When I first became enamored of classic Hollywood, there were a handful of actors who were responsible for introducing me to this new wonderful world. At the time, the one who shone the brightest was Marilyn Monroe; today, she is still someone I cherish. To belatedly celebrate Ms. Monroe’s June 1st birthday, I’ve decided to… Read more »
I’ll never forget the day I realized that Professor Glenn Gass’s class on the history of rock in the 1960s (now called History of Rock Music II: Rock’s Classic Era) was going to be one of my favorites at IU. Professor Gass, who recently retired, was making an argument that people should appreciate the early… Read more »
The first time I met Fred Astaire, I hated him. Except I didn’t know him as Fred Astaire, I knew him as Ted Hanover, the conceited hoofer in Holiday Inn who kept stealing the girlfriends of the man who was supposedly his best friend, Jim Hardy (Bing Crosby). My poor, six-year-old heart felt so sad… Read more »
We don’t talk about Esther Williams enough. That’s basically what I’ve been shouting from the rooftops ever since I started learning about Esther in 2013, after her death at the age of 91 encouraged me to take notice of the remarkable life and career of the woman deemed the Million Dollar Mermaid. As a longtime… Read more »
“Show business isn’t just scenery, lights, greasepaint and glitter, it’s heart. Because if your show hasn’t got a heart, you haven’t got a show. That’s what I tried to convey when I wrote the song ‘There’s No Business Like Show Business.’” — Irving Berlin If it weren’t for the presence of Marilyn Monroe, what would… Read more »
The cinema of Vincente Minnelli (1903-1986) can be divided into three categories in terms of genre: he made musicals, melodramas, and marriage comedies. Though the pictures in each of these camps differ from one another in tone and technique, it’s always been particularly easy for those of us who love Minnelli to unite them without… Read more »