I've made three separate pilgrimages to her museum in Rio, and have even been to the little church outside of Oporto, Portugal where she was baptized.
Her museum in Rio is beautifully situated on Botofogo Bay and looks out on Sugarloaf. Unfortuneately the building is ugly poured concrete, but it does maintain a good collection of her costumes.
The documentary Bananas is my Business begins with a pan of different costumed mannequins on display in the museum. All is still until one of the mannequins comes to life, a drag performer who portrays the movie in mock stock footage from the '40s. Fagulous!
Not so fagulous? The movie Greenwich Village, which features William Bendix engaging in a fag bashing just before the camera cuts to Carmen singing. Shockingly disturbing for this fan.
Even worse about Greenwich Village? It was supposed to be the picture that put Comden and Green and their pal Judy Holiday into movies - but they got cut. Even the combo of Carmen and Vivian Blaine can't save what's left...
Long, long ago, some colleagues and I tried to find out whether Fox had by any chance saved the cut number, "The Baroness Bazooka." Sadly, the answer seems to be no.
Another lost treasure: the Warner's screen test that Leonard Bernstein made around the same time for an aborted Great Composer (Chopin?) biopic...
I wonder if, like Carol Channing and Dolly Parton, she was such a plasticized, platformed Barbie on stage, that she could probably walk un-costumed down the street without anyone recognizing her. That would be a good kind of fame.
...I-yi-yi-yi like her very much...
We worship Carmen!
ReplyDeleteI've made three separate pilgrimages to her museum in Rio, and have even been to the little church outside of Oporto, Portugal where she was baptized.
Her museum in Rio is beautifully situated on Botofogo Bay and looks out on Sugarloaf. Unfortuneately the building is ugly poured concrete, but it does maintain a good collection of her costumes.
The documentary Bananas is my Business begins with a pan of different costumed mannequins on display in the museum. All is still until one of the mannequins comes to life, a drag performer who portrays the movie in mock stock footage from the '40s. Fagulous!
Not so fagulous? The movie Greenwich Village, which features William Bendix engaging in a fag bashing just before the camera cuts to Carmen singing. Shockingly disturbing for this fan.
Even worse about Greenwich Village? It was supposed to be the picture that put Comden and Green and their pal Judy Holiday into movies - but they got cut. Even the combo of Carmen and Vivian Blaine can't save what's left...
ReplyDeleteyes, i adored going to the museum too, as well as her crypt. the museum building is a horror, but at least there's a museum!
ReplyDeleteExactly! Are the clips available anywhere do you think, or did they just fall to the cutting room floor?
ReplyDeleteLong, long ago, some colleagues and I tried to find out whether Fox had by any chance saved the cut number, "The Baroness Bazooka." Sadly, the answer seems to be no.
ReplyDeleteAnother lost treasure: the Warner's screen test that Leonard Bernstein made around the same time for an aborted Great Composer (Chopin?) biopic...
I wonder if, like Carol Channing and Dolly Parton, she was such a plasticized, platformed Barbie on stage, that she could probably walk un-costumed down the street without anyone recognizing her. That would be a good kind of fame.
ReplyDelete