My my - where have I been all my life?
Tuesday, TCM's stacked up several musicals and Virginia O'Brien appears in several of them, doing her Deadpan Brunette comedy singing. I am SO impressed with her looks and styling - she's got this smokey, bluesy voice, delivering the most outrageous lyrics in total deadpan. It's like Buster Keaton was reincarnated in this tall slender beauty with a sultry voice.
Can anyone add tales of her to those beyond WikiP? I'll be surfing the web to find more about her...
In a couple of appearances, she was almost a Spike Jonesian insert - this out of the blue sight-gag that the Zuckers would have used 40 years later in AIRPLANE.
Who is Virginia O'Brien?
Did you see this article, Ollie?
http://www.classicimages.com/1999/janua ... brien.html
The thing that intrigues me about O'Brien is how lovely she was, with those tilted eyes and (when you can glimpse it) a very sweet smile. Like Lucy, a gorgeous comedienne.
http://www.classicimages.com/1999/janua ... brien.html
The thing that intrigues me about O'Brien is how lovely she was, with those tilted eyes and (when you can glimpse it) a very sweet smile. Like Lucy, a gorgeous comedienne.
Ayres, thanks for that great link. I found a few others, but none so comprehensive.
I agree that she was used as a one-trick pony in a lot of these. What a shame. Her face, going from stone-face into that explosion of expression is pretty amazing - I guess "dumbed down studio execs" are nothing new. This is another good example of a beautiful actress with great capabilities but couldn't find a champion. Or maybe her lack of confidence (as the above link mentions) made such a champion feel like they were spinning their wheels.
This recent display of her films makes her quite a revelation to me. I'm still struggling with my disdain of musicals. A lot of these '30s and '40s seem to let me access them because they're about performers and the music is a 'natural off-spring' rather than SEVEN BRIDES type films where the Philharmonic has apparently been hiding in the woods, waiting for the singing and dancing to begin.
EDIT: one more note about Virginia... if her career wasn't what she wanted because of her choices, fine.
But when I hear biographers and industry historians say things like, "The studios didn't know what to do with beautiful comediennes like Lucille Ball", then I believe they probably didn't know what to do with O'Brien, either.
And she ends up with some incredibly great company. I'll be watching for her now.
I agree that she was used as a one-trick pony in a lot of these. What a shame. Her face, going from stone-face into that explosion of expression is pretty amazing - I guess "dumbed down studio execs" are nothing new. This is another good example of a beautiful actress with great capabilities but couldn't find a champion. Or maybe her lack of confidence (as the above link mentions) made such a champion feel like they were spinning their wheels.
This recent display of her films makes her quite a revelation to me. I'm still struggling with my disdain of musicals. A lot of these '30s and '40s seem to let me access them because they're about performers and the music is a 'natural off-spring' rather than SEVEN BRIDES type films where the Philharmonic has apparently been hiding in the woods, waiting for the singing and dancing to begin.
EDIT: one more note about Virginia... if her career wasn't what she wanted because of her choices, fine.
But when I hear biographers and industry historians say things like, "The studios didn't know what to do with beautiful comediennes like Lucille Ball", then I believe they probably didn't know what to do with O'Brien, either.
And she ends up with some incredibly great company. I'll be watching for her now.
Musicals
As I wrote a few years back on the old site, to like musicals (and nobody says you have to!) you must accept their conventions, just as to like action/adventure movies you must accept theirs. In action/adventure, you have to suspend disbelief on a number of fronts:
One man can easily elude several attackers who bear high-tech weapons
He is seldom killed when his pursuers have multiple opportunities to kill him
He comes out of violent confrontations with a bruise, a little sweat attractively tousling his hair, and a bit of clothing torn here and there
His car can leap from building to building or take a thirty-foot drop and still operate at high speed
How realistic is that? But oh, how fun it can be, right?
In musicals the plots are often light and silly, but then so are the plots of some of Shakespeare’s or Moliere’s comedies. Other times a musical’s plot can be a dramatic or even tragic story—think of Gigi or Show Boat.
But all of this is less important than the performances of talented people who sing and dance and (it is to be hoped) have appealing comic or dramatic personalities. Musicals are a showcase for their talents, and many of these performances make my spirits soar with admiration and joyfulness. So I accept this world in which folks break into song and dance, just as others accept opera, whence everyone speaks in song for the entire go, or erotic films, where viewers are primarily there for the sex scenes.
In most great musicals, the musical numbers are a furthering of the plot, and very often are symbolic of love or sex scenes themselves. There had to be some way of vaulting over the MPPDA’s code, and one of the reasons musicals were popular during the Code years is that they often neatly managed that.
One man can easily elude several attackers who bear high-tech weapons
He is seldom killed when his pursuers have multiple opportunities to kill him
He comes out of violent confrontations with a bruise, a little sweat attractively tousling his hair, and a bit of clothing torn here and there
His car can leap from building to building or take a thirty-foot drop and still operate at high speed
How realistic is that? But oh, how fun it can be, right?
In musicals the plots are often light and silly, but then so are the plots of some of Shakespeare’s or Moliere’s comedies. Other times a musical’s plot can be a dramatic or even tragic story—think of Gigi or Show Boat.
But all of this is less important than the performances of talented people who sing and dance and (it is to be hoped) have appealing comic or dramatic personalities. Musicals are a showcase for their talents, and many of these performances make my spirits soar with admiration and joyfulness. So I accept this world in which folks break into song and dance, just as others accept opera, whence everyone speaks in song for the entire go, or erotic films, where viewers are primarily there for the sex scenes.
In most great musicals, the musical numbers are a furthering of the plot, and very often are symbolic of love or sex scenes themselves. There had to be some way of vaulting over the MPPDA’s code, and one of the reasons musicals were popular during the Code years is that they often neatly managed that.
Aye to your 'suspension of belief' arguments.
Why can I completely enjoy the GOOD MORNING or MAKE 'EM LAUGH routines in SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (or the title number) yet complain about SEVEN BRIDES song & dance numbers? I often have no consistency or rationality for what I like or dislike - sometimes I can distill the reasons, sometimes I can dissect them into statements, but more than likely, not.
Why can I enjoy PAINT YOUR WAGON yet turn my nose at other musicals? I'll never believe the orchestra was on Judy's trolley any more than they followed around Ray Walston and Clint Eastwood.
This makes me suspect my snobbery could be based on the faces and names in musicals - if I like 'em, then the musical's fine (Robert Preston). If I don't (Howard Keel), I won't. Gee - I wonder what Howard ever did to ME?!!
I should probably force myself to see SEVEN BRIDES on the big screen when it's around in a couple of months - give it a real chance to be impressive.
Why can I completely enjoy the GOOD MORNING or MAKE 'EM LAUGH routines in SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (or the title number) yet complain about SEVEN BRIDES song & dance numbers? I often have no consistency or rationality for what I like or dislike - sometimes I can distill the reasons, sometimes I can dissect them into statements, but more than likely, not.
Why can I enjoy PAINT YOUR WAGON yet turn my nose at other musicals? I'll never believe the orchestra was on Judy's trolley any more than they followed around Ray Walston and Clint Eastwood.
This makes me suspect my snobbery could be based on the faces and names in musicals - if I like 'em, then the musical's fine (Robert Preston). If I don't (Howard Keel), I won't. Gee - I wonder what Howard ever did to ME?!!
I should probably force myself to see SEVEN BRIDES on the big screen when it's around in a couple of months - give it a real chance to be impressive.
I'll do a little research and see if I can start a thread about Introduction To Musicals For MusiPhobics.
("Oh Dear Lord, please don't let there be a formal name for people who claim to dislike musicals! Let anyone who'd think of such a title spend their time doing something more beneficial - like poking their eyes out with sharp sticks.")
("Oh Dear Lord, please don't let there be a formal name for people who claim to dislike musicals! Let anyone who'd think of such a title spend their time doing something more beneficial - like poking their eyes out with sharp sticks.")
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Moraldo Rubini
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I'll join a Virginia O'Brien fan society! An underrated beauty with the big doe eyes and sharp comic timing. Director George Sidney said (on The Harvey Girls audio commentary) that she later became sheriff of some small town in California; but I've never found out anything more about this bit of trivia. I'm still intrigued about it, so if anyone can enlighten me, I'd be very interested...
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tallulahfan
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- Joined: October 2nd, 2007, 11:21 am
Yes I always thought she was a welcome addition to every film but there was only so much stone-faced singing a movie could take. I believe she was married to a B picture actor called Kirk Alyn (didn't he play Superman at one point?). But she pretty much disappeared from sight after the heyday of the MGM musicals. No doubt she was gainfully employed in stock, nostalgia shows in later years.
I thought she was a solid addition (and script mover-along-er) in MERTON OF THE MOVIES, a film which needed even more than she could offer. I'm not sure why the studios forced that 1-schtick-pony notion onto her characters while other 1-schtick characters (like Jimmy Durante) were able to move beyond.
Was it her personality or the ones around her? Was it Durante's or the ones around him?
Mostly, I'm chagrined to have either never noticed her in past decades of film-worshipping, or I've never been given the chance to see these. I'm glad TCM put so many of her films together, though.
I notice that, during my history of rewatching films, it's invariably the good supporting cast that makes the film wonderfully rewatchable. Allen Jenkins. Charles Lane. Jerome Cowan. Marjorie Main. Louis Calhern. Victor McLaglen. Barry Fitzgerald - well, just about the whole John Ford travelling troupe, and maybe a select 400 others!
If the supporting cast isn't good, I can watch the stars and story a few times maybe, but the film doesn't come close to being 'infinitely rewatchable' to me. But when there are good folks in the back, they're the ones I'll notice more and more.
Was it her personality or the ones around her? Was it Durante's or the ones around him?
Mostly, I'm chagrined to have either never noticed her in past decades of film-worshipping, or I've never been given the chance to see these. I'm glad TCM put so many of her films together, though.
I notice that, during my history of rewatching films, it's invariably the good supporting cast that makes the film wonderfully rewatchable. Allen Jenkins. Charles Lane. Jerome Cowan. Marjorie Main. Louis Calhern. Victor McLaglen. Barry Fitzgerald - well, just about the whole John Ford travelling troupe, and maybe a select 400 others!
If the supporting cast isn't good, I can watch the stars and story a few times maybe, but the film doesn't come close to being 'infinitely rewatchable' to me. But when there are good folks in the back, they're the ones I'll notice more and more.
I came at Virginia O'Brien backwards, seeing Merton of the Movies, which was the last of her forties film run, first. I saw the film because Gloria Grahame was in it and I have to see and write about every film Grahame was in. It's a compulsion. 
Well I was immediately taken with O'Brien's performance. I found her very funny and a good match for Red Skelton, who was at his most likeable and nicely restrained in this film. She doesn't sing a note in this one but she caught my attention. The fact that her career was curiously curtailed after doing such a nice job in a leading role always baffled me.
I liked the film just fine. I know the difference between Citizen Kane and a film like Merton, and I take it for what it is, a light, fluffy Skelton vehicle. I'm easy to please. Sometimes I just want to be entertained and forget life's burdens and Virginia O'Brien did the trick.
I started seeking out her films, discovered her famous deadpan singing style and became a big fan after seeing her perform such wonders as "(Did I Get Stinkin') At the Savoy" in Panama Hattie and "Say That We're Sweethearts Again" in Meet the People.
I can see where her deadpan shtick could grow old but it sure made a pleasant diversion in a number of films. I could probably sit at a nightclub and listen to her for hours but that's just me. She was also a nice addition to films like The Harvey Girls. It's too bad she had to leave the picture early. I think it was due to her pregnancy.
I think Merton of the Movies proved she could do fine without relying on her novelty songs. I really wish she had the chance to explore that by doing more films.
Well I was immediately taken with O'Brien's performance. I found her very funny and a good match for Red Skelton, who was at his most likeable and nicely restrained in this film. She doesn't sing a note in this one but she caught my attention. The fact that her career was curiously curtailed after doing such a nice job in a leading role always baffled me.
I liked the film just fine. I know the difference between Citizen Kane and a film like Merton, and I take it for what it is, a light, fluffy Skelton vehicle. I'm easy to please. Sometimes I just want to be entertained and forget life's burdens and Virginia O'Brien did the trick.
I started seeking out her films, discovered her famous deadpan singing style and became a big fan after seeing her perform such wonders as "(Did I Get Stinkin') At the Savoy" in Panama Hattie and "Say That We're Sweethearts Again" in Meet the People.
I can see where her deadpan shtick could grow old but it sure made a pleasant diversion in a number of films. I could probably sit at a nightclub and listen to her for hours but that's just me. She was also a nice addition to films like The Harvey Girls. It's too bad she had to leave the picture early. I think it was due to her pregnancy.
I think Merton of the Movies proved she could do fine without relying on her novelty songs. I really wish she had the chance to explore that by doing more films.
Ollie,Ollie wrote:I notice that, during my history of rewatching films, it's invariably the good supporting cast that makes the film wonderfully rewatchable. Allen Jenkins. Charles Lane. Jerome Cowan. Marjorie Main. Louis Calhern. Victor McLaglen. Barry Fitzgerald - well, just about the whole John Ford travelling troupe, and maybe a select 400 others!
If the supporting cast isn't good, I can watch the stars and story a few times maybe, but the film doesn't come close to being 'infinitely rewatchable' to me. But when there are good folks in the back, they're the ones I'll notice more and more.
I so agree with you on this. The supporting players add so much to a film. Sometimes when deciding which film to watch over again the supporting cast will be the deciding factor.