Ann Blyth and Howard Keel in KISMET (1955)

Kismet (1955) starring Ann Blyth and Howard Keel is part of TCM's salute to Howard Keel today, so here's your chance to catch up today at 5:30 p.m. ET with a lovely performance by Ann in her last movie musical.

For more on the movie, and her career, have a look at my book on Ann's career -- Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star.

eBook edition (Amazon)

print edition available at Amazon and also my Etsy shop.

audiobook edition

Also available in eBook at:

Kobo

Barnes & Noble

Apple iBooks

...and a variety of other online shops!

For more on my other books and plays, please see my website: JacquelineTLynch.com  

"Lynch’s book is organized and well-written – and has plenty of amusing observations – but when it comes to describing Blyth’s movies, Lynch’s writing sparkles." - Ruth Kerr, Silver Screenings

"Jacqueline T. Lynch creates a poignant and thoroughly-researched mosaic of memories of a fine, upstanding human being who also happens to be a legendary entertainer." - Deborah Thomas, Java's Journey

"One of the great strengths of Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. is that Lynch not only gives an excellent overview of Blyth's career -- she offers detailed analyses of each of Blyth's roles -- but she puts them in the context of the larger issues of the day."- Amanda Garrett, Old Hollywood Films

"Jacqueline's book will hopefully cause many more people to take a look at this multitalented woman whose career encompassed just about every possible aspect of 20th Century entertainment." - Laura Grieve, Laura's Miscellaneous Musings''

"Jacqueline T. Lynch’s Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. is an extremely well researched undertaking that is a must for all Blyth fans." - Annette Bochenek, Hometowns to Hollywood

Ann Blyth feeds fellow cast member on set of KISMET

Ann Blyth appears to be feeding a castmate some lunch while on the set of Kismet (1955).  You can next see this lavish musical on Turner Classic Movies tomorrow, Thursday the 24th at 6 p.m. ET.

From my book, Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. --

Ann’s most famous number, “Baubles, Bangles, and Beads,” is a slow waltz-tune during which she changes from a ragged street urchin to desirable woman.  A bolt of yellow cloth is chucked across the screen and she catches it, like grabbing the brass ring... 

Could she have ever imagined while lip-syncing that lovely tune to the playback of her lovely voice on the faux Persian soundstage that she’d still be singing it in concert decades later? 

eBook edition (Amazon)

print edition

audiobook edition

Also available in eBook at:

Kobo

Barnes & Noble

Apple iBooks

Deep in My Heart - Ann Blyth on CD

Ann Blyth demonstrated an exquisite singing voice in her films, radio and musical stage appearances and concerts, but fans have one great regret --  that her discography is so limited.  With someone so accomplished a vocalist, we might naturally expect a number of recordings, but unfortunately, we are left with only a few singles and cast albums of movie soundtracks.  

However, there was a compilation CD produced by Flare Records, a company in London, England, in 2007, Deep in My Heart - The Golden Voice of Ann Blyth, which is a very nice collection of some of Ann's hits from her four M-G-M musicals.

It is a pleasure to focus in on her musical moments from The Great Caruso (1951), Rose Marie (1954), The Student Prince (1954) and Kismet (1955).  Her duets with Mario Lanza, Howard Keel, Fernando Lamas, and Vic Damone are included.  A special added feature is the inclusion of the song "Rhymes Have I," sung with Howard Keel that was cut out of Kismet.  It's an energetic, soaring performance from both, and a real shame that it was left out of the movie.

Flare Records, established in 1995, is dedicated to re-issuing pop music from the past.  Have a look here for their catalogue. 

Kismet on TCM

Ann Blyth and Vic Damone, pictured in the above lobby card, star in Kismet (1955).  Turner Classic Movies presents this classic this coming Saturday.  From my book,  Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star.:



The “Strangers in Paradise” number.  Vic Damone has followed Ann to the walled garden of a small house.  She is trespassing, but he thinks she is the well-to-do young woman of the house and he falls in love with her.  He doesn’t tell her he’s the Caliph; he lets her think he is a gardener.   He is dressed in colors making him a part of the garden—sand and bright green, and she is in yellow, like the flowers dotting the foreground in this scene.  He is the plant; she the flower.  They are both organic to the place, they belong here.  Note the staging, how they stand in tableau in the arches, how they part, she slightly above him on steps as his adored one on a pedestal, with a peacock between them. 

Next, as the song, which is their courtship, progresses, they stand together with another peacock unfurling his magnificent white fan of tail feathers.  Finally, they come together in a section of the garden with red flowers, the color of romance, when their passion culminates in a kiss and a promise.  Interestingly, they step back away from us to kiss.  Perhaps to get their full forms in view, but CinemaScope did not work really well with close-ups.  Minnelli makes CinemaScope work well for this picture with gracefully framed shots.  Ann promises to meet Damone here at moonrise.  It’s a lovely scene, but dissolves too quickly when we really want to linger on her watching him leave.  It’s one of the most graceful and elegant scenes ever filmed in CinemaScope.

Catch Kismet on TCM Saturday, March 24th at noon ET.

Modern Screen cover April 1955

Ann Blyth graces the cover of Modern Screen this April 1955 edition.  Still a top star in Hollywood, there were two more films to be released in that year: The King's Thief in August, and the lavish musical Kismet in December.  Her second child, her daughter Maureen, was born in December as well, so we can assume that the year 1955 was a fairly busy one for Ann.

The cover does, however, intimate that the climate was changing in Hollywood, as we note the references to two other up-and-coming -- and major -- stars, Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn.  Monroe's career ended with her tragic death, but her stardom -- which we may argue is something different than a career -- continues to this day.  Audrey Hepburn's career slowed in the early 1960s due to her preference to remain at home and raise her children, but she did continue to work in films sporadically through the rest of her life and devoted her last years to UNICEF.

Ann quietly managed to be active in raising her children, participating in charitable causes, and dabbling in her career, which took a sharp turn from films to television and most notably, theatre.  How funny not to achieve the icon status those other two talented ladies did through their screen magnetism, and yet we may smile at her magnificent success in accomplishing so much and without fanfare.

From my book Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star.:

Was her forgotten status due, perhaps, to a combination of circumstances unique to Hollywood—that because the quiet stability of her private life did not make headlines she therefore couldn’t be exploited for profit; because the bulk of her films are hardly, if ever, shown today or available on DVD; and because, unlike those tragic stars who died young, or younger, she outlived all her co-stars?

Had she done more television, she might have regained recognition among younger audiences.  (For instance, like Angela Lansbury, who without Murder She Wrote might be known only to classic film buffs and theatre fans, but not have household name recognition in the U.S. and around the world.)  Still, though her staunch fans might mourn her lack of icon status, probably Ann would not.  Truly, she got the best of the bargain in a rich and rewarding private life—long and happy marriage, five children, ten grandchildren, life-long friends in and out of the entertainment industry, charitable work—and a satisfying career in proportions she could deal with...

Ann Blyth Double-Header: The Student Prince and Kismet

We have an Ann Blyth double-header coming up Friday morning on Turner Classic Movies: The Student Prince (1954) and Kismet (1955) are scheduled for 8 a.m. (ET) and 10 a.m., respectively.

Ann-fests are rare on TCM, so take advantage of the opportunity to see two lush, colorful (despite these black and white photos here), fairy-tale stories.  It should be a lovely morning.

That's Howard Keel above playing Ann's roguish papa, who teaches her to steel oranges from Corporal Klinger (you gotta be there).

Below, we have the raucous biergarten from The Student Prince.  The chap to the right of Ann is Richard Anderson long before he became Lee Majors' boss on The Six Million Dollar Man.

More on The Student Prince here at my Another Old Movie Blog, and Kismet here.