GingerPages

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

...and another thing... or two...

ok - still MORE miscellany to post...


First, Ron over at Fluffy Stuffin' posted a GREAT overview that discusses the 75th anniversary of the premiere of 'Top Hat'... awesome pics, too! Go check it out at: http://fluffystuffin.blogspot.com/

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Second, LAST CALL for 'The First Traveling Saleslady', to air at 4:00 AM Eastern time... but as always, check your local listings... I think this has something to do with Clint Eastwood day on TCM, who makes one of his early appearances as Carol Channing's love interest (I know, somewhat implausable, eh?) ...again, it's a pretty cute movie, and the LAST RKO Radio movie EVER...so there you go.
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FINALLY, Forgot to mention that the 'box set' coming out does NOT indicate a 'Blu-Ray' option, but the 'rumor' a while back was the next release of these films would be in Blu-Ray... not sure if that would be THAT big of a difference, but I am not an expert at those type of tings, as you may have well deduced by now... but I will keep checking for any updates regarding this, and if y'all hear something, be sure to post it...
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ALSO FINALLY...I am working on putting a 'spot' somewhere on the blog for 'messages' like this, to keep from having to do full-bore posts - not that's there's anything wrong with that, but a 'message spot' would be a cool feature...
Hope y'all are having a quick week, as we hurl breathlessly towards Labor Day (yeah, it's time for a three-day weekend, y'all...) - stay safe, focused, and above all...
Keep It Gingery!!!
VKMfanHuey
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Friday, August 27, 2010

...Various Gingery goodness abounds...

Well, just a few odds and ends... First, I received the sheet music to "Jenny" from "Lady in the Dark" today...

...pretty dang cool item, even tho I can hardly play the radio, much less an actual musical instrument... The interesting thing is, there is an extra 'verse' that was cut from the film version, most likely just due to time... as awesome as the tune is, it IS a little long (I could watch it performed in a continuous loop, but somehow I figure most of y'all already knew that... :-P )

Anyway, here are the actual pages with the 'lost' verse - #4 on the list... just to further your knowledge of all things Ginger...

OK - the "Argentine lyric" for some reason didn't make it... the end of the first line about the 'Good Neighbor Policy', seemed to be a mouthful to squeeze in at the end of the verse... Anyway, there it is, for y'all's perusal.
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ANOTHER topic - as SassyGinger noted in her blog, On November 2, 2010, TCM will release a new "Greatest Classic Films" collection that contains four of GandF's best-known and loved movies: "The Gay Divorcee", "Swing Time", "Top Hat", and "Shall We Dance". The link to info is below:

http://turnerclassic.moviesunlimited.com/Product.asp?sku=D57824

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ALSO, the re-release of "Astaire and Rogers: The Complete Collection", which has all ten of the GandF films, plus a cool bonus 'biography' disc, as well as a good CD of selected tunes from their movies (wish there were about twice as many tunes on it, but...) will be released on October 12, 2010... The link for info regarding this 'must-have' is:

http://turnerclassic.moviesunlimited.com/Product.asp?sku=D68929

...when I purchased this set, it also had a 'redeemable coupon' that supposedly was for four 'free' posters of various GandF movies - but it had expired... so wonder if that will be in the 're-release', and if there is anyway that offer would be allowed for folks who already have the set...
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ALSO, remember, at 4:00 AM Eastern time on September 1, TCM will air "The First Traveling Saleslady"... a neat little movie, pretty 'light-hearted' fare - but a 'middle-age' Ginger is simlpy awesome in this one, well, if you can get past her voice inflection... don't let that sway you - you get used to it.
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STILL ANOTHER point of interest for Gingerologists out there... One of our charter members here at G-ology, Miss Lauren, has some Gingerbilia up for sale... here is the link to the site she has them on:

http://randomhollywood.wordpress.com/

...sorry, I nabbed a few of them already...but still some VERY cool ones, mainly of GandF... Lauren is rounding up some fundage for school, so it's for a good cause, y'all...

OK - think that is all - hope y'all are into this somewhat 'interactive' post...

Keep It Gingery!!!

VKMfan
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Monday, August 23, 2010

Miss McMath she had a farm...

...and here are a few pretty cool pics of Ginger at her Rogers Rogue River Ranch, from the October 17, 1944 issue of LOOK magazine, recently obtained by yours truly:

...chickens and turkeys (check out the ones to the right in the background...pretty honkin' birds!)

...Plowing the corn field (wouldn't it be cool to have this tractor?)


...with a bull (named Prince Domino XVII...the Roman numerals indicate he is good at being a daddy... :-] )
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Well, not all that much more, except this is just another mondo cool side to our Miss Rogers... we all knew she did some of this, but neat to actually SEE this stuff... of course, she only retreated to her ranch every now and again, but still - pretty awesome stuff, y'all... just can't see many of today's stars doing much of this...
Well, hope to have some more things going soon... have a few things rattling around in the ol' noggin, so please stay tuned, and...
Keep It Gingery!!! Get ready for GingerFall, Y'all!!! (I know, GingerAutumn sounds cooler, but "Fall" and "y'all" rhyme...y'all!!! :-] )
VKMfanHuey
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Tuesday, August 17, 2010

...while in New York...

...my wife's aunt and uncle stayed at the DoubleTree Guest Suites Times Square, in NYC a month or so ago... they had a great time.

The Ginger connection? Well...

The "in-house" restaurant is called... "Ginger's"! Yep, THAT Ginger! Here are some photos they took, mainly of...well, pictures of Ginger and Fred!





Pretty dang cool, eh? Well, I went to the hotel website to check out any additional info... the quite arduous link is: http://doubletree1.hilton.com/en_US/dt/hotel/LGASFDT-Doubletree-Guest-Suites-Times-Square-New-York-City-New-York/dining.do;jsessionid=40AEF9D61AD82E3BBDD5A6D5EE38076C.etc61

What I found is as follows, in text and pics:

Ginger's Restaurant

Gingers is the hotel’s new restaurant on the 5th Floor, that pays tribute to “The Roaring Twenties” when Broadway was in full swing with light-hearted musicals. These shows produced enduring standards from legends such as Cole Porter and George and Ira Gershwin, and launched the careers of actors, singers and dancers such as Ginger Rogers, who, at the age of 19, was chosen to star on Broadway in Girl Crazy. Open for breakfast, lunch and pre and post-theater dinner, Gingers is exotically decorated with Asian accents and offers an extensive menu with signature dishes and a la carte specialties.

Ginger's Restaurant is open for:
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner

Attire: Casual




Pretty snazzy place... should have had a bit more pink, tho, dontyathink? Well, it's hard to work that into any 'modern motif', I suppose... as if I know ANYTHING about interior design, y'all... AND, pretty sure they serve beverages a bit stronger then 'Ginger Ale'... oh well... wonder if they have a soda fountain? :-]

Another thing, as nit-picky as it may be, Ginger starred in "Girl Crazy" in 1930 (hence, NOT technically 'The Roaring Twenties"...although, one could argue since there was no year "Zero", 1930 was actually the tenth year of the decade of the 1920's...or am I delving WAY too far into this??? )



ANYWAY, there appears to be some VERY cool pictures in the place, and I dig the 'logo', too... it is kinda hard to see, but the second picture in the 'first set' of pics above has Ginger leaning on the 'G'...which appears to be from the following pic... well heck....OK, 'pop' trivia question - what movie is the (totally devastating) pic below from? I WANT to say 'Professional Sweetheart', but...

SO, if you are ever in NYC, be sure to check this place out, take pics if allowed, and try to 'obtain' something with the logo on it... thru proper channels, of course... in fact, a menu from the place would be pretty nice!

Keep It Gingery, y'all!

VKMfanHuey

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P.S. - I 'wrapped up' the poll results in the comment section of the 'August 5, 2010' post, "...New Poll..." - thanks again for your participation! -VKMfanHuey

Friday, August 13, 2010

...Received the License from Louisiana...

...which documents Ginger's marriage to GooberHead Hubby #1, Edward Jackson Culpepper... Here is that document:


A few things that jump out at me are:

1. It is March 26th, not the 29th as noted in Ginger's bio - but what's three days when recollecting an event held 60 years prior to transcribing her bio? huey gives Ginger a pass (surprised?)

2. Somebody fibbed JUST a bit about her age - she WAS seventeen, as she notes in her bio, but the license notes age eighteen, which may well have been the minimum age for marriage, even in those days. Well, she was just a few months away from eighteen, so close enough, especially in New Orleans :-] .

3. Lela was a witness to the proceedings, which was a BIT of a surprise, seeing how she was so vehemently against the ill-fated union - but I guess her daughter's first wedding could not be missed, no matter what the circumstances.

4. Kinda weird (and I am a bit bummed) that they didn't have to sign anything... sure they signed SOMETHING SOMEWHERE, but not on this record.

5. What is with Ginger's middle name? "C.Lee"? Haven't read about that ANYWHERE... the 'C' is evidently 'Catherine', which of course should have been 'Katherine'...

6. Whats with the abbreviation of 'Independence, MO.'? They spelled out 'Palestine, Tex.' (which should be 'TX.' , no?) ...goes to show proper syntax has always been an issue...

And, I guess that's about all I caught. Overall, I just think it is pretty dang cool to be able to hunt down this stuff and analyze it for a bit... I might just hunt down a few more... four to go! Hey, if the first one is out there, seems like the others would be easy to obtain, right?

OK - hope y'all get a kick out of this, even tho it WAS by most accounts (and by the poll) the most ill-fated marrige to the most GooberHeady of the bunch... well, he got one vote, anyway...

More stuff on the way - have actually 2 or 3 'topics' lined up for the next few posts... Gingerology never rests, y'all... hope y'all are surviving the 'dawg days' of August... Keep it cool, and as always,

...KIG!

VKMfanHuey

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Monday, August 9, 2010

...Awesome Article by Ginger...

...just received this from a 'collection' of various Gingerbilia I won on eBay... I do not know the magazine this article came from, only that is from the mid-50's... it speaks VOLUMES about Ginger's philosophy of life, which is, "WORK HARD!" She would have been a PERFECT motivational speaker! If HALF the folks we have around today had HALF of Ginger's work ethic, think of how much stuff would be accomplished!!! (yeah, I'm pointing the finger at me as well...)

Well, instead of me just yapping on and on, check out the article, which has some pretty killer pics as well:



...As I've said a million times, there is NO way I could have kept up with her... but would have certainly died trying!!! :-]
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KIG in the waning days of the SOG...Stay Tuned for GingerAutumn, y'all...
VKMfanHuey
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Thursday, August 5, 2010

...New Poll...

...Welp, back from New Orleans, y'all... Hot as all get out down there... but we had a great time anyway. Lots of awesome food (...we ate 'till we didn't have right good sense...), and it generally appeared that the French Quarter was largely unaffected by Katrina - some businesses have not come back, tho - but it was quite crowded, which was encouraging.

So, as I noted in my last post, New Orleans was the spot where Ginger tied the knot for the first time to Jack Culpepper... which was the first of five fellows that were EXTREMELY fortunate enough to marry Ginger, yet even MORE extremely dunderheaded enough to lose her... it's just a major mystery to me why NONE of these dudes could get their act together.

Anyway, I actually went into the police headquarters in the French Quarter and asked about marriage records, since Ginger said the 'ceremony' was at the justice of the peace, and I assumed it was in the French Quarter (although it could have been in some other part of New Orleans.) When I told the fellow behind the counter I was looking for Ginger Rogers' marriage record, I bet y'all can guess what he said... "Was that when she married Fred?"
Anyway, they did not have records there, but did ultimately get me to the right source, which is the state capitol, Baton Rouge, where to go if the record is over 50 years old. So, I looked it up on their database, and sure enough, there was Edward Culpepper marrying Virginia McMath in March 1929 in Orleans Parish... so, of course, Huey rips off a check for $5.00 to obtain a copy of this document...why not?

And this led me to the new Gingerology poll...which of the five gooberheads that married (and subsequently lost) Ginger, was the LEAST Goobery? They all have their ups and downs (mainly downs), as I will break down as follows:

Hubby #1: Jack Culpepper
Pro - Was Ginger's first 'crush' - was also in show biz, so could have been a great help in her career
Con - Raving alcoholic who ended up keeping Ginger's career back, tried to jump out of a window and drag Ginger along

Hubby #2: Lew Ayres
Pro - Another major 'crush' for Ginger - pretty big name actor at the time
Con - Another lush who didn't really play the husband role well - partied all the time - Ginger hitting peak of popularity with Fred was more than he could take

Hubby #3: Jack Briggs
Pro - Unassuming 'bit' actor, war vet - 'genuine'
Con - Another one bit by the alcohol bug - could not handle the star that was Ginger

Hubby #4: Jacques Bergerac
Pro - Ginger was quite smitten with him - seemed to be an upbeat type, nice, true to Ginger
Con - Ended up running around on Ginger, which is totally inconceivable to Huey

Hubby #5: William Marshall
Pro - As a aspiring actor/director, Ginger had a sense of security he would be a 'rock' - gave the appearance of a 'family man'
Con - Ends up as a drunken sot like most of the others, was abusive to Ginger, effectively swore her off of movies (see "The Confession")

Well there you have it... Huey is bristling just having to write those little synopses about those clowns... but if anything, I have to hand THIS to each of them... they each DID win Ginger's heart, and that is something I am admittedly in awe of... but...they are STILL gooberheads, the whole bleedin' lot of them...

Vote early and often!

Keep It Gingery, y'all!

VKMfan
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