Hi all,
During the final segment of the film, two men and one woman start off the song, "That's En-ter-tain-ment" but I don't know who the woman is?
I really liked her voice for some reason and was wondering if anyone knows who she is and if she ever recorded an album?
Cheers,
Victor
Are you talking about Nannette Fabray? If so her voice definitely has a wholesome quality to it, but I'm not certain she released albums. This was her only picture for MGM!
shareHi Racheal:
I don't think it was Nannette Fabray - the lady was a bit older and shorter and heavier (I could be wrong - maybe it is her. I looked up photos of her and she doesn't strike me as the same person). All I remember is - that the woman i'm referring to started off the song with two men and then Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse (not certain) took over the rest of the song.
If you still think it was Nannette Fabray - let me know because I could be wrong. I'd buy the movie to find out but i'm not sure how much of a role this person played in the movie and i'm afraid she's going to be labeled something like "Woman #1" during the credits and that's not going to help.
Thanks!
During the finale almost everyone in the cast of the "musical within a musical" sings at some point.
However, the two gents and one lady who begin the song by saying to Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse, "May we say something" are most definitely Oscar Levant, Jack Buchanan, and Nanette Fabray. To sing the last verses of the reprise over the end title, all five line up in a very well-composed shot, with their faces making a zigzag.
Nanette is one of the few principals in the cast who is still alive; I think Cyd Charisse is another. Nanette was known for having a severe handicap for a musical star: she was either totally or partially deaf at the time, and had to "hear" the music through vibrations in the floorboards. She wore shoes with especially thin soles for this purpose. Her hearing actually improved in her later years with treatment.
I'm sure you can find her on recordings of her many Broadway appearances and maybe a few solo albums too.
Wow - I just wanted to say "Thank You!" for that super detailed response. I do apprecate it.
shareYou're most welcome.
Another cool thing about the song is the reference to Oedipus Rex.
The original lyric was considered too risqué:
"where a chap kills his father
and makes love to his mother" (or words to that effect)
It was changed to:
"where a chap kills his father
and causes a lot of bother."
It's funny that such an ancient work still had to be censored in the 20th Century.
But that's entertainment I guess!
IN the final scene of the film, "That's Entertainment" is sung by Astaire and Cyd Charisse, though Charisse did not sing and was dubbed in this film by India Adams.
shareThanks for letting me know!
Cheers.
I absolutely love that song. I was just blown away when they sang that. I just watched the movie yesterday and I cannot get that song out of my head!
share I didn't know that the first person to ever begin singing "That's Entertainment" on film, was a Scotsman.
Buchanan deserved more credit for the film, he added a lot to it. I had never seen him in anything before or since viewing TBW.
"He sent the rain."
"Who sent the fire?"
In the finale, the repeat singing of "That's Entertainment," the first three singers we see are Levant
(left), Buchanan (center), and definitely Nanette Fabray in a blue dress (on the right). To me she
looks the same in this song as in her earlier appearances in this great film. -- Prof Steven P Hill,
Cinema Studies, University of Illinois.