Ann Blyth on Movie Spotlight cover

Ann Blyth appears on the cover of Movie Spotlight magazine from April 1954.  There was a proliferation of magazines from the 1930s through the 1950s exclusively  devoted to Hollywood movie stars, so efficient was the industry publicity machine and the public's fascination.  Ann was featured on a number of covers and in many articles in those years.

I don't believe any of the magazines that were part of that era are published today.  Though celebrity watching is hardly diminished, it is certainly less glamorized.  

Ann Blyth dumps porridge on Howard Keel's head

Ann Blyth dumps a bowl of porridge on Howard Keel's head.  How many times in how many takes?  For her sake, I hope it was at least a few, because it looks like fun.

Here Ann starred with Howard Keel in the lavish musical Rose Marie (1954).  From my book Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star.:

Sgt. Howard Keel catches her again.  Have a look at the image of him holding her, one-armed, from his horse, dangling her like a rag doll.  An indignant, frustrated rag doll.  There is no remnant of the slick sociopath Veda Pierce.  Nothing resembling the haughty, conniving fashion plate Regina Hubbard, the graceful elegance of the Countess Marina, and no sign of the poised, demure high school graduate Gail Macaulay.

Few of Ann Blyth’s contemporaries were as versatile.  Catch the little groan, equal parts despair and discomfort, when he hoists her into the saddle after she capitulates.

Howard Keel at first was not happy with the Mountie’s role in this film, finding him too weak and ineffectual…perhaps as clownish as Dudley Do-Right…but his requested changes to the script were made and he signed on, noting in his autobiography, Only Make Believe, that it was a fun shoot.

I didn’t sing with Ann Blyth, but she was a delightful cutie and sang beautifully.