Notes On A Napkin

Okay, here's another one for you super sleuths! This is a photo of Gene and Shirley MacLaine at an event in Hollywood. The photo is by Jerry Watson of Camera Press London. Unfortunately, the event is not identified on the back. The only clue is a stamp reading: "USED 19 MAR 1970 TV TIMES." I searched the TV TIMES database on line, but this issue is not among those that they show. I searched eBay US and, again, this issue isn't among those for sale. This is the problem I encounter frequently when photos lack information about people in the photo and where and when the photo was taken. It makes the images difficult to catalogue and leaves them hanging for posterity. I assume this is an event from some time in early 1970 or that the event was shown on TV in the UK in March 1970, but that's as far as I've gotten. It is a great shot and I would love to give it a proper home. Help, please!

I love the dance that Gene does in the club in What A Way to Go! (1964). It is so him, right down to his favored pink shirt. He is seen here with Arlene Harris. She was born July 7, 1886 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. You might know her from The Hit Parade (1937), One Exciting Week (1946) and Captain Midnight (1954), though she is best known for her radio stardom as "The Chatterbox." She died in 1976 at the Motion Picture Home in Woodland Hills, California. I don't think this movie gets the attention it deserves. I've only introduced it once and that was years ago. The cast is spectacular, including the breathtaking Shirley MacLaine. The story by Comden and Green sparkles. The costumes by Edith Head are worth the price of admission. If you haven't see it in a while, you might run it again. And this time pay particular attention to Gene's performance of the Jule Styne/Comden and Green "I Think That You and I Should Get Acquainted." It is one of my favorites.

I'm hoping you can help me here folks. This is a promo photo for the Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé TV special "Our Love is Here to Stay," directed and produced by the great team of Dwight Hemion and Gary Smith, that aired on CBS in 1975. Gene is pictured here with the "Norman Maen Dancers." I've searched for the names of these 6 women, but, so far, I've had no luck. Can you please help identify them for me?

Another occupational hazard.... I was filing photos in the archives and I made the mistake of flipping through the images already in the American in Paris folder. This popped up. It is true that Gene "discovered" Leslie Caron in Paris. He first saw her when she appeared in Roland Petit's "La Recontre" with Ballet de Champs Elysees in 1948. She played the role of the Sphinx. Gene saw her and went backstage to introduce himself, but she had already gone home to bed. He said her part wasn't big, but her feline movements were captivating and stayed in his mind. When work on American in Paris began, Gene was determined to dance with a real French girl. He thought Leslie had the perfect gamine qualities. He flew to Paris to test her. He also tested an older more experienced actress and dancer named Odile Versois. He returned to California hoping that Vincente Minnelli and Arthur Freed would also choose Leslie and was relieved when they did. Leslie, at 18 in this photo, did not speak English, so the studio began training her while Gene began rehearsing her gently in order to accommodate her reduced stamina due to the deprivations of the war. Leslie was born July 1, 1931 in Boulogne-Billancourt, Seine, France. She lives in London now. I was fortunate to see her when she came to my talk about Gene at the V & A a few years ago. She was gracious and articulate about the way that Gene choreographed the numbers in An American in Paris and how he artfully used the camera.

This post is a present for my friend director @stephen.mear who happens to think Ann Miller is the cat's meow. And, rightly so. She was a remarkable performer and an exuberant human being. I modeled her gowns for a charity auction benefitting the Motion Picture and Television Home. They were gorgeous and she was feisty, poking me with her cane. I only wish I'd had the money to buy some of them. This is quite a threesome: Gene's dear friend Frank Sinatra, Ann and Gene. They are in Gene's dressing room at MGM listening to a playback over a loudspeaker of one of the featured songs in the On the Town. I wish I could tell you which song. From the look on Frank's face, it could be one of his numbers: "You're Awful" with Betty Garrett, perhaps. Or maybe it is "Lonely Town." Frank recorded the balled, but it was cut from the picture. "That happens often," said Gene, "unless you have the ballad up in front of the picture, it's usually cut." There are many recordings of Frank singing "Lonely Town." If you haven't heard one, please find a copy. Powerful stuff. Here's one version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1cH27DMuYY Listen to the elegance with which Frank introduces the song, always acknowledging the composers, lyricists and arrangers.

Yet another hazard of the workplace.... I went into the archives yesterday to find a single photo of Gene from The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967) and ended up lingering over every image, including this one of Gene and his co-star Françoise Dorléac. As always, Gene choreographed the number to highlight his partner. The pose is simple yet conveys much. There is quiet intimacy in the hands joined and in Gene's gaze. Also, his raised hand suggests connection but not aggression.

Here's another recent acquisition for the collection. I have many posters for Gene's film The Happy Road (1957), but did not have this one. A friend spotted it and sent me the link. So, thank you for that! I always appreciate receiving a heads up about unique items. The film has quite a cast, including Barbara Laage and Michael Redgrave. The art designer was Gene's friend Alexander Trauner, and the script by another friend—Harry Kurnitz. It was Jean-Pierre Cassel's first film. Gene wrote the lyrics to the song "The Happy Road." The music was by Georges Van Parys and performed by yet another friend—Maurice Chevalier (for a dollar). The costumes were by the great Pierre Balmain. The film received a BAFTA UN Award for USA/France, and a Golden Globe for "Best Film Promoting International Understanding." I think it is charming.

I just got this photo of Gene leading the Broadway Melody number in Singin' in the Rain, and I am happy to have it for the collection. There are things in it that I never noticed before, including the "SPECIAL FEATURE TRIP TO ASIA" sign at the back. As was typical then, the dancers are uncredited. But, with hope, some of you can identify them. I love the way that Gene leans into this, with one foot off the ground and the other on his toes. His whole body captures the movement. I'd say perfectly.

This still photo from the dream sequence in Anchors Aweigh always reminds me of the lyrics in Cole Porter's song "Get Out of Town": "Why not retire to a farm / And be contented to charm the birds off the trees." Porter wrote it for his 1938 musical "Leave It to Me!," which was Gene's first show on Broadway. It was sung by Tamara Drasin, who was often credited simply as Tamara. It was one of Gene's favorite songs. He said it was a song that he wished he could have performed.

Tamara also introduced another of Gene's favorites—Jerome Kern's and Otto Harbach's "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes"—in the 1933 Broadway musical Roberta. Gene sang both to me, and, yes, I'm convinced he could sing the birds off the trees.

As always seems to happen to me these days, I go into the archive in search of one thing and come out with another. In this case, I went in search of a certain shadowy photo of Gene looking ominous in his overcoat and trilby hat as the murdering character in Christmas Holiday. Instead, I came out with this wonderful behind-the-scenes photo of director Robert Siodmak high on the camera crane directing Gene and his co-star Deanna Durbin, seen on the right looking out from the third-story balcony of a French-quarter cafe constructed on the Universal lot.

The description printed on the back of this photo describes this as a "tricky walking scene," with Gene and Durbin in a single traveling shot that "takes them from the third floor balcony to the patio." If you've never seen this movie, maybe this is a good time to check it out. If you have seen it, maybe it is time to revisit it and watch for the camera movement. Despite the title, it is definitely not a cheerful musical, though many who went to see it in 1944 thought that's what they were getting with Gene Kelly and Deanna Durbin!