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papermoonloveslucy · 7 years ago

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LIKE HEP!

April 13, 1969

Directed by Marc Breaux ~ Executive Producer George Schlatter ~ Written by Chris Bearde and Coslough Johnson

Dinah Shore (Herself, Host / Various Characters) was born Fannye Rose Shore in 1916. She was a singer, actress, and television personality, and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during the Big Band era, but achieved even greater success a decade later, in television, mainly as hostess of a series of variety programs. Her first recordings were with Desi Arnaz’s mentor, bandleader Xavier Cugat, and she later changed her named to Dinah after her success with the song of the same name. She was famous for blowing a kiss to her audiences (“Mwah!”) at the end of each show.

Shore appeared as herself on a 1971 episode of “Here's Lucy” (S4;E7). Shore and Ball appeared together on many television talk shows, specials and award shows together. Her passions were golf, cooking, and painting. Shore died in 1994.

Lucille Ball (Herself / Various Characters) was born on August 6, 1911 in Jamestown, New York. She began her screen career in 1933 and was known in Hollywood as ‘Queen of the B’s’ due to her many appearances in ‘B’ movies. With Richard Denning, she starred in a radio program titled “My Favorite Husband” which eventually led to the creation of “I Love Lucy,” a television situation comedy in which she co-starred with her real-life husband, Latin bandleader Desi Arnaz. The program was phenomenally successful, allowing the couple to purchase what was once RKO Studios, re-naming it Desilu. When the show ended in 1960 (in an hour-long format known as “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”) so did Lucy and Desi’s marriage. In 1962, hoping to keep Desilu financially solvent, Lucy returned to the sitcom format with “The Lucy Show,” which lasted six seasons. She followed that with a similar sitcom “Here’s Lucy” co-starring with her real-life children, Lucie and Desi Jr., as well as Gale Gordon, who had joined the cast of “The Lucy Show” during season two. Before her death in 1989, Lucy made one more attempt at a sitcom with “Life With Lucy,” also with Gordon, which was not a success and was canceled after just 13 episodes.

Diana Ross (Herself / Various Characters) makes her first television appearance as a solo act after many years of headlining with The Supremes. The group released a record-setting twelve number-one hit singles on the Billboard Hot 100. As an actress, she starred in Lady Sings The Blues (1971), Mahogany (1975), and The Wiz (1978).

Ross is credited by the announcer as Dinah's “Extra Added Attraction Guest”.

Dick Martin (Himself / Various Characters, below right) is probably best remembered as the co-host of “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In” from 1967 to 1973. He was born Thomas Richard Martin on January 30, 1922, in Battle Creek, Michigan. As a teenager he lost a lung to tuberculosis and used bottled oxygen for the rest of his life. Martin was a writer for the popular radio show “Duffy’s Tavern” before teaming up with Dan Rowan in the 1950s. They played nightclubs and Las Vegas before Martin was cast as Lucy Carmichael's boyfriend Harry Conners on “The Lucy Show,” his ‘acting’ debut. He was married three times and died in 2008 of respiratory failure.

Dan Rowan (Himself / Various Characters, above left) is best known as the co-host of “Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In” which earned him a 1972 Emmy Award. In 1966 he had appeared with Lucille Ball on “The Dean Martin Show.” Rowan made two appearances on “The Lucy Show” in 1966 and 1967. He died in 1987 at age 65.

Gary Owens (Announcer / Emcee, uncredited) was also, not surprisingly, the announcer for “Laugh-In.”

Lorne Greene (Himself, uncredited) appears in his costume from “Bonanza” in a couple of quick comic cut-aways.

The Smothers Brothers (Themselves, uncredited) had a variety show that was opposite this special on CBS. They were generally up against “Bonanza.”

Tom and Dick Smothers only appeared at the very end of the final credits, in a one shot gag. The gag was not included in the rebroadcast.

Greg Morris (Nightclub Patron, uncredited) was appearing in the Desilu spy thriller “Mission: Impossible” at the time. He does not have any dialogue.

Victor Buono (Corrupt Rival Gang Leader, uncredited) played “Batman” villain King Tut from 1967 to 1968. A month before this cameo, he had appeared on an episode of “Here's Lucy” (S1;E21). He does not have any dialogue.

Jay Meyer (uncredited) was a singer and actor who performed with such stars as Ray Conniff, Jack Benny, Danny Kaye, and Tennessee Ernie Ford, just to name a few. Jay also worked for 13 years at Disneyland in the Golden Horseshoe Revue and became one of the singing ghosts busts in the Haunted Mansion. His career continued until his mid-seventies. He died in 2009.

Carole Cook (Lucy's Singing Voice, uncredited) played Thelma Green on “The Lucy Show” as well as a host of other characters. She was a protege of Lucille Ball’s during the Desilu Playhouse years. Although born as Mildred Cook, Ball suggested she take the name Carole, in honor of Lucy’s great friend, Carole Lombard. Cook appeared in five episodes of “Here’s Lucy” as various characters and sometimes was a ghost singer for Lucille Ball.

About the title: Hip v Hep ~ 'Hip' is a slang term for fashionably current or to have an attitude in opposition to the unfree (or un-cool) world. It entered common parlance after World War II. In the 1940s the word 'hep' became used interchangeably (not without controversy) with 'hip,' especially by Jazz musicians, although 'hip' eventually proved the more time-tested of the two terms. “Like Hep” the TV special seems to suggest that the term 'hep' is coming back, which proved not to be true. You hep?

In the fall of 1969, George Schlatter also had Diana Ross as a guest on two episodes of “Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.” The NBC smash hit's second half hour competed with “Here's Lucy” on CBS. Both Dan Rowan and Dick Martin had appeared many times on “The Lucy Show” before their big success with “Laugh-In.” Interestingly, “Here's Lucy” frequently incorporated catch phrases from “Laugh-In” like “Here Come the Judge” and “Sock It To Me” in order to stay contemporary. “Laugh-In” regulars Ruth Buzzi and Arte Johnson guest starred on “Here's Lucy.”

In one of J. Randy Taraborrelli's books about Diana Ross, he wrote that Lucy and Dinah "gave Diana hell", and took advantage of her inexperience with comedy. Other accounts, however, relate that Ross's experience with Lucy and Dinah was a good one. The "gave her hell" line just referred to the fact that hey worked her hard, but she wasn't intimidated because they were all working hard to make it right. In the planning stages they all met at Lucy's house to discuss the special and everyone was very cordial. Diana and Lucy had a friendly relationship after the special as well with Lucy praising Ross's performance in Lady Sings The Blues.

In a Diana Ross book, she's quoted as saying Lucy and Dinah pretty much ignored her. She may have been over-sensitive or it may be that Lucy and Dinah found it hard to find common ground for chit-chat, their backgrounds and ages being so different. When this special was shot, Lucy was 57 (going on 58) Dinah was somewhere between 52 and 55 (depending on your source), while Diana was just 25.

Later in 1969, Diana Ross appeared on television with The Supremes in “G.I.T. on Broadway,” also produced by George Schlatter. That special also contained the song “Let The Sunshine In” from the Broadway musical Hair.

Coincidentally, NBC's lead-in for “Like Hep” was the final episode of the Desi Arnaz series “The Mother-In-Law.” That night's episode was directed by Elliot Lewis and featured his wife, Mary Jane Croft (Mary Jane on “Here's Lucy”). It was written by Lucy's original writers Bob Carroll Jr. and Madelyn Davis.

More coincidental, “Just Hep” was programmed opposite “The Smothers Brothers” on CBS which that night guest starred Dan Rowan. Following “The Smothers Brothers” was the Desilu produced series “Mission: Impossible.”

Dinah makes her first entrance in an elegant setting singing “For Once In My Life” by Ron Miller and Orlando Murden in 1966 and popularized by Stevie Wonder. The song was also recorded by Diana Ross. Dinah stops herself (literally, thanks to special effects) and says that while “she” is singing songs like that, the rest of us will be doing something that's more “like hep.” After the opening credits, she finishes the song.

After the break, Dinah sings “Both Sides, Now” by Joni Mitchell, popularized by Judy Collins in late 1968. After the song is over, Dinah bows and is instantly (thanks again to technology) in a new outfit. Lucy bounds out to join her.

Dinah: “It's not easy to change clothes that fast on television thanks to all the new restrictions on sex and violence. Senator Pastore – eat your heart out!”

John O. Pastore is probably best remembered as the senator who was involved in quizzing Fred Rodgers about the value of Public Television when it was proposed that their Federal funding be raised by 20 million dollars. In the end, the generally grouchy Pastore was won over by Mr. Rogers and funding was increased to 22 million.

Dinah explains to Lucy that the term 'hip' has reverted to 'hep' again. Which launches the song “Like Hep” written by Billie Barnes and W. Earl Brown especially for this special. Diana Ross (in her first appearance) struts in for the second chorus. Just as in “Laugh-In,” the song is occasionally interrupted for a few quick comic exchanges about being ‘hep.’ Some of the names mentioned in the fast-paced song include:

Terence Stamp – English actor famous for the films Billy Budd (1962, Oscar nominee) and Far From the Madding Crowd (1966).

Betty Grable – American starlet famous for her shapely legs who starred in three films with Lucille Ball in 1935 and guest-starred with her husband Harry James on a 1958 “Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.”

“Sock it To Me” / “Bet Your Bippy” – Catch-phrases popularized by “Laugh-In” that entered common usage.

Andy Warhol – pop artist and counter-culture celebrity who also produced films and ran the famous Factory nightclub.

Dinah introduces “The Story of the Singing Detective,” which opens in a nightclub located “in the outskirts of beautiful lower New Jersey.” Ross is singing a peppy “Baby Love” with four back-up dancers. Greg Morris (“Mission: Impossible”) is sitting at a table with Dick Martin who constantly (and inexplicably) wields a screwdriver. Dan Rowan is the “Boss” and Lucy is Joyce, his “Moll.” Diana asks the Boss about her performance.

Boss: “You do a great Minnie Pearl, but how's your Judy Garland?” Diana: (singing) “Somewheeeeeeeeere...” Boss: “Work on it.”

Ross is attempting the song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”, sung by Garland as Dorothy in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. Little did she know then that she would also play Dorothy in the 1978 film adaptation, The Wiz.

Joyce takes the floor to sing a few bars of “Big Spender” written by Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields for the 1966 stage musical Sweet Charity. The film version starring Shirley MacLaine was released two weeks before this special first aired. Lucy's belted vocals knock the corrupt rival gang leaders dead – literally. [Note: This is likely not Lucille Ball's voice, but that of her frequent ghost-singer, Carole Cook.] Enter the Singing Detective played by Dinah looking like Sherlock Holmes by way of Las Vegas. The Singing Detective also has a 'killer voice' and with a blast of “From This Moment On” (by Cole Porter) everyone in the nightclub (including Diana) drops over dead!

During a bit of brief banter between Lucy and Dick Martin he says he watches “Here's Lucy.” Dan Rowan introduces a 'space age' song: “The Age of Aquarius” from the musical Hair sung by Diana Ross. The song pauses for Lucy and Dick to play robots who speak an unintelligible language. The robot sketch slowly morphs into a parody of “Laugh-In's” popular park bench skit starring Ruth Buzzi as handbag-wielding Gladys Ormphby and Arte Johnson as the muttering dirty old man Tyrone F. Horneigh. Lucille Ball did another version of the sketch in 1971′s “The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour” with Arte Johnson himself.

This goes directly into Diana [wearing an outfit that only Cher would envy] singing “Don't Ya Hear Me Calling To Ya?” popularized by the Fifth Dimension and appearing on their 1969 album “The Age of Aquarius”. It was also the 'B' side of the single. The song goes back to Diana singing “The Age of Aquarius / Let the Sunshine In.”

After ”station identification” [remember that?] the background music plays “When You Wish Upon A Star” and Dinah introduces “The Fairy Godmother's Revenge,” a fairy tale parody set in Goosetown, a village populated by various storybook characters. Diana plays Snow White [!], who is worried about the seven dwarfs, who have gone on strike at the gold mine.

The dwarfs’ picket line is behind a wall so only their protest signs can be seen. One of the signs says “Abe Lastfogel for Mayor.” Abe Lastfogel was the long-time president and agent of the William Morris Talent Agency. When he died in 1984 he had worked for the agency for 72 years. Unsurprisingly, he was Dinah Shore's agent. His last name was used for an in-joke during a 1948 episode of Lucy’s radio show “My Favorite Husband”.

Other picket signs say:

“Shorter Hours, Smaller Work Days”

“Mickey Rooney for President”

“Raise the Floors”

“Lower the Ceilings”

“Movie Shorts for Lunch”

“Rich Little is Nice”

“More Short Term Loans”

“We Love Teeny Boppers”

“Hooray for Tom Thumb”

“Up With Tiny Tim”

“How About Some Girl Dwarfs”

“Cheers for Jockey Shorts.”

Dick Martin plays Little Boy Blue using a New Orleans drawl and Dan Rowan is a rhyming Little Tommy Tucker. For help with the strike, Snow White calls upon her Fairy Godmother (Lucy), and she magically appears. Lucy is wearing a pink Glinda-like dress and chomping on a cigar. She is a grouchy Fairy Godmother, annoyed about being woken from her five decade trance.

Fairy Godmother: (to Little Boy Blue): “Are those your real clothes or are you just trying to stay out of the Army?”

“Like Hep” aired at the height of the Vietnam War and the attendant peace movement. To avoid the draft, some men would claim psychological exemption due to homosexual or transsexual behavior. This idea was mined for comedy through the character Klinger (Jamie Farr) on TV's “M*A*S*H” (1972).

Little Boy Blue (about the Fairy Godmother): “I hear she's been bugged ever since her twin sister did the stunts in 'Mary Poppins'.”

That's Lucy's cue to go flying overhead (on very visible wires) as Mary Poppins, singing “A Spoonful of Sugar.” Once again, Lucy's singing voice is probably dubbed by Carole Cook. Dinah comes in and out as several fairy tale damsels: Little Miss Muffet looking for her tuffet; a girl named Candy looking for a guru; and Little Bo-Peep looking for her sheep.

Trying to make the mean Fairy Godmother smile, Bo-Peep and Snow White sing a song that mashes up all the fairy tales into one and (at the end) even includes suggestions of Dracula!

Bo-Peep and Snow White: “That's our fairy bippity-boppity-zippidy-bang-bang-chitty-chitty-doo-dah tale!”

As Mary Poppins (“the Fairy Godmother's crazy stuntman sister”) flies in to save the day, she collides mid-air with Ye Olde Flying Nun. The TV series “The Flying Nun” starring Sally Field ran from 1966 to 1970 on ABC. The mean Fairy Godmother finally gives in to the dwarfs' demands. [General rejoicing.]

Dinah: “They lived happily ever after. The dwarfs grew up and became Jim Arness. The Fairy Godmother turned into an aardvark and ate Philadelphia. And as you well know, the giant chicken and the giant rabbit ran off to Athens together and became Spiro and Agnew.”

Jim (James) Arness played Marshal Matt Dillon from 1955 to 1975 on the TV series “Gunsmoke.” Greek-American Spiro Agnew was the recently elected Vice-President of the United States under Richard Nixon.

In a break from the silliness, Dinah sings “The Windmills of Your Mind” by Michel Legrand and Alan and Marilyn Bergman for the 1968 film The Thomas Crown Affair wining the Academy Award for Best Song.

A sketch about the country bumpkin Whitebread Family starts with a down-home song from Mandy (Lucy), Randy (Dinah) and Sandy (Diana). A rich stranger rolls up (in a Rolls), and offers to put them in “the show business.”

In a montage sequence, the three girls each take ballet lessons. The sight of Lucy at the barre is immediately reminiscent of “The Ballet” (ILL S1;E19), where Lucy Ricardo was put through her paces by Madam Lamond (Mary Wickes). In the next montage, the girls take music lessons. All the while, the trio's brother (Dan Rowan) is trying out his frog impressions while holding a plate of apple pie with an American flag stuck in it. [No. Really.]

Flash forward to “a little more than four months later,” the Whitebreads are in Las Vegas doing their act, which begins with “There's No Business Like Show Business” by Irving Berlin. On a huge Ziegfeld-like staircase (the same from earlier in the show), flanked by glittering showgirls and boys, the now formally dressed Whitebreads sing...the same old country bumpkin song the sketch started with! The image of Lucy poised at the top of a high staircase immediately brings to mind when “Lucy Gets Into Pictures” (ILL S4;E18).

In a serious segment, Dinah sings “Cryin' Time,” first written by Buck Owens in 1964. It won a 1967 Grammy Award for Ray Charles.

After Dinah blows her trademark “Mwah!” goodnight smooch to the audience, Lucy, Diana and Dinah sing an uptempo ‘hep’ version of “Dinah” written in 1925 by Harry Akst, Sammy Lewis, and Joe Young. It was the song that inspired Shore's stage name (she was born Fannye Rose) and it became her signature song. The credits roll. [Finally!]

"Like Hep" was rerun on NBC several years later, an unusual occurrence as specials were rarely rerun. For the rerun, several moments were edited out:

The "Bonanza" reference;

A reference to Nixon adviser John Dean;

A reference to gravel-voiced Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirkson, who had made an LP of patriotic speeches with patriotic music in the background. One critic later compared Lucy's singing voice in Mame to Dirksen's.

Missing from the end of the "Dinah" number as it was originally run: Dinah interrupts the singing to announce "be sure to tune in next week for the return of 'Bonanza'” (the 9pm Sunday time slot the special was run in) followed by a shot of the Smothers Brothers saying "Darn it" followed by a shot of Lorne Green chuckling. "The Smothers Brothers Hour" was the first show CBS programmed opposite "Bonanza" that actually made a dent in "Bonanza's” ratings.

Lucy wears a mod black and white dress by Robert Carlton, who had designed the costumes for Dinah’s weekly variety series. Less than two years later, the costume would appear on “Laugh-In”, which aired opposite “Here’s Lucy” at the time. It was worn by Lily Tomlin on the January 18, 1971 episode when she played Lula in the show’s cocktail party sequence. [credit to The Lucy Lounge for spotting this dress redux!]

This Date in Lucy History – April 13

“Lucy Wants A Career” (LDCH) – April 13, 1959

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dancecinema · 3 years ago

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MARY POPPINS (1964) dir. Robert Stevenson, choreography by Marc Breaux & Dee Dee Wood

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uneasylisteningradio · 2 years ago

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Hair October 8, 2022

Photo of Spaz and friends courtesy of Spaz

stream on Mixcloud

Bay City Rollers - Saturday Night Amanda Lepore - My Hair Looks Fierce

DJ speaks over Tomita - The Girl with the Flaxen Hair

Nina Simone - Four Women The Teen Queens - Royal Crown Hairdressing The Seeds - The Wind Blows Your Hair Dry Cleaning - Viking Hair

DJ speaks over Paul Revere and the Raiders - Like, Long Hair

Konstrakta - In corpore sano Death Side - The Sight Made Our Hair Stand On End The National Gallery - Long Hair Soulful KRS-One - Mortal Thought Blind Alfred Reed - Why Do You Bob Your Hair, Girls Edd "Kookie" Byrnes and Connie Stevens -Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb)

DJ speaks over Ramsey Lewis - Hang on Sloopy

KMD - Mr. Hood Gets a Haircut Syd Barrett - Golden Hair (Take 5) Red Cross - Clorox Girls (demo) Cornershop - Topknot Erykah Badu - Afro (Freestyle Skit) Blyth Power - Strawberries

DJ speaks over Augustus Pablo & Inner Circle - Curly Locks

The Monkees - Dandruff? The Monkees - Randy Scouse Git Mekons - Where Were You? Sportchestra! - Mick McManus' Haircut The Moonglows - Ten Commandments of Beautiful Hair Anna Bell - La Moustache a Papa Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five - (You Dyed Your Hair) Chartreuse Skinned Teen - Karate Hairdresser Cyanamid - Long Hairs Kampec Dolores - Hajam, Arcom

DJ speaks over Milton Mélançon, Marc Savoy, and Lurlin Lejeune - Jolie Blonde

Amédé Breaux - Ma Blonde Est Partié Bulldog Breed - Halo In My Hair Zip Code Rapists - Cut Your Hair Lulu - Gentle Hair Care Milton Nascimento and Lô Borges - Um Girassol Da Cor De Seu Cabelo

DJ speaks over The Buff Medways - Mons Quiff

The Left Banke - Toni Hairspray Naked Lady Wrestlers - Dan With the Mellow Hair Le Bain Didonc - Cheveux Dans le Vent Little Richard & Gene Nobles - Royal Crown Hairdressing Hank Ballard & the Dapps - How You Gonna Get Respect (When You Haven't Cut Your Process Yet)

DJ speaks over Mort Garson - Hair

Talib Kweli & Hi Tek - For Women

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kwebtv · 2 years ago

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Maurice Evans Presents Alice in Wonderland - NBC - October 23, 1955

From a series of special Hallmark Hall of Fame presentations produced by Maurice Evans and directed by George Schaefer

Fantasy

Running Time: 74 minutes

Stars:

Gillian Barber as Alice

Martyn Green as The White Rabbit

Bobby Clark as Ugly Duchess

Hiram Sherman as King of Hearts

J. Pat O'Malley as Gryphon

Burr Tillstrom as Mock Turtle

Elsa Lanchester as Red Queen

Eva Le Gallienne as White Queen

Reginald Gardiner as White Knight

Noel Leslie as The Caterpillar

Michael Enserro as Fish Footman

Gilbert Mack as Frog Footman

Bernard Tone as Cook

Ian Martin as Tweedledum

Don Hanmer as Tweedledee

Robert Casper as March Hare

Mort Marshall as Mad Hatter

Alice Pearce as Dormouse

Skedge Miller as Gardener

Tom Bosley as Knave of Hearts

Ronald Long as Queen of Hearts

Karl Swenson as Humpty Dumpty

Don Somers as Red King

Marc Breaux as Walrus

Lenny Claret as Carpenter

#Alice in Wonderland #Maurice Evans Presents #Hallmark Hall of Fame #TV #1955 #Fantasy #NBC #Gillian Barber #Martyn Green #Bobby Clark #Hiram Sherman #J. Pat O'Malley #Burr Tillstrom #Elsa Lachester #Eva Le Gallienne #Reginald Gardiner

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queensusanthemagnificent · 3 years ago

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A Review of The Slipper and the Rose (1976)

So, based on a comment in the tags of the kisses from 1997 Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella post I made, I decided to watch 1976′s The Slipper and the Rose.

It’s a film I’ve seen mentioned once or twice in some of the Cinderella comparison videos you can find on YouTube, usually discussing things like the best Cinderella dress and it tends to end up near the bottom or the middle, so I kind-of knew about it, but certainly not enough to feel any burning need to watch it. I’ve seen the two older Rodgers and Hammerstein films from 1957 and 1965 mostly just to see how they stacked up to 1997′s, but aside from that, I’ve tended to stick to more modern adaptations. But @withbriefthanksgiving, who I still cannot tag sadly, said it was their favorite film for its STORY, which definitely caught my attention, so I figured it was worth a shot.

What I HAD NOT KNOWN and probably would’ve gotten me to see this a LOT earlier was that this film was a MUSICAL. Like an honest to god musical written by Robert and Richard Sherman, who were involved in writing the music for both Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The choreographer Marc Breaux ALSO worked on all 3 films (as well as Sound of Music). And you can tell.

Somehow that ends up both hurting and helping this film, and here’s why.

(tl;dr at the bottom)

I love those other films. I saw them a lot as a kid. Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and The Sound of Music were a MAJOR part of my childhood growing up and inarguably a large part of why I enjoy musicals today. Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music are pretty well-known for being masterpieces in the world of movie musicals, too, and for GOOD REASON.

So it helps the film to be associated pretty heavily with these films I love so much, I’m definitely charmed by the choreography that hits at that nostalgic funny bone and, when the songs do well, those hit that same nostalgic funny bone, too. And of course, being from 1976, it has a lot of the same LOOK as those other films that were from a decade earlier, which isn’t hurting it either.

The problem comes from the fact that I just. Like those other movies better. It seems cruel to compare it to films like Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music which are just in almost a league of their own in terms of music and story, but I CAN compare it to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

For anyone unfamiliar with Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, it is a really wacky film just to start. Trying to give a nice brief summary of events is next to impossible because it’s just. Really fucking wacky. It involves an eccentric widowed inventor with two kids who ends up in a romance with a beautiful heiress to a candy factory, a car that is at least semi-sentient that can fly and swim, a fantasy German kingdom that has banned children, people pretending to be dolls, and a crotchety old grandfather who spends most of his time in the family outhouse pretending he’s going off on grand adventures. It’s not exactly a masterpiece of cinema is what I’m saying, so it feels easier to compare it to The Slipper and the Rose than films like Mary Poppins or The Sound of Music.

And had I seen Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as an adult, I likely would feel similarly about it to the way I’m feeling about The Slipper and the Rose. It’s... fine. It’s okay. It has some good moments, but some stuff that does feel very dated to when it came out, and a really wacky nonsensical plot that’s hard to get into and sometimes is a tad unclear. But I didn’t. I saw Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as a young child who didn’t really care AT ALL that the plot makes little to no sense and found a lot of humor in the film that still gets me a good chuckle now, 20 years down the line and 50-60 years away from when the film was made. The Slipper and the Rose suffers a bit from the fact that I have no nostalgia associated with THIS PARTICULAR FILM, but is helped a lot by the fact that I’ve got a LOT of nostalgia associated with this particular STYLE OF FILM.

I don’t think the songs are as good as the other films by the Sherman Brothers, and I’m not sure their story writing is as up to snuff as their song writing is. Again, I’m watching it from a more adult perspective, so I’m being a bit more snooty about it and more nitpicky than I ever am about films like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. But Chitty Chitty Bang Bang REALLY leaned in to how wacky it was and the songs reflect that, so there’s a LOT more songs in it that are just fun and catchy tunes. There’s maybe... two? three? songs in The Slipper and the Rose that really caught my eye as real fun songs. And a number of ballads that all kind-of just... flow into each other and I don’t really remember much about them. This style of movie musical does a lot better (for me) when it focuses more on the fun, catchy tunes rather than the ballads.

The stand-out song of the whole film was, without a doubt, Oh What a Comforting Thing to Know. And the entire song is... SO WACKY, I honestly loved it. The prince is spending the ENTIRE SONG just dancing and hopping and flipping and swinging around his family’s mausoleum with his best buddy, singing about how comforting it is to him to know that no matter what he does in his life, how well he does as a King, he’s always going to end up right here in the mausoleum with the rest of his dead ancestors. And Cinderella just. Watches. Because she’s at the neighboring cemetery for the rest of the poor folks, singing a ballad about how there’s no one left alive who loves her now that both her parents are dead. It’s a bit of an immediate tonal whiplash, and Cinderella’s snooping on the prince for some reason and it quite literally NEVER COMES UP AGAIN that she did this.

I think the other song that stood out to me was perhaps Tell Him Anything (But Not That I Love Him) mostly because, were the romance written JUST a little bit better, this would be an absolutely HEARTWRENCHING song. It IS a heartwrenching song, sung by Cinderella after her prince has ALREADY FOUND HER and brought her back to the castle but is told he’s not allowed to marry her for plot reasons and so she’s literally being sent into exile by the king. I just wish I cared a tad more about the romance between these two characters so I could really just SIT in those emotions this song gives, because it is, genuinely, a great song and a highlight for the romance in this particular film.

It also really highlights what I think this film’s greatest strength is, which is how it DID try to add some depth and nuance to the Cinderella story in a way that I honestly thought was truly interesting! The kingdom is about to go to war and they need the resources to defend themselves, so the Prince is required to find a bride among some foreign princesses, but he falls in love with Cinderella, so even after he finds her and gets to the place the story normally ENDS, they have one more obstacle to get through in that Cinderella has no resources to give that would help the kingdom survive an attack.

It’s really really good! Unfortunately, it’s... a tad soured by the resolution to this which involves the foreign princess we’ve never even seen before and whose name we don’t even know suddenly and conveniently falling into love at first sight with the prince’s odious simpering cousin who, up until this point, has just been comic relief not unlike Mr. Collins from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. He’s creepy, he’s unattractive, he’s overly confident for no discernible reason, he’s inferior to the other main male characters in every way. And he has exactly zero interactions with this princess.

It’s weird and kind-of trite and the writing seems to recognize this a bit given the dialogue between the two Kings about it, but it means Cinderella and her Prince can get married and have a happy ending, so.... who cares. Whatever, moving on.

Not my favorite resolution to what is actually quite an interesting storyline, but I’m willing to give the film a lot of kudos for a REALLY solid effort when very few other people were doing anything that interesting with the Cinderella story. Even today, there aren’t that many adaptations that try to continue the storyline passed the Prince FINDING Cinderella.

The other highlight of the film is actually the Fairy Godmother, who we actually get to see IN HER OWN HOME, taking care of the world’s fairytales and is just an overworked career woman who does like and believe in her work but wishes more people could handle themselves every so often so she could just get a moment for herself. It involves a lot of references to other fairy tales and folk tales like Robin Hood and Hansel & Gretel and Snow White, which is really cute and what does feel like a very unique take on Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother, especially in a non-modern setting. She’s not unkind, but she is very matter-of-fact and likes to get things done in a timely manner because she’s a very busy woman with a lot of things to do.

I also think there was a LOT of really funny moments, usually involving the King and his court, that genuinely made me laugh out loud. It’s got some delightful little details that make no sense but are insanely charming.

There are some things in the film that feel like they don’t really go anywhere or do anything and are just there to... be there. Which isn’t PARTICULARLY surprising in a film that’s about 50 years old and is based on one of the simplest fairytales out there, but it did drop the film a little in terms of how it stacked up for me in comparison to other adaptations I’ve seen.

If I had to rank it in terms of MOVIE adaptations, it’s definitely still below the 1997 TV movie musical. I still think that the 1997 film REALLY understood the theme they wanted to convey and the characters they were writing and the romance and chemistry between their characters was all absolutely top notch. It also has better music. It took the simpler aspects of the Cinderella story and breathed so much depth and life into it that I have never seen anywhere else. But I’d probably rank The Slipper and the Rose equal with Ever After, perhaps? Solid effort, falls apart in a few places, but definitely a worthy watch. The Slipper and the Rose might even rank a tad bit higher just because it’s a musical which is a massive plus for me, and I personally think it was funnier. If I include book adaptations, Ella Enchanted would beat it out, as well, just for being a much tidier narrative and having a massively better written romance.

tl;dr, if you like movie musicals of the 60s/70s, in particular Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, you’re probably going to love this movie. If you’re really not into that style of movie musical, even if you DO like Cinderella adaptations, I wouldn’t recommend this film at all. It NEEDS you to like that style of movie musical, I think, or it’s going to fall REALLY flat really fast. It’s a solid effort, really solid 8.5/10 for me, I think, just based on my personal preferences.

#cinderella #the slipper and the rose #long post

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jamieroxxartist · 4 years ago

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Birthday Remembrances. Today, Nov 3, 1924 – #MarcBreaux, American actor, director, and choreographer (d. 2013) was born.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Breaux)

#Marc Breaux

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creepingsharia · 6 years ago

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Elite U.S. Universities Hide Information on Funding From Sharia Nation of Qatar

Qatar funds al-Qaeda and other terrorists…and elite U.S. universities.

Source: Elite Universities Hide Information On Funding From Ultraconservative Nation Of Qatar | by Luke Rosiak at The Daily Caller

Qatar gave $1 billion to elite American universities since 2011, according to Department of Education data.

The Qatar Foundation is suing the Texas attorney general to prevent information about Qatari funding from becoming public.

Universities are taking money from Qatar, a nation with a checkered human rights history, as students rally for social justice causes.

The nation of Qatar, a Sharia-law monarchy that has been accused of trying to influence other countries’ governments, gave $1 billion to elite American universities since 2011, according to Department of Education data.

Some universities have refused to discuss where strings are attached to that money. The Qatar Foundation, for example, filed a lawsuit against the Texas attorney general Oct. 12 to hide information about the $225 million Qatar has awarded to Texas A&M University since 2011.

The Qatar Foundation hired the politically connected powerhouse law firm Squire Patton Boggs for the suit, which was filed in response to a researcher’s public information request regarding the foreign funding.

The biggest recipient of Qatar’s educational funding, Georgetown University, repeatedly ignored requests from The Daily Caller News Foundation for basic information about the funding and whether it implicates academic independence.

Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have accused Qatar of meddling in other nations’ internal affairs as well as funding terrorism. Qatar also wields influence through its media group, Al Jazeera.

For a nation seeking sway over the U.S., Georgetown University would be a particularly tactical site of influence. Georgetown has received nearly $333 million from Qatar since 2011 — far more than any other U.S. school has received from any foreign nation.

Georgetown is situated in the seat of power, near the State Department, and its experts are frequently cited by groups shaping policy. In fact, the Jesuit Catholic university trains many of the United States’ future diplomats at its Walsh School of Foreign Service.

Its website notes that “At SFS, you can study with former Secretaries of State” and access “connections to diplomats from just about every country, and of course, the seat of the U.S. government. Our location gives SFS the extraordinary opportunity for us to engage (and sometimes even influence) the debates that lead to real action.”

Thanks to the Qatari funding, Georgetown and its foreign service program has an entire outpost in Qatar. “Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) is an additional location of Georgetown University, based in Education City in Doha,” its website says. “The University offers a four year undergraduate program in international affairs leading to the Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service (BSFS) degree.”

The vast majority of funds from Qatar were contracts, the Education Department data shows, requiring Georgetown to do something in return for the money, unlike gifts.

Top Foreign Funders of U.S. Universities, 2011-2016 (Source: Department of Education) Country Amount Qatar $1,024,065,043 England $761,586,394 Saudi Arabia $613,608,797 China $426,526,085 Canada $402,535,603 Hong Kong $394,446,859

…

Georgetown spokesman Matt Hill ignored questions from TheDCNF about the strings attached to such funds and whether they could influence curriculum and would not provide the contract governing them.

The dean of Georgetown’s Qatar campus is Ahmad Dallal, who the Middle East Forum describes as “a long-time and enthusiastic supporter of the State Department-designated terrorist group Hezbollah. Dallal, who chaired Georgetown’s Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies from 2003 to 2009, is also pro-Hamas, pro-Boycott/Divestment/Sanctions (BDS) against Israel, co-author of an Arabic textbook whose maps omit Israel, and signatory of a letter warning that Israel would engage in ‘ethnic cleansing’ at the start of the Iraq war.”

The Zachor Legal Institute, which opposes the movement to sanction and boycott Israel, submitted a Freedom of Information request in May to Texas A&M (TAMU), a state university, for “a summary of all amounts of funding or donations received” from Qatar and a long list of proxies.

The office of state Attorney General Ken Paxton ruled “the university must withhold the donors’ identifying information … the university must release the remaining information.”

Most of the money to TAMU were contracts, not donations.

The Qatar Foundation’s high-powered lawyers intervened, arguing the relevant portion of the attorney general’s ruling “requiring release of all remaining information other than donor identity is incorrect and without force or effect.”

They wrote:

This is an action to prevent disclosure of confidential financial information concerning the relationship between QF and Texas A&M University … QF operates programs dedicated to education, science, and community development. It is responsible for funding much of the development in Education City, a hub for higher education outside Doha. … In addition to TAMU, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Georgetown, Northwestern, and Virginia Commonwealth University have all established campuses in Education City.

The Attorney General concluded that TAMU could withhold information identifying ‘donors’ under section 552.1235. But the Attorney General stated that TAMU would be required to release all remaining information requested, which would include information related to payments made by QF to TAMU pursuant to a contract. In so doing, the Attorney General implicitly ruled that those payments were not ‘donations,’ and therefore not exempt from disclosure under the PIA … The information related to these grants and donations is also confidential commercial information and constitutes a trade secret.

The Qatar Foundation’s general counsel is Michael Mitchell, a former vice president of Ohio State University.

Marc Greendorfer, an attorney for the Zachor Legal Institute, responded to the Texas attorney general Nov. 8: “One of the Qatari entities that was the subject of our original request has taken the extraordinary step of taking the Texas Attorney General to court to suppress the information that we requested. Now, with the most recent attempt by TAMU to prevent public disclosure of information as to how Qatari entities are involved with a Texas public university, the intrigue grows, and we have to wonder what it is they are trying to keep from the public.”

TAMU and the Qatar Foundation did not return requests for comment.

The university operations by Qatar are just one prong in a massive public relations and influence push that includes millions to lobbyists and public relations firms in the U.S.

It is also not the only involvement of Squire Patton Boggs with Middle Eastern countries. The same law firm also has a $100,000-a-month contract with Qatar’s rival Saudi Arabia for the kingdom to retain former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott and former Democratic Louisiana Sen. John Breaux.

According to Foreign Agent Registration Act disclosures, it worked directly with Saud al-Qahtani, the same aide who allegedly organized the killing of a Washington Post columnist.

#Creeping Sharia #Education #finance #islam #law #Legal #Life #Media #Muslim #News #Politics #Random #Religion #Sharia #travel

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