ART DECO FILM SERIES

2008 Film Series

We are pleased to present two separate film series throughout 2008, examining the legacy of the Broadway musical as captured by Hollywood, and the water ballet extravaganzas of Esther Williams. Each film gets two showings; the first at the Miami Beach Regional Library in the Collins Park neighborhood, and an encore screening at the Art Deco Welcome Center on Ocean Drive. All screenings are free of charge.

ANYTHING GOES: BROADWAY ON FILM

The Broadway musical came into its own during the 1930s and 40s, and many productions from this era are still frequently revived. However, many of these productions reached their greatest audiences in Hollywood film versions. Join us for a series of films celebrating the Broadway musical through the first half of the 20th century.

Anything Goes
Saturday 12 January
Directed by Robert Lewis, 1956, 106 minutes
The Broadway production opened on 21 November 1934 and ran 420 performances. Based on the success of the Broadway production, Paramount purchased the film rights and released the first filmed version of Cole Porter’s Anything Goes in 1936, featuring Ethel Merman (in her acclaimed role of Reno Sweeney) and Bing Crosby. The film was remade by Paramount twenty years later, again starring Bing Crosby, and with the addition of Mitzi Gaynor, Donald O’Connor, and Zizi Jeanmaire. While most of the original story has been altered, the ocean liner setting provides a fine backdrop for Porter classics such as You’re the Top, It’s De-Lovely, Blow, Gabriel, I Get a Kick Out of You, and Anything Goes.

Du Barry Was a Lady
Saturday 09 February at 11:00 am, Miami Beach Regional Library
Directed by Roy Del Ruth, 1943, 101 minutes
The Broadway production opened on 06 December 1939 and ran for 408 performances, with Ethel Merman and Bert Lahr leading a production that introduced such Cole Porter favorites as Well Did You Evah and Friendship, and Betty Grable in her Broadway debut. Cast in the film version are Red Skelton and Lucille Ball (in her first appearance with red hair), along with Gene Kelly, Zero Mostel (in his film debut), and Ava Gardner and Lana Turner in uncredited appearances. Porter suffered his usual Hollywood treatment, and many of his original songs were replaced by newer ones for the film.

Too Many Girls
Saturday 08 March at 11:00 am, Miami Beach Regional Library
Tuesday 11 March at 7:00 pm, Art Deco Welcome Center
Directed by George Abbott, 1940, 85 minutes
The Broadway production opened on 18 October 1939 and ran 249 performances. With music and lyrics by Rogers and Hart, and direction by George Abbott, the Broadway production of Too Many Girls was a moderate hit of the 1939 season, and starred a young Cuban singer in his first and only Broadway appearance: Desi Arnaz. The subsequent film features several members of the Broadway cast (Arnaz, Eddie Bracken and Van Johnson among them) reprising their original roles. The ingenue role is played by Lucille Ball (an RKO contract player in her 59th film), and Ann Miller appears in several dance numbers. While Too Many Girls is known as the show that introduced the ballad I Didn’t Know What Time It Was, it is also the moment when Lucy first met Ricky.

On The Town
Saturday 12 April at 11:00 am, Miami Beach Regional Library
Tuesday 22 April at 7:00 pm, Art Deco Welcome Center
Directed by Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, 1949, 98 minutes
Broadway production opened on 28 December 1944 and ran for 462 performances. On the Town burst forth in the 1944 season, a product of remarkable talents: composer Leonard Berstein, lyricists Betty Comden and Adolph Green, choreographer Jerome Robbins, and director George Abbott. The film version (the first musical to shoot on location) features Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Jules Munshin as the three sailors in New York with a 24-hour leave, and Betty Garrett, Ann Miller, and Vera Ellen as the objects of their affection. Alice Pearce, who would achieve later fame as the nosy neighbor Gladys Kravitz in Bewitched), is the only actor to reprise her original role. The Leonard Bernstein score is augmented with new songs by Roger Edens.

Kiss Me Kate
Saturday 10 May at 11:00 am, Miami Beach Regional Library
Tuesday 20 May at 7:00 pm, Art Deco Welcome Center
Directed by George Sidney, 1953, 109 minutes
Broadway production opened on 30 December 1948 and ran for 1,077 performances. Based on the backstage bickerings of Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne’s 1935 Broadway production of Taming of the Shrew, Kiss Me Kate presents Cole Porter at his best. Starring Alfred Drake, Patricia Morison, and Lisa Kirk, the production earned five Tony® Awards, including Best Musical and Best Composer/Lyricist. The film, originally filmed and presented in 3-D, features Howard Keel, Kathryn Grayson, and Ann Miller in a faithful version of the Broadway original. Unlike Hollywood versions of earlier Porter shows, this one survives with the original score intact.

Damn Yankees!
Saturday 14 June at 11:00 am, Miami Beach Regional LIbrary
Tuesday 17 June at 7:00 pm, Art Deco Welcome Center
Directed by George Abbott and Stanley Donen, 1958, 111 minutes
Broadway production opened on 05 May 1955 and ran 1,019 performances. With book and direction by George Abbott, music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross (The Pajama Game), and musical staging by Bob Fosse, the Broadway production of Damn Yankees earned seven Tony® Awards, including Best Musical, Best Actor (Ray Walston), Best Actress (Gwen Verdon), and Best Choreography (Bob Fosse). The film retains many members of the original cast (although substituting Tab Hunter for Broadway’s Stephen Douglass), as well as the rousing score and musical staging. Bob Fosse makes an brief appearance, dancing The Mambo with then-wife Gwen Verdon.

ESTHER WILLIAMS: BATHING BEAUTY

Bathing Beauty
Saturday 12 July at 11:00 am, Miami Beach Regional Library
Tuesday 22 July at 7:00 pm, Art Deco Welcome Center
Directed by George Sidney, 1944

Easy To Wed
Saturday 09 August at 11:00 am, Miami Beach Regional Library
Tuesday 19 August at 7:00 pm, Art Deco Welcome Center
Directed by Edward Buzzell, 1946

On An Island With You
Saturday 13 September at 11:00 am, Miami Beach Regional Library
Tuesday 23 September at 7:00 pm, Art Deco Welcome Center
Directed by Richard Thorpe, 1948

Neptune’s Daughter
Saturday 11 October at 11:00 am, Miami Beach Regional Library
Tuesday 21 October at 7:00 pm, Art Deco Welcome Center
Directed by Edward Buzzell, 1949

Million-Dollar Mermaid
Saturday 08 November at 11:00 am, Miami Beach Regional Library
Tuesday 18 November at 7:00 pm, Art Deco Welcome Center
Directed by Mervyn LeRoy, 1952

Dangerous When Wet
Saturday 13 December at 11:00 am, Miami Beach Regional Library
Tuesday 16 December at 7:00 pm, Art Deco Welcome Center
Directed by Charles Walters, 1953