Swoon

I could listen to this song a hundred times in a row and not tire of it.

Kelly, Hayworth, &. . . Silvers?

It’s no secret that both Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire thought that Rita Hayworth was their most exquisitely beautiful partner (high praise indeed). Here, Hayworth also shows what remarkable talent she possessed before all those men (Welles, Cohn, Aly Khan, Haymes, et al.) sought to possess her. They succeeded in chipping away what was already a very fragile ego. Enough psychobabble: enjoy the superb “Make Way For Tomorrow” (a Jerome Kern-Ira Gershwin-E Y Harburg collaboration), a song so delightful that even a burlesque comic like Phil Silvers comes out smelling like a rose.

Sheer Heaven

Absolutely 100%.

A Signal Achievement

It can be depressing to think that the likes of such performances will never again occur, that modern tastes have, er, progressed beyond the enjoyment to be had in the intricately staged “Begin The Beguine” number from Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940, dir Norman Taurog).

Thirty And Counting

Thirty is at least the number of times I have seen this episode of The Golden Girls, in which Dorothy’s younger brother Phil (a cross-dresser) dies. Brenda Vaccaro is aces as Phil’s widow. While the entire episode is funny and touching, it is this last scene that gets me every time. Great direction and expert comic timing by all five women are hallmarks of this installation. I see no end to this ever being able to make me well up.

Well, The Color Is Nice

This had to have been during that brief period when older stars attempted to stay with it by singing folk songs, while still relying on over-the-top choreography, expert makeup departments, and big clothing budgets. In this bizarre scene, Debbie Reynolds hops from platform to platform while dippy background singers attempt to convey capital-M Meaning to the song. Oy vey!

Genius

Donald O’Connor is brilliant, nimble, and incredibly graceful in this scene from “Singin’ In The Rain.” (1952, dirs Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly)