Sunday, 20 February 2011

A good musical is hard to find



And  DuBarry Was a Lady (1943) isn't one of them. 

The dialogue and plot are almost as  diabolical as the musical numbers.  The only points in its favour are its stellar cast (Gene Kelly, Lucille Ball, Red Skelton and Zero Mostell as Rami the Swami), its glorious technicolor, and its inspired costume and set design. This is most certainly one that should be watched sans sound.




Virginia O'Brien as Ginny in her Salome number. The only number with any oomph.



5 comments:

normadesmond said...

that was just what i needed!

Lynne Rutter said...

i love what she is wearing in this video! too bad she looks so bored through the whole number. but you know when you find an old musical and think "wow, why have i never seen this one?" chances are pretty good it was buried for a good reason

HOBAC said...

LR - that was O'Brien's gimmick. Her deadpan delivery earned her the monikers, "frozen face" and "the girl with one expression".

Christina @ Fashion's Most Wanted said...

Dear HOBAC, the picture of Lucille Ball is genius and I love what Virginia O'Brien is wearing.

I was at Pam Hogg's show the other night with Andrew Macdonald one of the founders of The House of Beauty and Culture. There's a pic of him on my blog.

Hope you're having a good week xx

gésbi said...

Elegance and comedy do mix. Loved this!