Happy Birthday Shirley a Film Musical Legend and Oscar Winner

i haven't done a lot of birthdays lately but c'mon it's shirley jones. oscar winner for 'elmer gantry' ms jones charmed as laurie williams and julie jordon 'oklahoma' and 'carousel' respectively.

from 'oklahoma'

'many a new day'

'out of my dreams'

'o-k-l-a-h-o-m-a' medley

from 'carousel'

'if i loved you'

shirley won her well deserved oscar for 'elmer gantry' playing against type to the shock of musical fans everywhere.

shirley also played marian paroo in one of my least favorite translations from stage to screen in 'the music man'.

'marion the librarian'

'till there was you'

as musical films began to fade shirley took to the small screen in the silly 'the partridge family'. 

happy birthday shirley

Remembering Gordon Macrae on His Birthday

i've never given gordon macrae his due. truth be told it was mr macrae  in both 'oklahoma' and 'carousel' that started me on my musical path. i honestly don't know much of his work other than these two films. i just never got into post 1950 musicals. i found them 'light'. it was curly and laurey williams, julie jordon and billy bigelow who introduced me to, at that time, the 'modern' musical or the 'book musical'. in so far as his costar in both these films, shirley jones, celebrates her birthday at the end of this month i'm splitting the treasure they gave us along with the team who changed the musical forever collaborators richard rodgers and oscar hammerstein.

 'oklahoma'

'soliloguy' from 'carousel'