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01 August 2009

Musings vol. III and Silly Gene, Socks Are For Plebs!

I was watching The Judy Garland Show today...again. Rich Little was one of the guests, and I discovered he wasn't as creepy when he was a young guy as he is an old man. (Who is?)

Anyway, that boy can do a heck of a lot of impressions. Which you all knew. Then it struck me-- I cannot. I mean, obviously I knew this for some time, but it's kind of a downer to consciously realize. My list of impressions can be counted on one hand. That is, if the hand in question is a relatively normal human hand, with at least 3 fingers.

Basically, I can do:

1) Peter O'Toole
2) Jodie Foster (but only in Anna and the King)
3) The blind Muppet from Muppet Treasure Island

Not too impressive, huh? Granted, my blind Muppet impersonation is just dandy, but still...
Ho hum. Any gifted celebrity impersonators out there?



Dodging around other people's blogs, I've noticed serials seem to be all the rage. Which I wasn't too enthusiastic about, as I currently have none. While I was attempting to come up with a halfway clever idea for a series, I stumbled upon (no, not literally) this picture of Gene Tierney.




And something felt off, you know? Not quite right. At first I thought it was her lack of make-up, but after much (okay, a few seconds of) thought, knew that wasn't the case...she's still pretty gorgeous, after all. It was the socks.

So there you have it, my series proposal. Sort of a backwards version of one of those "Celebrities-- They're Just Like Us!" you see so often in popular magazines.

Worst case scenario: I run outta pictures, in which case I'll come up with an excuse and ask politely for your forgiveness. Sound good? ;)




Was poking my nose around that WWBD site again, and came across a pretty cool (if Judy biased-- which is more than fine by me) survey. Warning: I'm pretty heavily obsessed with musicals, so if you're not...what are you doing here anyway? Scram. ;)


What is your favorite musical from the 1930s? One Hour With You...maybe. Eh, there's too much out there.

From the 40s? Heck, you expect me to decide? Hm...anything Judy did, or Good News.

From the 50s? Lili, Gigi or Singin' in the Rain.


From the 60s? Sweet Charity. If I must. ;)


From the 70s? Cabaret. Most definitely. What'd you think-- Fiddler?

From the 80s? Victor/Victoria. Not that there was a lot to choose from...

From the 90s to today? Each time I watch Chicago, I'm more and more impressed.

Out of these, which is your favorite? Probably something Judy did...Meet Me in St. Louis, or Easter Parade.

Who are your favorite musical actors? Gordon McRae, Fred Astaire, Peter Lawford, Maurice Chevalier...

Who are your favorite musical actresses? Judy Garland, Leslie Caron, Doris Day, Ginger Rogers, Virginia O'Brien...

Who are your favorite musical directors? Chuck Walters, Busby Berkeley, and Vincente Minnelli

Who are your favorite songwriters? Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg, Irving Berlin, Kander and Ebb.

Who are you favorite dancers? Ginger Rogers, Eleanor Powell, Fred Astaire, Ann Miller, Buddy Ebsen


What is your favorite showtune? Ooh, toughie. "How About You?" from Babes on Broadway or "Isn't This a Lovely Day?" from Top Hat. Seems I like my songs to be interrogatory...


What is your favorite movie with Fred and Ginger? Carefree...or Top Hat...or Swing Time...or The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle...

What is your favorite movie with Mickey and Judy? Girl Crazy. Mm-hm.


What is your favorite movie with Nelson and Jeanette? Maytime's actually the only one I like. Nelson annoys me more than he did Jeanette.


What is your favorite Judy Garland movie? MMISL. Or maybe For Me and My Gal.

What is your favorite Gene Kelly movie? For Me and My Gal or Singin' in the Rain.


MGM or RKO? What? You can't do that. Both.

Pasternak or Freed Unit? Hahaha, that's allowed. Freed Unit, hands down.

Astaire or Kelly? Astaire.


Howard Keel or Gordon McRae? Well, I never liked Howard Keel, so...

June Allyson or Jane Powell? June, but both were good.

Barbra Streisand or Liza Minnelli? Oh c'mon! That's like Sophie's choice...only difference is I won't be choosing.


Mary Poppins or The Sound of Music? Mary Poppins.

Julie Andrews as Poppins or Audrey Hepburn? To be fair, I've only seen one scene done by Andrews, so I'm afraid Hepburn has it.

Favorite dance by Fosse? I'm cheating-- the one he choreographed for Liza with a Z..."Blackbird." But from a movie? "If My Friends Could See Me Now."

What is your favorite aqua-musical? Hahaha, so this pretty much narrows it down to Esther Williams, huh? Yeah okay, Million Dollar Mermaid.

What is your favorite non-musical scene from a musical? Heck, I dunno....there are too many to choose from. I like all of Ginger's hypnosis scenes from Carefree, so we'll go with that.


PS. I've always wanted to do this...



35 comments:

Meredith said...

i really have very little understanding or patience for people who don't like musicals. personally i love them too, and may steal this survey at some point! or make a musical post, because i don't show enough love for them.

and wayyy to totally cheat re: sophie's choice. :P

"how about you?" is definitely one of my favorite songs ever, though I think my favorite is actually the version featured on i love lucy with lucille ball and van johnson in the hollywood episodes. le sigh.

Meredith said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Juliette. said...

Ditto! There's a book that I'm sure I've mentioned here before (entirely too much, actually) that describes musical-haters. And I'm totally gonna quote some now, if that's okay with you. ;)

"...It's funny. When people don't like metal or jazz or pop or classical musical, or when they don't like westerns or sci-fi movies, they are generally content to confine their dislike to avoiding them. When people don't like musicals, they feel a need not only to tell you about it, but to convince you of why you shouldn't like them either."

How true, haha.

Steal away. I love it when people write about musicals, because I do so love to read about them.

Well thanks. If only Sophie coulda said the same...

Ooh, I know I've seen that episode...must've been before I was a Judy fan. I'll see if I can find it again.

A said...

Love your blog! The quiz is just too difficult. Too many impossible questions - Astaire or Kelly, MGM or RKO . . . don't know how anyone could choose.

Juliette. said...

Haha, I know! Crazy...I mean, RKO had Fred and Ginger! MGM had Judy! That's not humanly possible.

Millie said...

I ADORE musicals. They are really just amazing.

I agree with you on most of this quiz, but seriously...NO Howard Keel? I mean, I know he looks rather strange, but his movies are always so happy!

Meredith said...

that's an excellent quote! i feel silly because i don't actually know what it's from.lol.

Juliette. said...

Millie-- Haha, my dislike for him doesn't have anything to do with looks (though now that I think about it... ;)

I do like Calamity Jane, so I guess I don't hate the man entirely. :)

Meredith-- No worries...it's not that well-known a book, actually. By Emma Brockes, "What Would Barbra Do: How Musicals Changed My Life."

Matthew Coniam said...

Tell me more about your Peter O'Toole impersonation.

Juliette. said...

Haha, that's really all there is to it, I'm afraid. I really love his accent, so when I was younger I tried to imitate it. And then as I watched other impressionists do him, I slowly worked on it. I'm best at an aged Peter, I'd say. ;)

Millie said...

Yes, he DOES look strange. But, he's a great musical star!

He is good in Calamity Jane (but just about ANYBODY would look good next to that jerk of a Lieutenant...grrrrrr...;-D)

Have you ever seen him in Kiss Me Kate or Kismet?

Juliette. said...

Haha, that's true. :)

Yep, both of those, and I really liked Kiss Me Kate, but not for him, you know? I'm not sure what it is...I'll probably come around and learn to love him in time-- I usually do. ;)

Millie said...

Yes, well, I understand!

And I will also stop trying to convert you. ;-D I'm sure that get's annoying..hehe

Juliette. said...

Haha, not at all-- I don't mind. If you ever come across anything particularly endering relating to Howard...don't hesitate to share. :)

Christopher said...

BLESS YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL HIIIIIDE ,WHEREVER YOU MAY BEEE.."
come on..you like Howard Keel...lol..y'uuuk.."Seven Brides"was my ex's..one of my ex's favorite movies..I just didn't enjoy that one as much as her..give me THe Band Wagon or Royal Wedding or Easter Parade..
I know how to solve the RKO/MGM dilemma, for me..I worked at RKO from 1931-1947..then I moved over to MGM for the remainder.. ;o)....I was out on loan a few times to warners and MGM during my RKO stay..
This woman singing in french on your music player list is cracking me up!..who is that?

Juliette. said...

Haha, no way...though I'm thinking I dislike his characters rather than him. I'll need to watch an interview or something. Seven Brides was a Pasternak unit film, I believe. The ones you said you'd rather watch were Freed's I think. And I agree. :)

Cheater. ;)

You mean the "Johnny Johnny Johnny" lady or the "Ooh La La" lady?

Christopher said...

the johnny johnny lady..lol..but I like ooh la la too

Juliette. said...

Haha, well thanks. Pretty sure it's Magali Noel, the French actress and singer. I read somewhere the song was originally banned from the radio for being too sadomasochistic! Eek.

Christopher said...

omg..speak of the devil..here it is now!..gets me all giggly

Juliette. said...

I like the way she sorts of growls as she sings. :)

Christopher said...

funny..everytime I come to this thread..she starts singin'!..=:oo
look out johnny!..shes a growlin'!..ahhh..now Freds singing..lets face the music and dance..

Juliette. said...

Hahaha, hopefully it doesn't start to get boring. I'll add some new music tomorrow. Maybe I can find some more growling songs. ;)

Christopher said...

well add some songs but don't change the 2 french songs :o(..or Fred.. the music here fits your page well..

Juliette. said...

I could never switch those songs out. Haha, any suggestions?

Christopher said...

I just like this Lounge like stuff..Its very relaxing..

Juliette. said...

Hm, okay! I'mm try to find Peggy Lee's "The Boy From Ipanema"....or maybe I'll just put Stan Getz's with "The Girl"...

Elsie said...

I'm not very much of a celebrity impersonator, either. I can do an impression of Gloria Upson in "Auntie Mame"...but that's pretty much it!

[Giggle.] I was always irritated by Nelson Eddy, too. It's too bad because if it weren't for him, I would probably be a bigger fan of those movies he and Jeanette did together. (I rather like her in her Paramount/early talkie days.)

Juliette. said...

Haha, that's awesome! What a cool and random impersonation. And her voice is so distinct-- "And I stepped on the ping-pong ball!" :)

Same here-- I got the Lubitsch musicals set a while ago and I think "One Hour With You" is probably my favorite, though it's hard to choose.

Christopher said...

One Hour with You is great..Hopefully..one of these days they'll release WC Feild's all star vehicle,Million Dollar Legs-1932(I have a dvd-r scored off of ioffer.com)They have a running gag with the One hour With You song..only its called "Woof Moogle Jig"

Juliette. said...

Haven't seem that one, but it sounds terrific! :)

Isn't IOffer marvelous?

AbbyNormal said...

Love, love, love, love Cary Grant. :-)

Juliette. said...

Ooh, me too!

Anonymous said...

I can consult you on this question. Together we can come to a right answer.

Anonymous said...

I am a obsessive Judy Garland fan and have just come across this site. I adore the music I really would love to know who sings some of the songs that I don't know. Like the French song that is playing right now. Aw I love it!!!

I was reading through the survey and there is a part that asks who is a better "poppins" Andrews or Hepburn. Is that Mary Poppins? I would really like to know because I didn't realize that Hepburn played Mary Poppins.

Juliette. said...

Ah, thanks much-- it's been a while since I've posted anything on here, but your comment is much appreciated. The French song --"Fais moi mal, Johnny" is sung here by Magali Noel-- look her up if you have time, she's divine.

Yeah, Audrey played Eliza Doolittle in the film version, with Julie originating the role on Broadway.