Star-Studded Couple Blogathon: Marge & Gower Champion

This post is part of the Star-Studded Couple Blogathon hosted by Phyl over at Phyllis Loves Classic Movies. Click here to read more fabulous posts about star couples.

Marge and Gower Champion were a popular dance team during the 1940s and 1950s. The married couple co-starred in seven films, made numerous television appearances, had their own television series, The Marge and Gower Champion Show, and even wrote a book on how to dance.  

Beyond the Cover: Alice Adams

This post is part of the Beyond the Cover: Books to Film Blogathon hosted by Now Voyaging and Speakeasy. For more fabulous entries, click here.

***Spoilers***

Until a few months ago, I avoided Booth Tarkington's novel, Alice Adams. Like its heroine, I preferred to be willfully ignorant of reality and believe in RKO's fairy tale film ending. The idea that there was an alternate universe in which Alice did not get her happily-ever-after bothered me. By not reading the novel, I denied its existence.

Dancing Legs Quiz ~ Apr 2016 Edition

Take a look at the following partial pictures. Each pair belongs to a dancer whose birthday is this month. Name the dancer. Then give yourself a bonus point if you can name the movie.

1)

2)

3)

4) and 5)

Good luck!

Easter Eggs in my March Viewing

Easter eggs. The wink and nod between filmmaker and audience. The quick quip that slips past censors. The hidden gem...

...and I love finding them. 

In honor of Easter, March's Viewing Journal will include a few eggs I caught along with my usual musings. Movies covered include Beloved Enemy (1936), Foreign Correspondent (1940), and Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956). So grab another slice of pie and cup of coffee, kick back your feet, finish that chocolate bunny, and enjoy the reveal.

***Spoilers ahead***

Gotta Dance! Blogathon Update

Looks like I made a rookie mistake. Turns out there is another major blogathon occurring during the Gotta Dance! window, so I'm going to move my blogathon to May 25th, which is National Tap Dance Day. 

Updated banners are available in my original post.

Ciao til next time!

Announcing the Gotta Dance! Blogathon

**Updated 3/24/2016**

May is an important month in the world of dance. Two greats were born: Fred Astaire on May 10, 1899 and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson on May 25, 1878. In honor of these great dancers and National Tap Dance Day--which coincides with Robinson's birthday I will host my first ever blogathon:

Gotta Dance! May 25, 2016

Come join me in celebrating all things dance: the choreography, the dancers, the music, the partnerships. 

Marathon Stars Blogathon: George Murphy

This post is part of The Marathon Stars Blogathon hosted by The Wonderful World of Cinema and In the Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood. You can read more fabulous posts by clicking here.

The Task

*To get to know a star whose films you have not widely viewed (max three prior to blogathon)
*View at least five of their films and report back

Who I picked and why

After consulting Constance Valis Hills' Tap Dancing America and checking to see if there were enough films available for viewing, I selected George Murphy for the Marathon Stars Blogathon. According to Hills, Murphy is one of the "Irish Princes" who brought the vaudevillian and popular stage tradition to the big screen. 

What better month to celebrate the Irish actor than in March?

Source - Biography.com

Dancing Legs Quiz ~ Mar 2016 Edition

Take a look at the following partial pictures. Each pair belongs to a dancer whose birthday is this month. Name the dancer. Then give yourself a bonus point if you can name the movie.

1)

2)

#CurateMyLife ~ Flash Blogathon

Margaret Perry is hosting a Flash Blogathon this weekend as part of her Cultural Heritage Management course. She asks classic movie lovers to document their classic film heritage and culture. To aid in the task, she has given us a list of items to share--kind of like a scavenger hunt.

If you would like to join in the fun or want to see what others have contributed, visit margaretperry.org for the full scoop.

Classic Reel Girl's #CurateMyLife entry ~

1. DVD collection:

Unresolved Love Triangles

Part of January Viewing

When two handsome men are vying for your affection, what's a gal to do? If you're Jean Arthur, you bask in the attention. If you are pre-code Miriam Hopkins, however, you take the triangle as far as it can go--all the way. 

In Design for Living (1933), Gilda (Hopkins) meets a pair of struggling artists, painter George (Gary Cooper) and playwright Tom (Frederic March). Both make her tingle--one from toe to head, the other head to foot, and she cannot decide whom she likes best. So what does she do? Moves in with them to act as their muse. Nothing more per a "Gentleman's Agreement." It works fine until Tom is called away on business and carnal desire proves too strong for the remaining two.

Hopkins dramatically proclaims, "I am no gentleman."

The triad is broken up. Gilda and George go one way, Tom the other. All is well until Tom turns up one day while George is away. Gilda's bell still rings for Tom--figuratively and literally--she really does ring the bell of his old typewriter.  

All that is needed to land March in the sack: a little ring-a-ding-ding.

Dancing Legs Quiz ~ Feb 2016 Edition

Take a look at the following partial pictures. Each pair belongs to a dancer whose birthday is this month. Name the dancer. Then give yourself a bonus point if you can name the movie.

1)

2)

3)

4)

Good luck!

6 Films for 2016

A few weeks ago I shared the results of my 10 for 2015 movies-to-watch list. I managed to view a measly 50% of the films on the list, so I am giving myself a more attainable goal for 2016. (I figure I can always increase the goal in 2017 if I succeed. It's kind of like training for a big marathon. You don't run the full 26 miles at the beginning. You work up to it. At least, that's what I've heard...)

Here's the plan: view one movie from the list every other month. This will give time to watch, process, write about the movie, and also allow for uncharted film discoveries along the way. 

The grand total comes to 6 films for 2016:

2015 TCM Film Festival missed it, want to see it

1) Why Be Good? (1929) - This movie keeps popping up on the Twitter feed. With a title to match the Jazz Age attitude and a pixie flapper like Colleen Moore, I expect this film to be a time capsule of the Roaring Twenties. Can't wait to travel back to fringe, speakeasies, and the Charleston.

Source - TCM Forums

Pre-code

2) Baby Face (1933) - I am ashamed to admit I have never viewed this pre-code staple. I hear Barbara Stanwyck gives a phenomenal performance as a tough broad who uses her sex appeal to rise through the ranks of society. Looking forward to another strong Stanwyck character and seeing how far the filmmakers go in the absence of enforced code.

A Tribute to African American Dancers of '30s & '40s

A combination of prep work for this year's Dancing Legs quizzes and a star search for In the Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood and The Wonderful World of Cinema's Marathon Stars Blogathon brought me to the sad realization that many of the world's greatest tap dancers are missing from our public consciousness and film library. Dancers who made possible the likes of Fred Astaire, Hermes Pan, and Eleanor Powell but were pushed aside due to the color of their skin. Dancers who were as talented as Ann Miller or Gene Kelly but never given a fighting chance in Hollywood. Instead their dance routines are limited to decaying film reels or descriptions in a textbook. Today's post is a small step in trying to ensure their legacy is not lost.

For the record, I strongly believe that the celebration of these dancers should not be limited to one day or even one month of the year. I plan to make a concerted effort throughout 2016 to view the rare film appearances of these incredibly talented dancers.

Jeni LeGon

Jeni LeGon was a solo tap dancer whose athletic movements were every bit as good as the male dancers of her day.  After dancing with Bill "Bojangles" Robinson in RKO's Hooray for Love (1935), she scored a contract with MGM. According to dance historian Constance Valis Hill, LeGon was slated to perform in Broadway Melody of 1936, an Eleanor Powell star vehicle, but was taken off the assignment after LeGon "stopped the show" at a promotion event that included Powell. Per LeGon in 2006:

It was a color thing. They said they couldn't use two tap dancers, but that was bull corn.  

From then on, MGM neglected her talent, opting to put her in servant roles instead. The biggest snub must have been when she played maid to dancer Ann Miller in Easter Parade (1948). It is a crime that her dancing skills were squandered.

Jeni LeGon and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson in a publicity shot for Hooray for Love (1935)
Click here to sample their dancing.