the plot: The daughter of last Russian czar, Anastasia, is found by two Russian men, Dimitri and Vladimir, who seek reward that her grandmother Marie promised to the ones who'll find her. But evil genius of czar family Rasputin still wants Romanovs family to be destroyed forever.
listen for: "Just wishing I could do the job for you, sir. I'd give her a HA! And a HI-YA! And then a OUU-WA! And I'd kick her, sir."
don't miss: Bartok. Hank Azaria is a genuis.
extra bonus points: if you can name two of the famous people who make a "cameo" during the song "Paris Holds the Key to Your Heart".
also listen for: "What? Hey - why are you circling me? What were you, a vulture in another life?"
did you know: Composer David Newman's father Alfred Newman wrote the score for 1956's Anastasia.
the cast: Natalie Wood (Lory Austen); James Garner (Cash McCall); Dean Jagger (Grant Austen); Edward Platt (Harrison Glenn);
the plot: Cash McCall is a young business man who buys failing businesses and resells them. Grant Austen's Plastics is even more of a prize to Cash, as Cash is also making a bid for Austen's beautiful daughter, Lory. It could turn out to be Cash's toughest deal ever.
extra bonus points: if you know the part Dean Jagger plays in White Christmas.
don't miss: wheels within wheels.
count: the profit Cash makes on the purchase of Austen Plastics.
His childhood was spent in poverty and when one of his teachers noticed that he wasn’t eating lunch, she began bringing an extra sack lunch for him. When he became famous and would perform near his hometown, his teacher always received tickets to attend his performances.
He worked as a representative for the Douglas Aircraft Corporation in Southern California before embarking on his singing and acting career.
After overhearing him sing, his landlady suggested he take vocal lessons.
Esther Williams gave his daughter swimming lessons.
He was the original choice to play the Don Lockwood in Singin' in the Rain.
Due to his huge size, many of his petite leading ladies had to stand on boxes to be in the same frame.
In later years, he had a recurring role on Dallas.
the cast: Minnie Driver (Grace Briggs); David Duchovny (Bob Rueland); Carroll O'Connor (Marty O'Reilly); Robert Loggia (Angelo Pardipillo); Bonnnie Hunt (Megan Dayton); David Alan Grier (Charlie Johnson); Jim Belushi (Joe Dayton); Joely Richardson (Elizabeth Rueland)
the plot: Bob Rueland, a Chicago building contractor, cherishes life with his veterinarian wife until she is tragically killed in an automobile accident. Meanwhile the family and friends of Grace Briggs, a waitress at a local Italian restaurant, are overjoyed when they learn that Grace will finally get a replacement heart (the heart of Bob's wife). Both Bob and Grace struggle to maintain normal lives after these traumatic events, until fate intervenes and brings them together.
listen for: "I don't want Swiss water. I got sick on an imported Swiss water. Do you remember that night? As long as it's not Swiss or tap water it will be fine, preferably French, no bubbles. I want it cold, no ice, no glass, just the bottle and a straw. Do you want to write it down? I don't want Swiss water, I got sick on an imported Swiss water once..."
don't miss: Marty, Angelo, Wally, Sophie and Emmett. They make the movie.
did you know: the zoo mailbox (where Grace finally mails her letter) was a production prop that turned out to be a major headache, in that it necessitated the presence of a production staff member to prevent actual zoo attendees from depositing their mail in it.
also listen for: "So, Charlie, what do you do?" "I'm a vet." "Oh. I didn't go to 'Nam."
did you also know: This (Bonnie Hunt's directorial debut) sold more copies to the airline industry than any other single film in history.
count: how many fantastic songs are on this soundtrack.
the cast: Gordon MacRae (Curly); Shirley Jones (Laurey); Gloria Grahame (Ado Annie); Charlotte Greenwood (Aunt Eller); Eddie Albert (Ali Hakim); Rod Steiger (Jud Fry); Gene Nelson (Will Parker)
the plot: A couple of young cowboys win the hearts of their sweethearts in the Oklahoma territory at the turn of the century, despite the interference of an evil ranch hand and a roaming peddler.
don't miss: the disappearing and reappearing cornfields in the early scenes at Aunt Eller's.
did you know: the film was shot on location in and around Nogales, Arizona, because the real Oklahoma in 1955 was so heavily farmed and developed that few suitable areas could be found that resembled the highly-rural and undeveloped Oklahoma of the turn of the century when the musical is set.
listen for: "I wanted to marry her when I saw the moonlight shining on the barrel of her father's shotgun."
watch for: the "corn as high as an elephant's eye". Since filming was to take place out of season, no tall cornfields were to be found anywhere. The job was given to the folks in the UofA Agricultural Department, who planted each stalk in individual containers and held their breath. With rain and good luck, the corn grew to a height of 16 feet, causing Oscar Hammerstein to quip: "The corn is now as high as the eye of an elephant on top of another elephant."
the cast: Sidney Poitier (Mark Thackeray); Christian Roberts (Denham); Judy Geeson (Pamela Dare); Suzy Kendall (Gillian Blanchard); Lulu (Barbara Pegg)
the plot: Engineer Mark Thackeray arrives to teach a totally undisciplined class at an East End school. Still hoping for a good engineering job, he's hopeful that he won't be there long. He starts implementing his own brand of classroom discipline: forcing the pupils to treat each other with respect. Inevitably he begins getting involved in the students' personal lives, and must avoid the advances of an amorous student while winning over the class tough. What will he decide when the engineering job comes through?
don't miss: the museum fieldtrip.
watch for: Lulu's chart-topping hit from the film.
listen for: "I believe one should fight for what one believes. Provided one is absolutely sure one is absolutely right."
did you know: The London bus that appears in several sequences at the start of the film, LLU 829, and in some later sequences, still survives today as a preserved vintage vehicle, and can be seen at the East Anglia Transport Museum, Carlton Colville, Lowestoft, England.
extra bonus points: if you know what Columbia Pictures market researchers discovered as the reason for the film's unexpected success in the U.S.
She developed an early interest in dance, but after an auto accident damaged her legs she began taking singing lessons and started to perform locally.
She went to the same Cincinnati ballroom dance studio as a child as Vera-Ellen. Their parents used to carpool together to the dance studio.
She toured with Les Brown and His Band of Renown and briefly with Bob Hope.
As a recording artist, she would require anyone who said a swear word to put a quarter in a "swear jar." She also didn't allow her songs to be used in movies that contained swear words.
She is reference in the song "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel, "Dig It" by The Beatles, "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee" from Grease, and "Wrap Her Up" by Elton John.
During her entertainment career, she appeared in thirty-nine films, recorded more than six-hundred-fifty songs, received an Academy Award nomination, won a Golden Globe and a Grammy Award, and, received the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in motion pictures.
I'm a collector of 1940s-60s just-about-anything, I have enough old snapshots to wallpaper a small house, and I'm saving my pennies so that one day I can have my very own roller rink.
Some of the images are from screenshots I've made and some have been collected from several years of net trolling. If one of them is yours and you would like to be credited, please let me know and I'll take care of it!
