Mitzi Gaynor is on Twitter!

Movie and stage legend Mitzi Gaynor joined Twitter this August! The star of the classic movie musicals, There’s No Business Like Show Business (1954), Les Girls (1957), The Joker Is Wild (1957), and probably her most famous role, Ensign Nellie Forbush, USN, in South Pacific (1958).

Gaynor was signed to a contract by Twentieth Century-Fox at age 19 and soon found herself in the musical  My Blue Heaven (1950) alongside Betty Grable and Dan Dailey. She quickly followed that with a featured role in Take Care of My Little Girl (1951) starring Jeanne Crain. Now on her way, Gaynor had her first starring role in Golden Girl (1951), a musical set against the backdrop of the Civil War. Next was the all-star romantic comedy We’re Not Married (1952) featuring, among others, Ginger Rogers, Fred Allen, Marilyn Monroe, and Paul Douglas. Other starring roles followed, including Bloodhounds of Broadway (1952), The I Don’t Care Girl (1953), Down Among the Sheltering Palms (1953), and the western Three Young Texans (1954). Her last film for Fox was There’s No Business Like Show Business, the studio’s first musical filmed in Cinemascope.
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In the mid-50s, Gaynor secured a contract with Paramount Pictures. Her first picture for that studio was Anything Goes (1956) also starring Bing Crosby and Donald O’Connor. She followed that up with The Birds and the Bees (1956), a musical remake of The Lady Eve (1941), with Gaynor playing the role Barbara Stanwyck created in the original. Probably her most famous role at Paramount was in the film The Joker is Wild (1957) costarring Frank Sinatra and Jeanne Crain, another former Fox contractee (Crain starred in Take Care of My Little Girl featuring Gaynor). While filming The Joker is Wild, Gaynor auditioned for and won the role of Nellie Forbush in South Pacific (1958). The film was a blockbuster at the box office, making it the biggest moneymaker that year and the highest grossing Rogers and Hammerstein musical until The Sound of Music (1965). Gaynor’s performance was nominated for a Golden Globe Award (Best Actress- Comedy or Musical) and the actress became an international star overnight.

Gaynor closed out the 1950s with the romantic comedy Happy Anniversary (1959) costarring David Niven. The film is notable for an early screen performance by Patty Duke (she played the daughter of Gaynor and Niven) who would go on to win an Academy Award for her next film, The Miracle Worker (1962)). Next up for Gaynor was the Stanley Donen directed comedy, Surprise Package (1960) costarring Yul Brynner and Noel Coward. Gaynor’s last screen role was in For Love or Money (1963) costarring Kirk Douglas.

With the end of the studio system and the demise of movie musicals, Gaynor put together a Vegas Act and concentrated on live stage performances as well as television specials. Today Gaynor is actively involved with charities, including The Professional Dancers Society. Gaynor has been president of that organization since 2003.

#TCMParty friends and others, why don’t you welcome Gaynor to Twitter (@TheMitziGaynor) by following her? You can also like her on Facebook and visit her official website.


Note: Some of the details for the above was taken from Ms. Gaynor’s official website.

My Twitter pal, Monica Lewis

Actress and singer Monica Lewis passed away June 12, 2015 at the age of 93. Monica started her singing career in the 1940s as a vocalist with Benny Goodman’s orchestra. In 1950, she signed a singing and acting contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where she recorded albums and appeared in films with Mickey Rooney and Red Skelton.

Perhaps Monica is best remembered as the voice of the Miss Chiquita Banana cartoon character—who advised us not to put our bananas in the refrigerator—a job she held for 14 years.

One on Monica’s recent tweets

But to me, Monica will always be @songbirdmonica, her Twitter handle. I love how she would tweet old publicity photos of herself with contemporary captions. Via Twitter I learned that she was from Chicago, the city where I live, and that she sailed the Long Island Sound with her husband, Jennings Lang. I grew up on Long Island and spent many a summer by, near, and in the Sound.

On Twitter, Monica was always engaging and fun. She would often favorite a tweet of mine and she always kindly responded to questions I posed to her. Those of us who tweet with the #TCMParty hashtag have had the pleasure of viewing tweets and interacting with Monica. She was the liveliest 93-year-old I have ever encountered.

I will miss you, Monica. Rest in peace. Amen.

2015 Turner Classic Movies Film Festival: Tips for next year and beyond

As noted in previous posts, Turner Classic Movies Film Festival was a wonderful experience, beyond this first-timers expectation. There were so many things going on at one time that it was difficult to decide what to do. In spite of being a newbie, I managed to see 16 movies in four days and have the red eyes to prove it! I learned a lot from this first experience and I’m already planning for next year. I want to make sure I experience as much of the festival as I possibly can. Below are some suggestions for those planning on coming next year.

1. Read as much as you can about the festival from the TCM Web site. The schedule is posted about three to four weeks before the event, but you can start planning who you would like to see in person—special guests are announced before the movie schedule—and whether or not you want to attend opening day (Thursday) or get a three-day pass (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday).

2. Find a hotel within walking distance of all the major venues. And your hotel doesn’t have to be too fancy; it just needs to be clean. My hotel had a lovely swimming pool and a nice exercise room—never used either of them. Remember, you’re attending a film festival, you won’t have time for the pool.

3. Plan out what you’re going to see in advance of the festival. Try to be flexible. You’ll probably be able to get into all the events you want to, but some venues are smaller than others, so you may find some films “sold out.”

4. When you arrive, you should try and time how long it takes you to get from your hotel to Hollywood Blvd. Then you should time how long it takes to walk from venue to venue (based on what you’re planning to see). All are within walking distance of each other, but events are stacked back to back and it may be tough getting to your next event on time if they’re on opposite ends of Hollywood Blvd.

5. Eat a good breakfast! There is so little time to eat at the festival. I never had more than two meals a day. The Chinese Multiplex serves hot dogs (not bad either) so that’s an option, but it can get expensive. I suggest you stock up on snack bars to eat in-between screenings when you’re hungry. That’s one thing I’ll be planning on doing next year.

6. Bring a sweater or sweatshirt. It may be 90 degrees outside, but I found the theaters to be chilly. In fact they got progressively colder while the films were screening.

7. If you’re traveling by yourself, don’t be afraid of striking up a conversation with other attendees. You’ll find out quickly that you’re among friends. I mean where else could you say, “I’d no sooner do that than get into a rowboat with Gene Tierney” and everyone gets the allusion? Who knows you may make a friend for life or find a life partner. I've heard stories of people meeting at the festival who ended up getting married!

8. If you’re on Twitter or Facebook, be sure to meet up with your social media friends. I met people I had been friends with on Twitter for years for the first time and it was wonderful—probably the highlight of the festival for me.

9. Bring a camera! I know most smart phones have cameras, but if you want to take great pictures, there’s nothing like a good digital camera. I left my camera on the table at home this year and I could kick myself. I got some decent pictures with my phone, but for clear distance shots, you need a good, digital camera.

10. Bring a cell phone charger. You’ll find that your phone’s battery will wear down pretty quickly during the festival. I was constantly on Twitter, taking pictures and opening and closing apps all day—nothing drains a battery faster. I didn’t bring a phone charger, but my friend Kristina did and she let me use hers. I would have been up a creek without it. Thank you, Kristina!

11. If you have friends that have attended the festival, ask them about their experiences and if they would have done anything differently. Feel free to ask questions of your social media friends. I did and most were very helpful and pointed me to blog posts like this one with tips and suggestions.

12. Enjoy the festival! See you in 2016!

2015 Turner Classic Movies Film Festival Recap

2015 Turner Classic Movies Film Festival Recap: Day 1

2015 Turner Classic Movies Film Festival Recap: Day 2

2015 Turner Classic Movies Film Festival Recap: Day 3

2015 Turner Classic Movies Film Festival Recap: Day 4