Thank you for that. For our English viewers, that translates as: This scene was copied several years later in colours with a French actor named Getary, a film that was also worked on by Óscar levant and gene Kelly.
It's unbelievable. The spiral staircase looks like an enormus cream cake with all these beautiful ladies. Absolut amazing. Just "Wow." I'm very touched.
These movies are magnificent in black & white. You can imagine the colour in your mind as you are swept away by the music and dancing. Today's Hollywood lacks the combination of talent these actors possessed.
A pretty girl is like a melody That haunts you night and day, Just like the strain of a haunting refrain, She'll start up-on a marathon And run around your brain. You can't escape she's in your memory. By morning night and noon. She will leave you and then come back again, A pretty girl is just like a pretty tune.
Musicals will never be the way it was then .absolutely beautiful the dancers and there dance scenery back then was beautiful. Fred Was a great tap dancer then so was Eleanor Powell a great female dancer .they may be gone but there dance routine will always be remembered. Rest in peace to all the best dancers of that time godbless them amen🙏🕊🕊🕊🕊🕊🦋🦋🦋🌹🌹🌹🕺💃🙏💖
Those dancers dressed as glittering black birds with fringe to their ankles... simply the most amazing, exotic costumes I've ever seen, and I'm over 70.
These two footages come from "That`s Entertainment (1974)". I was a 18 years old Japanese when I watched this movie at a movie theater in Tokyo in 1975. I was so captivated by this movie that I still remember my excitement vividly.
Hello ❕ Another Japanese here 😉 I was 13 back then, and watched “That's Entertainment“ at a movie theater three times in a row. I remember I was so facinated by it that I could not leave my seat. Almost half a century after that, it is like a dream that I can see some of the scenes on UA-cam.
What makes the Pretty Girl number remarkable is that it's filmed in one continuous take. Every participant had to be in place and do their designated moves. No one could make a mistake because of the single take. I wonder if there was more than one required to get it perfect?
Agreed. What I find amazing is that right at the end, there are still actors in the background that are on the screen for just moments showing that the clip is even larger!
Thank God I got to see what Real Hollywood was before this time we live in now! This was actors who thrive on skills and the direction of the studios!!!
I love watching these old Hollywood musicals, with so much class and talent. Nothing can compare to the Ziegfeld productions, or Fred Astaire and his dancing partners. Back then they didn't even have the technology or computers of today.
One of the most gorgeous black and white films I've ever seen. It's like something out of a fairytale, or a dream wedding cake. The Great Ziegfeld is one of my most favorite films. Easily top 20.
I dare any popstar-actress-actor-performer to learn this exceptional number. Incredibly talented people once we had. Above all, their beauty was enhanced by class and scene lights, not edited by photoshop.
Wikipedia: The "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody" set alone was reported to have cost US$220,000 (US$4,053,381 in 2019 dollars[3]),[4] featuring a towering rotating volute of 70 ft (21 m) diameter with 175 spiral steps, weighing 100 tons.
That Broadway Melody from 1940. I've never seen such exquisite dancing in my life. I cannot imagine the amount of practice hours that those artists put into it.
Why doesn't tap dancing come back in style? It would be great exercise, you can do it alone or in pairs, it is flexible in its choreography, and requires a degree of athleticism. Sounds like it would be a winner!
No, it's a triumph of set design over choreography. Ziegfeld would fill a stage, but so full that the performers could not hoof much even if they were capable of it- and his chorines were picked on looks, not footwork. Ziegfeld was into tableaux and costumes, not dazzling movement. The film recreates his aesthetic but does not translate it into cinematic terms: you see a stately procession, not the camera angles and fast cutting of a Busby Berkeley or the simpler but elegant coverage of a Fred Astaire number by Mark Sandrich. 'The Great Ziegfeld' was not a true musical at all. It was a biopic of Flo with stage interludes, harking back to the canned Broadway revue of early Talkie days. The future belonged to another MGM picture released just beforehand, Eleanor Powell's 'Born to Dance'. Watch the finale, 'Swingin' the Jinx Away', to see how lavish sets, a huge cast, a virtuoso soloist and a brilliant composer can collaborate to produce a truly dynamic and sensational *moving* picture. That was Metro's breakthrough in surpassing Warner and RKO as a maker of musicals: a crown it retained for 20 years until the genre faded. The second clip underlines how the initiative passed to it. Fred, Gingerless, is a guest star duetting with Eleanor Powell in a number principally choreographed by her on a set designed by her boyfriend- and in the judgment of most, for once he is outdanced. 'Begin the Beguine', not 'A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody', is the sequence most people remember because it foregrounds supremely polished dancing against a costly but austere backdrop. It would be possible to recreate a Ziegfeld extravaganza, but not this duet. Sinatra was right.
You might be right but the Babylon sequence from Intolerance is pretty amazing. I should also point out the chariot race from Wylers Ben Hur. Reel 9 in magnetic stereo is in a class by itself. Shangri la in Lost Horizon is awe inspiring. The staircase is two shots. Around the base is one, then the climb and pull back.
Two interesting facts about that AMAZING stage number: 1) What you see on film is the FIRST attempt at the production. They got it perfectly right the first time. 2) Although Dennis Morgan did have a beautiful singing voice, he was lip syncing to Allan Jones voice. Here is the proof from IMDB's listings: The Great Ziegfeld (performer: "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody" (1919) - uncredited) Some of the powerful notes were simply beyond Morgan's range.
Also as the camera pans back out, there is that girl on the top row that decides to fluff up her dress just as it's going round almost out of sight. Presumably, she thought she was out of shot.
Albert Yokum - At first, they're playing "Rhapsody in Blue" by George Gershwin, but don't ever say he wrote the "Pretty Girl" song too - give the credit to Irving Berlin.
Every-time I watch those dancers I feel a tear coming on for the sheer brilliance, dedication and artistry. A time when Hollywood was truly at the top of its game.
Dennis Morgan singing "A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody" (1936) Just one of my bestest favorite magnificent (BB??) musicals. How and why they did them all is beyond comprehension. Could never ever do them today. Think: rehearsing schedule!?!? Eeekkkk. So yeah, we are fortunate to see/have on film in 2020 ❤ Just. So. Unbelievable.
But that wasn't Dennis Morgan's voice. They dubbed it with Allan Jones' voice. I don't know why. And I don't know why they didn't have Sinatra mention it in That's Entertainment. I can't believe someone involved didn't know it.
I agree with all of th here replies...Now...take it to the BIG SCREEN! I'd pay whatever the price. We need this respite from all of the ugliness that's in our world today. Hollywood was incredible from the late 1900's through and after the war...All of the pre code movies were fabulous. Kay Francis....Norma Sheerer....Hollywood now, can never compete...NEVER ....EVER!!! Some young women today could benefit seeing well groomed, well mannered NO NOSE RINGS..., women. It was a magical, creative passionate industry. Now for the most part...garbage...
Although the voice heard singing Irving Berlin’s music and lyrics was that of the tenor Allan Jones, Dennis Morgan (a lyric baritone) was chosen to lip-synch Jones’ voice because Morgan resembled John Steel, the tenor who had introduced the song in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1919.
Molly, If you’ve not heard John Steel’s 1919 Victor recording of “A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody,” here’s a link to it: ua-cam.com/video/mB097aRIolc/v-deo.html
The awesome talent in Hollywood in those days can never be equalled.....all these movies needed, were to be shot in color, adding a dazzling new dimension to them.
It'll be marvellous if someone was to do one of them 60 FPS, colour, AI jobs on them. And it's true, they are pure entertainment of the very highest quality.And as you say, awesome talent.
It's a crime that Eleanor Powell is forgotten. She should be taken up as a feminist icon; she was the only peer of Fred Astaire. In this number, they dance, not as romantic partners, but as equals. With Ginger Rogers, there was a plot and seduction to their dances. Not here. One can feel the respect and even competition between the two of them. A brilliant number - and echoed in Chazel's "LaLa Land." at 5:02 ua-cam.com/video/oBTdHVXwIMo/v-deo.html
Mgm a musical.protipol warnerom.slavne broadwayske melodie a ine.prepracovana choreografia v podani daveho golda,posobiva,priam dokonala.ucinkujuci ako f.astaire,e.powell. ,_ najlepsia steparka,r.taylor a ini.nadherna hudba v podani, nesmrtelnych'_h.b.brown,j.kern,I.berlin,c.porter atd.dokonaly suzvuk,hlavne pohyb a hudba.rovnocenne klenoty ako u warnera.zlaty fond svetovej kinematografie a musicalu.oslovuje v kazdej dobe,veku.uzasny esteticky dojem a zazitok.nasi predkovia to naozaj vedeli,netreba na nich zabudat.pripominame si ich prave prostrednictvom ich tvorby_resp.umenia.toto je naozaj plnohodnotne,prave umenie.srdecna vdaka,vivat hollywood a broadway.peter ragac,slovakia
Cut out the fantastic beginning, of A Pretty Girl, missing at least a couple of minutes, don’t know why. This is really the end of “A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody”
I saw this clip (the cake), on That's Entertainment (I believe they show the whole clip on that). It's the most amazing scenery in any film that I've ever seen! Mixed in with that old fashioned Hollywood romance. I feel nostalgic for those times, before I was even born.
Probably someone has already mentioned this, but it's worth repeating. While that is Dennis Morgan in the scene, it is definitely NOT Dennis Morgan singing. It's Allan Jones (father of future singer Jack Jones) singing. For some reason they dubbed in Jones's voice. I don't know why. I also don't know why they didn't have Sinatra point this out in That's Entertainment.
Without reading all the comments, I don't know if anyone has already mentioned it...but it's worth mentioning anyway. For some reason I have never heard, Dennis Morgan's singing voice was dubbed over wih Allan Jones's voice. Why? 🤷🏻♂️
I recently just rewatched "The Towering Inferno." It was interesting to see Fred Astaire as an elderly gentleman and not in a musical. A lot of stars in that movie.
For that role he received the only Academy Award nomination of his long career, in the Best Supporting Actor category. He lost to Robert DeNiro (as Vito Corleone, The Godfather Part II)
Luis Humberto Vega did not know. Thanks for the information! With it being a big effects, disaster movie I didn’t think there would’ve been academy nominations beyond technical categories. Hey, looks like he got the Golden Globe for the role though. Just looked it up.
@@TheIndependentLens Oh, that, about Astaire being awarded the GG is news to me, thank you. I follow the Óscars but not the other awards. Too bad those 1-derful dancers of Hollywood's Golden Age never received the recognition they deserved as actors as if the performing of a dance was not hard enough. Unless they starred in some intense drama with a lot of crying and emoting they were usually ignored in the acting categories. When you asked Donald O'Connor about his profession he simply answered 'I am an actor.', implying that singing, dancing, comedy, drama and anything else comprising the performing disciplines formed part of, were branches of Acting. I definitively agree with him, and he was great at everything he did.
The story goes that in the Fred Astaire dance number, MGM couldn't find a supplier to take on the mirrors, so MGM made them themselves in-house - glass mirror floor and 30' tall mirrors upstage ... what a beast of a job that would have been, not to mention 'choreographing' the movement of the mirrored rear wall of the set to avoid unwanted reflections that would ruin the scene - production talent at it's best... without even mentioning the 'Pretty Girl; set - do you realize that that monumental spiraling curtain is actually cut / made to sit on each step, as it rotates back into the closed position... now a behind the scenes shot of that set operating would be absolutely gob-smacking...
Why was Dennis Morgan's voice dubbed when Dennis Morgan has such a beautiful voice his self. Dennis's singing voice was beautiful in "The Dessert Song" and many other Warner Bros. musicals.
The original “Follies” production starred John Steel, a lyric tenor, so for a semblance of historical accuracy Allan Jones was given the song to record in the manner of John Steel, and Dennis Morgan, a lyric “bari-tenor” whose timbre sounded nothing like Steel’s, lip-synched to Jones’s recorded performance.
Love all these old movies better than today with everyone flying around
I could not agree with you more! Just fantastic!
MGM was the greatest musical factory ever invented. No studio has ever produced musicals that can equal those of the Freed Unit.
No argument there. Agree with you 100%!
Defo! Who knows where it might land, bring em on! Enjoy, at least we have UA-cam!
I am not quite clear on your comment. Did you mean to paste it on another UA-cam video?
Utter perfection
Couldn't put it better myself!
Прелесть какая💥🔥
It certainly is!!
Does anyone know the name of the tenor in the staircase number?
Allan Jones I believe.
Dennis Morgan I believe.
Está escena,la copiaron varios años después en colores con un actor francés llamado getary,película que también trabajaban Óscar levant y gene Kelly
Thank you for that. For our English viewers, that translates as: This scene was copied several years later in colours with a French actor named Getary, a film that was also worked on by Óscar levant and gene Kelly.
I guess the kids today would laugh at this, because there's no sex or violence!
I love old movies
True lovers of art come in all ages.
Boy, could we use some of these uplifting, extravagant musicals now in this utterly drab and dreary world we live in today...
Oh, I so totally agree!
I watch these old movies over and over again
No one could out-tap Powell.. not even Astaire! She makes it look joyous and effortless.
Doesn't she just! So wonderful.
It's unbelievable. The spiral staircase looks like an enormus cream cake with all these beautiful ladies. Absolut amazing. Just "Wow." I'm very touched.
Incredible, isn't it!!
Just think how long it took to get everyone in place! Probably hours.
Unbelievable! You don't see this kind of "organic" talent anymore.
Amo toda esa época dorada de los Musicales, Talento, Elegancia y Clase un deleite visual y auditivo,,Viva ese Hollywood,,de antes,,Y Love it
What it took to put together a production of this magnitude just unbelievable they went all out.
I know! It's pretty fantastic to our modern eyes!
These movies are magnificent in black & white. You can imagine the colour in your mind as you are swept away by the music and dancing. Today's Hollywood lacks the combination of talent these actors possessed.
Absolutely agree!
The decline of the studio system meant the decline of fabulous musicals, alas.
A pretty girl is like a melody
That haunts you night and day,
Just like the strain of a haunting refrain,
She'll start up-on a marathon
And run around your brain.
You can't escape she's in your memory.
By morning night and noon.
She will leave you and then come back again,
A pretty girl is just like a pretty tune.
Nice one!
I have watched this number many times and remain blown away by it all. This was the "goldenest moment" of them all in Hollywood musicals.
Musicals will never be the way it was then .absolutely beautiful the dancers and there dance scenery back then was beautiful. Fred Was a great tap dancer then so was Eleanor Powell a great female dancer .they may be gone but there dance routine will always be remembered. Rest in peace to all the best dancers of that time godbless them amen🙏🕊🕊🕊🕊🕊🦋🦋🦋🌹🌹🌹🕺💃🙏💖
Thank you. They certainly deserve all your loving praise.
Most Art Deco thing I've ever seen ! ❤❤❤🎵🎺♠♥🎷🎼🎥💽🎭🌚🌂
Absolutely!!!!!😄
Those dancers dressed as glittering black birds with fringe to their ankles... simply the most amazing, exotic costumes I've ever seen, and I'm over 70.
Totally agree. So beautiful.
All just Pure magic there will never be anything like it ever again.
So very true!
These two footages come from "That`s Entertainment (1974)". I was a 18 years old Japanese when I watched this movie at a movie theater in Tokyo in 1975. I was so captivated by this movie that I still remember my excitement vividly.
How wonderful for you!
@@jean_mollycutpurse_winchester Thank you very much for your cordial reply. Your site reminds me of my beautiful memory in my early youth.
Hello ❕ Another Japanese here 😉 I was 13 back then, and watched “That's Entertainment“ at a movie theater three times in a row.
I remember I was so facinated by it that I could not leave my seat. Almost half a century after that, it is like a dream that I can see some of the scenes on UA-cam.
@ちゃちゃこ May I ask what you thought of the movie?
@ちゃちゃこ How do you compare it with movies today?
Anybody notice that the lady at the top always faces the camera while the staircase goes around her? Amazing.
What makes the Pretty Girl number remarkable is that it's filmed in one continuous take. Every participant had to be in place and do their designated moves. No one could make a mistake because of the single take. I wonder if there was more than one required to get it perfect?
Agreed. What I find amazing is that right at the end, there are still actors in the background that are on the screen for just moments showing that the clip is even larger!
@@jean_mollycutpurse_winchester yes, this is a snippet of the 8 minute number. You must catch the movie and will be even more wowed.
Thank God I got to see what Real Hollywood was before this time we live in now! This was actors who thrive on skills and the direction of the studios!!!
This was also when studios could work their actors into the ground and get away with it. You should read about how Judy Garland was treated.
@@kyoyameganebereznoff Yeah, but you actually had to be talented back then and talented in multiple ways.
Amen
I’ve been in love with this picture and Mr. Morgan my entire life! Just fantastic!
Entirely agree! Just amazing.
I love watching these old Hollywood musicals, with so much class and talent. Nothing can compare to the Ziegfeld productions, or Fred Astaire and his dancing partners. Back then they didn't even have the technology or computers of today.
The most beautiful thing I 've ever seen...brings tears to my eyes
Yes, I agree!!
One of the most gorgeous black and white films I've ever seen. It's like something out of a fairytale, or a dream wedding cake.
The Great Ziegfeld is one of my most favorite films. Easily top 20.
It is so wonderful, isn't it?
@@jean_mollycutpurse_winchester Very much so indeed.
I dare any popstar-actress-actor-performer to learn this exceptional number. Incredibly talented people once we had. Above all, their beauty was enhanced by class and scene lights, not edited by photoshop.
You are completely correct of course. And that makes me sad. We have lost so much. All for the sake of progress and chasing the dollar instead of art.
Compare this to some of our current crap such as rap, etc and we've lost so much we cannot reclaim.
I could not agree with you more if I tried! It's very sad.
Wikipedia: The "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody" set alone was reported to have cost US$220,000 (US$4,053,381 in 2019 dollars[3]),[4] featuring a towering rotating volute of 70 ft (21 m) diameter with 175 spiral steps, weighing 100 tons.
That's amazing information. Thank you, Rowby.
This clip is just the end of a very long and astounding sequence. You cannot look away from the screen.
Yes, I wish I had the entire clip.
巨大なデコレーションケーキのようなセットを考え沢山のダンサーや俳優、歌手まで全ての登場人物にヘアメイクし衣装を着せる、そこにはどれだけの人手と労力がかかったか。
ここまでの豪華なショウはできないと言われたそうで、今もって不可能です。
よく見るとみんな違う魅力的な人ばかりで眼福です。
夢の工場MGM🏭、かつての栄光をこうして自宅で楽しめるようになって嬉しい一方、もう一度こんな魅力ある映画産業が栄えることがないのが残念です😢
I could not agree with you more! What an amount of effort!
Life was grand back then. Everything, larger than life. And this, surely proves it. Just wow💕!!!
It's such a fantastic film.
In fact the opposite- life was at the tail end of the Depression...but the movies were made grand for escapism!
And well never ever see talent like this ever again. From all concerned on tbese works of art.
Absolutely true!
It sounds more like Aled Jones singing!! His voice is so distinct! I’d swear that was him!
That's because it IS Allan Jones. His singing voice was used instead of Dennis Morgan's.
I always thought this was unreal boy did they know how to make movies back then.
Dad started filming in 1957 this was 1969.
Wow wow wow there is literally nothing close to this now. Hollywood is long dead. It truly was the dream factory.
I know. It's sad to think that greed has taken Hollywood over so much.
That Broadway Melody from 1940. I've never seen such exquisite dancing in my life. I cannot imagine the amount of practice hours that those artists put into it.
Why doesn't tap dancing come back in style? It would be great exercise, you can do it alone or in pairs, it is flexible in its choreography, and requires a degree of athleticism. Sounds like it would be a winner!
Agreed. I did tap when I was a teenager.
Modern audiences won't like watching a well-dressed person tap for minutes on end.
The “cake” is the most spectacular production ever done in Hollywood!
Yes, it is amazing!
No, it's a triumph of set design over choreography. Ziegfeld would fill a stage, but so full that the performers could not hoof much even if they were capable of it- and his chorines were picked on looks, not footwork.
Ziegfeld was into tableaux and costumes, not dazzling movement. The film recreates his aesthetic but does not translate it into cinematic terms: you see a stately procession, not the camera angles and fast cutting of a Busby Berkeley or the simpler but elegant coverage of a Fred Astaire number by Mark Sandrich.
'The Great Ziegfeld' was not a true musical at all. It was a biopic of Flo with stage interludes, harking back to the canned Broadway revue of early Talkie days.
The future belonged to another MGM picture released just beforehand, Eleanor Powell's 'Born to Dance'. Watch the finale, 'Swingin' the Jinx Away', to see how lavish sets, a huge cast, a virtuoso soloist and a brilliant composer can collaborate to produce a truly dynamic and sensational *moving* picture.
That was Metro's breakthrough in surpassing Warner and RKO as a maker of musicals: a crown it retained for 20 years until the genre faded. The second clip underlines how the initiative passed to it. Fred, Gingerless, is a guest star duetting with Eleanor Powell in a number principally choreographed by her on a set designed by her boyfriend- and in the judgment of most, for once he is outdanced.
'Begin the Beguine', not 'A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody', is the sequence most people remember because it foregrounds supremely polished dancing against a costly but austere backdrop. It would be possible to recreate a Ziegfeld extravaganza, but not this duet. Sinatra was right.
@@esmeephillips5888 thanks for the info and analysis.
With respect, I think 'Flying Down To Rio' the airplanes with girls on top takes the 🏆 trophy.💯
You might be right but the Babylon sequence from Intolerance is pretty amazing. I should also point out the chariot race from Wylers Ben Hur. Reel 9 in magnetic stereo is in a class by itself. Shangri la in Lost Horizon is awe inspiring. The staircase is two shots. Around the base is one, then the climb and pull back.
Those women were part of something very special that they can tell their family for generations.
They certainly were!
Two interesting facts about that AMAZING stage number: 1) What you see on film is the FIRST attempt at the production. They got it perfectly right the first time. 2) Although Dennis Morgan did have a beautiful singing voice, he was lip syncing to Allan Jones voice. Here is the proof from IMDB's listings: The Great Ziegfeld (performer: "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody" (1919) - uncredited)
Some of the powerful notes were simply beyond Morgan's range.
Also as the camera pans back out, there is that girl on the top row that decides to fluff up her dress just as it's going round almost out of sight. Presumably, she thought she was out of shot.
Albert Yokum - At first, they're playing "Rhapsody in Blue" by George Gershwin, but don't ever say he wrote the "Pretty Girl" song too - give the credit to Irving Berlin.
I still get goosebumps watching the first one. Broadway Melody?
Me too!
By the way, the singer is Allan Jones, dubbing Dennis Morgan
Thanks for that, Sanford.
מה קרה לסרטים המצוינים האלה? האם זה הקללה שדור ישכח מה שהלך קודם?
How can they be this awesome in performing? Practice, ling ling 40 hours.
Every-time I watch those dancers I feel a tear coming on for the sheer brilliance, dedication and artistry. A time when Hollywood was truly at the top of its game.
Just watched that again. Wow!! Double wow!!!
Dennis Morgan singing "A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody" (1936) Just one of my bestest favorite magnificent (BB??) musicals. How and why they did them all is beyond comprehension. Could never ever do them today.
Think: rehearsing schedule!?!? Eeekkkk.
So yeah, we are fortunate to see/have on film in 2020 ❤
Just. So. Unbelievable.
It is truly wonderful, isn't it!
But that wasn't Dennis Morgan's voice. They dubbed it with Allan Jones' voice. I don't know why. And I don't know why they didn't have Sinatra mention it in That's Entertainment. I can't believe someone involved didn't know it.
@@ronaldcammarata3422 I was always annoyed that Sinatra didn't mention it was Allan Jones singing, and not Dennis Morgan in That's Entertainment!
I agree with all of th here replies...Now...take it to the BIG SCREEN! I'd pay whatever the price. We need this respite from all of the ugliness that's
in our world today. Hollywood was incredible from the late 1900's through and after the war...All of the pre code movies were fabulous. Kay Francis....Norma Sheerer....Hollywood now, can never compete...NEVER ....EVER!!!
Some young women today could benefit seeing well groomed, well mannered NO NOSE RINGS..., women.
It was a magical, creative passionate industry. Now for the most part...garbage...
I'm referring to "A Pretty Girl is Like A Melody".
I love it!
Just how much fabric did that curtain require?
Yes, unbelievable!
4,300 yards of silk rayon according to the publicity, if you can believe that.
Although the voice heard singing Irving Berlin’s music and lyrics was that of the tenor Allan Jones, Dennis Morgan (a lyric baritone) was chosen to lip-synch Jones’ voice because Morgan resembled John Steel, the tenor who had introduced the song in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1919.
Very, very interesting. Thank you.
Molly, If you’ve not heard John Steel’s 1919 Victor recording of “A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody,” here’s a link to it:
ua-cam.com/video/mB097aRIolc/v-deo.html
How did they remember all those steps? By practising about 16 hours a day, I guess!
I started dancing at two weeks old. Shirley 1959
I read somewhere that Robert Alda (father of Alan) was the actual singer.
I have a feeling somebody else mentioned that that in the comments as well. Thanks for your comment.
It's an excerpt from the documentary "That's Entertainment!" from 1974, celebrating MGM's 50th anniversary
The voice is Frank Sinatra's
Correct!
The awesome talent in Hollywood in those days can never be equalled.....all these movies needed, were to be shot in color, adding a dazzling new dimension to them.
It'll be marvellous if someone was to do one of them 60 FPS, colour, AI jobs on them. And it's true, they are pure entertainment of the very highest quality.And as you say, awesome talent.
Exactly the technology of today could easily add true colour to these sequences. Maybe one day. 👍🥸🤓
There must be some people watching this scene and saying "Here's my grandma!"
Yeah, you're probably right!
And all narrated by Francis Albert Sinatra
It's a crime that Eleanor Powell is forgotten. She should be taken up as a feminist icon; she was the only peer of Fred Astaire. In this number, they dance, not as romantic partners, but as equals. With Ginger Rogers, there was a plot and seduction to their dances. Not here. One can feel the respect and even competition between the two of them. A brilliant number - and echoed in Chazel's "LaLa Land." at 5:02 ua-cam.com/video/oBTdHVXwIMo/v-deo.html
Absolutely!!
Mgm a musical.protipol warnerom.slavne broadwayske melodie a ine.prepracovana choreografia v podani daveho golda,posobiva,priam dokonala.ucinkujuci ako f.astaire,e.powell. ,_ najlepsia steparka,r.taylor a ini.nadherna hudba v podani, nesmrtelnych'_h.b.brown,j.kern,I.berlin,c.porter atd.dokonaly suzvuk,hlavne pohyb a hudba.rovnocenne klenoty ako u warnera.zlaty fond svetovej kinematografie a musicalu.oslovuje v kazdej dobe,veku.uzasny esteticky dojem a zazitok.nasi predkovia to naozaj vedeli,netreba na nich zabudat.pripominame si ich prave prostrednictvom ich tvorby_resp.umenia.toto je naozaj plnohodnotne,prave umenie.srdecna vdaka,vivat hollywood a broadway.peter ragac,slovakia
Too bad it looks like these productions won’t be repeated. I’m almost feeling sorry for future generations
Oh, I defiantly feel sorry for future generations!
Pure beauty and artistry of an era sadly gone.............
So very, very true!
SPECTACULAR
No one, today, has the genius to do such an innocent showstopper.
Beautifull
Simply amazing
Isn't it just. Just wonderful. Never to be repeated.
First number, lead singer had a "strange" vibrato and somehow thin voice. I totally expected a big, rich, belcanto tenor and not this style.
So, were you impressed. Or disappointed??
It was a lipsynic
The actor was Dennis Morgan, but the singer was Alan Jones (father of later singer Jack Jones). And that's just the way Jones sang.
Peccato che il brano non é intero e pergiunta con commento inopportuno, trattandosi di una sequenza storica del cinema musicale.
Agreed!
Cut out the fantastic beginning, of A Pretty Girl, missing at least a couple of minutes, don’t know why.
This is really the end of “A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody”
This is a clip from THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT (1974, narrated by Frank Sinatra). They only used a portion of the number in that film.
Isso é maravilhoso! Só vocês americanos pra proporcionar isso pra gente! Parabéns e valeuuu 🤗.
Muito obrigado
Time marches on: 2021....
Thank goodness!!!!
A zabudol som este na rko a f.astaira a g. Rogers.peter ragac,slovakia
So classic and i love it... 😍😍
❤️
I saw this clip (the cake), on That's Entertainment (I believe they show the whole clip on that). It's the most amazing scenery in any film that I've ever seen! Mixed in with that old fashioned Hollywood romance. I feel nostalgic for those times, before I was even born.
Me too!
Probably someone has already mentioned this, but it's worth repeating. While that is Dennis Morgan in the scene, it is definitely NOT Dennis Morgan singing. It's Allan Jones (father of future singer Jack Jones) singing. For some reason they dubbed in Jones's voice. I don't know why. I also don't know why they didn't have Sinatra point this out in That's Entertainment.
Thank you for this information.
Flawless ( and very complex) dance routine ! Just beautiful perfection !
Without reading all the comments, I don't know if anyone has already mentioned it...but it's worth mentioning anyway. For some reason I have never heard, Dennis Morgan's singing voice was dubbed over wih Allan Jones's voice. Why? 🤷🏻♂️
I believe, yes, somebody does mention that. Although, whether they offer the reason, sorry, I cannot remember.
Ehm... About ten times? (and I haven't read them all).
@@irmar Do you feel better now?
Wonderful. The real fiber of Hollywood .
It's a shit show now days .
Fantastic days for sure.
the number was recorded early onsite is Allan Jones' voice but he was filming another musical when this was filmed
I recently just rewatched "The Towering Inferno." It was interesting to see Fred Astaire as an elderly gentleman and not in a musical. A lot of stars in that movie.
A lovely elderly gentlemen indeed.
For that role he received the only Academy Award nomination of his long career, in the Best Supporting Actor category. He lost to Robert DeNiro (as Vito Corleone, The Godfather Part II)
Luis Humberto Vega did not know. Thanks for the information! With it being a big effects, disaster movie I didn’t think there would’ve been academy nominations beyond technical categories. Hey, looks like he got the Golden Globe for the role though. Just looked it up.
@@TheIndependentLens Oh, that, about Astaire being awarded the GG is news to me, thank you. I follow the Óscars but not the other awards. Too bad those 1-derful dancers of Hollywood's Golden Age never received the recognition they deserved as actors as if the performing of a dance was not hard enough. Unless they starred in some intense drama with a lot of crying and emoting they were usually ignored in the acting categories. When you asked Donald O'Connor about his profession he simply answered 'I am an actor.', implying that singing, dancing, comedy, drama and anything else comprising the performing disciplines formed part of, were branches of Acting. I definitively agree with him, and he was great at everything he did.
@@jean_mollycutpurse_winchester Although he was trying to sell Jennifer Jones a pup!
STILL unbelievable....
Better than the vitriol Hollywood makes today.
I could not agree with you more!
That curtain omg
It does rather take your breath away, doesn't it!!
Super excellent with very good interesting video
I wish I could be sitting up on those steps!
Me too!!!
The story goes that in the Fred Astaire dance number, MGM couldn't find a supplier to take on the mirrors, so MGM made them themselves in-house - glass mirror floor and 30' tall mirrors upstage ... what a beast of a job that would have been, not to mention 'choreographing' the movement of the mirrored rear wall of the set to avoid unwanted reflections that would ruin the scene - production talent at it's best... without even mentioning the 'Pretty Girl; set - do you realize that that monumental spiraling curtain is actually cut / made to sit on each step, as it rotates back into the closed position... now a behind the scenes shot of that set operating would be absolutely gob-smacking...
Thank you, John for that wonderful information. Truly astounding!
That is not Dennis Morgan's voice It's' Alan Jones.
I loved these pictures then AND now AND always. What a pity they don't make pictures like this anymore
The best crane shot of all time.
I’d have to say Gone With the Wind 1939
Although this is the greatest MGM Crane Shot indeed!
The song is not sung by Dennis Morgan, he "lip synced" it!!!!! The song is sung by tenor John Steel!
Many thanks for the information.
This is only the last part of this sequence.
Que saudades dos bons musicais da MGM!
Me too!!
Very Beautiful.
Thank you for your comment. I entirely agree!
Molly Cutpurse
1 minute ago
It is from the film, The Great Ziegfeld (MGM, 1936)
One of my absolute favs from MGM.
It is beautiful, isn't it?
Why was Dennis Morgan's voice dubbed when Dennis Morgan has such a beautiful voice his self. Dennis's singing voice was beautiful in "The Dessert Song" and many other Warner Bros. musicals.
Robert Anderson probably because of the acoustics and size of theatre.
he was dubbed Christ I never knew that
CF G Acoustics and size of what theatre? The MGM sound recording studio? With all the microphones? What are you talking about?
Does "dubbed" mean someone other than Dennis Morgan sang it or did just sing it in a studio and just mouthed the words for this performance
The original “Follies” production starred John Steel, a lyric tenor, so for a semblance of historical accuracy Allan Jones was given the song to record in the manner of John Steel, and Dennis Morgan, a lyric “bari-tenor” whose timbre sounded nothing like Steel’s, lip-synched to Jones’s recorded performance.
Is it just me or does that male voice sound more like Allen Jones? 🤔🧐
You are right!!
Narrated by Frank Sinatra.
The one and only!
Amazing!
Agreed!!!
この時代にこの完成度素晴らしい！
Most certainly!!
It is driving me crazy. What is the name of the classical song at the beginning before Frank Sinatra speaks? I can't get enough to search it.
A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody - THE GREAT ZIEGFELD www.dailymotion.com/video/x3ick8 The full version is nothing short of phenomenal.
No it was those instrumental notes in the very begining. Not very long. Thank you