"Here's to the beautiful ladies" "Here's to those wonderful girls" "This is the mixture to start the picture So bring on the beautiful girls" "When Fred Astaire sang this song in the film Ziegfeld Follies the year was 1946 and MGM was at the height of its success in creating incredible fantasies and setting them to music." "Here, Lucille Ball tames a pack of exotic cat-women." "It was imaginative, outlandish imagery, and audiences loved it." "It was a time before television and VCRs, when on the average 90 million Americans went to the movies each week and the MGM musical was king of the box office." "The most popular entertainment in the world." "This is the mixture to start the picture" "So bring on the beautiful girls" "Once upon a time, there was a factory that created wonderful musical dreams." "It happened when a special group of talented artists came together to create some of the world's most enchanting movies." "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was not the only studio that made musical motion pictures." "But it did make more than anyone else and somehow did it better." "To tell us more about those remarkable days here's one of MGM's best:" "Mr. Gene Kelly." "The 44 acres behind me was where it all began." "When I first arrived here MGM's dream factory was in full swing." "And every week the studio released a new film and musicals were always a big part of the lineup." "But the success of the MGM musical did not happen overnight." "It all started when the movies learned to talk." "At first, the studios were unsure of what to do with this new invention." "Then they hit on the idea of filming popular vaudeville acts." "My pet told me cutely That I'm set absolutely" " So I pet with nobody else but my, my pet" " Whose pet?" " I repeat that he's my pet" " Whose pet?" "Ain't he sweet?" "And I pet with nobody else" "But my pet" "In The Hollywood Revue of 1929 one of the first all-talking, all-singing, all-dancing movies the studio gave its huge roster of stars a chance to get their feet wet in the newfangled talkies." "The finale introduced a brand-new song that did a lot for me much later." "But at the time it was so new that some of the performers had trouble remembering the lyrics." "Let the stormy clouds Chase everyone from the place" "Come on with the rain I've a smile on my face" "I walk down the lane With a happy refrain" "Just singin' Just singin' in the rain" "Singin' in the rain" "Just singin' in the rain" "Suddenly, the musical became an overnight sensation delighting audiences with bigger casts lavish sets and costumes and even a new gimmick called Technicolor." "MGM began its most ambitious film of this kind in late 1930 and filmed all the big production numbers before the public lost interest in these plotless musicals and the project was abandoned." "One of the numbers featured The Dodge Twins performing..." "What else?" " "The Lock Step" from the unfinished March of Time." "Shake your stripes Beat your pipe" "Start crooning the jailhouse wall" "Lock your cell Step light, hello, warden" "Join in and lock step It'll get you fizzin'" "Like bottles of pop Get hep to the new jazz prison" "Lock step" "Clean as a whistle Fresh as a daisy" "Brand-new Clean through" "On my way Just wearing' that smile of mine" "Clean as a whistle Fresh as a daisy" "Spick-and-span" "Spend my day Just wearing' a great big smile" "To capture an audience, producers knew they could always turn to the old reliable sex." "Imagine that." "This number, set in the shower room of a girls' school shocked audiences in 1933." "All wearing' a great big smile" "Can't you see we're all excited?" "They might be relaxing" "But, gee, I'd rather Exercise myself into" "Say, the water stopped." " Water." " Water." "Such scenes fuelled the growing public outcry." "Faced with threats of boycotts and censorship MGM conformed to the stern Production Code." " That the vulgar, the cheap and the tawdry is out." "There is no room on this screen at any time for pictures which offend against common decency." "And these, the industry will not allow." "Ah, sweet mystery of life" "At last I found thee" "Ah" "Among MGM's efforts for the new morality was a series of wildly successful operettas with Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy." "My heart has heard The answer to its calling" "For it is love that rules" "Forevermore" "In 1934, the studio lifted the public out of the Depression and into a make-believe Hollywood party." "Hollywood party Get up, get up, get in it" "Hollywood party Nobody sleeps tonight" "Hollywood party Going a mile a minute" "Hollywood party Nobody sleeps tonight" "Let the laughter spring out Music ring out" "Satan sing out, "Yeah, man"" "At that crashing, furniture-smashing" "Hollywood party Nobody sleeps tonight" "And now, here's to beauty, laughter, romance, music." "On with the biggest party ever given in Hollywood." "Feelin' high" "What's the use Feelin' low?" "On that wagon On the town" "Gonna be up Never down" "There's a reason If you'd like to know why" "I'm in love" "I'm feelin' high" "Even the biggest production numbers needed stars." "So Eleanor Powell became MGM's first big dancing star." "In Broadway Melody of 1938 and almost all of her films Eleanor becomes a huge sensation by the last reel." "Follow in my footsteps" "Follow them" "Your Broadway And my Broadway" "Got that rhythm" "Inside me Everybody dance" "You are my lucky star" "Hear the rhythm of the music And the music of the rhythm" "Got a pair of new shoes Got a pair of new shoes" "Gotta dance" "Tap your feet Light, long and sweet" "And dance" "Dance Now Broadway dance" "A Broadway dance and go singing" "The whole town is waking up" "Your Broadway" "And mine" "It took a lot of hard work to make musical production numbers for the big screen." "And here's a good example." "Eleanor Powell's tap dance of "Fascinating Rhythm" from Lady Be Good." "On the right, we see what went on behind the scenes." "Stagehands using little tractors called mules quickly take the set apart allowing the camera to move forward to follow her dancing." "Fascinatin' rhythm You've got me on the go" "Fascinatin' rhythm I'm all aquiver" "What a mess you're making The neighbors will know" "I'm always shaking like a flivver" "Each morning I'm wakin' up" "Very happy" "Just to find that no work has been done" "Once it didn't matter But now you do wrong" "When you start to patter I'm so unhappy" "Won't you take a day off?" "A couple of weeks?" "Somewhere far away off And make it snappy" "Oh, how I long to be the man That I used to be" "Oh, fascinating' rhythm" "Won't you stop picking on me?" " Good morning" " It's a lovely morning" " Good morning" " What a wonderful day" "We've danced the whole night through" "Good morning, good morning to you" "How do you do?" "When MGM teamed Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland in Babes in Arms it launched the most successful musical team at the studio." "Good morning, good morning to you" "With World War II raging in Europe, the Mickey-Judy musicals provided an uplifting diversion for audiences of the day." "Qherever freedom's banners Are unfurled sing a song from our hearts" "To the hearts of the world" "We send our greetings to friendly nations" "We may be Yanks But we're your relations" "Drop your sabers We're all gonna be good neighbors" "Here in God's" "God's" "Country" "As Andy Hardy, Mickey Rooney was always falling in love." "Esther Williams played his love interest in her first film." "A fashion model and champion swimmer Esther was working in an aquacade when she caught the attention of an MGM talent scout." "In the 22 films she made at Metro she was seldom out of the water." "This is MGM's famous saucer tank." "I did many of my underwater scenes here." "It's a huge, all-steel swimming pool with porthole windows just below the water line so that you can see anything that's going on inside." "This tank was originally built as a place for Tarzan, Johnny Weissmuller to fight his rubber crocodiles." "But I really had it pretty much to myself once my swimming musicals became popular." "Every time they start off Wit' a water ballet" "There's the customary swimming' pool To swim in" "But we don't wanna do it In the customary way" "So we start off Just with bathing' suits and women" "It had been five years since my Andy Hardy movie." "By this time, I had starred in several films." "And MGM was committed to finding new ways to get me out of my clothes and into the pool as in This Time for Keeps with the great Jimmy Durante." "Take ten percent off for your agent" "Take ten percent off for the press" "Then take another ten For your publicity men" "What's another ten more or less?" "Then take off a few incidentals" "It's the little things that really count" "Anyone with half a brain Can show a capital gain" "If you take off the proper" "Listen to your Papa" "Take off the proper amount" "I was called America's mermaid because it appeared that I could stay underwater indefinitely." "In Jupiter's Darling I swam into a sunken Roman amphitheater where my presence had the magical effect of bringing statues to life." "In Dangerous When Wet I swam into a cartoon sequence where I met Tom and Jerry." "You know, they were more animated than some of my leading men." "In Texas Carnival, I became Howard Keel's underwater dream right there in his own living room." "For 12 years, I was the center of an amazing series of vivid sights and water pageantry." "And I loved every minute of it." "I'd be like Cleopatterer If I could have my way" "Each man she met she went and kissed" "And she'd dozens on her waiting list" "I wish that I had lived there Beside the pyramid" "For a girl today don't get the scope That Cleopatterer did" "If one performer could exemplify the lighthearted spirit of the MGM musical then June Allyson would surely be it." "Here, from Till the Clouds Roll By she romanticizes the virtues of that ancient Egyptian princess Cleopatterer." "Gaping in a line And watch her agitate her spine" "It simply use to knock them flat" "When she went like this And then like that" "At dancing Cleopatterer Was always on the spot" "She gave these poor Egyptian ginks" "Something else to watch Besides the sphinx" "Marc Antony admitted That what first made him skid" "Was the wibbly, wobbly, wiggly dance That Cleopatterer did" "This was the original main gate at MGM." "In the early days, when a star came to work they'd drive in here and then the studio car would whisk them off to their destination on the lot." "It was all so glamorous." "MGM liked to boast that it had more stars than there are in the heavens." "I just felt lucky to be counted among them when I was still just a kid." "I never wanna hear Johann Sebastian Bach" "That's me on the right." "Still wet behind the ears from the Broadway show Best Foot Forward which the studio bought and took me along as part of the package." "It's not hard to tell that Nancy Walker, Gloria DeHaven and I desperately wanted to make good at Metro." "Yes, the barrelhouse The boogie-woogie and the blues" "Oh, the barrelhouse Makes you want to carol" "Every boogie beat will raise your heat" "When they start to play the blues" "You'll never choose to lose the blues" "Oh, the blues will really get you" "And the barrelhouse Is bound to upset you" "And the boogie-woogie beat Will drive you straight to distraction" "Hey, let's go professors Get a solid reaction" "From a barrelhouse" "The boog-boog-boog-boog boogie And the blues" "I love the boogie 'Cause it tickles my spine" "I love the boogie 'Cause it's fresh and it's fine" "Just like a cigarette with modern design That's why I love the boogie-woogie" "Yes, yes" "It seems to knock the wind Right out of my chest" "It's so darn good It makes a fool of the rest" "Just goes to show you That the boogie's the best" "That's why I love the boogie-woogie" "Yes, yes" "It's right as rain As low as thunder" "High as a cloud And sweet as a cake" "It's got a kick like mountain liquor And it's as slick and hard" "To take as Veronica Lake" "It picks you up And then it knocks you right down" "It makes you laugh and play And act like a clown" "No other music has the right To the crown" "'Cause there's nothing That will raise your heat" " Like the boogie-woogie beat" " Don't mean the barrelhouse" " Like the boogie-woogie beat" " Don't mean the blues" "I love the boogie-woogie beat" " She loves the boogie-woogie beat" " Great" "Each year, hundreds of performers like me were brought to MGM, hoping to get a break in the movies." "There were acting teachers, instructions in posture and grooming and everybody had to learn to sing and dance." "It was an extensive crash course designed to find those with that special something known as star quality." "And if you had it, you got to take the next big step:" "The screen test." "For instance, Kathryn Grayson had to wait two years at MGM before she was given her first screen test represented here in Anchors Aweigh." "But the wait paid off because she became one of MGM's leading sopranos in the 1940s and '50s." "To the thrill of the night" "Shakin' the blues away" "Unhappy news away" "If you were blue, it's easy to" "Shake off your cares and troubles" "Ann Miller was only 14 when she got her first movie contract at RKO and was a seasoned pro when she came to MGM for Easter Parade." "Shakin' the blues away" "Unhappy news away" "If you are blue It's easy to" "Shake off your Shake off your cares" "And shake off your troubles" "Provin' that there's a way" "To chase your cares away" "If you would lose Your weary blues" "Shake them away" "Away" "Joan McCracken was a wonderfully talented artist from the Broadway stage brought to enrich MGM's galaxy of dancing stars." "Here, Joan and Ray McDonald bring their infectious enthusiasm to pass that peace pipe from Good News." "Solid potato salad Is the groovy movie salad, Jack" "Solid potato salad bowl" "Da-do da-do da-do-day Bring it back" "Sometimes the studio tried out a novelty act that just didn't catch on, no matter how hard they worked." "Meet The Ross Sisters from Broadway Rhythm." "Whoo!" "Whoo!" "We're going on the town" "MGM musicals had a special enthusiasm all their own." "In the 1949 hit On the Town Frank Sinatra, Jules Munshin and Gene Kelly teamed with Betty Garrett, Ann Miller and Vera-Ellen as three sailors and their dates go out on a night in New York City." "And hit the heights tonight Get high as kites tonight" "East side, west side, rouse the city" "One day, one night, that's the pity" "But we won't look ahead" "Won't let the light of dawn get us down" "We're really living, Jack We're going on the town" "We're going on the town" "We're kicking back the traces" "We're gonna do the places" "We've never done before" "We're going on the loose" "We're throwing all our dough in" "And we'll keep right on going" "As if no one before had any fun before" "Hot spots, swank spots Roofs and cellars" "Three smart girls And three slick fellers" "We're going to paint it red" "We'll fill 'em up And then drink 'em down" "Let's have a ball tonight" "We're going on the town" "What a dame, what a dame She belongs in the hall of fame" "I have always admired the strength and stamina of dancers." "And one of the greatest is Cyd Charisse whom Fred Astaire called "beautiful dynamite. "" "And I completely agree." "I'm flat" "Baby, you knock me out" "You're the whistle in the kisser Super sweet" "You're the top People stop when you're on the street" "You're a wow with the power I admit defeat" "One, two, three, four Five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, boing" "I'm beat Star light, star bright" "I see stars when you move in" "One, two, left, right You win" "You got me hangin' on the ropes" "Baby, you knock me out" "You're the broad I'd applaud in a Broadway show" "You're the chick with the kick Like a rodeo" "Mighty punch, you got the punch That lays me low" "One, two, three, four, Five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, boing" "KO" "Bam, slam Hear me shout" "Baby" "You knock me out" "This was MGM's scenic backdrop building where talented artists created their movie magic, and this is just one section of a huge painting re-creating the Scottish countryside for the film Brigadoon." "Altogether, it was originally 600 feet long and 60 feet high and wrapped around the entire interior of MGM's Stage 15." "Gene Kelly and I spent many hours rehearsing and filming our dance numbers in front of these heathered hills." "I've always had such respect for Gene." "Dancer, singer, actor, choreographer and director." "He did it all and always brought exciting new dimensions to the musical motion picture." "First, you put your Two knees close up tight" "Then you sway 'em to the left Then you sway 'em to the right" "Step around the floor kinda nice and light" "Then you twist around and twist around With all of your might" "Stretch your lovin' arms Straight out in space" "Then you do the Eagle Rock With the style and grace" "Swing your foot way 'round And bring it back" "Now that's what I call Ballin' the Jack" "Gene's first big break came on Broadway, starring in Pal Joey." "MGM soon grabbed him and started him off as Judy Garland's leading man in For Me and My Gal." "Ballin' the Jack" "Gene had a style all his own charming and athletic, with boundless energy." "In Summer Stock, he created a classic number using only a squeaky floor and a newspaper as dance partners." "As a choreographer Gene staged this exciting and bittersweet ballet to Richard Rodgers' "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" from Words and Music." "His partner:" "The wonderful Vera-Ellen." "Gene's inventiveness seemed inexhaustible." "In An American in Paris he even danced into a Toulouse-Lautrec painting to find Leslie Caron and the incomparable music of George Gershwin." "The film won six Oscars plus a special award to Gene for his brilliant achievements in the art of choreography on film." "Fit as a fiddle and ready For love I can jump over the moon up above" "Fit as a fiddle and ready for love" "Gene teamed with Donald O'Connor to perform this marvelously comic vaudeville routine for Singin' in the Rain." "Soon all the church bells Will be ringing and I'll march with Ma and Pa" "How the church bells will be ringing" "With a hey naughty-knotty And a hotcha-cha" "Hi, diddle-diddle, my baby's OK" "Ask me a riddle, I'm waiting to say" "Fit as a fiddle and ready for love" "It was my pleasure to dance with Gene in several films but I think this one is my favorite." ""The Heather on the Hill" from Brigadoon." "You are my lucky star" "Gene inspired a whole new generation of stars." "One of the brightest was a young California girl named Debbie Reynolds." "Here's Debbie in a rare outtake from Singin' in the Rain." "Rod La Rocque and Valentino" "You are" "My lucky star" "I was only 16 and still Mary Frances Reynolds when I entered the Miss Burbank contest." "I did it as a lark to get a blouse and a scarf that they were giving away to all the contestants." "Well, as fate would have it an MGM talent scout was in the audience and in a year, I was under contract to the biggest studio in Hollywood." "It was at MGM that I learned the workings of the studio's glamour mill who made MGM's leading ladies appear on the screen as images of unsurpassed beauty." "Gorgeous gowns created by the world-famous designer Adrian were part of the treatment." "As well as Makeup and Hair Departments that could accomplish any style imaginable." "A star like Joan Crawford would sometimes have her look redesigned numerous times until it matched the exact mood of the role she was to play." "The studio prided itself on presenting some of the most glamorous women seen anywhere in the world." "You stepped out of a dream" "You are too wonderful To be what you seem" "Could there be eyes like yours?" "Could there be lips like yours?" "Could there be smiles like yours?" "Honest and truly?" "You stepped out of a cloud" "In 1941, the glamour age had reached its zenith with Tony Martin and an all-star cast in Ziegfeld Girl." "And have you all to myself" "Alone and apart Out of a dream" "Safe in my heart" "Out of a dream" "Of you" "I even got the glamour treatment in a dream sequence to the song "A Lady Loves" in the film I Love Melvin." "A lady loves expensive clothes And pretty jewels and furs" "And French chapeaus" "She loves her lingerie in black It suits her zodiac" "Loves a penthouse Where she'll be content to stay" "Finds little gifts on her breakfast tray" "But now and then pack and sail away" "For a simple Riviera holiday" "Donald O'Connor plays my boyfriend in the film." "He envisions a different role in life for my character." "His version of me as a stay-at-home farm girl was dropped from the final film." "Now, at last, you can see our differing points of view." "A lady loves the simple things" "She loves her dreams tied up With apron strings" "There are no yachts In all her plans" "Just little pots and pans" "In the doorway She'll wait for his warm caress" "And he'll be handsome Well, more or less" "But he will notice that brand-new dress" "Saying, "You look nice Oh, never mind the price"" "A lady loves beaucoup I'amour" "But first of all she loves to be secure" "And she adores the subtle phrase" "That it's the man who pays" "Yet there is one vital thought She will place above" "All of the things I make mention of" "But most of all a lady loves to love" "And what is more a lady loves to live" "And what is more a lady lives to love" "Thanks for the present Of the silver-blue mink" "Thanks for the plane And the ice-skating rink" "Thanks for the yacht And for the solid-gold sink" "Thanks a lot, but no thanks" "Dolores Gray uses glamour as a weapon in this spoof of the power of the devastating female over the hapless male from It's Always Fair Weather." "However classy" "By which this lassie can be had" "Thanks for the banks And for the Santa Fe line" "Thanks for the darling uranium mine" "But I'm a gal With only one valentine" "Thanks a lot, but no thanks" "For I am just a faithful lassie" "Waitin' for her faithful lad" "And there's no gift However classy" "By which this lassie can be had" "Thanks for losin' your mind" "And thanks for Fort Knox Sealed and signed" "But I've got a guy who's Clifton Webb And Marlon Brando combined" "Thanks a lot, but no" "No thanks" "I don't know why they scold me" "For doing what I'm trying not to do" "In Torch Song, Joan Crawford made her final musical film as a fading legend performing in tropical makeup for the song "Two-Faced Woman. "" "The recording wasn't a new one at MGM." "Sung by voice double India Adams it had originally been used with Cyd Charisse for The Band Wagon, but was cut from the final film." "It's been suggested that they may have dropped the wrong version." "Makeup" "I don't belong" "I can't help being a two-faced woman" "A little bit of boldness A little bit of sweetness" "A little bit of coldness A little bit of heatness" "Don't fall in love With a two-faced woman" "Givin' you a warnin' I'll leave you in the mornin'" "Got another lover under cover" "I'm like a weathervane" "That goes with the breeze" "My disposition" "Makes me do as I please" "That's why they call her A two-faced woman" "A little bit of day" "And a little bit of night" "A little bit of sad" "And a little bit of bright" "A little bit of boldness" "A little bit of sweetness" "A little bit of coldness" "A little bit of heatness" "Good and bad Sweet and sad" "Black and white Wrong and right" "They call me two-faced woman" "In the early 1940s Hollywood began a fascination with things tropical and south of the border, and MGM was no exception." "Exotic rhythms and costumes transported audiences away from cold climates and the troubled times of a world war." "Many Latin artists were recruited to add an authentic sound to these films." "One of the most popular was Xavier Cugat and his orchestra." "Ricardo Montalban became a sensation at Metro as the Latin lover, driving female audiences wild." "Here with Ann Miller and Cyd Charisse from The Kissing Bandit there doesn't seem to be enough Ricardo to go around." "From Nancy Goes to Rio comes the Brazilian bombshell herself:" "The incomparable Carmen Miranda." "He's got the kind of appeal That turns your head like a wheel" "And what a wonderful feeling That feeling you feel" "Your heart will beat like a bongo" "Just like was beating in mine" "The heat of the sun may be 101" "But you make it 109 And there is more to it yet" "I'm gonna bet you a bet That you can pack up and go" "But you'll never forget" "Carmen, of course, had her imitators but none quite like Mickey Rooney in Babes on Broadway." "Hey, Ma" "It seems we've stood and talked" "Like this before" "One ofthe performers at MGM whom I admired the most was the legendary Lena Horne." "But I can't remember where" "Or when" "Some things that happen" "For the first time" "Seem to be happening again" "It was a long time ago I stood in this very spot and recorded that lovely song." "When I first walked onto this recording stage in 1942 it looked pretty much as it does today." "Although the technology was prehistoric..." "I recorded all of the music for my movies here and it is still considered Hollywood's greatest recording stage." "I have many memories here good and bad." "I never felt like I really belonged in Hollywood." "At that time, they didn't quite know what to do with me, a black performer." "So I usually just came on, sang a song and made a quick exit." "It was just one of those things" "Just one of those crazy things" "This was true of my first film in the studio, Panama Hattie." "Yeah, I got to sing a great Cole Porter tune in a featured appearance but what I really wanted was to be given an acting role in the movies." "Just one of those fabulous flights" "A trip to the moon on gossamer wings" "Just one of those things" "If we thought a bit of the end of it" "Before we started painting the town" "We'd have been aware That our love affair" "Was too hot not to cool down" "So goodbye, dear, and Amen" "Here's hoping we meet now and then" "It was great fun" "But it was just" "One of those things" "Said that gal, Du Barry" ""Ain't it the truth?"" "In 1943, I got to play a part." "Georgia Brown in Cabin in the Sky." "And this good song, "Ain't It the Truth," was cut from the movie because studio bosses thought it too risqué to show a black girl in a bubble bath." "Love is a rippling' brook" "Man is a fish to cook" "You got to bait your hook" "Rise and shine" "And cast your line" "You got to get your possum" "Ain't it the truth?" "While you still in blossom" "Ain't it the truth?" "Cleopatra and Delilah" "Had it way over Ruth" "Them gals did mighty swell" "They sure did ring that bell" "Ain't it the gospel truth?" "It's the truth" "The truth" "It's the solid" "Mellow truth" "In 1946, I played the role of Julie in an excerpt from Show Boat in Till the Clouds Roll By." "I was being considered for the part for the 1951 version of Show Boat but the Production Code Office had banned interracial romance on the screen." "So the studio gave the part to my good friend Ava Gardner." "And she was wonderful in it." "The studio had Ava rehearse singing the role to the recordings that I had made hoping to get the part which annoyed us both." "Anyway, she did a great job on her own but just before releasing the film, the studio dubbed her with Annette Warren's voice." "Fish got to swim, birds got to fly" "I got to love one man till I die" "Can't help lovin' that man of mine" "This is what audiences would have heard if they had allowed Ava's voice to be used." "Tell me he's lazy, tell me he's slow" "Tell me I'm crazy" "Maybe I know" "Can't help" "Lovin' that man of mine" "Though Ava was one of my few good friends I was deeply disappointed that I didn't get the part." "That's a rainy day" "But when he comes back" "That day is fine" "The sun will shine" "He can come home" "As late as can be" "Home without him" "Ain't no home to me" "Can't help" "Lovin' that man" "Of mine" "I was not the only one to lose a role here." "In Annie Get Your Gun, Betty Hutton was a big hit as Annie Oakley." "But Betty wasn't the studio's first choice." "Judy Garland had begun filming the role and completed two numbers when she suffered a breakdown and had to be replaced." "Retrieved at last from the MGM film vaults is Judy's version of "I'm an Indian Too. "" "Am I an Indian yet?" "Hoh!" "Like the Chippewa Iroquois, Omaha" "Like those Indians" "I'm an Indian too A Sioux" "A Sioux" "Some Indian summer's day Without a care" "I may run away" "With Big Chief Sun-of-a-Bear" "And I'll have totem poles" "Tomahawk Small papoose" "Which will go to prove I'm an Indian too" "A Sioux" "A Sioux Oh, I'm an Indian, I'm an Indian" "I'm an honest Injun Indian" "I'm an Indian, too" "Ow" "Folks are dumb where I come from" "They ain't had any learning" "This is the only other number Judy shot forAnnie Get Your Gun." "As you can see, whatever conflicts Judy struggled with as a person she always came through as an entertainer." "Still we've gone from A to Z" "Doin' what comes naturally" "You don't have to know How to read or write" "When you're out with a feller In the pale moonlight" "You don't have to look In a book to find" "What he thinks of the moon And what is on his mind" "That comes naturally" "My uncle out in Texas Can't even write his name" "He signs his checks with "x's"" "But they cash them just the same" "Grandpa Dick was always sick" "But never saw a doctor" "He just died at 93" "Doin' what comes naturally" "The sleepless nights The daily fights" "The quick toboggan When you reach the heights" "I miss the kisses And I miss the bites" "I wish I were in love again" "Words and Music was the last time that Judy and Mickey Rooney worked together at MGM ending the most popular song and dance team the studio would ever have." "No more pain" "No more strain" "Now I'm sane But I would rather be gaga" "The pulled-out fur of cat and cur" "The fine mismating of a him and her" "We've learned our lesson And we wish we were in love" "Again" "Judy Garland and I grew up together at MGM and completed high school between long days of shooting." "Here on the lot we made 10 pictures together and even when we worked separately we turned to each other for friendship and encouragement." "We were the very best of friends, more like brother and sister." "I still miss her very much." "Judy was 11 years old when I first heard her sing and I told her right off what I felt then and what I feel today." "I said to her, "Darling, you're the best in the world. "" "By the time 15-year-old Judy appeared in Everybody Sing she had already been on-stage for more than a decade billed as the little girl with the great, big voice." "Teach me how to sing" "Music with a modern rhythm Let me swing" "Mr. Mendelssohn swing" "Music is a thing" "That's no good without that rhythm" "Sweet and hot Fast and slow" "So get yourself A little dash of holy ho" "And swing it Mr. Mendelssohn swing it high" "Hey, swing it low" "And swing it Mr. Mendelssohn swing" "I'm past the stage Of doll and carriage" "I'm not the age To think of marriage" "I'm too old for toys" "And I'm too young for boys" "I'm just an in-between" "In Love Finds Andy Hardy Judy laments the fact that she's not a little girl any longer and not quite a grownup either." "Grownups ignore me" "And in every sense" "I'm just on a fence" "I'm just an in-between" "For a few years, Judy was an in-between." "Even though the critics had compared her talent to that of a teenage Sarah Bernhardt the studio had to search for just the right part to showcase her grownup gifts." "They found it in her first starring role:" "Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz." "When Judy stepped into the Technicolor land of Oz it mirrored her arrival as a major star." "Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." "We must be over the rainbow." "Follow the yellow Brick road follow the yellow brick road" "Follow, follow, follow, follow Follow the yellow brick road" "Follow the yellow brick Follow the yellow brick" "Follow the yellow brick road" "You're off to see the Wizard The wonderful Wizard of Oz" "You'll find he is a Whiz of a Wiz If ever a Wiz there was" "If ever, oh ever, a Wiz there was The Wizard of Oz is one because" "Because, because, because Because, because" "Because of the wonderful things he does" "The Wizard of Oz was to become the most widely seen motion picture of all time and Judy's wonderful performance in the picture earned her a special Academy Award which I was lucky enough to present to her." "And, Judy, I hope you win many more of them, honey." "Thank you." "And how about doing us all a little favor now and singing "Over the Rainbow"?" "Will you do that?" "Somewhere over the rainbow" "Blue birds fly" "Birds fly over the rainbow" "Why, then" "Oh, why can't I?" "I like New York in June, how about you?" "I like a Gershwin tune, how about you?" "I love a fireside when a storm is due" "I like potato chips Moonlight and motor trips" "How about you?" "My favorite memories of working with Judy are when it was just the two of us performing a simple song and dance routine together like this one from Babes on Broadway." "I love to dream of fame, maybe I'll shine" "I'd love to see your name" "Right beside mine" "I can see we're in harmony" "Looks like we both agree" "On what to do" "And I like it, how about you?" "Down on an island, the southern seas" "There lived a lassie named Minnie Breeze" "And all the natives agree That she's the hottest thing in Trinidad" "Judy became one of the country's top 10 box-office stars." "The little girl was growing up." "So the studio gave her the full glamour treatment in this Busby Berkeley extravaganza from Ziegfeld Girl." "They call her Minnie from Trinidad" "They all love Minnie from Trinidad" "And all the natives would be so sad" "If Minnie ever left Trinidad" "And all the natives would be so glad" "If Minnie" "Came back to Trinidad" "For Minnie" "Minnie" "Came back to Trinidad" "Who, stole my heart away" "Who, makes me dream all day" "Dreams I know can never come true" "Seems as though I'll ever be blue" "Who, means my happiness" "Who, would I answer yes to" "Well, you ought to guess who" "No one but you" "By 1946, Judy was one of the studio's most valuable assets and made a special guest appearance as Marilyn Miller in the Jerome Kern biography, Till the Clouds Roll By." "March on, little doagies" "March on, down the trail" "One of Judy's biggest hits was The Harvey Girls." "The film was so big, in fact that there wasn't time for this extraordinary production number in the final film." "Here are Judy, Ray Bolger, Cyd Charisse, and a cast of hundreds in a never-before-seen "March of the Doagies. "" "We don't know where we're goin'" "But we're on our way" "March on, little doagies" "March on, down the trail" "March on, little doagies" "Till we're past the last fence rail" "Out there lies the prairie" "Out there breaks the day" "Oh, we don't know where we're goin'" "But we're on our way" " Me for a campfire out on the trail" " Me for an old cayuse" " Me for the sound of the coyote's wail" " And I'm all set to vamoose" " You for a pipe, when the evenin' is still" " You for your own backyard" " I'll be the first fella over the hill" " Me for a campfire out on the trail" "An old cayuse and a coyote's wail With nothin' to do" "And nobody asking me why Give me a cowhand song" "And I'll be gettin' along" "March on along" "March on The doagies on the trail" "Are marching' on" "Until the last grand swale" "Out there lies the prairie" "Out there breaks the day" "Oh, we don't know where we're goin'" "But we're on our way" "In Summer Stock, Judy was seen for the first time wearing what was to become her trademark for years to come." "The top half of a tuxedo." "Two years before, however, she had worn the same outfit in a scene removed from the released version of Easter Parade." "Irving Berlin had based a song on just a few notes and called it "Mr. Monotony. "" "This is Judy at the top of her career." "Playing on his slide trombone" "In a certain monotone" "He was known as Mr. Monotony" "Any pleasant interlude" "That would mean a change of mood" "Didn't go with Mr. Monotony" "Sometimes he would change the key" "But the same dull melody" "Would emerge from Mr. Monotony" "Folks for miles would run away" "Only one preferred to stay" "She would come around and say" ""Have you got any monotony today?"" ""Haven't got any monotony" "Today" "Can't play" "Today" "Haven't got any monotony" "Today"" "It only happens when I dance with you" "Another legend at Metro was my good friend Fred Astaire who always romanced a glamorous partner in his motion pictures." "In Easter Parade, it was the one and only Ann Miller." "Seem quite so near" "Why does it happen, dear" "Only with you?" "Two cheeks together can be so divine" "But only when those cheeks" "Are yours and mine" "I've danced with dozens of others" "The whole night through" "But the thrill that comes with Spring" "When anything could happen" "That only happens with you" "It was at a rehearsal hall like this that I spent my first days at MGM preparing for the production numbers in Easter Parade." "Oh, and I was just scared stiff because I was going to dance with the master." "But Fred Astaire was as charming off the screen as he was on and he put me at ease right away." "Especially after I agreed to dance with him in ballet slippers so I wouldn't be taller than he was." "Fred was a perfectionist." "After exhausting hours of rehearsal when we all thought we had it just right, he would say:" ""Come on, Annie, let's do it one more time. "" "What I wouldn't give to do it just one more time again." "Fred and his sister Adele were already stars in the New York and London theater before he came to MGM in 1933." "Do you feel like going through that number with Mr. Astaire?" " All right." " Freddie." "Show Miss Marlowe the routine on that opening number." " Good evening." " Miss Marlowe." "Do you know the routine?" " I've seen it often enough." "I'll try." "That's fine." "Harry, give us the pickup on that gang number, will you, please?" "It was a little more than a guest appearance for Fred for he was soon to be under contract to RKO Pictures where they were about to team him with Ginger Rogers causing a string of hit musicals to follow." "Fred didn't return to MGM until seven years later at which time he starred with Eleanor Powell in Broadway Melody of 1940." "In 1945, Fred and a new partner, Lucille Bremer stepped out to "Coffee Time" in Yolanda and the Thief." "Its director, Vincente Minnelli." "That's for me" "I'm drum crazy, yes I'm drum crazy, yes" "I'm plumb crazy for drums" "Fred could make music out of almost anything." "And he often found new challenges that stretched his talents." "In Easter Parade, he uses drums to make a melody." "First, soft violins" "Then, sweet saxophones" "Then, blue clarinets croon" "When it's my turn I turn into a loon" "When the drum takes the melody" "When the drum carries the tune" "Hard-boiled private eyes were all the rage in the '50s." "Perfect for the musical spoof, "The Girl Hunt" ballet from The Band Wagon." "In it, Fred plays a tough detective tracking down a killer." "The femme fatale, Cyd Charisse." "She came at me in sections." "More curves than a scenic railway." "She was bad." "She was dangerous." "I wouldn't trust her any farther than I could throw her." "She was selling hard, but I wasn't buying." "A team that had no equal was Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers." "In The Barkleys of Broadway, they dance the "Swing Trot" under the main titles of the picture, but with the titles removed another musical gem is revealed from the most beloved dance team of all time." "And you're the greatest Dancer in the land" "It's bill and coo-y, tea for two-y" "Just watch your partner's Eyes grow dewy" "Entrenous-y you're slightly screwy" "But irresistible On and on" "Oh, what a natural they've hit upon It gets you going till you're really gone" "And you will never rue the day" "The day you realize The Swing Trot is here to stay" "For The Belle of New York, the studio decided to reshoot this scene because Fred's costume didn't suit his famous dapper style." "So by putting the original and the reshot versions together it gives us a rare opportunity to see just how perfectly rehearsed Fred really was." "I wanna be a dancin' man while I can" "Gonna leave my footsteps On the sands of time" "If I never leave a dime" "A dancing' man" "With footsteps On the sands" "Of rhythm" "And rhyme" "Anything you can do, I can do better" "I can do anything better than you" "Another one ofmy favorite leading men was Howard Keel." "Best known for his rich baritone voice, he had a very competitive romance with Betty Hutton in Annie Get Your Gun." " No, you're not" " Yes, I am" " No, you're not" " Yes, I am, yes, I am" "I can shoot a partridge With a single cartridge" "I can get a sparrow With a bow and arrow" "I can live on bread and cheese" " And only on that?" " Yes" " So can a rat" " Any note you can reach, I can go higher" " I can sing anything higher than you" " No, you can't" " Yes, I can" " No, you can't" "Yes, I can" "Anything you can wear, I can wear better" "In what you wear I'd look better than you" " In my coat?" " In your vest" " In my shoes?" " In your hat" " No, you can't" " Yes, I can, yes, I can" "Anything you can say, I can say faster" "I can say anything faster than you" " No, you can't" " Yes, I can" " I can jump a hurdle" " I can wear a girdle" " I can knit a sweater" " I can fill it better" "I can do most anything" " Can you bake a pie?" " No" "Neither can I" "Any note you can sing I can sing sweeter" "I can sing anything sweeter than you" "No, you can't" "Yes, I can" "No, you can't" " Yes, I can" " No, you can't" " Yes, I can" " No, you can't, can't, can't" "Yes, I can, can, can" " No, you can't" " Yes, I can" "This is the vault where thousands upon thousands of MGM films are stored." "Their worth in dollars, film history, entertainment is immeasurable." "There are a few of these, of course, in which I appeared." "This one, Rose Marie was the first wide-screen, CinemaScope musical." "Now, in the 1950s, Hollywood went into a panic that rivaled the advent of talking pictures." "A monster had taken over the movie-going public:" "Television." "So the movies went into new technologies such as CinemaScope, stereophonic sound to try to recapture their audience." "Today to get the public To attend a picture show" "It's not enough to advertise A famous star they know" "If you want to get the crowds To come around" "You gotta have glorious Technicolor" "Breathtaking Cinemascope and Stereophonic sound" "In Silk Stockings, Janis Paige and Fred Astaire spoof the necessary elements to make a modern motion picture." "This lover boy's technique" "If you want to hear Applauding hands resound" "You gotta have glorious Technicolor" "Breathtaking Cinemascope and Stereophonic sound" "The customers don't like to see The groom embrace the bride" "Unless her lips are scarlet And her mouth is five feet wide" "In glorious Technicolor Breathtaking Cinemascope" "Or Cinerama, VistaVision or" "Superscope or Todd-AO and Stereophonic sound" "And Stereophonic sound" "There was a time when dancing Was so intimate and sleek" "A fella hugged his partner As they'd cuddle cheek to cheek" "Now he doesn't even know If she's around" "Because they're in glorious Technicolor Breathtaking Cinemascope and" "Stereophonic sound" "It's not enough today To see a dancer at his ease" "He's got to throw his back out And come sliding on his knees" "He's gotta have glorious Russian ballet Or modern ballet or English ballet or" "Chinese ballet or Hindu ballet or Bali ballet or any ballet" "And Stereophonic sound" "And Stereophonic adds an extra tonic" "Stereophonic sound" " Shakin' the blues away" " Away" " Unhappy news away" " Away" "If you were blue, it's easy to" "Shake off your cares and troubles" "In 1955, the studio cleverly combined the new technologies with the old-fashioned backstage musical and starred Doris Day in the Oscar-winning hit Love Me or Leave Me." "Do like the voodoos do" "Listen to a voodoo melody" "They shake their bodies so To and fro" "With every shake A lucky break" " Provin' that there's a way" " A way" " To chase your cares away" " Away" "If you would lose your weary blues" "Shake 'em away" " Shakin' the blues away" " Away, away" " Unhappy news away" " Away, away" "If you were blue, it's easy to" "Shake off your cares and troubles" "Tellin' the blues to go" "They may refuse to go" "But as a rule they'll go If you'll shake 'em away" "Do like the voodoos do" "Listen to a voodoo melody" "They shake their bodies so To and fro" "With every shake A lucky break" " Provin' that there's a way" " A way" " To chase your cares away" " Away" "If you would lose your weary blues" "Shake 'em away" "Shake those blues away" "Gotta chase those cares away" "Just to prove that there's a way" "A way to shake, shake your blues" "Away" "The warden threw a party In the county jail" "The prison band was there And they began to wail" "The band was jumpin' And the joint began to swing" "You should've heard Those knocked-out jailbirds sing" "Let's rock" "Times were changing, and so was music." "MGM began appealing to a new generation of filmgoers with Elvis Presley and the "Jailhouse Rock. "" "Was dancin' to the Jailhouse Rock" "Spider Murphy played The tenor saxophone" "Little Joe was blowin' On the slide trombone" "The drummer boy from Illinois Went crash, boom, bang" "The whole rhythm section Was the Purple Gang" "Let's rock, everybody, let's rock" "Everybody in the whole cell block" "Was dancin' to the Jailhouse Rock" "Number forty-seven said to number three:" ""You're the cutest jailbird I ever did see" "I sure would be delighted With your company" "Come on and do the Jailhouse Rock With me"" "Let's rock" "Go, go, go" "Everybody, let's rock" "Lay it on me, daddy-o" "Everybody in the whole cell block" "Was dancin' to the Jailhouse Rock Dancin' to the Jailhouse Rock" "Rock, rock, rock" "Dancin' to the Jailhouse Rock" "Rock, rock, rock" "Dancin' to the Jailhouse Rock" "Rock, rock, rock" "Gigi, am I a fool without a mind or have I merely been too blind to realize?" "Oh, Gigi." "In 1958 the golden age of the MGM musical came to a grand finale with Lerner and Loewe's Gigi." "The film became the studio's top box-office musical and won nine Academy Awards, including one for this lovely song." "The film stars Louis Jourdan and the lovely Leslie Caron." "Oh, no" "Overnight there's been A breathless change" "In you" "Oh, Gigi While you were trembling on the brink" "Was I out yonder somewhere Blinking at a star?" "Oh, Gigi" "Have I been standing up too close?" "Or back too far?" "When did your sparkle turn to fire?" "And your warmth become desire?" "Oh, what miracle" "Has made you the way" "You are?" "What a time it was." "Life was simpler then." "And so was the movie business." "MGM's dream factory created a rich, romantic..." "And although we may not see anything like it again we're blessed with memories and miles and miles of film." "In the words of Irving Berlin:" ""The song is ended but the melody lingers on. "" "A show that is really a show" "Sends you out with a kind of a glow" "And you say as you go on your way" "That's Entertainment" "A song that is winging along" "Or a dance with the touch of romance" "Is the art that appeals to the heart" "That's Entertainment" "The world is a stage" "The stage is a world" "Of entertainment"