...Vacation Time...

First of all, glad y'all had 'fun' with the last post regarding Sandrich... yeah, it was at best a 'Devil's Advocate' type of thing, basically attempting to defend the indefensible... but just good for Huey to see y'all interact so well... and NO, he was not anywhere NEAR the best director Ginger ever had, but he WAS pretty good overall... just an 'uberGoober', as it were...


...Well, check THIS out...Huey and the crew are heading for New Orleans tomorrow morning (8/1), for a bit of Rest and Relaxation...well, as much as one can 'relax' in 100-degree, 110% humidity conditions... But we dig New Orleans, so we put up with the weather - it's really a groovy place, with lots of killer restaurants, a great zoo, aquarium, different parks, stuff along the river, and ancient architecture... it's really someplace everyone should check out at least ONCE - trust me.

Here are some photos we have from our last jaunt to NOLA, which was almost 5 years ago EXACTLY, and about 3-1/2 weeks before Katrina hit... As a side note, it was said that the white gator pictured a few frames below was the only varmint to survive in the Aquarium after Katrina hit, as the power and subsequent generator power eventually gave out...

We will be back on Wednesday Evening, but I am also taking the rest of the week off from work to get some 'loose ends' tied up - before my daughter starts back to school on the 12th, and just needing to 'clear out' stuff, especially the remnants of my Dad's belongings...

As for a 'Ginger angle' to New Orleans - the only one I know is that on March 29, 1929, at the ripe old age of seventeen, Ginger Rogers was married to Edward Jackson Culpepper (i.e., GooberHead Hubby #1) in the office of a New Orleans justice of the peace....if I could only figure out where THAT was when I am down there... anyway, Lela was TOTALLY against it, to the point of saying, "Let me tell you something, young lady, if you pursue this idea and marry Jack Pepper, you have lost me for GOOD! I shall return to Fort Worth, and I shall never want to see you again, EVER again, and that's FINAL!" ...not sure, but I think Lelee was just a bit apprehensive about the nuptials... but my, how wise mama was... the pic below (cute as a button, BTW...) is 'circa' LATE 20's to EARLY 30's... Remember she went 'blonde' in mid 1931 for "The Tip-Off"...
Anyway, I will definitely be on the lookout for Gingerbilia, as there are quite a few 'eclectic' funky shops in the Quarter, which could very well have some cool 'classic' or 'classical' stuff from the 'Golden Era' we all know and love.

One more photo, which is kinda special... none other than Huey, toting his daughter, who was 3-1/2 at the time, through Audubon Park, towards the Zoo... now the funny thing about this is, we just got off of the trolley on St. Charles Street, and I looked on the map and saw the Zoo was just what I THOUGHT to be "just a block or two over, just past the Park"... well, literally a mile or so later, I started to wonder if my map reading abilities were a bit rusty... remember, it was about 100 degrees and uber humidity... but it was worth it, if only for this pic... Mrs. Huey was not quite as eager to find the humor in our 'extended trek', but she snapped this pic, and in retrospect, it makes for a funny story...

As I have no 'portable' Internet device, I will now bid you adieu until later in the week.... so until then, y'all keep it in the road, keep your nose to the grindstone (no matter how it may smart), and above all...

Keep It Gingery!

VKMfan Huey

---

Sandrich: Ginger's best director ever?

...now that I have your undivided attention, as one of our more infamous presidents (whom Ginger supported, alas) used to say, "Let me make one thing perfectly clear..."

In NO way am I defending Mark Sandrich's overall attitude and downright MEANNESS toward Ginger, which is totally unexplainable...or is it? Riddle me this, y'all...

With all the 'Sandrich-bashing' afoot on the board, and my WELL-documented record of proclaiming Mr Sandrich the King of ALL Gooberheads, I thought I would just take a step back and 'ponder' this question: ...WHY did Sandrich act like such a toad to our fair Ginger? It's frankly a very perplexing issue...

I know y'all well enough to know y'all have thought about the 'angles' I am about to delve into regarding Sandrich's attitude towards Ginger...but I will throw it out there, anyway, for the record...

Let's say that Sandrich came home one evening and had the following conversation with his wife:

"How was work today, dear?"

"Um...ok - started production of a new film...should be a good one..."

"Why, that's simply BEGUILING news! What's it called?"

""The Gay Divorcee" ... it's a musical..."

"Well, that's nice - who will be in it?"

"uh... Fred Astaire, Edward Everett Horton, Eric Blore..." (note that Ginger isn't mentioned...)

"That's a stellar cast, Poopsie...that young Astaire fellow was quite good in the Rio movie...but who will play the 'divorcee'?"

"Oh, it's just that little blonde girl that danced with him in 'Rio'..." (obviously downplaying the fact that he will be directing Ginger)

"You mean Ginger Rogers? You're going to be directing HER? ...WELL!!! ...I might just have to follow you down to the set each day to make sure you don't do any 'post-production' with HER!"

...and that could well be the start of Mr. Sandrich's conscious effort to go out of his way to NOT show any kindness or favoritism to Miss Rogers, for fear of mama back home, even if she was only being 'jovial' in her 'warning' to Poopsie... because , REALLY - there would not have been a sane man in 1934 (nor any other year, for that matter) who would have not at least been CORDIAL to Ginger, right? As 'backup' for this theory, recall Fred's wife Phyllis' feelings toward him working with Ginger... nuff said.

From a man's perspective, it would be a pretty fine line to walk... and as a public figure, if he DID 'coach' Ginger too much, even in a totally professional way, folks would talk, right? I mean, there was no TMZ back then, but rumors can get around in any era... so he well could have resigned himself to the fact that he could NOT be friendly to Ginger, lest his career and/or his marriage be jeopardized.

Now - the first reaction most of y'all have is..."WELL! that is JUST like a man - blaming a woman for a man's troubles!" Well, yep, I agree totally. IF this was the scenario, dude should have 'manned up', directed properly, and let the chips fall where they may - or he should have walked away from the production.

The only OTHER scenario I can figure is that he was REALLY taken by Ginger, and, again, made a conscious effort to NOT show any favoritism or even joviality to her, lest HE fall deeply in love, only to be crushed in the end - maybe he had been down that road before with previous actresses on previous sets...

Well, if those two scenarios are false...the only other option was... dude was a blithering idiot.

As to the title of this post - could Sandrich actually be Ginger's BEST director? Well, he DID direct half of the GandF movies, and while it's obvious her fave (as well as the fave of MOST of us) is 'Swing Time', due in LARGE part to having a director OTHER than Sandrich, let's face it, 'Gay Divorcee', 'Top Hat', 'Follow The Fleet', 'Shall We Dance', and 'Carefree' are ALL TOTALLY essential movies in the Gingerology lexicon... and each movie IS very well directed, overall.

Carefree is Ginger's movie... and is really awesome... but would it have been if someone else directed it? The knee-jerk reaction is "Sure - it would have been LOADS better!" BUT... by this point in the series, Sandrich knew the 'tendancies' and 'weaknesses' of each, and seemed to have worked everything out quite well in the final product... not sure if anyone else could have stepped in and gotten the 'best' out of Ginger at this particular point... he pushes her to prove him wrong - "Yes, I CAN be the star of the movie!" Adversity creates good things in general.

AND, the crux of the matter is this...he obviously got Ginger's dander up... and that usually is a good thing - as the 'Sassy Ginger' is the one we all know and love, right? Think about her characters in each of these movies... compared to the 'non-Sandrich' movies... I would argue that overall, the 'Sassiest' Gingers are directed by Sandrich. I think 'Shall We Dance' is perhaps the MOST Sassy Ginger, although the way she slaps Fred around in 'Top Hat 'makes it a strong candidate also. And of course, the infamous 'Feather dress' saga alone is perhaps THE major 'epiphany' that Ginger had in regards to her career, as to not backing down - and ultimately made her that much stronger of an actress.

As for his obvious mishandling of scenes with Ginger, well...just not much defense for that, unless... he was worried that too much Ginger 'face time' in a movie would equal out to trouble with mama at home... but overall, I feel that Ginger benefited from the 'adverse conditions' Sandrich imposed on her, for "that which don't kill ya...makes ya stronger!"

Anyway, here is a pretty good link to an 'overview' of Mark Sandrich's career, if you are still reading this:

http://www.filmreference.com/Directors-Ri-Sc/Sandrich-Mark.html

Pretty sad that he died young...I'm in MY 44th year, so yeah, that's YOUNG, y'all...

Anyway, that's it... again, NOT defending the dude, but just trying to... throw a few 'discussion points' out there for the Gingerologists to mull over... The final analysis at Gingerology?

Dude was King Gooberhead... period. But I feel he DID give Ginger that 'drive' to prove herself that she would need for landing future roles... so MAYBE he gets a pass... well, a stay of execution, anyway...

KIG!

VKMfan

---

A Friendly Reminder...

... that TCM is airing 'Follow The Fleet' (110 Minutes) tomorrow morning... 6:00 A.M. Eastern Time. I know MOST of y'all have this one, or have seen it a few times, but in case some of y'all HAVEN'T... check it out! It is smack in the middle of the 'peak' of Ginger and Fred's partnership. If nothing else, check out Ginger singing 'Let Yourself Go', which is arguably the apex of her cuteness... AWESOME!!!


Also, while I am at it, TCM is also airing 'Perfect Strangers' (87 Minutes) next Wednesday, July 21st, at 10:00 Eastern Time... it is notable if only for the fact that Ginger is again paired with Dennis Morgan, who was the King of all goofballs as Wyn Stafford in 'Kitty Foyle'...will he fare better this time around? Wait and see...

Well, after that, we do not get another GingerFilm until August 31st (Traveling Saleslady)... and the schedule is pretty sparse on into October... well, maybe things will pick up before the end of the year... It should be noted that TCM did not show ANY Ginger movies yesterday, but at least showed some Barbara Stanwyck films, which is fine, since it was her birthday, also... BUT, would have been nice to do a 'Ginger-Barbara mix', tho, donchathink??? As for NEXT year, Ginger's Centennial, TCM BETTER be 'Wall-toWall' GingerFilms on 7/16/11, lest I have to go have a little chat with Ted and Rob... I feel pretty sure they will deliver, tho... Rob is a pretty big Ginger fan, from what I have heard, so should be in the bank, right?

Hope the weekend has been a good one for all, and you got a few Ginger movies in here and there for her birthday celebration... I watched "Tom, Dick and Harry" with my daughter, who loves that one, and also watched the bulk of "Follow the Fleet"with my mom (she is obsessed with that one!) ...trying to figure out another one to watch...sometimes it is REALLY tough to pick a random one out... I need to watch 'Heartbeat' again...didn't really get a good handle on the plot...typically, the 'first screening' of a Ginger movie finds Huey just fixating on what Ginger is up to, and generally disregarding the rest... well, honestly, it doesn't get much different upon subsequent viewings, but maybe enough to get the jist of the plot...

ANYWAY, hope any folks who haven't seen the movies mentioned above can catch them... both are worth the effort!

Y'all Keep It Gingery now, y'hear???

VKMfan

---

Happy Birthday, Miss Rogers!!!

In lieu of any attempt I could make to explain what this day is all about in the World of Gingerology, I thought I would just share some of my fave photos on Ginger's 99th birthday... They speak volumes more than I can ever put into words about why Gingerology exists...

...Remember, Ice Cream and Tennis (not particularly in that order) are the call of the day! Wear pink if ya got it...honestly, I don't, but I think she might give me a pass on that! :-]

And of course, at least one GingerFilm must be viewed... Friday Night will be GingerFest in the Huey Household!

What are YOU doing to celebrate Ginger's 99th?

Keep It Gingery FOR SURE today, y'all!!!

VKMfan

---

Other July 16th Birthdays and Historic Events...

Well, of course, Friday is July 16th, Ginger Rogers' 99th Birthday...of course G-ology will have what will hopefully be a HONKIN' post for that occasion... but before then, here are some 'other' birthdays which occur on July 16th, along with some historical events which have taken place on the same date (from The World Almanac.com):

Birthdays:
1486: Andrea del Sarto, painter (near Florence, Italy; died 1530)
1723: Sir Joshua Reynolds, portrait painter (Plympton, Devon, England; died 1792)
1796: Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, landscape painter (France; died 1875)
1821: Mary Baker Eddy, founder of Christian Science (near Concord, NH; died 1910)
1872: Roald Amundsen, polar explorer (near Oslo, Norway; disappeared 1928)
1907: Barbara Stanwyck, actress (Brooklyn, NY; died 1990)
1911: Ginger Rogers, dancer/actress (Independence, MO; died 1995)
1915: Barnard Hughes, actor (Bedford Hills, NY)
1942: Margaret Court Smith, tennis champion (Australia)
1943: Jimmy Johnson, football coach (Port Arthur, TX)
1947: Alexis Herman, former labor secretary (Mobile, AL)
1948: Ruben Blades, singer/actor (Panama City, Panama).
1948: Pinchas Zukerman, violinist (Tel Aviv, Israel)
1963: Phoebe Cates, actress (New York, NY)
1967: Will Ferrell, actor (Irvine, CA)
1968: Barry Sanders, football player (Wichita, KS)

This Day in History:
1790: Pres. George Washington signs legislation naming the District of Columbia as the permanent capital of the United States.
1918: In Russia, Czar Nicholas II and his family are executed by a firing squad on the order of the Bolsheviks.
1945: The first atomic bomb, produced at Los Alamos, NM, is tested in an explosion at a desert site in Alamogordo, NM.
1969: Apollo 11, the mission to land the first men on the Moon, is launched.
1988: At the U.S. Olympic Trials in Indianapolis, Florence Griffith Joyner runs the 100 meters in a record-smashing 10.49 seconds.
1999: John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and his sister-in-law Lauren Bessette die in a plane crash off Martha's Vineyard, MA, in a private plane piloted by Kennedy.

----------------

...A few things that 'jump out' at me on these lists... one, I did NOT know that Ginger shared the same birthday with Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science... pretty cool, considering that Ginger was arguably the most famous practicing Christian Scientist ever...

...also, ol' George Washington declares DC as the Nation's Capital... the significance of that is, Ginger is a direct descendant of Mr. Washington...

...Ginger and Barbara Stanwyck shared the same birthday - THAT'S pretty cool - Juliette at "Some Parade" is a big Stanwyck fan, if memory serves...

...Apollo 11 was launched - THAT'S a pretty significant event in history, no?

...AND, the first atomic bomb was dropped in testing in Alamogordo, NM... appropriate for the 'bombshell's birthday', no?

Well, that's all I've got... if there are any other birthdays or events which occurred on 7/16, please feel free to add to the list!

Until Friday :-) ...

KIG in the SOG!!!
VKMfan
---

Now For Something Completely Different...

...well, as usual, it DOES involve Ginger (duh)...

OK - first of all, a 'disclaimer'... just to set the record straight, I am NOT a 'believer' or whatever ya call it, of astrology and horoscopes... HOWEVER, the following few items ARE just a bit interesting... and being that Ginger's 99th Birthday is coming up, I was just 'curious' as to how all this mumbo-jumbo would shake out concerning VKM...although I am pretty certain she wasn't a big fan of this stuff, either...

First, For ME, it is just pretty cool that Ginger and I share the same 'sign', that being 'Cancer' the Crab... now, does that mean Ginger was 'crabby'? Really don't think so...

BUT, for what it's worth, here IS what Cancers are supposed to be, from 'astrology.com': Are generally 'nurturing', 'a homebody', 'patriotic', 'emotional', 'moody', 'strong-willed', 'kind', 'vindictive', 'active', 'lazy'...so, unless I read a lot of this wrong, it seems like the entire gamut of personalities apply, with conflicting traits aplenty... it DOES say Cancers are 'water types', and Ginger DID have a swimming pool... so there you go.

...A pretty cool pic, even tho this stuff is bogus...

BTW... I'm not sure ANY of these really apply to me... well, I guess I am 'patriotic'... and as for how Cancers get along together, seems like a 'Maybe So, Maybe Not' type deal... but we all know Miss Rogers gets along swimmingly (pun very much intended) with her Perpetual Cabana Boy, right? :-]

OK - the one that REALLY gets interesting, for Huey, anyway, is the CHINESE stuff... they use the YEAR you were born, not the month... So... Ginger was born in July 1911, which makes her a... pig. (Honest...I'm not making this stuff up...) The interesting thing about that is, Pigs are most compatable with Goats... and, wouldn't ya know it? Ol' Huey, born in June of 1967, is a Goat. NOW, to make this even MORE weird, My wife, born in 1971, is ALSO a Pig... BUT, there is another 'level of association', using 'elements'... and Ginger and my wife are BOTH 'Metal Pigs!' (really...NOT making this stuff up!!!) Metal Pigs are headstrong, hard workers, outspoken, loving, and trusting of others. ...Not sure, but I think I saw Metal Pigs open for Ozzy Osbourne back in '83... :-]

...my new favorite minor league baseball team...

SO, there you have it... again, I am NOT endorsing ANY of this cockamamie jive, but...just throwing it out there for y'all, just F.Y.I... and if YOU happen to follow this stuff, well, it IS interesting, or else it wouldn't be around... but I wouldn't set your calandars to any of it, y'all...

Above all, let's just...

Keep It Gingery! (oink oink!)

VKMfan
---

It's Gingerology's...

...First Anniversary! Thanks to ALL of the folks who follow this blog, publicly or... er, 'non-publicly'! Your support has made Gingerology a very cool place to discuss all things Ginger, and has encouraged me through good times (like my baby boy being born) and bad (like my dad's illness and death). Over 50 followers is a bit mind boggling - I am very humbled that y'all take interest in the blog, and MORE jazzed that there is such an interest in Ginger, who could NEVER really be over-hyped, IMHO.

When I 'created a new blog' back on July 5th, 2009, the primary purpose was to be able to comment on Beth's blog, 'Finding Ginger'. Her blog was the primary inspiration for Gingerology; most notably, her "List of Ginger Rogers Movies I Have Seen" - I had just purchased the Ginger and Fred box set of all ten of their films, and was just getting into the 'beautiful science of Miss Ginger Rogers'... I knew she had been in a few other films... er, a FEW? How about over 60 more? Beth had crossed off WELL over half of her movies, in fact, down to a dozen or so she had NOT seen... so it got me to searching for more Ginger movies - of course there ARE quite a few on DVD, such as Stage Door, Roxie Hart, Kitty, Major-Minor, and so on.

But after the 'studio DVD' scope of Ginger had been exhausted, I had to resort to 'other' means to obtain her movies... including some 'iffy' purchases on eBay and iOffer, among others... and general obtaining of 'files'... which seems to be ok, since the movies are 70 years or so old (public domain?), and NOT available anywhere else... and of course, TCM has been a MAJOR player in the development of PG Huey's accumulation of VKM titles... so 'hats off' to Ted Turner, whatever continent he may be on or over at the present time. So, taking all of these 'sources' into account, I have somehow managed to obtain all but ONE of the feature films Ginger Rogers had a role in - and that one, that elusive white whale, is 'Hat Check Girl', by Fox Studios. I have heard of someone who saw it from an 'original reel', so there is a copy or two out there - just wish someone could transfer it to 'electronic media' of some type. But hey, we have to have SOMETHING to look forward to obtaining, right?

In addition to movies, I have also spent quite a bit of time and money on eBay purchasing various Ginger-related items, such as LIFE magazines, books, sheet music, and other various types of 'Gingerbilia'. One day, I better SELL a few things to counter the $$$ I have burned via PayPal. But, it has not been ALL in vain, for within the purchased items, I have learned quite a bit more about Ginger in various stages in her career and life, which were honestly one in the same, it appears... and just like any great subject, the more you learn about her, the more you WANT to learn about her - thus the need to continually update info on Gingerology, so y'all can also discover and share cool facts about Miss Rogers.

I have had some pretty neat 'blogships' with a lot of y'all over the past year... of course, Beth, who got me started in all of this (and coined the phrase, "Keep It Gingery!"), and Lauren, who has been a great help in 'setting my path straight' as to my mission of Gingerology, while being a good fellow 'gabber'... then of course there is Kate, a.k.a."The OGRE" - (Official Ginger Research Expert) - she has dug up gobs of great Ginger footage, audio and video-wise... and has shared with all of us, and we are all richer for it. So special thanks to these three ladies, along with all of you (if I start naming folks, will leave someone out... sorry) who have shared their knowledge and expertise in various subjects and situations, and patiently nudged me along the sometimes quite perplexing world of the blogosphere, which I am lost as a goose in most of the time.

BTW - the pic at the top of the post was the original 'header pic' for Gingerology - it is STILL one of my all-time favorites... her eyes in this photo are so sharp and clear, it is unnervingly beautiful to Huey, if that makes any sense... Maria of the blog, 'Let Yourself Go' (which, BTW, I could not find recently... any ideas where it went?) 'colorized' the current header pic for Gingerology, which is ALSO just a devastatingly beautiful pic... there is NO lack of visual images of our topic subject, thank heavens!

So, here's to many more years of Gingerology, and to all who follow and encourage it! It is great to be able to learn and share info on such a beautiful subject!

Thanks one and all! ...and,

KEEP IT GINGERY (KIG)!!!

Jeff Walker -

a.k.a. VKMfan, PG Huey, jwalker, Huey in the Ham, Sunny, Ginger Rogers' Perpetual Cabana Boy (GRPCB)

---

Happy Fourth of July, y'all!!!

...from all the folks here at Gingerology! Be safe and have fun celebrating the 234th birthday of the United States of America, wherever you may be! I think of Magnificent Doll when the Fourth of July rolls around... it was the only 'colonial period film' Ginger was ever in, and I just think it is awesome... well, SHE is especially awesome in it, as Dolley Madison - she wears some honkin' dresses, and is just 'dolled up' (pun intended) to the nines! A few cases in point:

...that last pic is so awesome - her eyes are riveting! Not sure who the dude is, but just that he is one lucky dude!!! ...and in case you are wondering, the REAL Dolley Madison was not QUITE as fetching as Ginger... in fact, I'll just leave it for you to Wiki... but they will never be mistaken for one another, believe me...

And remember, Ginger was born in Independence, Missouri - and not TOO far away on the calendar from Independence Day...how cool would THAT have been? born on Independence Day in Independence, MO... (...on a side note, I was scheduled to be born on July 4th, but my doc was in a golf tourney that weekend, so I entered the world on June 30th instead...)

ANYWAY, y'all have fun, and hope to have some more stuff on here soon! Well, tomorrow especially... stay tuned!!!

KIG in the SOG!!!

VKMfan

---