August 12th 'thumbnails'...

...of each of the GingerFilms to air on TCM that fine day!

...Now, a little 'full disclosure' here...the 'brief synopses' to follow are... well, 're-cycled', as it were, from the old 'GingerMarch' posts WAAAAY back in 2010... so, if you think these are vaguely familiar...then you may just be onto something, Sherlock! Anyway, here they are, and if anything, hopefully it will help out folks in some manner, like before.
These are in TCM's 'order of appearance', with all times Eastern:


Rafter Romance (6:00 AM Eastern): Ginger portrayed Mary Carroll, who, like most folks in 1933, is struggling to stay afloat, but she does find work hawking refrigerators. She lives in an apartment in N.Y. owned by Mr. Eckbaum (George Sidney), who relegates her to the attic area when she can’t make rent for her current room. Unbeknownst to Mary, another tenant already lives there, Jack Bacon (Norman Foster). The catch is, he works nights, and she works days, so they never see each other; they do communicate, but soon are fighting about space issues. Of course, fate throws them together outside the ’rafter’, and love blooms. Watch for Robert Benchley, who plays Mary’s boss (and relentless pursuer), Mr. Hubbell; Laura Hope Crews of GWTW fame also appears as Jack’s soused ‘Sugar Mama’, Elise. One of my Mom's favorite 'non-Fred' Ginger movies...





Carefree (7:30 AM Eastern): Ginger portrayed Amanda Cooper, who is the fiancée of Stephen Arden (Ralph Bellamy). Stephen is frustrated that Amanda doesn’t commit to a date for marriage, and he turns to his old bud, Tony Flagg (Fred Astaire), who happens to be a psychiatrist. Stephen wants Tony to analyze Amanda to figure out what the problem is. Tony agrees, but the visit gets off to a bad start when Amanda overhears Tony saying she will probably be another dizzy, mindless female. So, the analysis goes downhill from there. Later, Stephen arranges an ‘impromptu’ meeting in the park between Tony and Amanda to try to get an analysis; Tony does apologize for his remarks, Amanda accepts, and begins to open up to him. Another appointment is set up, and by now Amanda is falling for Tony. So, she makes up a crazy story about a dream she had, in order to keep seeing Tony; he is amazed at her weirdness, and puts her under hypnosis to find out more stuff. She gets loose while hypnotized, however, and wreaks havoc on the town. After several episodes, Tony has ‘programmed’ Amanda to hate him and love Stephen; however, doubt starts to get the best of Tony, as she seemed to be truly in love with him. But he cannot get her ‘de-programmed’, since by now, Stephen has become defensive of his brainwashed bride to be. Tony makes it to their wedding, but can he get the ‘real’ Amanda back? Some very funny scenes for Ginger in this one, but the music and dance routines are not quite what they were in previous Ginger/Fred movies (Although I STILL think she is very cute when she does “The Yam”!)

Fifth Avenue Girl (9:15 AM Eastern): Ginger portrayed Mary Grey, a struggling lady who is currently ‘in-between jobs’; Mary is befriended by Mr. Timothy Borden (Walter Connolly), who just happens to be a self-made millionaire. However, he is quite depressed, since he has basically lost any connection with his family; his wife Martha (Verree Teasdale) gallivants around nightclubs with young ‘escorts’, and his son Tim (Tim Holt) and daughter Katherine (Kathryn Adams) are hellions as well. So, for his birthday, which his family has forgotten, Timothy seeks the companionship of someone, if anything to celebrate his birthday; who better than Mary to fit the bill? Well, after Martha (with an escort, of course) spies Timothy with Mary in a nightclub, Timothy gets an idea; he will actually ‘hire’ Mary as his ‘personal assistant’, among other things – or at least that is what the family is led to believe. In the process, Timothy hopes to win back his family through sheer jealousy, if nothing else. Mary is quite hesitant in this role, but it beats any other job prospects she currently has… of course, many issues and misunderstandings arise, but eventually things turn out for the best… A neat film directed by Gregory DeCava, of “Stage Door” and “Primrose Path”…much witty banter, at a rapid pace in some segments, not unlike scenes in “Stage Door.”

Kitty Foyle (11:00 AM Eastern): Ginger portrayed Kitty Foyle, who works at an upscale fashion cosmetics store in New York. One day after work, she meets up with her current boyfriend, Dr. Mark Eisen (James Craig); he asks her to marry him, and she accepts. He wants to get married ASAP, and tells her to meet him at the hospital at midnight, and they will go to Gretna Green, which must be a good place to get hitched. All things are humming along well until she stops back by her apartment to pick up some things, only to find her old flame, Wyn Stafford (Dennis Morgan) waiting inside. He wants her to run off with him to South America; the trouble is he is still married to someone else, and she is now engaged to Mark. But she has never gotten over Wyn, and tells him she will meet him at midnight to sail away with him. Now, Kitty is great, but she can’t be in two places at once… so she has to make up her mind. In order to do so, she has to have a ‘heart-to-heart with her conscience, which reminds her of her past experience with Wyn. The movie ‘flashes back’ to when they first met; Wyn, who is from the Philadelphia elite ‘Mainliners’, was looking for a secretary for his new magazine start-up, and Kitty just happened to be a grad from typing school; he hires her, and he instantly falls for her… and they become a couple. However, with Kitty being from the ‘common folk’, Wyn takes Kitty to New York to avoid being seen with her… sad, because he truly seems to love her, but is still more worried about his ‘Mainline’ image. They do eventually get married, and Wyn plans to renounce his ‘heritage’ and live a ‘normal’ life with Kitty… but when he brings her home to ‘meet the folks’, they give her the third degree, and of course she gets her Irish up and leaves, while Wyn tries to reason with the family…Kitty sees he will never let go of them, and she leaves alone for New York. After a bit, she discovers she is pregnant, and later that day she finds out Wyn is re-marrying. The remainder of the story will be left for you… Ginger won the 1940 Academy Award for Best Actress for this role, and it is really her most memorable role.



Bachelor Mother (1:00 PM Eastern): Ginger portrayed Polly Parrish, a struggling single girl who has just been axed from her job at Merlin’s Department Store, just in time for Christmas. On the way to the employment agency, she watches a lady leave a newborn at the stoop of an orphanage; being worried the child gets hurt, she picks it up and takes it in, saying someone left this baby outside for you all…of course, she is pegged as the actual mother by the folks, and she gave them just enough info for them to track her down after she leaves. She gains her job back after the orphanage boss talks with David Merlin (David Niven), the playboy son of the Big Boss, J.B. Merlin (Charles Coburn); the catch is she must keep the baby in order to keep her job. David begins to take an interest in the single mom, at first ‘platonically’, but then romantically as well. Rumors soon circulate that David is the father, and J.B., who has all but given up on David ever settling down and raising a family, seeks to basically ‘abduct’ the baby from Polly, as he thinks it is his grandson. Everything works out in the end as one would suspect… this movie is honestly one of my top 5 Ginger movies ever…just very entertaining from top to bottom…why it isn’t on DVD is a great mystery! Funniest scene is when Polly pretends to be Swedish… and when she walks into David’s office to be reinstated, she is just so beautiful in that scene…

Primrose Path (2:30 PM Eastern): Ginger portrayed Ellie May Adams, who is the unfortunate daughter of a very dysfunctional family; her mother, Mamie Adams (Marjorie Rambeau) is a prostitute and her father, Homer Adams (Miles Mander) is a hopeless drunk. Ellie tries to maintain a reputable life by seeking out ‘respectable’ work where she can find it. One day, she meets Ed Wallace (Joel McCrea) on the beach; he runs a nearby restaurant (well, greasy spoon joint), and is in need of a waitress… so Ellie signs on. Of course, they fall in love in short order, and get hitched; however, she is not totally up front with Ed concerning her family, of course, and when he finds out their ‘story’, he is obviously shocked by them, but is also greatly hurt that Ellie did not explain the situation fully. He leaves Ellie, who must go back to the ‘family’… only to discover that her dad has accidently shot her mom, who subsequently dies… leaving Ellie as the only source of income for the (ungrateful) family. The rest of the story will be left for you. Ginger’s role in this movie was originally considered for the 1940 Best Actress nomination, but was deemed too controversial, such that many areas of the country did not allow it to be shown.





Shall We Dance (4:15 PM Eastern): Ginger portrayed Linda Keene, an American dancer who finds work in Paris; she is pursued by Pete P. Peters from Philadelphia PA…also known as “Petrov”, a great Russian ballet dancer. Petrov introduces himself to Linda by basically bursting into her hotel room and putting on a very impressive, if somewhat pompous, display. He scores no points with her, but does overhear she is leaving for NYC on the Queen Anne tomorrow… so Pete talks his paranoid manager, Jeffrey Baird (Edward Everett Horton) into going to NYC as well, or else he will quit the troupe… so, all end up on the QA (?) the next day… soon after, Linda discovers Pete’s ‘real’ persona, and he another good 20 minutes of ‘movie time’ trying to make up for his ‘Petrov’ presentation to her back in Paris. They eventually become ‘better acquainted’ – but a rumor is spread around the boat that they are actually married. This rumor started back in Paris, when Pete made up the story to shake loose from Lady Tarrington (Ketti Gallian), who was formerly in the troupe; she wants to rejoin the troupe, mainly to pursue Pete. Jeffery, who does not want any ladies pursuing Pete (for fear his career would be ruined), tells Linda that Pete is just ‘using’ her to get away from Lady Tarrington. Linda hops on the mail plane from the boat to NYC to get away from Pete as well as her manager, Arthur Miller (Jerome Cowan). All eventually arrive in NYC and several misfires occur between Pete and Linda; but, since everyone thinks they are married, they eventually decide to actually get married just to get a divorce, in order to settle the matter in the public eye… but the divorce is not as easy as planned... Look for some classic exchanges between ‘Jeffrey Baird’ and ‘Cecil Flintridge’ (Eric Blore).




Vivacious Lady (6:15 PM Eastern): Ginger portrayed Francey Morgan a nightclub singer who is being courted by Keith Morgan (James Ellison); Keith, however, does not give Francey her married name, but rather, his brother, Peter Morgan (James Stewart). Peter was sent to retrieve Keith from his ‘lost weekend’ in NYC and take him back to Old Sharon, where they work at the college that is led by their father, Mr. Morgan (Charles Coburn). However, when Keith sneaks out to evade Peter, Francey has her performance, and Peter is basically ‘hit by a truck’… Peter and Francey go out for dinner, and eventually spend all night roaming NYC. Not into long courtships, Peter asks for Franceys hand in marriage the next morning, and she becomes Mrs. Morgan. They meet up with Keith, who is a good sport about it, and they all catch the next train to Old Sharon. The remainder of the movie generally involves Peter’s attempts to inform his folks that he has married Francey, but results in a deeper hole being dug. The infamous(?) fight between Francey and Peter’s (unwanted) fiancée, Helen (Francis Mercer), is one of the funniest moments of Ginger’s career.



42nd Street (8:00 PM Eastern): Ginger portrayed Ann “Anytime Annie” Lowell, one of many hopefuls trying out for a new musical, which is bankrolled by the “Sugar Daddy” of the female lead, Dorothy Brock (Bebe Daniels). After Miss Brock sustains an injury after late night shenanigans, the lead role must be taken over by Peggy Sawyer (Ruby Keeler), who becomes a star overnight and hooks up with Billy Lawler (Dick Powell), the show’s ‘juvenile’. Check out Ginger and Una Merkel singing ‘Shuffle Off to Buffalo’…very cool.





Swing Time (9:45 PM Eastern): Ginger portrayed Penelope “Penny” Carrol, a dance instructor in NYC; John “Lucky” Garnett (Fred Astaire) has just missed his wedding day while gambling with his buds in his stage revue, and is now trying to prove to his fiancée’s dad that he can hold down a job and bring in some money. Thus, he is off to NYC to find work, with his friend, Everett “Pop” Cardetti (Victor Moore) in tow. Of course, John and Penny cross paths, and eventually fall in love; Pop also becomes a ‘sugar daddy’, via gambling, for Penny’s friend, Mabel Anderson (Helen Broderick). In the process, John gambles with a nightclub owner and wins the club orchestra contract so he and Penny can dance, but then loses it after the ‘original owner’ discovered they were bamboozled the first time. At the same time, John tries to not get ‘too’ involved with Penny, remembering his promise to his fiancée back home – so Penny eventually decides to marry the orchestra leader, Ricardo “Ricky” Romero (Georges Metaxa). Meanwhile, John’s fiancée shows up and lets John off the hook about their engagement, thus John proceeds to catch Penny to try to win her back before marrying Ricky…will he make it in time? Probably so…Ginger said this movie was her favorite of her collaborations with Fred Astaire.

Stage Door (11:45 PM Eastern): Ginger portrayed Jean Maitland, who, along with a WHOLE bunch of other young ladies, lives in a ‘boarding house’ for actresses aspiring to make it to Broadway. Many ‘subplots’ occur in this movie, but ultimately Jean and her new roommate, Terry Randall (Katharine Hepburn) are the main focus, as they try to ‘one-up’ each other in various fronts; the primary one involves a Broadway producer, Anthony “Tony” Powell (Adolphe Menjou), who picks Jean out of a dance revue one night and invites her to ‘interview’ for a role in his new production. Jean becomes Tony’s ‘flavor of the month’, but eventually, a ‘serious’ production is lined up, and there are several girls who pursue the female lead. Among those are Kay Hamilton (Andrea Leeds), who has performed the exact role previously to good reviews, thus she feels she is a shoo-in. However, she doesn’t get a shot at it, but Jean and Terry each have ‘private auditions’ in Tony’s penthouse; Neither ends up being what Tony was looking for, but eventually, Terry is chosen, since a major financial backer for the production required her to have the role. As a result, Kay is driven to the point of madness upon hearing the role is taken. I will leave the rest for you to watch. This movie has many young actresses who ended up being big, including Lucille Ball, Ann Miller, Eve Arden, and Gail Patrick, among others.

The Barkleys of Broadway (1:30 AM Eastern): Ginger portrayed Dinah Barkley, wife and dance partner of Josh Barkley (Fred Astaire). Dinah and Josh are an ‘old married couple’ that have come to a crossroads in their relationship, both personal and professional. Josh is too critical of Dinah in regards to her stage performance, which results in their quarreling from their opening night show to the after-show reception for them. While there, Dinah converses with a young French play writer, Jacques Pierre Barredout (Jacques Francois), who tells her she could be a fine stage actress if she would forget the ‘song and dance’ routines. Of course, Josh is not fond of Jacques…but of course, Dinah’s curiosity is aroused as to her chances of pursuing the ‘serious stage’. When Josh and Dinah (along with their wisecracking producer, Ezra Miller (Oscar Levant)) head to Jacques’ house in the country, where he is having a reception for his latest play, Dinah delves further into the actress idea, and Jacques tells her she would be perfect in his new play about Sarah Bernhardt. This hooks Dinah into trying out the role; however, she tries to keep it secret from Josh – with little success. Josh explodes and when the dust settles, Dinah is gone to Jacques and the play. Of course, Josh grieves, and tries to win her back. Ezra talks both of them individually to perform at a benefit, and ultimately get them together to dance very gracefully to “They Can’t Take That Away From Me”; however, after the dance, Dinah does not reconcile. Josh is devastated, but still helps out Dinah in her play by impersonating Jacques on the phone to Dinah, while giving her acting ‘tips’… Josh eventually gets caught in his ‘prank calls’…and I’ll leave the rest for you to find out. Also love the 'Bouncin' the Blues' routine...hey, 10 years after, they still 'got it'!!!



Weekend at the Waldorf (3:30 AM Eastern): Ginger portrayed Irene Malvern, a famous actress who has everything except true love… she is in New York for a premiere of her new movie, and is staying at the Waldorf. Meanwhile, newspaper reporter Chip Collyer (Walter Pidgeon) is camped out at the hotel to cover a scheme concerning oil companies and overseas interests; he finds out that Miss Malvern is staying there, and cooks up a plot to meet her, as she is his favorite actress. He succeeds by sneaking in the room hiding under a serving cart; she takes him for a jewel thief, as her assistant told her earlier that the assistant’s boyfriend was plotting to break in Irene’s room late night and steal her jewels. Chip sweet talks his way to the point to where Irene doesn’t call the hotel security…but security is outside her door, thus he cannot leave (well, he could probably sneak out the way he snuck in, but why in the world would he do THAT? :-] ) then one event gets turned into another, and before it is over, Chip and Irene are presumed to be married by the hotel management. After much work, Chip has seemed to win over Irene’s heart… Lana Turner also appears as Bunny Smith, the hotel stenographer who must decide between a rich oil stock promoter named Martin X. Edley (Edward Arnold) (who is in on the aforementioned scheme) and Air Force Captain James Hollis (Van Johnson) who has been injured and has shrapnel requiring removal, but with great risk.
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...........and, there you have it... I'm gonna 'christen' my DVR that day (I'll be out of town, ya know :-] ) - and, although I have all of these...still would be nice to have them 'stashed' and 'ready to watch' on the tele...

Well, I will start up 'Romance in Manhattan'...the review, that is... in a day or so...I'm shooting for publication prior to setting sail for Beantown! Wish me luck...

KIG, y'all!!!

Hu
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