Tag Archives: Musicals

Juxtaposin’: Housework

Posted on January 31, 2016 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes:

Posted in Movies, Music, Performers | Tagged american hustle, Ann-Margret, David O. Russell, George Sidney, Jennifer Lawrence, Juxtaposin', live and let die, Musicals, Viva Las Vegas, wings | Leave a comment

Notes on “Viva Las Vegas”

Posted on December 10, 2015 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: “Viva Las Vegas” pulls off a nifty trick: it uses the corporatization of Elvis to augment and comment on his appeal. Elvis plays Lucky Jackson, a racecar driver whose fortunes belie his name. Ann-Margret is the … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies, Performers | Tagged Ann-Margret, Elvis Presley, Film, George Sidney, Las Vegas, movies, Musicals, Romantic Comedy, Viva Las Vegas, William Demarest | 1 Comment

Notes on “Let’s Go Native”

Posted on July 26, 2015 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: Like many early talkies, the 1930 “Let’s Go Native” is so effortlessly weird it serves as proof an innate American tendency toward surrealism. Jeanette MacDonald — still in her lingerie-naughty, pre-MGM phase — plays a Broadway … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies, Performers | Tagged Eugene Pallette, Film, Jack Oakie, Jeanette MacDonald, Kay Francis, Leo McCarey, Let's Go Native, movies, Musicals, the old weird America | 3 Comments

Nightmare on Broadway

Posted on November 26, 2014 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: “Gold Diggers of 1935” is a pretty lame movie. Yet it includes what might be Busby Berkeley’s masterpiece: A musical fantasy sequence scored to “The Lullaby of Broadway.” Is it an exaggeration to call it one … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies, Music | Tagged Busby Berkeley, Dick Powell, Film, Gold Diggers of 1935, movies, Musicals, The Lullaby of Broadway | 3 Comments

“A Damsel In Distress” (1937)

Posted on September 5, 2014 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: A musical comedy co-written by P.G. Wodehouse, with music and lyrics by the Gershwins, and starring Fred Astaire is pretty much essential viewing for me. Although the film is usually regarded as one of Astaire’s post-Rogers flubs, I … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies, Performers | Tagged Fred Astaire, George Burns, George Gershwin, George Stevens, Gracie Allen, Ira Gershwin, Joan Fontaine, Musicals, P.G. Wodehouse, Romantic Comedy | 5 Comments

Bridging Distances

Posted on June 29, 2014 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: A filmmaker like Lubitsch makes you feel privileged for taking part in his naughtiness — like you’re in on the joke. But the naughtiness in this clip, from Renoir’s “French Cancan,” is of a different sort. Renoir … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies, Performers, Sex | Tagged Film, France, French Cancan, Jean Gabin, Jean Renoir, Moulin Rouge, movies, Musicals | 2 Comments

Juxtaposin’: Stair Singing

Posted on January 2, 2014 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes:

Posted in Movies, Music, Performers | Tagged Artists and Models, Film, Frank Tashlin, Haut bas fragile, Jacques Rivette, Jerry Lewis, Juxtaposin', Marianne Denicourt, movies, Musicals, Nathalie Richard, Shirley MacLaine | Leave a comment

“The Tree, the Mayor and the Mediatheque”

Posted on September 11, 2012 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: When you think of New Wave filmmakers who’ve delved into politics Eric Rohmer probably isn’t the first guy to spring to mind. And for good reason: he was always the group’s miniaturist-philosopher, a … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Movies, Performers, Politics and Economics | Tagged architecture, Casualism, Cinema Verite, Conservationism, Conservatism, Environmentalism, Eric Rohmer, France, Gustave Courbet, movies, Musicals, politics, Socialism | 8 Comments

“The Kissing Bandit,” Frank Sinatra, and Ricardo Montalban

Posted on September 8, 2012 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: I’ve been going through some of the lesser-known MGM musicals of late. There’s a lot of dreck hiding out in that celebrated body of work. But one of the things you quickly realize is that even … Continue reading →