Have a GINGERY 2013, y'all!!!

...from all the good folks at Gingerology!!!

...in celebration of Gingerology's 80th (and last) post for 2012 (a record for 'posts in a year' for G-ology...for whatever that's worth...), and generally, just because I love this video, here is...well, this video, originally aired December 5, 1964 -  although I'm sure most of y'all have seen this one...it's new to me, and pretty dang awesome:

...I'm pretty sure Ginger is 'lip-synching' here, but...so what? This is 'middle-age' Ginger footage, which Hu needs a LOT more of!!!  :-]  BTW, her hair is just perfect here...I REALLY dig how it gets a bit more 'dark' at the 'ends'... yepyepyep...
...I just ran across it on YouTube, which, honestly I don't 'search' as much as I should...it's amazing there's stuff like this out there, considering there wasn't any VCR action going on in the early 60s... this must be from a 'master tape' somebody had somewhere... a sincere G-ology 'thanks' to whoever set this up!
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...thanks to all of y'all who have supported G-ology this year... there's been some very Gingery stuff afoot this past year, with of course the big Boston trip at the top of the Hu list... here's hoping that 2013 is even more Gingery!!!
Stay tuned for some 'new' features for the site soon...well, I'm contemplating some things, anyway... along with 'development' of the 'GingerFilm' blogs, Hu should have a lot of stuff to do...
...and yes, "Roberta" is still on deck... well, the film review, that is...although... would love to 'contact' Ms. Olden if possible... stay tuned...

And remember...it's YOU that makes G-ology tick!!! so, thanks again! ...and, of course....

Keep It Gingery in 2013!!!

Hu
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You better watch out...

...or Christmas will sneak right up on ya and leave reindeer footy-prints across yer backside!!!

...but I know that won't happen to any of y'all...you know, last-minute shopping, prepping for the big meals, keeping all the extended fam happy upon their visits, wrapping presents, and... beginning the recovery process... oh yeah, somewhere in there is the actual Christmas observance, of which I hope y'all remember what all this is REALLY about... and yeah, 'y'all' includes moi, thank ya very much... and yeah, we're hitting the mall (again) tomorrow...

ANYWAY, not really sure what brought all that dissertation on, but... all that to say, hope all you Gingerologists out there have a great, yet reflective Christmas...

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As to 'odds and ends', first off, we GOTTA have a few GingerPics, right? So...

...always thought this pic is just...Christmas-y... er, which film is this pic from, y'all? ...I REALLY should know this stuff by now, right?

...Ginger would have been an awesome mom, y'all...

...Ginger and the Three Wise Guys... er, are these the Tom, Dick and Harry Santas???

...and this one...well, may not be overtly Christmas-y, but...honestly, just too beautiful to matter...Merry Christmas to Hu...

...here's a screen cap of the short vid below...Ginger appears (ALL too briefly) around the 1:15 mark...

...well, Ms. Lombard got some nice face time, anyway...something tells me she's gonna take the Big Best Actress competition in the works this year...well, you know the one Monty and Mythical Monkey headed up last year, where we propelled our girl to victory!!! ...BTW, they are 'retiring' past winners, i.e., Ginger, and Irene Dunne... so, THIS year, y'all just jump over there (I'll post stuff when it nears...) and vote for...whomever... but Lombard is the odds-on fav, it appears...

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Ginger's Ma, Lela, was born on Christmas Day, 1891... just throwing that out there for your knowledge, if ya didn't already know...

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Hey, TCM is showing 'Twist of Fate...this morning! Hope y'all get to see (and/or 'record') this one if ya don't have it, as it is one of the 'more elusive' GingerFilms out there... it's a pretty good film, but not your typical 'Ginger-centric' feature... it's more of a suspense deal, so... check it out.

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...yeahI'mdoin'screencapsforRobertarightheredirectlysodon'taskaboutit...it'sgonnagetdonetrustme...

...and to prove it...well, that sounds a bit tacky... let's just say...here's a few I've done so far, with a few choice comments regarding the process, or painfully evident lack thereof...

...Roberta...the GandF film which may prove too elusive for a HueyReview...

...it's kinda 'sad' to see Ginger smoking (glad that she quit), but...this is one of those 'caption this photo' deals, to be sure...

 "...it's been, what, at LEAST two months, and NO sign of Huey! ...I mean, has he gone around the bend or something? ...it's like that time David Lee Roth went to the Amazon for a few months without telling anyone..."

 "...you know, I thought Hu was starting to 'slip' a bit when he whipped up that 'Star Trek Convention' theme for us...I mean, where did THAT cockamamie jive come from?"

 "...you know, it's YOU who have driven that poor sap to his current state... the way you dress and doll up... he keeps running out of drive space with all the screencaps... he's up to Terabytes on account of you! And that number ya got on there isn't gonna help the state of his 'prt scr' button..."

 "...listen, Huey will be fine, you flippin' huckster...he just needs time to... ease back into this writing thing... he's had a lot of irons in the fire lately... I'll try to keep my presence 'subdued'... and quit making that 'stinky face', please..."

 "well, so much for 'subdued'... ...about as subtle as a bag full of live porcupines dumped upon your noggin...   ...the South Gingerville paramedics are on standby at Huey's Lair... I feel the screen cap quota for this scene will not end well at ALL, y'all..."

 ...so, there's a snippet of it... the 'full review' will... be... at a point... beyond this exact point... in TIME... 
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EDIT: 12-26-12... VP's comment link:

VP link - 12-26-12 JW

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OK - well - y'all have a glorious, honkin', peaceful and reflective Christmas out there, and as we always like to say here...

Keep It Gingery!

Hu
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GingerologyGuestBlogger (GGB) #1 - SassyGinger a.k.a. OGRE a.k.a. Katie...

 ...I am REALLY jazzed about this post, as it is...a GUEST! A very AWESOME guest, in the form of SassyGinger, who VERY deservedly earned the moniker O.G.R.E., which, for you newer G-ologists out there, stands for Official Gingerology Research Expert... she has contributed some incredible Gingerbilia over the years...yeah, I guess it's been years now...oof! Katie runs the blog 'Triple O'...but, it's been...'dormant' for a bit... so, hopefully this will 'springboard' her into breaking back into the blogosphere!!!

Anyway, we just kicked around the idea that she should do a 'guest post' for G-ology...and, I noted that it doesn't necessarily even has to be 'all Ginger' (I did a birthday post for Barbara Eden a few months back)... although, as we've said before, all paths ultimately lead to VKM, right?  So, without any further ado, here is Katie's wickedawesome post about the incredible actress Julie Andrews, and how yes, there are some Gingery connections afoot...  thanks again, Lady OGRE!!!
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Hey Gingerologists - SassyGinger here!  No I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth - no worries Huey has been keeping tabs on me to make sure I'm staying out of trouble. ;) In the meantime our Fearless Leader has invited me to the first if not one of the first "guest bloggers" here on Gingerology.  What to do with my space??? Well I figure I could broaden everyone's horizons and talk about one of my other favorite actresses - the star of Mary Poppins, Victor/Victoria and of course The Sound of Music - Julie Andrews.

But if I'm going to write about Julie on a Ginger blog don't you think I should find SOME connection?  Not as hard as you might think!

First of all - as mentioned just a couple of posts ago - at the ripe old age of 14 Ginger won the Texas State Charleston Championship in 1925. And of course she danced a little Charleston in Roxie Hart and on an episode of The Lucy Show. :)

 

On September 30th, 1954, on the eve of her 19th birthday, Julie Andrews made her Broadway debut in a show called The Boyfriend.

 (Side note: It was after this show, Julie was contacted by Lerner and Lowe to star in their new show - lucky for them her contract in The Boyfriend had just ended and she was available to star in their new show - My Fair Lady as Eliza Doolittle....Audrey who? LOL!)

One of the songs from that show was called "Won't You Charleston With Me?" Here is a clip of Julie performing the song on her 1972 television show "The Julie Andrews Hour":

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In 1965 Ginger co-starred as The Queen in a television production of Cinderella.

But this was not the first televised production of Cinderella. In 1957 Julie Andrews made her television debut in a live production of Cinderella.

Another Ginger/Julie connection: Cinderella in Ginger's version was played by Lesley Ann Warren. LAW costarred with Julie in Victor/Victoria as Norma Cassidy (two very different parts indeed!)

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One of my favorites - We all know that in 1944 Ginger starred in the film Lady In the Dark...which wasn't such a big hit for her (but she got to wear that amazing dress)

Guess it wasn't such good luck for Julie either - in 1968 - Julie portrayed Gertrude Lawrence in the film Star! which was a huge bust at the box office. (But as a Julie fan I love it  - she does EVERYTHING this movie)  While the whole film isn't Lady in the Dark we do get to see Julie take a crack at "Jenny".  The scene before the actual number is interesting as we see "Gertie" struggling to sing "Jenny as a ballad.  She's just not getting it - until two of the other characters take her to a club to see a performance which inspires her how she needs to perform it.

We also get to all the words to THIS song! (Thank you Julie!)

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And like the rest of us Julie must have some respect for Ginger and love her as much as we do because on her 1972-73 television show Julie paid tribute to Fred and Ginger in the episode guest starring Ken Berry. We Gingerologists will notice some differences (like dancing the Carioca in Ginger's Let Yourself Go outfit, etc) but its still a wonderful tribute.  Enjoy!

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 12-22-12 Edit: Here is the link that 'A.T.' added to comments below... for your viewing pleasure - thanks, A.T.!!!

Link to As Tertulias site - more Julie goodness...

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...Thanks again, SG!!! Now, get back to blogging!!!!

...watching Roberta to-night, y'all... I'll make it before the Mayans get us... 

Until then, KIG!
Hu
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...ok, getting a bit closer...

...to the Roberta review, y'all.

I know, I know... but it's been somewhat busy the last month or so, with the Advent Season, and a fair amount of production work in the hopper at work...just tough to focus on the review. And, as I think y'all may be aware, I am a 'stickler' in terms of giving reviews my FULL attention...

But, it appears in a few days, I shall be able to start on it 'proper', and hopefully get it out soon.

As a 'preview to the review', I've just been thinking a bit about this one... as a Ginger fan, thus a GandF fan, the biggest 'issue' I have with this film (and to a lesser extent, Follow the Fleet) is that Ginger and Fred are not even the main characters in it... thus, it just isn't...as awesome as other GandF films, to the best of my recollection...

...now, before I incur the wrath of those voracious Irene Dunne fans out there, much less the tenacious Randolph Scott faction, let me say this...

Irene is awesome in this film... although my fave role for her is in The Awful Truth, of course... but here she does play the role of the 'high society / royalty / whatever' lady in a noble, yet warm way that sells the part to perfection. Her operatic vocals are impressive, although honestly not quite my preferred octave of feminine vocalizations... that of course may only be heard from Miss Scharwenka herself...

And Randolph Scott is...serviceable...probably much more comfortable on a horse, of course...is a horse...is a horse of course... ahem... but he plays the 'goofy guy getting in over his head and somehow persevering and winning the girl' quite well.

BUT... (there's always a big 'BUT', right?) ...Ginger and Fred are what makes this... well, a classic film, right? Look, when you mention the film 'Roberta' to anyone...well, anyone who has any idea about classic movies to begin with... what's their first thought?
"Oh, yes, that's that movie with Irene Dunne and Randolph Scott!" 
...er, no, most likely not, unless they are in one of those fan clubs... more often than not, you'll hear, "Oh, yes, that's that Fred and Ginger movie!"

...so... not really sure what my point is here, unless I'm trying to weigh the 'level' of Gingery goodness this one will have... it would seem to be able to eke into the top ten, but...we'll see.

It's been awhile since I've watched it all the way through... Ma is always playing it, but she generally just watches the finale with GandF's dance to 'Smoke Gets in Your Eyes', which, is pretty hard not to fast forward to...

SO, all this warbling to say... it's getting close... hopefully it will make it out before Mayan Doomsday...

In the meantime, hope everyone is having a great holiday season thus far, and will continue to...

Keep It Gingery!!!

Hu
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...er... have y'all looked at the 'blogs I follow'...

...down at the lower right of the page? Ms. Molly Brown, of "Trade Corner for Ginger Rogers", has the following post from a few days ago:

"Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Clause*...Coming Soon to 'The Corner'... HAT CHECK GIRL (1932)"
(* - can be taken as the proper spelling in this context... )
...now, when you click on the link, it sends ya to her site, but no info as of yet regarding HCG... I honestly have heard some 'rumblings' here and there regarding a supposed copy of HCG floating around... if it DOES surface, that would be pretty much the coolest thing to ever occur in Gingerology's short history (well, for me, being at 100 West Moore Street in Independence, MO. on 07/16/11 was pretty awesome...) but, THIS would obviously complete the GingerFilm collection...well, save for a few of her early 'shorts'...

SO, here's hopin', right? Molly has dug up a LOT of Gingery stuff over the last year or so, so... until proven otherwise, I'm drinking that gingery-infused Kool-aid!!! How bout Y'ALL???

KIG!

Hu
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Once Upon a Honeymoon...

 ...turns Seventy today!

...this is a pretty...'uneven' movie, as it straddles the line between comedy and drama...but after a few views, you kinda 'overlook' the big picture, and focus on how awesome Ginger and Cary were together...and how these two should have, if not gotten hitched (in real life, of course), should have LEAST made a few more movies together... they did do 'Monkey Business' together, and honestly, THAT one is my fave of their two collaborations...  but, taking into account the time 'OUAH' was released, in the thick of WWII, it turns out pretty well overall.

...worth the time to watch, if just to see Ginger, who shimmers beautifully throughout this one... the screen caps on this one will be SICK, y'all... and yes, that's a 'good' sick..... a VERY good 'sick'... stay tuned for the HueyReview of this one, which, at the current pace, will occur in, oh, Summer of 2016... let's hope the Mayans were off for a decade or so, anyway...
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Well, hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving, and survived the shopping frenzy...honestly, y'all...I'd rather pay full price than wade through some of the insanity bubbling up at your local shopping complex... hope y'all persevered, whatever your endeavor was...

Roberta's still on deck... at the end of the week...Let's Begin...

Until then - KIG, y'all!!!

Hu
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ok, all y'all on Facebook...

...well, that is to say, 99 percent of the human population... here's my query... WHY should I set up a Facebook account for Gingerology?

...I mean, if it would 'advance the cause' of Gingerology (i.e., bring in a few new Gingerologists), then I'm all for it, I reckon...just not sure what I would do different over there than what I do HERE...

But, I guess it couldn't HURT anything...so, stay tuned...but again, any input you may have regarding this issue would be greatly appreciated... for that matter, Twitter is an option as well...I REALLY don't understand that one...but, wouldn't it have just been INSANE to have Ginger 'tweeting' on her events during her heyday?

I may need an I.T. person before it's all said and done...

OK, well, a 'general Huey update'... I have a few 'deadlines' at work the next few weeks, so...posts may be a bit sparse until then...

Miss Scharwenka is waiting VERY patiently for her Huey review...sigh...soon, my lady...soon...

The Roberta review will be most likely around the first weekend in December... which may be a neat time to 'kick off' the Christmas Season anyway (which, BTW, doesn't officially begin until AFTER Thanksgiving... so, STOP putting decorations up NOW, y'all... give Turkey Day your full attention!)
So, remember to extol the virtues of other forms of social media for Gingerology, as when I am 'cleared out' at work, G-ology will be given great attention by Hu...it MAY even be time for a bit of 'tweaking' here and there... nothing earth-shattering, tho...

So, until that splindiferous time,

KIG, y'all!
Hu
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87 short years ago...

...Miss Ginger Rogers (at the ripe old age of 14!) won the Texas State Charleston Championship, held in Dallas, Texas on November 9, 1925!

...the closest pic I could find of an 'EarlyTeenGinger'...she is actually sixteen here...note the feathers...ah, it's always about the feathers, isn't it, Miss Rogers?

Of course, this is THE 'watershed' moment (whatever THAT means) in our fair lady's life, as it would propel her to...well, a gig on the vaudeville circuit, which eventually landed her a gig in a Broadway play, which landed her a screen test, which...well, y'all know the rest...but back to the genesis...

From GINGER: My Story, here's how she described her first 'round' of the competition, at her home area of Fort Worth: "My name was called (onto the stage) and the neighborhood applauded wildly, recognizing one of their own. I walked to the center of the stage and stood for a moment. I loved the feeling of being "on." The music started and then the contagious Charleston triggered my toes. The Charleston wasn't difficult; anybody who could lift one foot off the floor could learn to dance it. The music had an exciting and compelling beat, and once you'd started, you never wanted to stop."

She waxed the folks in this 'preliminary round' and went on to the State Finals in Dallas. AND, here's how that contest went down: "The contest narrowed to myself and a boy from Dallas. The fact that Dallas and Fort Worth were rivals in everything only added to the excitement. The two finalists came forward. My heart was pounding hard. I danced the Charleston with all my heart. Then the boy from Dallas danced. Henry Santrey (the contest 'MC', no doubt) held his hand over each of us to determine the winner by the applause. It was a draw. We each had to dance again."
...and, of course, we know the conclusion of this story is, Ginger WON! 

...now, the question is, what if Ginger HADN'T won (perish the thought, of course, but...) ...chances are, she still would have followed, if not the EXACT same route to stardom, one pretty similar...remember that little line she threw in there where she said she loved the feeling of being "on"?  Well, I don't know about y'all, but stage fright is quite the issue with me...I mean, I can get up and talk in front of folks, but I don't 'love' it by any means...and actually performing? forget about it...although I DID do a karaoke deal a few years back...digressing... 
SO, the point IS, Ginger had that 'performance bug' in her bones... and it was her destiny, right? For if it wasn't, what would we have to talk about here on Gingerology? :-)

Well, y'all have seen these before, more than likely, but, just in case, and for the newer Gingerologists, here are honestly the only two known video clips of Ginger actually doing the Charleston; the first clip is 'cut' footage from her wickedawesome film, Roxie Hart...not sure why this didn't make it - would probably have been the 'opening scene', where we would have first met Ms. Hart... weird they cut it...   and, the second clip is from 'The Lucy Show', which has Ginger, along with Lucille Ball and Lucie Arnaz, doing the Char on that groovy 70's shag... classic stuff which is timeless and a joy to watch...

...it's just weird that her and Fred never did the Charleston...but honestly, I guess the Charleston is really a 'solo' type dance, anyway, right? Or at least one where you have to literally stay 'at arm's length' from your partner, lest you whomp them in the head with your flailing arms...
Anyway, there's some neat info out there on the web regarding this event, in addition to the 'full story' in Ginger's bio... and I know GF11 has been to the Hotel in Dallas where Ginger sealed the deal... well, shoot, just check it out here, y'all:
GF11 - Gingery Trip to Dallas-Fort Worth

...now y'all have a great big ol' Gingery weekend, now, y'hear?

Hu (still pondering the Roberta review...the 'skeleton' of the post is set...just need caps and story...)
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Important Message...

...VOTE! Exercise your right to choose the leader of your country...a right which MANY nations around the world do not have... and remember, the only wrong choice is NOT voting...so.... VOTE!

...otherwise, be on the lookout for some Gingery stuff soon...my workload has 'lightened up' a bit at work, so... ready to get back with it...

One more interesting fact...THIS post represents the 72nd one for 2012, which is a 'yearly record' for number of posts in a year!!! ...for all you stat-mongers out there...

KIG, y'all...

Hu
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Have a Gingery Halloween, y'all!!!

from the snarling squirrels at Gingerology!

...still my favorite screen cap EVAH! One of these years I'll 'compile' all of the 'quirky' caps into a single post... well, there's not many Halloweengery pics, but...here's a few y'all probably already know:

...of course, the pic of Ginger and Mr. Ayres... Ginge just seems... a bit... tentative here...wonder what's up? Heck, this may well not even be a Halloween thing, but some kind of Western-themed event they attended... but, we'll keep it in this loop...

...well, lots of kids still dress up as 'superherores', so...we give you...SuperGinger!!! (which is of course redundant, but... just to identify this specific pic, it will be retained...)

...look who forgot to shave, eh? Not sure what this was all about - I think Ginger was an emcee somewhere and was 'emulating' the real host or whatever, who had a beard, it appears... again, most likely not Halloween, but...still pretty unusual...

Well... that's about all I could dig up...if y'all have any more Halloween pics of our girl, please post on your site (yes, I'm looking at you, GF11!)...

Hope y'all have a fun 'observance' of Halloween (er, it's NOT a 'holiday', y'all...not until we get off of work for it...) and stay safe! Of course, one must also...

Keep It Gingery!!!

Hu
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...just touching base...

I've got a pretty big weekend, nothing 'big', really, just...full of rather smallish events... so post time will be pretty limited the next few days... mainly, I have some work from...work to get caught up on this weekend... AAANDDD, It IS football season, so, I have to trudge out to see my UAB Blazers play the East Carolina Pirates tonight... hope for the best, expect the worst... but it's fun, either way.

I have yet to start on Roberta...

 

...but looking forward to it! ...ya know, I'm not sure if this dress above is actually THE Roberta dress, since it doesn't have that metal brooch thingie on it... like the one below... 

 

 

...I think we've had a few conversations on that before... probably just added the bling for the dance... 

...I also know that the dress she wears in the 'I'll Be Hard To Handle' scene is the one she has on in our beloved Gingerology header pic...so, yeah, I guess this film is a pretty dang Gingery one, in the 'pre-analysis' of it...stay tuned...

 

Hope all of Y'ALL are having a great weekend thus far...it's PERFECT weather here in South Gingerville...hope it's the same for you, wherever your Gingery self may be...

 

Until then, as they say down on the Rogue River Ranch...

 

...Keep It Gingery!!!

 

Hu

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...so near, but yet...

...so far...

"...well, WHAT?" you may ask... Well, how's about this...

The stage musical production of "Backwards and in High Heels", which chronicles Ginger's career, is currently playing well within driving distance of your humble author, in the small town of Crossville, Tennessee, which is about an hour or so north of Chattanooga, which is about 2 hours from the 'Ham.

Here's the info on it:

Backwards and in High Heels at CC Playhouse

In general, the reviews seem pretty good for it...of course, any Gingerologist would probably pick it apart as to the 'creative license' taken at times, which probably works well for the play, but would still just be... an issue, right? Overall, tho, should be great fun for folks who study the beautiful science of Miss Ginger Rogers!

...now, as for the probability of Hu actually getting to see a performance of said show... well...this time of year is pretty hectic with kids...and my work is 'picking up' (which is ALWAYS a good thing), and it seems every weekend is booked for other things in the Huey household... which is fine, of course, but... I'm still wondering if there's an...angle, so to speak... to maybe get to a performance of this thing before it ends on November 2nd...  stay tuned... if it doesn't happen, who knows...the 'company' may land somewhere even closer to my current coordinates...probably pretty unlikely, tho...

ANYWAY, if any of y'all are in this general area, and are interested, AND if ya get to check it out, please report back to us with a review of the show!

...in other Gingery news, the info for the Ginger 'filmblogs' is starting to fill in...all of the reviews up to now are now 'tabbed' on the respective filmblog, as well as ALL screenCAPS done to this point (Romance in Manhattan is the last one to date...)... so there's progress there...

...and, of course, 'Roberta' is next on the docket...haven't even STARTED it yet, unfortunately... but soon...soon...

Until that splindiferous day,

KIG!!!

Hu
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...They All Laughed at Christopher Columbus...

...but ho-ho-ho...who's got the last laugh now???

Happy Columbus Day, y'all!!! ....Aren't we supposed to be off of work or something?

KIG!

Hu
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GingerFilms That Weren't, Part One: Mother Carey's Chickens

Well, hiya, G-ologists! This is the first of (hopefully) a series of posts that will occur every now and again on Gingerology, regarding films that Ginger was pegged for at one time or another, but, for whatever reason, she did not end up in... lots of material here, folks... the more you research this stuff, the more you see that Ginger was a pretty hot 'commodity' for RKO in the mid-to-late 30s... like I have to tell Y'ALL that...

Anyway, this 'installment' concerns itself with the somewhat ill-fated production of "Mother Carey's Chickens", which was based on the novel written by Kate Douglas Wiggin in 1911(!)...she also penned the classic "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm".
Although there is a bit of 'variance' regarding Ginger's history with this film, here's the version that sounds best to me, as Lead Gingerologist...SO, here goes...

 ...the small print on this 'promo' reads, "Memories of "Little Women!" Again the sweet sensation of sheer loveliness glorifies the screen! Our studio believes, that here, at last, is the story of tender emotion, love and tears, destined to replace in the world's affections that picture of happy theatre memory..."

The treatment was picked for Ginger as early as 1936 by the RKO brass, and was to be her first lead role in a film sans Astaire (Star of Midnight and Romance in Manhattan each featured Ginger quite well, but not as the 'official' lead role; In Person does, but is not a 'drama', rather a comedy with music and dance...whatever ya wanna call that (I call it an awesome movie... 'Don't Mention Love To Me' just...is IT, y'all...) (digressing...))

It was reported that Ginge had even dyed her hair a more...well, Gingery shade for the role - a full four years prior to her hair color transformation in Primrose Path - so it appears that she was ready to roll with production. However, if anyone out there knows the saga of RKO upper management at the time (well, heck, for its entire EXISTENCE, for that matter...), there was a heap of shuffling in top brass, and each one with different 'philosophies'...and priorities. As a result (most likely), this treatment was 'shelved' for a few years, while Ginger whirled away with Fred...pretty dang hard to argue with that business model...

So, by the time someone pulled this one back off the shelf in early 1938, Ginger had advanced her career quite nicely, thank ya very much, and had even 'headlined' a few more movies, albeit not 'dramas' (Having Wonderful Time and Vivacious Lady)...so there were a lot more treatments being batted about for her, and this one just wasn't in the mix at that point...

Now, SOMEWHERE along this timeline, our ol' buddy Kate Hepburn was also tapped by RKO to take on the role (evidently when Ginger was slated for 'other projects (i.e., going full-bore with GandF films))...well, this was about the same time she was being labeled as 'box office poison' (she had just wrapped Bringing Up Baby for RKO, which was not well-received in its initial run), which she attributed to substandard roles offered up by RKO... and this script was deemed 'substandard' enough that she bought out her RKO contract and shuffled off to Columbia...Pictures, that is...  it's more than a bit interesting that the 'promo' above cites Little Women for comparison...

SO, where did that leave this film? Well, the role was eventually taken by Anne Shirley, as Nancy Carey... additionally, Ginger's bud from a few years back, Ruby Keeler, played the sister role in the film. Here's the link to TCM's info regarding the movie:

Mother Carey's Chickens


 The book, "The Films of Ginger Rogers" by Homer Dickens, also sheds light on the backstory to this movie. I haven't watched it, but plan to...always interesting to see a film which Ginger was originally 'thought of' for the role...

...Also, thanks to the cool blog, MCMXXXVIII by Mark Thom, for info regarding the 'Ginger angle' of the film's history, and general info regarding the eventual film...

***edited 11-09-12...thanks to GF (as usual) for digging up this awesome pic of Ginger in the 'MCC dress'...

Well, hope this has been an interesting post for ya... not 100% sure about all the pics of Ginger, but it appears the first few are 'dead-on' what the 'promo' pic looks like... the next to last one...not quite as much (seems like that one is from In Person...)...but seems to generally match the previous pics quite well, so... 'nuff said.

As for the Roberta review, that's 'in development'...actually, I've been adding stuff to the 'GingerFilmBlogs', primarily screen caps and any other files I have regarding the film in question...yeah, I'm generally setting up 'clouds', but hopefully will be of interest to y'all out there... I think I made it up to Don't Bet on Love...dang, it takes a fair amount of time to 'transfer' stuff... but it's getting there!

In the meantime, y'all...

KIG!

Hu
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Eighty Years to the Day...

...Fox Films released 'Hat Check Girl'... that elusive little minx...

I would be remiss (...and remember, kiddos, it's better to miss than to remiss) if I didn't mention the ONLY film Ginger appeared in which no Gingerologist has seen...that I am aware of... it's the Quest for the Girl...Hat Check, that is...

I've heard there are copies out there, but... where? and HOW do we get a hold of them? AND, has it been transferred to electronic file, or is the decades-old cellulose nitrate film being allowed to slowly disintegrate in its tin canister crypt?   ARRRRGH!!! 

Well, I still have a feeling this lost GingerFilm will surface SOMEWHERE, and hopefully we can all check it out at roughly the same time, and compare notes... Don't Stop...Believin'...

As for other Gingery items, well, not a heap going on currently...I had a few issues with the internet last weekend, so it put me a few days back...however, the 'fix' ended up reviving my old computer, so I'm back on-line with it, in addition to my new laptop...so all's well, y'all... double 'll's abound here...:-)

So, hope to catch up on the weekend...in the meantime, hope all is well with everyone, have a Gingery remainder of the week, most easily accomplished, by...

Keepin' It Gingery, of course!

Hu
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...The 'Hair Scene' from R.I.M....

...well, again, this little sequence in 'Romance in Manhattan' was pretty dang awesome...when you 'freeze-frame', you catch a lot of great expressions you just don't catch when viewing at 12 frames/second... so, here's the batch of caps from that scene... I love these, y'all...

...nuff said...

...Well, heck, hard to believe a week has scooted by since the R.I.M. review was posted... as for what's happening in G-ology, of course, 'Roberta' is looming for review...well, that sounds like it's a BAD thing...obviously it's an awesome movie... but, we are plowing headlong into the 'prime' GandF films over the next 5-6 reviews, so there will be some gnashing of teeth and wringing of paws, regarding ranking these diamonds... we'll see how it all pans out.

The FilmBlogs are still out there...I really need to get hopping on them... at least I have a 'format' set for them now...the trouble is, ya have to set up that 'format' 75 or so times!!! Well, hey, blogging isn't for the faint of heart, eh? So, stay tuned...and, of course, ANY suggestions which you may have for ANY of the G-ology family of blogs would be MOST appreciated... just tack it onto one of the post comment areas...heck, this post would suffice...

Oh, another thing...for anyone out there who may have sent an e-mail under my old address (jwhuey67...), I have not been able to get into my 'box' there...my old computer has 'parted ways' with the internet, and thus outlook is severed as well... so, although I plan to get into the old e-mail via my cable provider to check out what I've missed (just in case a Nigerian Prince has endowed me with 50 million dollars or something...), if anyone out there wants or needs to contact me, please use my gmail address... vkmfanhuey@gmail.com (please don't tell that to anyone else - it's just our 'secret' :-] )

Well, hope the week has been good to y'all...I'll hunt down some Gingeryness to post by week's end - I need to do more posts of 'General Ginger'...a poll, maybe...heck, the 'trivia' posts are always cool... so my work is lined up, eh?

KIG, y'all!
Hu
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