cheesy and unfortunately never got another sequel. it also inexplicably has some of the finest cinematic swordfighting since the golden age of hollywood.

this was a really successful impromptu movie night pick for a more widely varied gang than usual, including some teens. my bestie also enjoyed it, which i am So pleased by bc she has extremely exacting movie taste. this cast is so stacked for no good reason: orlando bloom, luke evans, christoph waltz, mads mikkelsen, matthew macfayden...

-

playing

i have a post in my head about breath of the wild and tears of the kingdom and their dialogue with each other about loss and grief, but i think that's going to have to wait until i have a little bit more brainpower. perhaps i can talk a little bit about how they make me feel about loss and grief, and how i was upset for zelda and her hundred-year siege in the last one but i am so so so desperately sad for zelda in tears of the kingdom.

i played through breath of the wild with a constant background sense of loss and grief. this is only partially due to the real-life severe depression and joblessness. i think this is a personal brain thing and not a game thing, but i did feel guilty when fucking around in breath of the wild and not actively doing main quests to save zelda. like i would look at the castle off in the distance and feel kind of bad. the champions (and zelda!) telling link as soon as physically possible that it wasn't his fault made me cry in real life every time. i get it's like a month max of in-universe time between games, but it still feels like he has once again missed SO much. i think this is sort of a larger symptom of depression in that i look at [REDACTED] in tears of the kingdom and get a bit hopeless about [REDACTED] and it's like. well i might as well go pick golden apples and not do main quests. time is meaningless.

i am really glad they kept the shrine of resurrection on the plateau in tears of the kingdom. if that hadn't been there i the player would have felt very unmoored. i cannot begin to think how unreal and depersonalized it would have made link feel.

enough of that! the hero's path function is so funny. there are such huge swathes of the map i looked at and said No Thanks! Not Yet!

my depths map is even funnier. eight lightroots so far. no thank you! too scary still! i thought until VERY RECENTLY that all the caves and wells led to the depths and was avoiding them. mistake! cool shit in caves and wells! some horrible boys as well but they are vastly outnumbered by the cool shit.

the rito sage quest fucked SO severely. i had so much fucking fun with that boss fight even though it took me a real life two hours to get up to the arena with the puzzles to unlock the boss fight. i also surprised myself and did not have to look up how to beat any of the puzzles or the boss! just entered a state of flow and looked up and it was three hours later! i know a lot of people are very grumpy about how this was not a totally new game with a totally new map, but i have nothing but praise for the mechanics in this completely new section. knocked my socks off. made me think but wasn't too frustrating. made me use all my powers and all my weapon types. it was simply a great deal of almost frictionless fun! some over the top sick as shit stuff that is the whole point of video games as a medium imo

unlocked all the geoglyphs and i am Upset. i am UPSET.

and now for some horse talk (TM): i kept the very first horse i caught out of nostalgia even though these stats are not very good. i think the naming scheme for this game will be H (the last game was C). the breath of the wild giant ganon horse is so funny. you can't do shit with this horse. you can't change the mane. you can't change the tack. you can't increase his stats. he's just There. Large.

tangential horse talk: why is this lynel in the wetlands. his feathering and fetlocks are going to rot off. he is going to founder

some places ASCEND works where i didn't expect it to: tree. water you can stand in.

i stumbled across the last power completely accidentally while trying to deliver some eyes to a mysterious god and this was so fucking funny. i DID throw this guy down a big pit in the last game and he never came back. i forgot about that.

also people were fucking gaga for rauru but why didn't i see people talking about either of these two last summer on this, the -girl affix site and the scruffy shredded boy site

some other bits and bobs:

i was so annoyed patricia was part of the compendium in the last game i fucking got her this time ok

very hashtag relatable languages moment

unrelated to either of those things, i have done the gerudo sage quest except for the boss battle and i missed two huge swathes of hashtag tunnel gameplay (going to find riju through the tunnels. simply went overland) and getting to the central temple chamber (simply used ascend). whoops

there's a little tower concept art piece in purah's room in the ancient lab! that's a fun little touch i really love, it really helps differentiate the games and show changes in the overworld between games in a very cheap and east way for the devs

bc i play these games like dressup simulators, i also want to note that misko's tents are also really fun, they really feel like they're from a much earlier era and i'm stumbling across an untouched archaeological site

-

making

garden update: growing along okay, it has been so so so wet lately and i should have bitten the bullet and bought the big expensive bag of perlite, the drainage is not terrific. i should elevate all the planters and that would help a bit too. tomatoes are bit leggy, i moved them out of the partial shade on the end of the balcony and in front of the window. i am a bit concerned about them getting scorched, but again it's been so wet lately they need all the help they can get. i feel like they're established enough to be pruned a bit to make them bushier but i am Afraid. there are worse things in life than leggy tomatoes

the pic on the left below: these bush beans are looking a bit strange as well. the four shorter ones came up, promptly withered their cotyledons, and i thought they died until they popped out their first true leaves. the larger ones i think may have some kind of mosaic virus but it's a little early to tell. these are bins that haven't been used outside (they stored clothes in for the move) and new dirt from home depot. either the dirt or the seed stock itself may have been infected? very strange. the cucumbers in the bin in the back (hidden by the beans) are also taking forever to get going. at least the sweet peas are doing fine. the spinach i planted in that back bin withered where the stems met the soil and died. i think it was simply to early and too damp for them.

anyway on the right pic above: these normie peas and normie climbing beans seem to be doing fine. that's dill in the gray pot and basil in the bucket, they also seem to be doing fine. just sort of a perplexing corner on the other side of the balcony.

[irishgop]

Cary Grant during production of the Universal Pictures/Stanley Donen romantic comedy mystery, “Charade,” (1963).

Grant turned 59 years old during filming, and displayed a sensitivity about the age difference between his 33 year old co-star, Audrey Hepburn and him.

Charade was kind of a cinematic extravaganza covering three genres (comedy, romance, and thriller), featuring a supporting cast of leading actors in their own right(Coburn, Kennedy, Marin & Matthau) with music by Henry Mancini and lyrics by Johnny Mercer.

Charade’s director Stanley Donen already had under his belt (in collaboration with Gene Kelly) the films On the Town (1949), Singin' in the Rain, and It's Always Fair Weather (1955), and other films on his own that include Royal Wedding (1951), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), and Funny Face (1957).

[mostlydaydreaming]

Cyd Charisse & Gene Kelly in Its Always Fair Weather (1955)

[thirdrowcentre]

It's that time again. A few years ago I decided I would try and watch two films I'd never seen before each week. This year I've watched 374.

These are some of the ones that stood out.

JANUARY

The Leopard (dir. Luchino Visconti, 1963). Watched 1.1.23 at BFI Southbank

Benediction (dir. Terence Davies, 2021). Watched 11.1.23

Gangubai Kathiawadi (dir. Sanjay Leela Bhansali, 2022). Watched 17.1.23

The Swimmer (dir. Frank Perry, 1968). Watched 30.1.23.

Comizi d’amore (dir. Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1964). Watched 31.1.23

FEBRUARY

Ugetsu Monogatari (dir. Kenji Mizoguchi, 1953). Watched 7.2.23

Wings (dir. Larisa Shepitko, 1966). Watched 22.2.23

Mirror (dir. Andrei Tarkovsky, 1975). Watched 24.2.23

MARCH

Born in Flames (dir. Lizzie Borden, 1983). Watched 2.3.23

Yi Yi (dir. Edward Yang, 2000). Watched 5.3.23

Taste of Cherry (dir. Abbas Kiarostami, 1997). Watched 6.3.23

Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles. (dir. Chantal Akerman, 1975). Watched 11.2.23 at BFI Southbank

Judex (dir. Georges Franju, 1963). Watched 12.3.23

Transit (dir. Christian Petzold, 2018). Watched 14.3.23

A Man Escaped (dir. Robert Bresson, 1956). Watched 19.3.23

Bellissima (dir. Luchino Visconti, 1951). Watched 31.3.23

APRIL

Army of Shadows (dir. Jean-Pierre Melville, 1969). Watched 2.4.23

Jacquot de Nantes (dir. Agnès Varda, 1991). Watched 10.4.23

Where is the friend’s house? (dir. Abbas Kiarostami, 1987). Watched 13.4.23

John Wick: Chapter 4 (dir. Chad Stahelski, 2023). Watched 16.4.23 at BFI IMAX

Charulata (dir. Satyajit Ray, 1964). Watched 27.4.23

Night and Fog (dir. Alain Resnais, 1956). Watched 28.4.23

MAY

Thirst (dir. Park Chan-wook, 2009). Watched 3.5.23

Return to Seoul (dir. Davy Chou, 2023). Watched 7.5.23 at Curzon Hoxton

The Eight Mountains (dir. Felix van Groeningen, Charlotte Vandermeersch, 2023) Watched 12.5.23 at Curzon Hoxton

The Five Devils (dir. Léa Mysius, 2022). Watched 24.5.23

Nostalgia for the Light (dir. Patricio Guzmán, 2010). Watched 31.5.23

JUNE

Citadel (dir. John Smith, 2021). Watched 1.6.23

It’s Always Fair Weather (dir. Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly, 1955). Watched 10.6.23 at BFI Southbank 35mm.

Service for Ladies (dir. Alexander Korda, 1932). Watched 11.6.23 at BFI Southbank 35mm *nitrate*

And Life Goes On (dir. Abbas Kiarostami, 1992). Watched 14.6.23

Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy (dir. Pamela Green, 2018). Watched 19.6.23

King and Country (dir. Joseph Losey, 1964). Watched 20.6.23

JULY

London (dir. Patrick Keiller, 1994). Watched 3.7.23

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (dir. J. Lee Thompson, 1972). Watched 14.7.23

Barbie (dir. Greta Gerwig, 2023). Watched 21.7.23 at BFI Southbank

Oppenheimer (dir. Christopher Nolan, 2023). Watched 23.7.23 at BFI IMAX. 70mm IMAX

I’m Not There (dir. Todd Haynes, 2007). Watched 28.7.23

AUGUST

Three Blind Mice (dir. William A. Seiter, 1938). Watched 17.8.23

Corridor of Mirrors (dir. Terence Young, 1948). Watched 22.8.23

World of Apu (dir. Satyajit Ray, 1959). Watched 26.8.23

L’argent (dir. Robert Bresson, 1983). Watched 31.8.23

SEPTEMBER

Past Lives (dir. Celine Song, 2023). Watched 3.9.23 at Curzon Soho.

Austenland (dir. Jerusha Hess, 2013). Watched 8.9.23

Lady Vengeance (dir. Park Chan-wook, 2005). Watched 19.9.23

News from Home (dir. Chantal Akerman, 1977). Watched 20.9.23

Edge of Tomorrow (dir. Doug Liman, 2014). Watched 28.9.23

OCTOBER

Killers of the Flower Moon (dir. Martin Scorsese, 2023). Watched 8.1.23 at Royal Festival Hall. London Film Festival

Judgement at Nuremberg (dir. Stanley Kramer, 1961). Watched 12.10.23

The Stranger and the Fog (dir. Bahram Beyzai, 1974). Watched 14.10.23 at BFI Southbank. London Film Festival. 35mm

I am Not a Witch (dir. Rungano Nyoni, 2017). Watched 26.10.23

Contraband (dir. Michael Powell, 1940). Watched 30.10.23 at BFI Southbank

NOVEMBER

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2010). Watched 9.11.23.

Anatomy of a Fall (dir. Justine Triet, 2023). Watched 15.11.23 at Curzon Hoxton

Citizens Band (dir. Jonathan Demme, 1977). Watched 21.11.23

DECEMBER

Oh, Rosalinda!! (dir. Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, 1955). Watched 2.12.23 at BFI Southbank. 35mm

How to Have Sex (dir. Molly Manning Walker, 2023). Watched 10.12.23 at the Garden cinema.

Tish (dir. Paul Sng, 2023). Watched 22.12.23

Fallen Angels (dir. Wong Kar-wai, 1996). Watched 29.12.23

----

Other highlights included: Stop Making Sense (twice!) on BFI IMAX. Tears of joy, dancing in my seat. Black Narcissus on nitrate at the BFI Southbank. Crying all the way through The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp at BFI Southbank. Showing someone L’Atalante and I Know Where I’m Going, two of my favourite films, in my favourite cinema (again, BFI Southbank). The terrible Fast X, in Vue Leicester Square with one of my best friends. Walking through Shoreditch on a Saturday night, maybe the most heterosexual place imaginable, to watch Bottoms at Curzon Aldgate. Talking and crying about Jonathan Demme at a house party with a stranger. Sitting and sobbing, breathless, after How to Have Sex - steeling myself and walking home thinking about my life, the lives of all the young women I know. Watching Aftersun for the second time at the beginning of the year with my youngest sister, floods of tears overtaking us both. Seven Samurai on the BFI IMAX with my best friends. The Hunger on 35mm at the Prince Charles Cinema, with more of my best friends. And screening Some Like it Hot on 16mm in the tiny theatre at the back of Ümit and Son in Clapton, surrounded by loving, beautiful people who make me who I am.

[kraniumet]

double feature thursday - it's always fair weather (1955), magic mike xxl (2015)

[citizenscreen]

Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse chat behind scenes of IT’S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER (1955).

[nine-frames]

“I like myself.”

It’s Always Fair Weather, 1955.

Dir. Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly | Writ. Betty Comden & Adolph Green | DOP Robert J. Bronner

[gatutor]

Dolores Gray-Cyd Charisse "Siempre hace buen tiempo" (It´s always fair weather) 1955, de Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly.

[nelson-riddle-me-this]

While I disagree with Seth MacFarlane about a lot, his choice of songs for the albums he records as a singer is really excellent. There’s lots of well-worn standards, but not too well-worn. There’s obscure MGM musical songs like “Music Is Better Than Words” from It’s Always Fair Weather (1955) and “A Kiss Or Two” from Hit The Deck (1955). There’s lesser-recorded songs from iconic boilerplate musicals like The Sound of Music and The Music Man. And there’s songs from newer sources like The Great Muppet Caper (1981) and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1993-6) that in terms of style and quality fit seamlessly with the respected Great American Songbook gems that anchor his albums.

[lizyork8509]

My favorite Cyd Charisse films:

The Band Wagon (1953)

Singin’ In The Rain (1952)

Silk Stockings (1957)

Brigadoon (1954)

It’s Always Fair Weather (1955)

[laurent-bigot]

IT'S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER ( Beau fixe sur New York) - Stanley Donen et Gene Kelly (1955)

Après On the Town (Un jour à New York) et Singin’ in the Rain (Chantons sous la pluie), It’s Always Fair Weather (Beau fixe sur New York) est la dernière des trois comédies musicales signées par Stanley Donen et Gene Kelly sur un scénario de Betty Comden et Adolph Green, au sein de la fameuse “Freed Unit” à la MGM, du nom du producteur. Film rare, injustement resté dans l’ombre des deux premiers…

[papermoonloveslucy]

LAUGHIN’ IN THE RAIN

Lucille Ball & Precipitation

Lucille Ball was not just a fair-weather comedienne, she braved the elements to make us laugh. 

Here are a few soggy examples of Lucy in the Rain. Open your umbrellas!

On “Bob Hope's Unrehearsed Antics of The Stars” (September 28, 1984) Lucille Ball recounted her soggy 1938 audition for the role of Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With The Wind, reading for producer David O’Selznik. 

“I climbed into my old rattletrap car and as I reached Culver City I got caught in the biggest cloudburst I ever saw. The streets were flooded. My car stalled. I had to get out and wade six blocks to the studio. I got to the Selznick office looking like a drowned rat. My hair was down over my face and the henna was running and so was my mascara. I was soaked clear through.”

Lucille was not asked to screen test and - as everyone knows - the role went to English actress Vivien Leigh. 

On June 14, 1944, columnist Howard Carroll reported that Lucille Ball was in the running to play Sadie Thompson in the Broadway musical adaptation of the play Rain by Vernon Duke and Howard Dietz. Instead, the role went to Ethel Merman, who (probably smelling a flop) left the production after a week and a half of rehearsals and was replaced by June Havoc. The show opened at the Alvin Theatre (now the Neil Simon) on November 16, 1944 and ran just 60 performances. Lucy (and Merman) were right!  Lucille Ball would eventually get to Broadway in the 1960 musical Wildcat at (coincidentally) the Alvin Theatre. 

Rain was based on a short story by W. Somerset Maugham about a prostitute on a tropical island. A persistant rainstorm is both symbolic and literal. The story was dramatized in 1922 and was a big hit on Broadway and London’s West End. Ethel Mertz says she saw Bankhead in the play in “The Celebrity Next Door” (1957) with guest star Tallulah Bankhead, the second episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”.  Bankhead starred in a 1935 revival of the play, which closed after just 47 performances. 

Costume designer Elois Jenssen sketched this design for Lucille Ball’s character, a dancer based in London, in the film Lured (1947). London is famous for its rainy weather, so this raincoat (with tartan plaid scarf and lining) would be key. 

“Valentine’s Day” is episode #30 of the radio series MY FAVORITE HUSBAND broadcast on February 11, 1949. Liz (Lucille Ball) finds herself in court over a love triangle between her, Katie the Maid (Ruth Perrott), and Mr. Dabney the butcher (Hans Conried). Judge Skinner (Gale Gordon) metaphorically pointificates before hearing the case.

JUDGE: “There is no problem too big to solve. Into every life a little rain must fall. Every cloud must have a silver lining, and it is always darkest before the dawn.”  LIZ: “Well, now that we’ve had the weather report, let’s get on with the case.”

In 1952′s “Vacation from Marriage” Lucy and Ethel get stranded on the roof in their nightgowns. Huddling together against the elements, it starts raining!  

LUCY: “Oh! Ethel, it's raining.” ETHEL: “Oh, fine. Of all the things, it has to rain too.” LUCY: “Look! (points) It isn't raining out there.”

They look up and see Ricky and Fred spraying them with a hose!

The “I Love Lucy” Raincoat by Monsanto, made of Ultron vinyl. 

“Ricky’s Hawaiian Vacation” (1954) finds the Ricardos on a radio quiz show. Ricky is tasked with singing songs that will trigger things to be dumped on Lucy. First up is 1928′s “I Get the Blues When It Rains” by Marcy Klaubner and Harry Stoddard.  

FREDDY FILLMORE: “Mrs. Ricardo, every time he says the word ‘rain’ you pull that cord. You got the idea? LUCY: “Yeah, I got it.” RICKY: (sings) “I get the blues when it rains...” LUCY: “Yeah, boy! (Lucy pulls the cord and a spritz of water hits her in the face) Wait a minute, wait a minute. What's he got the slicker on for?” FREDDY FILLMORE: “Well, I was afraid some of that rain might splash and get on him.”

“In Palm Springs” (1955), the girls decide to go to Palm Springs while the boys stay in Los Angeles to go to a ballgame. 

ETHEL: (reading the newspaper) “It says here this is the first time it's rained in Palm Springs during this month in 20 years.” LUCY: “No kidding. Well, leave it to us to pick this time.” ETHEL: “Any break in the clouds?”  LUCY: (staring out the window) “Oh, I wasn't looking at that. I thought maybe a movie star would float by.”

RICKY: (staring out the window) “Is it ever gonna stop raining?” FRED: “Aw, what's the difference? The ball game's called off.”  RICKY: “Well, we can't play golf and we can't go swimming. What are we gonna do?” FRED: “Well, if this rain keeps coming down, we might as well start building an ark.”

In “Paris at Last” (1956) Lucy meets a counterfeiter (Lawrence Dobkin) outside the American Express Office. A travel poster in the window reads No Rain In Portugal, But Tourists Pour In. 

In “Lucy and Superman” (1957) Lucy crawls out onto the ledge to pretend to be Superman for Little Ricky’s birthday party. Little does she know the real Superman is inside. When it starts raining, Superman comes to her rescue. The downpour is set up by the writers when a prospective tenant (Ralph Dumke) closes and locks the window Lucy crawled out of. 

HERBERT: “Oh, it's raining in. I'll close the window for Mrs. Mertz.”

The final clinch between Nicky (Desi) and Tacy (Lucy) in The Long, Long Trailer (1954) happens in the pouring rain. 

Lucy and Desi drenched but happy as they wrapped filming. 

Lucille Ball guest-starred on “The Danny Kaye Show” in 1962. A trilogy of sketches skewering fine dining finds Lucy and Danny soaked to the skin while eating in a jungle rainforest.

“The Lucille Ball Show aka Mr. and Mrs.” (1964) ends with Lucy and Gale Gordon tracking down Bob Hope entertaining the troops in a jungle where it starts to pour. 

“My Fair Lucy” (1965) was a satire on the stage and screen hit My Fair Lady. The famous elocution rhyme from the original is “The rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain.”  Here it is “The rain in Maine stays mainly on the grain.” 

“Lucy the Rain Goddess” (1966) ~ While at a dude ranch, Lucy discovers her head at the top of a totem pole. The Native Americans who live on the property think she’s the incanation of their rain goddess!  In the end, it does rain - but it is a shower of oil!

“Lucy’s Safari” (1969) ~ To track down a rare escaped Gorboona, the Carters dress in native outfits and perform a dance routine. Harry's dance steps conjure up a rain storm that only falls on him – not once but twice. The rule on “Here’s Lucy” is that where there's water - Harry will get wet!

“Lucy and Carol Burnett aka The Unemployment Follies” (1971) ~ As the finale, the entire ensemble is dressed in rain slickers and performs “Singin’ in the Rain” written by Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown in 1931.It was most famously featured in the film Singin’ in the Rain in 1952. Jack Benny strolls in at the end selling umbrellas! 

“Lucy and Aladdin’s Lamp” (1971) ~ Lucy, Kim and Craig discover what they believe to be a magic lamp at their garage sale. A series of coincidences convince them it might be real. Kim mentions her favorte flavor of ice cream. After a clap of thunder, Harry (Gale Gordon) enters from a driving rainstorm carrying the exact same flavor of ice cream! 

“Lucy and Curtis Are Up a Tree” (1986) ~ In this unaired episode of “Life With Lucy”, Lucy and Curtis (Gale Gordon) get stuck in a treehouse. When the family finally rescues them, it starts to pour!  

Being The Ricardos (2021) features a scene where Lucille Ball (Nicole Kidman) walks blankly through a torrential rain in her pajamas. She has just realized that Desi has been unfaithful. Lucy’s stroll through the storm is symbolic of her choice to carry on despite the flaws of her marriage and her ability to weather the storm of Desi’s affairs.

[dweemeister]

2022 Movie Odyssey Award for Best Original Song (preliminary results)

TAGGING (yes, even some non-participants who I still would like to invite for the final): @addaellis, @birdsongvelvet, @dog-of-ulthar, @emilylime5, @exlibrisneh, @halfwaythruthedark, @idontknowmuchaboutmovies, @introspectivemeltdown, @maximiliani, @memetoilet, @myluckyerror, @phendranaedge, @plus-low-overthrow, @rawberry101, @rosymeraki-blog, @shootingstarvenator, and @theybecomestories, @umgeschrieben, @underblackwings, and @yellanimal. There will be more invites from other followers not listed here for the final.

Good day everyone,

If you are being tagged in this, that is because you were invited to participate in the 2022 Movie Odyssey Award for Best Original Song's (MOABOS) preliminary round. As usual, I extended the deadline for a little bit of time to procure some last votes. My thanks to you all, even for those who did not participate (I hope you'll be able to participate in the final however!). The email for the final round will be sent very shortly. For newcomers: the final uses a different tabulation than what we used here for the preliminary. That will be explained soon.

A record 36 people cast their rankings in the MOABOS preliminary round. Five people including myself and my sister did both groups; those three others (and the few others who were invited to do two groups but didn't) have been doing MOABOS since or near the beginning.

What follows are the results from both groups. First choices received 10 points, second choices 9 points, third choices 8 points, etc. The top six from each group advanced to the final. Unlike in previous years where I reserved the power to take 0-2 songs that finished outside the automatic qualifiers, there are no such wild cards this year.

If two or more songs tied on points, the tie was broken based on the #1 votes received. If two or more songs were still tied, the tie was broken by average placement on my and my sister's ballot. There is no benefit in the final to "winning" either preliminary group. Other than myself and my sister, three people - all of whom have been doing MOABOS for the longest time - participated in both groups.

The below is formatted: "Song title", film title (total points) / first-place votes. 

GROUP A (21 participants)

“Someone’s Waiting for You”, The Rescuers (142) / 5

“Never Look Back”, Love Me or Leave Me (134) / 2

“No Love, No Nothin'”, The Gang's All Here (118) / 4

“Good Morning”, Babes in Arms (110.5) / 1

“Island in the Sun”, Island in the Sun (109) / 3

“Pillow Talk”, Pillow Talk (101) / 1

“The Lady in the Tutti Frutti Hat”, The Gang's All Here (89.5)

“Pass Me By”, Father Goose (88) / 1

“When You're Next to Me”, A Mighty Wind (84) / 1

“Once Upon a Time in New York City”, Oliver & Company (83) / 3

“Once and For Always”, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (63)

In Group A, the top song burst out to an early lead, only to be culled back a little bit to make it essentially a group of two heavy hitters and everyone else. On deadline's close, the top six were well clear of the bottom five. "Once Upon a Time in New York City" is a Disney animated canon song that garnered the second-most amount of #1 votes, but it found itself second-to-last, making it the most polarizing song in the group. Instead, Group A rewarded the other Disney song in that group and Doris Day (twice!). For what it's worth Group A participants, I think you got rid of the second-best song from A Mighty Wind (2003). And I'm pleasantly surprised more of you have seen The Rescuers (1977) than I would have predicted!

"Good Morning" is the first song from the classic MGM library to grace the MOABOS final since 2017("I Like Myself" and "Thanks a Lot, But No Thanks" from 1955's It's Always Fair Weather). And Harry Belafonte and Alice Faye make the final on their MOABOS debuts.

GROUP B (20 participants)

“ Why Should I Worry? ”, Oliver & Company (125) / 5

“I'll Never Stop Loving You”, Love Me or Leave Me (121) / 1

“Love Survives”, All Dogs Go to Heaven (113) / 3

“Tomorrow is the Song I Sing”, The Ballad of Cable Hogue (105) / 5

“ A Journey to a Star”, The Gang's All Here (103) / 3

“A Mighty Wind”, A Mighty Wind (95)

“The Sneak Song ”, Robin Robin (93) / 1

“Paducah”, The Gang's All Here (91)

“Roll Up Sailorman”, Big Fella (87) / 1

“Anyone Can See I Love You”, Ladies of the Chorus (83)

“Old Joe's Place”, A Mighty Wind (47) / 1

In Group B, A Mighty Wind, a movie that had three entries in the preliminary round, narrowly avoided a complete wipeout here. In both groups, American folk music (or, at least, a comedic replication of that genre) had its fans, but some very vigorous detractors. The title song from A Mighty Wind qualified for the final round by a margin of two points (and unlike its closest challenger and all other qualifiers into the final round, it did not have a single #1 vote). A nail-biting 10 points separated the sixth place song with the tenth. And like in Group A, Disney (this time in the form of Billy Joel) and Doris Day ruled.

Tying the top song on #1 votes, a fourth place finish for "Tomorrow is the Song I Sing" has to be a bit concerning, as it becomes the most polarizing song in Group B. As history tends to go, "Paducah" joins a list of songs with titles/lyrics about interesting-sounding American towns that won't be winning MOABOS yet again (any "(I've Got a Gal in) Kalamazoo", "Wichita", and the MOABOS-infamous "I Dug a Ditch" fans out there?).

(For newcomers, "I Dug a Ditch" from Thousands Cheer (1943) caused a not-so-insignificant stir among its detractors during the 2019 MOABOS prelim. That year, in the last few hours of voting on the final five rankings submitted, the song was ranked 3rd, 3rd, 5th, 2nd, and 1st - that’s 41 points out of a possible 50. "I Dug a Ditch", which seemed dead and buried only the day before, dug itself out of the hole to make the final.)

* * *

Among the eliminated, I wanted to tip a very tutti frutti hat to Carmen Miranda, one of the brightest stars of the 1940s at the peak of her career at 20th Century Fox. We'll see her again some other day on MOABOS, a phenomenon of a cultural melding all too rare in Hollywood back in those old days.

And a gracious nod to jazz clarinetist Benny Goodman, whose big role in "Paducah" won't be joining us in the final. Goodman, one of the most prominent Jewish entertainers of his day, was perhaps the best jazz clarinetist of all time, and was one of the first to direct a racially integrated jazz band (during an era where that might have been a career killer). Goodman also made strides late in his career in classical music (I'm very fond of his recording ofAaron Copland's Clarinet Concerto).

And like last year, another three cheers to the bass-baritone Paul Robeson. Robeson's outspoken politics on race and imperialism landed Robeson in trouble, which forced him out of Hollywood for a time to make movies in Britain (Big Fellais a British production).

Since the prelim began, three songs I have yet to identify have been awaiting their opposition. However, this was supposed to be four songs awaiting in the final round. Absent from the final round due to the fact I cannot find any video or audio on it is "Nous sommes seuls dans la forêt (We Are Alone in the Forest)” from 1930's Le Million. Unless I (or someone else) can find a video or audio clip of this ASAP, this song will unfortunately have to be considered an honorary mention. One online movie reviewer had a YouTube link to this song, but unfortunately it ran afoul of the Criterion Collection (who handle the film's distribution in North America) some time ago.

Thank you all for participating in the preliminary. I certainly hope you are pumped for the final round that is coming your way on Tuesday, and that you're all enjoying the cinematic and musical adventure and discoveries we are all making!

Bonus music for your enjoyment! 

From two of the Movie Odyssey Award nominees for Best Original Score are two magnificent cues from two probable nominees. The first is "Cody's Flight" from The Rescuers Down Under (1990; yes, the sequel to The Rescuers), composed by Bruce Broughton. The second is "Sonata in Darkness" for solo piano from The Batman (2022), composed by Michael Giacchino.