Tweet Great Musical Moments

Let's not forget Oliver Hardy's fine rendition of Ingraham's You Are the Ideal of my Dreams in Beau Hunks...

Unfortunately all existing prints of BEAU HUNKS are from the edited 1937 reissue. In the original 1931 print Ollie sings a little of "Pagan Love Song" also (before he sings "You Are the Ideal of My Dreams").

A few outstanding musical moments from comedies:

I've always loved the nightclub scene in Blotto, when Frank Holliday sings "The Curse of an Aching Heart," and Stan loses it.

As is the case with BEAU HUNKS, we are unfortunately also missing some musical moments in BLOTTO. All existing prints are from the 1937 reissue in which the scene following Holliday's song is cut. Originally after Holliday finishes his song Stan & OIllie offer him a drink from the bottle they brought, to which he exclaims "That's terrible!" Stan & Ollie tell him "So was your singing!" and say to each other "We can do better than that" and go into their own very drunken rendition on the song.

Speaking of Horse Feathers, can you help me decode some of the lyrics in "I Always Get My Man"? I've never been able to grasp what in the heck the chorus is singing before Groucho resumes with "I soon dispose of all of those..."

according to the folks who transcribed this, the chorus sings: "Oh what a whiz this fellow is, a will like his is rare/For he's a square American." But I'm not sure that's completely correct. I re-played the sequence 3 or 4 times, and it seems as though there's a couple of extra syllables in that second line, unaccounted for. It sounds more like: "For he's a square and rare American," or something like that.

Merci beaucoup, Charlie! Just played it a couple of times myself, and that second line now sounds to me like "For he's a very square American". Well, somebody somewhere must be in possession of Kalmar's authentic lyrics.

By coincidence, as I'm typing these words, the Benny Goodman orchestra on my stereo is playing "You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me", a song associated with Monkey Business.

A few more:

Pola Negri singing "Paradise" in " A Woman Commands" - mesmerizing!!

Jessie Matthews singing and dancing "Dancing on the Ceiling" and "Over My Shoulder" in "Evergreen

Irene Dunne and Astaire & Rogers doing "Lovely to Look At" in "Roberta"

Lilian Harvey singing the wistful "Irgendwo auf der Welt" in "Ein blonder Traum"

Angela Lansbury's "Goodbye, Little Yellow Bird" in The Picture of Dorian Gray is, I think, worthy of a place in our pantheon of unforgettable musical moments.

And has Dietrich's rendition of "Falling in Love Again" from The Blue Angel been mentioned?

I always think of something more just after having hit the "submit" button! The epiphany at the end of Bergman's Till glädje certainly qualifies as one of the great musical moments in cinema. To joy, indeed.

The Ross Sisters doing Solid Potato Salad in Broadway Rhythm. Just a little mindblowing.

The Ross Sisters doing Solid Potato Salad in Broadway Rhythm. Just a little mindblowing.

A friend of mine (who was around 70 years old at the time) responded quietly when I showed him this number, "I wish I'd known them when I was in high school."

The Ross Sisters doing Solid Potato Salad in Broadway Rhythm. Just a little mindblowing.

A friend of mine (who was around 70 years old at the time) responded quietly when I showed him this number, "I wish I'd known them when I was in high school."

Obviously a novelty act, but still quite charming. As far as I know, this was the only film appearance for Maggie, Aggie and Elmira.

The Ross Sisters doing Solid Potato Salad in Broadway Rhythm. Just a little mindblowing.

Nice. Still prefer the King Cole Trio version.

"The Lady on the Two-Cent Stamp" from GARDEN OF THE MOON...
The title number from HONOLULU...
Irene Bordoni singing "For Just an Hour of Love" in THE SHOW OF SHOWS...
Wini Shaw singing "The Lady in Red" in IN CALIENTE

Irene Bordoni singing "For Just an Hour of Love" in THE SHOW OF SHOWS...

Her voice, phrasing, enunciation were stunning; I only wish the director had advised her to moderate her stage mannerisms for the camera 5 or 6 ft away (nor was the camera angle flattering). Evidently, someone did so afterwards, or she reached that conclusion herself, because later film performances of hers weren't nearly so "expressive."

The Ross Sisters doing Solid Potato Salad in Broadway Rhythm. Just a little mindblowing.

Nice. Still prefer the King Cole Trio version.

Oh sure, but could Oscar Moore put his keester on his head?

The Ross Sisters doing Solid Potato Salad in Broadway Rhythm. Just a little mindblowing.

Nice. Still prefer the King Cole Trio version.

Oh sure, but could Oscar Moore put his keester on his head?

My thoughts exactly.

I can't imagine any Technicolor number being as bizarre and somewhat disturbing as this one. I doubt if the Andrews Sisters ever tried to challenge it.

bizarre and somewhat disturbing.

Was hoping someone else might make this observation...so I could second it.

bizarre and somewhat disturbing.

Was hoping someone else might make this observation...so I could second it.

I wasn't going to say it reminded of that Seinfeld episode with the gymnast, "I can balance myself in any position", but I guess I just did.