You mentioned THEY MADE ME A CRIMINAL and FAST AND FURIOUS, two non-musicals which were very good. Why do you think Busby didn't do more dramas/comedies in the 40s/50s? Being an Ann Dvorak fan, I'd love to see 1935's FUNNY FACE (aka BRIGHT LIGHTS). Can you recommend it? "Remember My Forgotten ...

I think you answered your own question---it was his experience through the war, and especially Broadway that fueled a dormant need to produce entertainment on a lavish scale. He was a unique voice from Broadway when he found his way to Hollywood and his talent festered until Warner Bros. took notice...

Buzz was discouraged by his actress mother and stage director father. He developed outside the theater in military school and in the Army. When his father died, he saw his doting mother on school breaks (she toured the theater circuit), and it wasn't until his military service ended that he thought ...

Quite amusing, I might add, is that nobody in the "For Me and My Gal" photograph looks the least bit happy.

The old Hollywood saying is that the happiest of sets yields the lousiest movies.

I don't believe Gene acknowledged Buzz with anything acting related. Kelly was never a big fan of the man, and thought Berkeley's technique was heavy handed. This coming from a new Hollywood actor making his debut on screen. Also, Gene Kelly was promised by Louis B. Mayer that he needn't do a screen...

First of all, thank you very much for inviting me. I'll be here online until about noon (central) and back, recharged, at around 6. The answer to the first part of your first question came about when prolific biographer Patrick McGilligan contacted me after reading a number of my pieces on film. He ...