Shameless Saturday Camp Explosion: Christmas Eve She Lit the Candles....

Well, not technically a holiday number, I suppose, but it's candy-colored enough to pass for one, and it does remind us of the importance of fire safety whilst celebrating...

What's My Wednesdays #10: Hello, Dollys!

There may not be much mystery to this week's dual Mystery Challengers, and we've already seen one appearance by birthday girl Ginger Rogers, but there's so much richness in this clip that I couldn't resist.

What's My Wednesday #2: Now on Thursday!

The birthday celebrations may have thrown me off my rhythm, but I didn't want to deprive you of this week's quick glimpse into a more elegant past...

Ginger

I suppose it's no surprise that the ridiculously talented Ginger Rogers also played the accordion. But could she do it backwards in heels?

Trailer Trash: They Say Someday You'll Find...

Actually, pretty much the very reverse of trash, I know, but I'm in a FredandGinger mood, so indulge me.

Roberta is just about my favorite of their pictures - not the best, necessarily, or the most lavish, but just the one that somehow gets its right. It's startling to be reminded by the title card that they didn't even lead the bill, that honor going to Miss Irene Dunne as a White Russian princess who gets to wear one of the all-time great tiaras and sing "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes."

This trailer, sadly, is saved from total fabulosity by the sad absence of the title character, the marvelous Helen Westley as Roberta herself, not to mention the toothsome Randolph Scott. Still, there is that tiara, and Fred, and Ginger. Enjoy.

Birthday Girl: On Her Toes

The one and only Ginger Rogers would have been 99 today. Just because it's trite doesn't mean it's not true: anything Fred could do, Ginger did backwards in heels. Having had to do one or two things backwards in heels in my time (yes, I've gotten around, children), I've always found her an inspiration.

She may have been a right-wing flake, and, especially in later life, not the sweetest peach in the orchard, but oh, my: when she was dancing, she made it seem like the most wonderful thing in the world to do. She had a fine way with a wisecrack, too, and I have to say that, most of the time, if I had to choose, I'd rather see a Ginger movie without Fred than a Fred movie without Ginger. But how nice that we have their ten together - two or three sublime, two or three superior, but even the least still a FredandGinger.

It may just be time to see Follow the Fleet again; that, of course, comes with the added bonus of Randolph Scott, so if I seem a little distracted today, you'll know why...

In the Clinch

I don't know about you, but I had no idea that Ginger Rogers and Doris Day felt so strongly about one another.

Sigamos!

Ginger's looking a little off in this poster for the overseas market, and I'm not sure that "la super-dreadnaught de las musicales" is the most enticing tagline of all time, but when you get right down to it, anything con Harriet Hilliard is okay by me...

Very Definitely a Lounge Act

Ginger and her boys, just singin' a song and having a blast. Doesn't she look pleased at having at last shed that pesky Mr. Astaire?

I would have thought, though, that she might have emphasized a little more toothsomeness in the backups - they're a fairly motley crew. Or perhaps she just went Mae West one better, and didn't even want men on stage who might be as pretty as she?