Reynolds and Maclaine, still on the go
Posted: February 15th, 2008, 3:24 pm
of all the female all round entertainers of the 1950s, the only two i can think of still performing are Debbie Reynolds and Shirley Maclaine.
in movie terms Shirley Mac is mainly known as a great actress, which is a pity because i think she's been one of the great song and dance girls of modern day entertainment. i have mixed views about her two musical movies The Can Can and Sweet Charity. however, while apearing alongside Bob Hope, Julie Andrews and Cleo Lane at the 1977 Royal Command Performance she stole the show from all the other artists singing from SC her theme song If The Could See Me Now in a black three piece trouser suit, which saw the pants ripped of at the end of the number so she could dance The Hustle with a male chorus. it was a breathtaking performance.
it's very easy to underrate Debbie Reynolds. in movie terms she had a quite time in the 70s, even though IMO she was at her most beautiful. however, by the 90s she started making some half decent movies again. while her most famous film is Singing In The Rain, i think she gave her greatest all-round performance in How The West Was Won, playing a farmer's daughter Lily Presott, who loses her parents on the trek west. so she returns east and makes a living on the American music hall stage. however, she returns twice to the west, once looking for gold with future hubby Gregory Peck, then as an old widow going to live with her nephew George Peppard and his family. Debbie was also outstanding in The Unsinkable Molly Brown
in movie terms Shirley Mac is mainly known as a great actress, which is a pity because i think she's been one of the great song and dance girls of modern day entertainment. i have mixed views about her two musical movies The Can Can and Sweet Charity. however, while apearing alongside Bob Hope, Julie Andrews and Cleo Lane at the 1977 Royal Command Performance she stole the show from all the other artists singing from SC her theme song If The Could See Me Now in a black three piece trouser suit, which saw the pants ripped of at the end of the number so she could dance The Hustle with a male chorus. it was a breathtaking performance.
it's very easy to underrate Debbie Reynolds. in movie terms she had a quite time in the 70s, even though IMO she was at her most beautiful. however, by the 90s she started making some half decent movies again. while her most famous film is Singing In The Rain, i think she gave her greatest all-round performance in How The West Was Won, playing a farmer's daughter Lily Presott, who loses her parents on the trek west. so she returns east and makes a living on the American music hall stage. however, she returns twice to the west, once looking for gold with future hubby Gregory Peck, then as an old widow going to live with her nephew George Peppard and his family. Debbie was also outstanding in The Unsinkable Molly Brown