Showing posts with label betty grable. Show all posts
Showing posts with label betty grable. Show all posts

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Happy Birthday BETTY GRABLE (1916 - 1973)


Happy Birthday to the wonderfully and extremely talented Betty, who dominated the 1940's with her lush eye popping technicolor musicals. Films such as Moon Over Miami, Down Argentine Way, Pin-Up Girl, Springtime in the Rockies and The Dolly Sisters. But one of my favorite Betty films is the thriller I Wake Up Screaming. Happy Birthday Betty!

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Betty Grable is April's Classic Movie Goddess on ALL GOOD THINGS

Just a reminder that Betty will be the classic movie goddess on All Good Things in April. It's where I post reviews, facts, photos and anything else I can think of to honor the actress of the month. Stop by anytime to see Betty in all her glory.
http://poohtiger-allgoodthings.blogspot.com/

Friday, February 11, 2011

Betty Grable and Dan Dailey.





Dan Dailey was musical performer during the 1940's through the 1950's. He may not be as sophisticated as Astaire and did not have the strong personality like Kelly. Dan's dancing had a certain style all his own, a very charming "song and dance man".

Grable and Dailey's first film together was, Mother Wore Tights(1947)and was Betty Grable's most popular film, with her favorite costar, Dan Dailey. They play a married vaudeville performers. I have not seen this film yet. So, I can not tell you much about it other than it will be on TCM: Feb. 13, 2011.



Their second performance together was in the film, When My Baby Smiles at Me (1948). Directed by Walter Lang. The film is about, Bonny Kane and 'Skid' Johnson, who are vaudeville performers. They begin to have trouble in their marriage when when Skid gets an offer to perform on Broadway while Bonny gets left behind. Things get worse with Skids drinking and that he is spending more time with his beautiful co-star.

Third of four movies that paired Betty Grable and Dan Dailey. My Blue Heaven(1950). Jack and Kitty, are performing on their radio show, when Kitty, breaks the news to Jack that she is pregnant. On their way home from their baby shower, Kitty and Jack are in a terrible car accident and Kitty loses the baby and learns that she may never be able to have children.

Later, Jack and Kitty visit Walter and Janet on their farm, where they are welcomed by their 6 children. Janet tells them both that the two oldest children are adopted, as she and Walter thought they would never have children, but the other four are their own children. Kitty and Jack make the decision to adopt, so they talk to an adoption agency. The Foundation's Miss Gilbert, tells Kitty and Jack that they may take up to a year, while a their background is being investigated. Kitty and Jack make their first TV appearance, on PBS, for their sponsor Cosmo Cosmetics. Miss Gilbert and Miss Evers, drop in unexpectedly to tell them that they have a baby boy for them, but... first they will have to meet with Mrs. Johnston. After Kitty and Jack pick up the baby boy, Mrs. Johnston decides that she will return with them to check out their apartment. Unfortunately, Mrs. Johnston does not like what she sees and refuses to allow the baby to stay there. This begins their long journey to have a career and family. Will their dreams of having children ever come true?



The last performance of Betty Grable and Dan Dailey in a film was, Call me Mister(1951). Set in Japan during the period between World War II and the Korean War. Betty Grable, performed as American USO entertainer Kay Hudson, who runs into former husband Shep Dooley, who wants to win her back.

This movie was really put together to showcase Grable and Dailey dancing skills in routines choreographed by Busby Berkeley.





Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Happy Birthday Betty Grable!

Betty Grable

In honor of Betty's birthday me and Dawn decided to do posts on the first Betty movie we ever saw. I'm not 100% sure but I believe it was Springtime in the Rockies (1942) for me. It was one of those bright and colorful musicals that the studios were putting out on a regular basis during this time period. Co-starring John Payne, Carmen Miranda, Cesar Romero, Edward Everett Horton and Charlotte Greenwood. I haven't seen Springtime in a while but I do remember it being very good. Of course Betty was drop dead gorgeous and sung and dance with the best of them. This had to be during the mid 80's when I first saw it. This was before TCM was around, so the only place to watch classic movies was AMC. And AMC showed a bunch of Betty Grable movies such as How To Marry A Millionaire, Coney Island, Moon Over Miami, The Shocking Miss Pilgrim, Down Argentine Way, Pin-Up Girl and lots more. But Springtime was the first that I can recall seeing Miss Grable in and it pretty much made me a fan of hers. I really do need to add more Betty movies to my collection and I think I will start ASAP. Thanks to Dawn and this wonderful blog for renewing my interest in the woman with the million dollar legs. Happy Birthday Betty!

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Box Office Attractions - BETTY GRABLE

Betty Grable
I did not know that Betty was such a huge box-office star back in the day. So far, she is the third actress I have featured in this ongoing series, along with Doris Day and Esther Williams. Which should make you very happy Dawn. Anyway, Betty's track record was amazing. Starting in 1942, Grable was named in the top 10 box office draws for 8 of those ten years. For eight of those ten years, she was the top female-box office star. In 1943, she was named the #1 movie box office attraction. By the end of the 1940s Grable was the highest-paid female star in Hollywood, receiving $300,000 a year. During the 1940s and early 1950s, thirty Fox films were among the top ten highest grossing films of the year. Of those, ten were movies featuring Grable; eight of those movies were Fox's highest grossing pictures for their respective years. Here is a list of those hit films during that time period.

1940: Tin Pan Alley; Down Argentine Way.
1941: Moon Over Miami; I Wake Up Screaming
1942: Springtime In The Rockies; Footlight Parade
1943: Coney Island; Sweet Rosie O'Grady
1944: Pin Up Girl
1945: The Dolly Sisters
1947: The Shocking Miss Pilgrim; Mother Wore Tights
1948: When My Baby Smiles At Me
1949: The Beautiful Blonde From Bashful Bend
1950: My Blue Heaven
1951: Meet Me After The Show; The Farmer Takes A Wife
1953: How To Marry A Millionaire

Monday, October 18, 2010

Friday, October 15, 2010

Happy Friday From Betty Grable

Just a photo of the lovely Betty,wishing everyone a great start to the week-end.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

A Yank in the RAF(1941).

A Yank in the RAF(1941). Directed by Henry King, and is considered a typical early-World War II movie. Though it came out in September 1941, months before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the movie features an arrogant American pilot (Tyrone Power) who joins the Royal Air Force in England. Not to defend England but to find former girlfriend (Betty Grable), who is assisting in an air-raid drill. As time goes on, his motivations change and he begins to realize what the Allies are fighting for. You can not have a Betty Grable movie without a few song and dance numbers. I have only seen bits and pieces of the movie, A Yank in the RAF. But, what I have seen, it looks like a good film.


Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Video from: Wabash Avenue (1950).




Wabash Avenue is a 1950 musical film directed by Henry Koster and starring Betty Grable. The film was a remake of Grable's earlier hit 1943 film Coney Island.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Video: Dan Dailey and Betty Grable.






Mother Wore Tights(1947). Cast: Betty Grable and Dan Dailey, married vaudeville performers. This was Grable and Dailey's first film together, based on a book of the same name by Miriam Young. It was 20th Century Fox's most successful film of 1947.