Katie Did It - 1951 - watch the movie!

Ann Blyth will be 90 years old next Thursday on August 16th. I posted a Universal publicity photo last week that was taken just before Katie Did It (1951) when Ann was about 22 years old. In the YouTube video above, you can watch the entire movie.  

For the entire month of August, the eBook version of Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. will be reduced by 70% to $2.99. This special sale continues only this month, and only for the eBook version.

You can get your copy here at these online retailers:

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Ann Blyth and Friends Sing The Oceana Roll

Ann Blyth sings "The Oceana Roll" in Jack Carson's waterfront dive tonight as Turner Classic Movies gives us another chance to visit Mildred Pierce (1945).

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

Much later on in the movie we will see that when Joan Crawford kicks Veda out of the house and Veda has to find work, she ends up in Jack Carson’s waterfront dive singing the ragtime saloon song “The Oceana Roll” and we may wonder if she got her training for that unlikely career by playing with Kay in the living room singing a song like “South American Way.”  She has a little of Kay’s flamboyance if not her unselfconscious joy, as she is leered at by sailors in the dismal dive.

Joan Crawford’s sickened expression in the saloon watching her daughter is priceless.

Ann's chum Jane Powell also got a turn to sing the old ragtime tune in Two Weeks with Love (1950), a much more family-friendly performance here from YouTube:

Vaudevillian Beatrice Kay also revived the number, probably for television, in 1956 here:

Both charming performances with a turn-of-the-20th century flare.  For a little ragtime raciness, however, tune in tonight for Ann's come-hither vamp of the old piano roll favorite.  Catch Mildred Pierce tonight on TCM at 10 p.m. ET.

Happy St. Patrick's Day with Ann Blyth and Bing Crosby

We celebrate upcoming St. Patrick's Day with Ann Blyth and Bing Crosby in Top o' the Morning (1949).  As noted in my book, Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star.:

Bing Crosby remarked of Ann in a Modern Screen article:

“She looks so small and fragile, but she’s got an awful lot of drive.  There’s nothing in Hollywood that’s going to stop this kid.”

For more on Top o' the Morning, have a look at this post on my Another Old Movie Blog.  I'll leave you today with a foot-stomping scene from the movie and the song "The Donovans."  Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Candlelight and love songs - Ann Blyth and Robert Mitchum

Today we celebrate Valentine's Day with a lovely scene between Ann Blyth and Robert Mitchum singing love songs to each other in One Minute to Zero (1952).

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

Their most intriguing scene together, however, is playing sitting opposite each other at a kitchen table after she has made supper for him at her apartment in Japan, their first date.  The candles burn down, and both, slightly slumped over the table, he with his chin on his hand, give the impression of being all talked out.  A soothing, lazy tune, in a delicately Asian style, penetrates their silence, coming, we are told in a quick camera shot from a record on a portable record player.  Suddenly, Robert Mitchum begins to sing along to the tune, in Japanese.  Catch Ann’s expression of surprised delight.  She is glued to his face, watching him sing, fascinated by him.  It opens the door to their romance.  She sees there is more to him than just a blustering alpha male dismissive of her opinions on the war...

As Robert Mitchum lazily smokes a cigarette (his trademark sleepy performance punctuates pretty nearly everything he does in this movie), he coaxes Ann, who confesses she knows only the English words to that tune, to sing.  So now it’s her turn at bat, and Ann sings an English verse of “Golden Moon.”  It is low, quiet, and lovely, and the really tender aspect about this scene is that they both appear to be singing “live.”  It does not appear they’re lip-syncing to a pre-recorded track.  It’s easier to keep the flow of singing and dialogue in this quiet, moody setting by having them do it live.  What we get is a very casual, natural, and intimate moment.

Here is that moment, from a clip on YouTube.  Happy Valentine's Day...

Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid - a summertime sail

A leisurely summertime sail with Ann Blyth as the mermaid and William Powell as Mr. Peabody in Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (1948).  Powell plays a man facing a mid-life crisis who catches the lovely mermaid while fishing, and so begins his ethereal, and hilarious, adventure.

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

William Powell is so entertaining and so sweet in his role, which is basically comic, but lends it such skillful depth and poignancy.  Ann Blyth’s work here is luminous and captivating.  It is a non-speaking role, but there is remarkable and touching eloquence in the way her eyes roam over his face, as if trying to read him, trying to understand his words and his facial expression.  Middle-aged Mr. Peabody is wondrous and fascinating to her, and her unlikely crush for him alone adds another level to the comedy, and the poignancy.  We can see why he might take a fancy to her, but her radiant and achingly silent adoration of him is charming.

Fortunately, the movie is apparently now available on DVD from Olive Films, but you can see it here on YouTube at the moment.

Ann Blyth and Perry Como - Winter Wonderland

A very Merry Christmas to all our readers and Ann Blyth fans everywhere!  This image is taken from a clip of Ann singing "Winter Wonderland" with Perry Como on his television Christmas Show from 1958.  From my book, Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. here's a description of that episode:

The Perry Como Christmas Show – December 20, 1958, NBC, Season 11, Episode 15.  Ann is guest, along with puppeteer Burr Tilstrom and his Kukla and Ollie puppets.  Ann sings with Perry and ensemble at the opening, “Happy Holidays.”  She also sings “You Are Love” from Show Boat in a stunning performance demonstrating her range, control, and power as a trained singer.  She belts her last soaring note facing upward as the camera is lifted above her.  As noted earlier, this show was performed live in New York at the Ziegfeld Theatre, where Show Boat coincidentally debuted in 1927.  For this number Ann, with her hair in a curly bob, wearing bold  lipstick, is dressed in a light colored evening gown with a fitted waist and, as was the fashion of the day, a full skirt.  As noted by longtime fan Gerald Waters, who researched the episode: Late in the song, filmed with only one camera, the camera develops problems due to a weak vacuum tube and the transmission wavers and fades for a moment.  “Due to the flickering red light on the TV camera, Ann was aware that something was occurring, but she completed ‘You Are Love’ as if nothing was wrong.”  Ann also performs “What Child is This?” in a solo where the cast are dressed in nineteenth century costumes in a Dickensian setting.  The simple accompaniment with flutes, oboe, and clarinet is quite lovely.  The medley with Perry and the ensemble includes an intricate a cappella duet on “Joy to the World,” “Deck the Halls,” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”  She also sings a duet with Perry on “Winter Wonderland,” and they chat about her (then) three children and shopping for presents, noting that old fashioned skates and sleds have been replaced by toy rockets and missiles.

Have a look at the clip of Ann and Perry singing "Winter Wonderland" here on YouTube.  May I wish you and yours a very happy holiday season and a bright New Year.  Thank you for the pleasure of your company.

I'll Never Forget You - watch on YouTube

I'll Never Forget You (1951) is a haunting, deeply romantic story of time travel starring Ann Blyth and Tyrone Power.  Its opening and closing segments are filmed in stark black and white echoing scientist Tyrone Power's bleak view of the post-World War II world--but his journey back to the 18th Century and the Age of Enlightenment in England is brought to us in rich and lovely color.  Here Ann Blyth, as a young gentlewoman, is waiting for him.

(Note, the publicity photo above was shot in black and white of what is really a color scene.)

The movie, which has been released on DVD in a Tyrone Power collection is also, at least for the time being, posted on YouTube here.  Have a look at this terrific movie.

For more on I'll Never Forget You, and how it compares to the original Berkeley Square (1933), have a look at my post on Another Old Movie Blog here.

"Suspected" Episode of The June Allyson Show

Ann Blyth starred on television in a suspense episode of The DuPont Show with June Allyson called "Suspected."  It's recently been uploaded to YouTube, so here's your chance to see it.

The program was an anthology show that featured a different star every week, with June Allyson as the host and occasional star herself.  "Suspected" was broadcast December 28, 1959 on CBS, and included Gerald Mohr as a remorseless, woman-hating detective and Marjorie Bennett as a habitual pickpocket and rogue of the cell block.  Ann is a murder suspect, shafted by the press, her family, and the judiciary system.  It's an intense performance in a tightly written show.  You can read more about the episode in my book, Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star.

Or you can just hop over to YouTube and have a look for yourself.  Enjoy.

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The audio book for Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. is now for sale on Audible.com, and on Amazon and iTunes.

Also in paperback and eBook from Amazon.

Katie Did It (1951) - on YouTube

Katie Did It (1951) is a charming movie in which Ann Blyth, who was known for not doing cheesecake photos, plays a prim New England librarian who poses in a swimsuit for a New York commercial artist because she needs to pay her uncle’s gambling debts to keep gangsters from visiting him.

Cecil Kellaway plays her roguish uncle, and we don’t want him to get his legs broken, either.

Mark Stevens plays her prince charming, here with Ann and Cecil Kellaway in the above lobby card for the movie.

This film was the last movie I was able to obtain when researching my book on Ann Blyth’s career, and for a long, nail-biting, while, I thought I’d never find it.  As with many of Ann Blyth’s films, this one is not on DVD, or VHS, and is not shown on Turner Classic Movies.  Press time was fast approaching, and my year-and-a-half-long hunt came up empty.

Then, with dumb luck, a friend saw a copy for sale on eBay—someone’s home-recorded version—and nabbed it for me.  It’s not a great print, but at last I could fill in the blank in my book.

Wouldn’t you know it? NOW it’s on YouTube.

Someone recently posted this sweet movie, here at this link.  Now you can enjoy Katie Did It, but things have a way of disappearing off YouTube, so catch it while you can.  Below, a still shot that was published in Movie Life magazine of the model and the artist getting to know each other.

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The audio book for Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. is now for sale on Audible.com, and on Amazon and iTunes.

Publicity Portrait - 1957

A publicity portrait from 1957, from Paramount Pictures, perhaps about the time Ann Blyth appeared in The Buster Keaton Story for that studio. 

The movie is currently up on YouTube here, though unfortunately, it's not a very good print. We discussed the film here at my Another Old Movie Blog.  

One is struck, of course, by Ann's striking beauty in these typical studio publicity head shots, but we must also marvel at the composition and quality of the professional photography of that era. This goes not only for the big studio publicity departments, but of professional portrait photography in general. Many of us can merely take old family wedding photos, senior photos, and those portraits that GI had taken in their dress uniforms to send back home during World War II just before heading out overseas for an example of ordinary people looking almost like movie stars. The slow black and white film stock, the sculpted lighting effect are only two ingredients of the alchemy that turned  simple human beings into glamorous perfection of the human face.

No "selfie" can top it. 

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The audio book for Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. is now for sale on Audible.com, and on Amazon and iTunes.  

You Can Change the World - 1950

 

 

Hollywood stars moonlight in this short subject with Fr. James Keller of The Christophers in You Can Change the World (1950).  Bob Hope provides the introduction in a comic bit, and the rest of the cast includes Jack Benny, Eddie Rochester Anderson (both also along for laughs), William Holden, Paul Douglas, Loretta Young, Irene Dunne, and Ann Blyth.  Though The Christophers was a Roman Catholic based group, the cast represents a non-denominational aspect to influence  young people to change the world for the better by pursuing careers in public service such as teaching and government work.

 

Above is a press photo.  And here is the link to watch the short on YouTube.

Another Part of the Forest - watch now!

 

Another Part of the Forest (1948) is currently up on YouTube.  This is big.  Go watch this rarely seen movie before it's removed from the site.  Ann stars with Fredric March, Florence Eldridge, Edmond O'Brien, Dan Duryea, and John Dall.

We discussed it here on my Another Old Movie Blog, and in a chapter in Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star.

This explosive drama was written by Lillian Hellman as a prequel to her The Little Foxes. Ann plays a younger version of the character played by Bette Davis. 

If you thought Veda Pierce was bad, have a look at the young and conniving Regina Hubbard...

Red Canyon (1949)

Enjoy RED CANYON (1949) (discussed here on my Another Old Movie Blog) - Ann Blyth's first color motion picture and her only Western film - currently on YouTube.  Discussed also in Chapter 16 of my book, Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star.