Hello, all!
Coming at you with another edition of our movie musical watching series! You might say, “What series, Katie?” and that would be fair… I posted Volume 1 in March and we haven’t watched one since! Now that J and I are both vaccinated and we’ll be going back to work more regularly we’re hoping we’ll get back on a roll by watching together after work.
These next four movies are Doris Day heavy, but I’m a big fan! The only non-Doris movie is one I haven’t seen! As per usual, spoilers abound. Let’s go!
4. On Moonlight Bay (1951)
Pre-game Thoughts:
Katie: Love this one, watched it lots of times growing up! Excited to see it again and sing along. It’s very hard to buy (if anyone finds it and its sequel for a decent price let me know asap!).
Jocelyn: I have no thoughts about this, I’d never heard of it, it was not part of my anything, all I know is that Doris Day is a name that I know but I don’t know what from.
Commentary:
“I will always hate intricate opening credits. I don’t know if it’s because we’ve learned to get right into things…”-Jocelyn. “Agreed! We would always fast forward as kids.”-Katie.
“Makes me want to watch Mary Poppins.”-Jocelyn.
“Is that the same house as Meet Me in St. Louis?”-Katie.
“Mary Wickes again! She was the original sassy maid.”-Jocelyn.
“Is she going to shoot him?”-Jocelyn. “Yes, what a meet cute, hey?”-Katie.
“He’s supposed to be a senior in college? That’s wild.”-Jocelyn.
“Uhoh! You’re going to be lopsided! Your Tribble is missing!”-Jocelyn, re: the powder puff making its debut on the dance floor (Katie died at this comment. RIP.)
“This one was meant to emulate Meet Me in St. Louis but it is already 10x better.”-Katie. “It IS 10x better!”-Jocelyn.
“I like his eyeshadow…”-Jocelyn.
“How does she know how to flirt like that?! She’s a baseball boy!”-Katie, re: telling him there are no matches left when the lights go out so he’ll kiss her again.
“Took one Philosophy class…”-Jocelyn, re: William’s rant about banks to his lady’s dad.
“I hate second hand cringe in movies…”-Jocelyn, re: Wesley reading Marjie’s letter to Bill in class without realizing it was a love letter.
“Ugh, things you say in front of your dad.”-Jocelyn, re: Marjie telling Bill to hold her tight.
“It makes me sad to see animals on old movies because I know they’re dead…”-Jocelyn. “So are the people!!?”-Katie.
Post-game Wrap Up:
Katie: Still loved it, had more slower moments than I recalled so I must have blocked those out as unimportant. Funny and I’m excited for the sequel later!
Jocelyn: I liked it way more than I thought it would–had some drama, some suspense, some good jokes and laughs (the bit with the food and the doors was a good running joke). Still very 50s even though set in 1917. Songs were pretty blah.
5. Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
Pre-game Thoughts:
Jocelyn: I love this movie–has good songs, good dancing, is so funny (you’ll see, I don’t want to spoil things), hoping I am not forgetting anything racist from it but it’s from 1952 so there could be. The iconic Singing in the Rain dance which I probably saw as a Kurt Browning skating routine the first time.
Michelle: Have never seen it, don’t know who is in it, didn’t know this was thing we’re doing so I’m just here for the food. (sidebar: now we want to watch Ever After!)
Katie: Also have never seen it but have always meant to! Definitely know some of the popular songs from it.
Commentary:
“Rita Moreno is in this?! Who does she play? How did I not know that?”-Jocelyn.
“I guess they could have filmed lots of different things like that before they had sound…”-Katie, re: film studio before talkies and they walk through multiple scenes being shot for clearly different movies.
“Oh, this song!”-Katie, re: Make Them Laugh.
(sidebar: Nikki arrives)
“I don’t know what’s happening right now…-Jocelyn. “Dancing…”-Nikki.
“She sounds like a toddler…”-Nikki, re: Lena getting voice lessons for Talkies.
“There’s not enough tap dancing in new musicals.”-Jocelyn.
“I didn’t realize this was Footloose…”-Michelle, re: police glaring at Gene Kelly whilst he is dancing in the rain.
“The colors are very aggressive in this scene…”-Jocelyn, re: the dance on Broadway number.
“Oo that’s meta”-Katie, re: the Singin’ in the Rain movie poster
Post-game Wrap Up:
Michelle: I actually liked it it was entertaining. Now that I’ve seen it I get the references and can move on with life.
Jocelyn: My fave part is when the film goes out of sync. I always remember that scene.
Katie: I’m glad I’ve seen it, the classic songs we know had great dance scenes.
Nikki: Uhhhhhh, the music bits we’re good and the in the middle was eh. Had seen it before.
6. Calamity Jane (1953)
Pre-game Thoughts:
Jocelyn: don’t know what to expect but other than its Doris Day I’m kind of like “Ugh, another old musical I don’t know… What racist misogynistic something will be in this one.”
Katie: I enjoy this one but haven’t seen it in a long time. I sang at least one of the songs for musical theater when I was little. And it’s a Western so there’s definitely “Indians” and I don’t know if they used actual Indigenous actors or were awful about it.
Commentary:
“Oh boy…”-Jocelyn, first mention of “Injuns” and the accompanying music.
“Is he going to be a drag queen?”-Jocelyn, re: Francis being a man but dressing up to fool the crowd after an actress was advertised and he came instead.
“She clocked him right away!”-Katie, re: Calamity Jane knowing he wasn’t a woman.
“Snatched his wig!”-Jocelyn, re: the trombone catching the wig and revealing the man.
“My sister and I did this song for musical theater!”-Katie, re: I Can Do Without You.
“Wow, the sexual tension…”-Jocelyn, during the song. “We did the song as siblings… I’d like to point that out…”-Katie.
“They are pretty good standard 50s leading men.”-Jocelyn, re: Wild Bill and the soldier guy. “Yeah, they have the tall, dark, and handsome thing going on”-Katie.
“I like that she looks like a lampshade…”-Jocelyn, re: the saloon singer’s costume with fringe.
“Rattlesnake’s real name is Chubby Johnson…”-Jocelyn, re: the coach driver.
“Cigareet? She’s still saying it like that.”-Jocelyn. “Yeah, that’s how they say it…you need to suspend disbelief or whatever that phrase is”-Katie. “But do I?”-Jocelyn. “Yes, because you’re annoying me.”-Katie 🙂
“She really goes all in for her roles, you’ve gotta give her that!”-Katie, re: Doris Day swinging from the rafters after being lassooed by Wild Bill.
“Okay, Shrek”-Jocelyn, re: seeing Calam’s cabin for the first time.
“This is like those awkward two on one Bachelorette dates…”-Jocelyn, re: character Katie in the cabin with Bill and Danny vying for her affections.
“Relatable”-Jocelyn, re: Doris/Calam singing to trees about love after missing her best friend while dressed like Col. Sanders…
Post-game Wrap Up:
Katie: Yep, definitely outdated and too many racist stereotypes of Indigenous people. Still liked the music since it is nostalgic for me and I know with old Westerns you expect it to some degree because of the time, but that’s ultimately disappointing and I probably won’t watch often if at all again.
Jocelyn: I wasn’t into the schtick of her being so “aw shucks” but it did grow on me. The little love story was cute but not really any songs I knew or will be humming. All the obvious things we cringed over re: racism, etc.
7. By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953)
Pre-game Thoughts:
Jocelyn: No thoughts, liked the first one so looking forward to the continuation.
Katie: I feel like I enjoyed this one even better than the first but can’t remember for sure or why so I’m intrigued.
Commentary:
“Is she breaking the fourth wall?!”-J, re: Stella giving a recap for those who haven’t seen the first movie.
“The sound effects are strange in this one…”-K, re: the gulp sounds Bill makes and the woosh when Wesley is pulled from the room.
“I think it’s that I like the songs better in this one”-K.
“This has more of a vibe like an ’80s family movie”-J, re: the family spending time together and then Wesley writing his detective story.
“This kid makes the whole movie”-J, re: Wesley’s misunderstandings and shenanigans.
“Did all of that happen on one day?!”-K, re: confusion about when the anniversary celebration is.
“Sit down, Chester.”-J, re: Chester perking up when he hears William is leaving town.
“How did it get switched around? That’s cute!”-J, re: Bill’s disguise moustache sticking to Marjorie when he kisses her.
“Bitter old lady brigade”-K, re: the town gossip chain following them around.
Post-game Wrap Up:
Jocelyn: It has some really funny moments, really did seem like an ’80s family comedy. None of the songs stood out to me but maybe because I’d never heard them before.
Katie: I really enjoyed it as per usual! Not surprised at all.
That’s it for now! We’ll watch the last handful from the ’50s and get back to you with another post.
-Katie
Chronically KD 