Any fans of musical movies out there?

[Tweety Bird]

This afternoon and evening, Turner Classic Movies has been showing 3 showcase films featuring MGM stars and scenes from their movies of the 30s-60s, mostly musicals.

THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT!
THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT 2
THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT 3

I grabbed them on DVR but watched most if the third one as it was aired. Man, there was a lot of talent on their studio grounds. Fred Astaire, a Gene Kelly, Ginger Rogers, Cyd Charise, Ann Miller and Eleanor Powell were so good it looked easy enough for anyone to try. Watching the first one now and never realized that Elizabeth Taylor tried singing in a movie, and didn't know that June Allyson could sing.

I think I was born 30 years too late. This is good stuff and is why we watch so much of it in our house.

This sure beats hell outta watching the Ferguson crap.

 

[Fox Mike]

This afternoon and evening, Turner Classic Movies has been showing 3 showcase films featuring MGM stars and scenes from their movies of the 30s-60s, mostly musicals.

THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT!
THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT 2
THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT 3

I grabbed them on DVR but watched most if the third one as it was aired. Man, there was a lot of talent on their studio grounds. Fred Astaire, a Gene Kelly, Ginger Rogers, Cyd Charise, Ann Miller and Eleanor Powell were so good it looked easy enough for anyone to try. Watching the first one now and never realized that Elizabeth Taylor tried singing in a movie, and didn't know that June Allyson could sing.

I think I was born 30 years too late. This is good stuff and is why we watch so much of it in our house.

This sure beats hell outta watching the Ferguson crap.

My Dad and Mom (God love her...who couldn't carry a tune in a wash tub) loved them. As such I was drug/dragged (whichever is right) to every one that came along when I was a kid. Must have instilled something in me as I still like to watch them. I also like the "musicals" like South Pacific, Paint Your Wagon, Oklahoma, etc.
Have to agree heartily concerning the Ferguson BS. It is really starting to get old.

 

[Tweety Bird]

I grew up with music. Mom loved to sing and play her piano, and I blew on the trombone from 5th grade until I left HS. We (my sister, late brother Dennis, Mom and me) sang in church more than I liked. Mom's family was always singing or making music in other ways. I sang in the HS choir but, as with my typing classes, the primary reason was because I was chasing a girl. Music came fairly easily and naturally for me, though I didn't pursue it after I left HS 40 years ago.

But I never learned to appreciate musical movies until my daughter got involved in theater in high school and went on to get a degree in Musical Theater in college. We sat through a lot of "pretty bad" performances when she was in HS, though they did seem better while she was in college.

After she graduated with her degree, she made her living in theater, mostly as a production stage manager. I traveled to quite a few cities seeing her shows, including a couple at the KCPA in Washington, DC. Some were very good. Others, I didn't understand.

Through all of that, I learned to appreciate the unique talent that makes up a singer, dancer or other performer, and the dedication it takes to truly excel in the art, not to mention the technical aspects which go largely unseen by the audience. And the more I watched them, the more I liked them.

Nowadays I often turn on something like The Music Man, or An American in Paris, just to enjoy the music.

Now, if course, my daughter is in the Army. But the lessons she taught me remain.