Top 10 Classic Dance Numbers Featuring Props and/or Special Effects

Last weekend, when we watched Easter Parade with the kids, I was faced with my shameful lack of classic movie parenting skills when the children were confused by Fred Astaire's solo dance number to Steppin' Out With My Baby. They couldn't figure out where Judy was or why he was doing this dance with a bunch of other people randomly in the middle of the movie. Naturally, I had to explain to them how most of these old musicals have the big climactic dance scene, typically featuring Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly using some sort of prop or special effect. Clearly, I need to watch more of these with the kids!

But that got me thinking about all my favorite big climactic dance numbers. I can imagine how fun it would have been for 1940's me to show up at the movie theater and wait with anticipation through most of the film for the big moment. There are so many good ones! 

 So here are my top 10 favorite dance numbers featuring a prop or special effect:

10. Gene and the trash can lids. So creative and I'm sure I would have seriously injured myself attempting such a thing.

9. Fred and the hat rack. Simple and wonderful.

8. Fred and the shoes. If you're into disembodied feet, this is the one for you.

7. Gene and the newspaper. Listen, we all know that the Portland Fancy is the best dance number in Summer Stock, but Gene is adorable here with his newspaper.

6. Donald and the dummy. And the wood plank. And the brick wall. And the hat. This one does make my son laugh!

5. Gene and Jerry. High tech.

4. Fred and the slo-mo. Lots going on in this one!

3. Gene and the rain. Obviously.

2. Fred on the ceiling. Mesmerizing. I could watch this all day.

1. Gene and Cyd and ... the hat? Ok this one maybe doesn't have a stand out prop or special effect but there's a hat. Glasses? The guy flipping his coin? Anyway, it's just my favorite dance scene ever. What does it have to do with the rest of the movie? Basically nothing. But we know these guys (Fred and Gene) need their moment to shine and this takes the cake!

I know this is not a comprehensive list at all. What are your favorites?

Old Movies With Kids: Easter Parade

Well, it's Easter weekend so of course, I had to make sure the kids watched Easter Parade!

If it wasn't already obvious, Judy Garland is pretty much my favorite. I've written about Easter Parade before and all of my opinions there still stand.

This film features a stressful love square, the less common relative of the love triangle. These people just go around in circles. It would have all easily been solved if Judy had just gone for the much more handsome and debonair Peter Lawford. But no, it has to be Fred. And poor Peter Lawford is stuck with Nadine who's been awkwardly chasing him through the entire movie.

A major debate came up during our viewing: Does Peter Lawford have a British accent? I say he obviously does. My husband doesn't think so at all and my 10 year old daughter agreed with him, though I don't necessarily trust her opinion. He was born in London, but spent time in many different countries. Nonetheless, IT'S SO OBVIOUS THAT HE HAS A BRITISH ACCENT. I don't even understand how this is a debate!

From the kids

10 year old girl - 4 stars

8 year old boy - 0 stars - "Boo"

5 year old girl - 3 stars

Clearly, my son was not into this movie. It seems he's becoming more adverse to old movies the more we watch them. Bad news for him: We're not going to stop watching them.

The girls liked Judy Garland, of course! They really enjoyed the songs and dancing, especially Fred Astaire dancing in slow motion. 

Me + Judy's Dress

I was going through some old photos and came across a major life event that I almost forgot about!

Back in 2019, the Missouri History Museum in St. Louis acquired Judy Garland's red velvet dress from Meet Me in St. Louis and added it as a very temporary feature in their World's Fair exhibit. 

Lucky for me, my in-laws live in southern Illinois and we often make a detour over to St. Louis on our way down to visit them after Christmas. Obviously, we couldn't miss Judy's dress!

It was pretty cool to see it up close and in person. As expected it was tiny to fit on a tiny Judy. It showed its age but it was still beautiful!

My daughter was super excited, as you can see.

I basically fit in it as long as I'm standing 3 feet behind it!

Even without the dress, we really enjoyed our visit to this museum. It's worth checking out if you're ever in the area. The World's Fair exhibit is very cool with some hands-on stuff for the kids!

Old Movies With Kids: Oklahoma!

After celebrating Shirley Jones on her birthday the other day, I was in the mood for a Shirley movie. The Music Man is always a favorite, but it had been so long since I'd watched Oklahoma, it was time for a viewing. Also nobody else in my family had seen it before!

Guys, I enjoyed this movie so much. Maybe it's just because I haven't been watching musicals at the rate I once did pre-kids, but it made me so happy. The songs are all winners, the characters are entertaining, and it's just a good time!

You know what this movie loves? Sexual innuendo! Good thing my kids are too young to pick up on any of it. In a movie that could feel so old fashioned and traditional, it's refreshing that the women have moments of both strength and weakness and don’t always fill traditional female roles.

I especially loved the line at the end when Laurey is lamenting her traumatic wedding night and Aunt Eller wisely tells her, "Oh, lots of things happen to folks." So simple and so true!

But you know what's super weird? When Curly suggests that Judd kill himself and sings a song about it. I mean...what? Is this something people do? I get it that Judd is a creep but this very unveiled attempt to convince him to hang himself is a little excessive. I'd probably try to stab Curly with my naughty girly knife toy too.

Why you tryna kill me?

From the kids

Unfortunately, my kids weren't super into this movie. I'm not sure they knew half of what was going on which might be a good thing.

10 year old girl - 3.5 stars

8 year old boy - 0 stars. Too much kissing

5 year old girl - 3 stars

The girls liked the songs and especially loved the wedding, but that was about all any of them seemed to get out of it! My 10 year old and I very much enjoyed the sing-a-long feature on the DVD. 

Sooo this might not be one that we watch again for awhile, but I think we are going to be watching musicals for our next few films because they’re just the best! My son will be thrilled.

Old Movies With Kids: 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea

Over the weekend we showed the kids the classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I hadn't seen this one before and I wasn't particularly excited about it, but I'm happy to say I think we finally found one that my son likes!

This is the first Kirk Douglas movie I've ever seen, but I think we can all agree that Peter Lorre is the best part of this movie. I mean, isn't he the best part of any movie he's in? Yes. Nonetheless, all the characters were interesting and the story was exciting and kept everyone's attention.

Also, this is basically the second Pirates of the Caribbean movie. There's a boozy, kind of obnoxious sailor with a theme song, an island with cannibals, and, most importantly, a rockin' captain who clearly has deeply buried emotional issues and dramatically plays the organ instead of expressing his feelings. (My husband would like me to mention that the organ from this movie is currently in the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland. So ... there ya go.)

From the kids

3 stars - It was a little weird. Not my favorite movie. Not enough girls in it. - 10 year old girl

3 stars - 5 year old girl

4 stars. Good. - 8 year old boy

Kids' favorite moments:

The giant squid fight was a favorite across the board!

Explosions and fighting, specifically when Peter Lorre and Kirk Douglas were punching each other in the face. Hilarious!

Kirk Douglas's turtle guitar, especially when he stuffed jewelry in it. I have no recollection of this part!

New Rear Window Board Game Coming This Summer!

We play a lot of games in our house. As previously mentioned, we've really been enjoying this Willy Wonka Golden Ticket game with the kids. My husband is more into games than I am, BUT I got pretty excited when I heard that there's going to be a new game based on Rear Window coming out this summer!

We have a number of movie-based games, but this is the first one based on a really good classic film and it looks awesome. Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly are even on the front of the box! It's a cooperative game where you play as the characters in the film to solve a possible murder. Here's the official description:

Experience Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece Rear Window in this game of deduction and suspense. Carefully observe strange clues and ominous patterns in the things going on in the apartments across the way. There are parties, knives, a saw, bickering, laughing, music ... and a mysterious trunk. Do you detect a murder? Or is the secret, private world of the neighbors planting frightening ideas in your mind?

Everyone needs to buy this so that they keep making more!

Here are some of the other movie-based games we like:

Ravensburger Universal Back to The Future Game Strategy Game. My husband loves Back to The Future and I suppose it's getting close to classic movie status. I really enjoy this game. It's a little harder for our younger kids. There is another Back to The Future game, but we haven't tried that one.

Villianous. We kind of love this game even though it's probably more complicated than it needs to be. Pick a villian and do your worst. There are a bunch of expansions so you really have many options. Ursula is my favorite but I played as Cruelle DeVille the other day and she was pretty great too!

The Haunted Mansion - Call of The Spirits. Ok, maybe this isn't based on a movie, but it's a good one so I'm including it!

Happy gaming!

 

 

My Top 5 Spirit Characters

After watching Yours, Mine, and Ours last week and relating a little too closely to incessantly hungry Susan Beardsley, it got me thinking about my other spirit characters. Spoiler alert: they are not the leading ladies. I'm just not leading lady material.

Here are my top 5, though I'm sure there are many more!

1. Eulalie Mackechnie Shinn in The Music Man - The first time I laid eyes on this woman I knew she was everything I wanted to be in life. Honorable mention for Mayor Shinn who I also can't help but love. I mean,

Mrs. Shinn: Now, George!

Mayor Shinn: Not one poop out of you, Madame!

Mrs. Shinn: I think he means "peep"

Mayor Shinn: Yes!

2. Susan Beardsley from Yours, Mine, and Ours - As the inspiration for this list, it's only right that she's at the top. This girl does not miss an opportunity to stuff her face full of food. She's the best.

3. Miss Torso in Rear Window - 

    Ways she is NOT like me: She's fit enough to prance around baring her torso. She has an entourage of men courting her.

    Ways she IS like me: She's eating in every scene she's in. She ends up with the nice, nerdy fellow.

4. Agnes Smith from Meet Me In St. Louis - This is the often-overlooked second youngest daughter in the Smith family. She has a taste for chaos but nobody notices because they're too focused on Tootie being a drama queen.

5. Marjorie Main in Judy Garland movies (The Harvey Girls, Summer Stock, Meet Me in St. Louis) - I'm grouping these together since they're basically all the same character. She's a no-nonsense lady who accepts the fact that she's always a servant and likes to mess with everyone.

Who are your spirit characters?