all talking! all singing! all dancing!

technically, this isn't a musical. but it features a gut-wrenching performance from the great torch singer helen morgan as a burlesque queen making a life for her and her sheltered, convent-schooled daughter.

the first musical oscar winner was also a showcase for great freed-brown songs and a solid tragicomic performance from bessie love.

in 1929 and 1930, all the major studios were creating all-star extravaganzas that showed off their grapplings with sound and color technology. some of also showed off the fact that their hottest properties should not have been in musicals(like warners' 'the show of shows'). but universal's 'king of jazz' shows off some of the finer musical talent of the time like bing crosby, john boles, jeanette loff, jeanie lang and the paul whiteman orchestra going at an edited version of gershwin's 'rhapsody in blue'. the musical numbers feature the crazy dancing of the sisters g and the first rockettes, then known as the russell markert girls. some of the comady sketches haven't aged well, but full-on production numbers like 'happy feet' and the dance prelude to rhapsody are fun and wonderful.

once again, the ultimate backstager. a near perfect film.













this is the eternal backstager musical. many films of its time tried to tell the same tale of ambition and heartache in the theater but few have succeeded or endured like 42 street. the screenplay is tight and filled with many a great wisecrack, the direction is fast paced and sharp, the cast top notch and the finale, with dances staged and filmed by busby berkeley are all classic.

eleanor powell proved herself the first lady of 1930s dancers with this shiny glossy vehicle from mgm. cole porter wrote the score and roger edens did great arrangements. james stewart makes a rare musical appearance and the cast is rounded out with una merkel, buddy ebsen, sid silvers and virginia bruce.

this, in many ways, is a better example of the integrated screen musical than many freed unit projects starring gene kelly or judy garland. astaire and rogers blithely clown, sing and dance their way through a beautiful hollywood style venice. and they take actors like eric blore, erik rhodes, helen broderick and edward everett horton on the trip with them!

this, fpr the most part, is the quintessential version of the kern-hammerstein classic. the end is what keeps it from being absolutely brilliant. irene dunne and allan jones sing the songs with style and emotion; helen morgan caps off her screen career recreating the role that made her an icon. and paul robeson sings the classic 'ol man river'.

from its opening fanfare and title music, you know you are in for an exciting musical treat. judy garland's dorothy is the stuff movie dreams are made of; the visuals are also dream-like.

this is an obscure musical that deserves to be seen by many so-called lovers of the screen musical. the cast includes the champions, bob fosse, debbie reynolds and helen wood. they are dancing the screen to pieces in this one.

i may be one of the few that likes the russell-wood-malden gypsy. russell is a charming rose and some of the singing is her own. wood is a sparkling louise and malden makes great support in the role of herbie. most of the robbins choreography makes it to the screen and only one song winds up on the cutting room floor. to those that love the idea that hollywood ruined this musical--it could be worse. have you seen either 'anything goes'?

the story of demy's musical classic is a simple one of love unfulfilled. but the film is full of lush camerawork and a through-sung score composed by michel legrand. and you get catherine deneuve at the height of her pristine beauty.

demy did a companion piece to 'cherbourg' with this through-danced piece that pays homage to the happy-go-lucky freed unit musicals released by mgm. the choreography is fun, bumptious classic jazz and it is danced off the screen by the likes of george chakiris and grover dale. as added luster, gene kelly makes a cameo.

this musical is on my list for two reasons: bjork and vince paterson. paterson knows how to choreograph a number and his work on this film is among his best, especially the lyrical 'i've seen it all'. bjork was new to acting and films but you would have never known it. her performance is unaffected and natural without subterfuge.

although luise rainer was the nominal star of this film, she wasn't a musical performer. she gives a lovely performance as poldi, the maligned wife of composer johann strauss, well played also by fernand gravet. but they both take a back seat to miliza korjus, who sings the hell out of the strauss melodies and is a seductive delight as strauss' muse karla. mgm made no bones about this film's plot. it is a fanciful turn on struass' life. but korjus makes a body wish it happened this way!