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[Dominic McHugh]

I thought it was time to move on from no-necks to people with real talent.

This is a question for Ken. What happened to Kay Thompson (of Funny Face) and Janis Paige (of Silk Stockings) before and after their appearances in these almost-excelent films?

I believe that Kay was some sort of vocal coach and that Janis Paige starred on Broadway in The Pajama Game, but we don't often hear much about them. I would really love to know; for me they're both highly entertaining.

I managed a short letter for a change! It seems the semantic profusion surrounding remakes/commentaries/Clooney which I was slightly guilty of is catching on, this time with Elvis!

Best wishes and thanks

Dominic

[Ken Barnes]

Hi Dominic,

Kay Thompson was one of the great "back room" talents of the music and movie industry. She was born in St. Louis,Missouri in 1902 and died in New York in 1998.

She was a vocal coach, a vocal and music arranger and lyricist. In films during the 1940s, she worked mainly at MGM on such movies as "Broadway Rhythm (1944), "Weekend at the Waldorf (1945), "The Harvey Girls" (1946) and "Good News"(1947) In the mid-1940s, she developed a sensational night club act with the Williams Brothers Quartet *
( featuring a young Andy Williams ), She also worked sporadically as an actress. Her appearance in the 1957 "Funny Face" was her most effective showing on screen and one wonders why she didn't do more.

As you probably know, " The Harvey Girls" is on DVD in the USA - but what you probably don't know is that the vocal group backings ( arranged by Kay ) included such future stars as Frankie Laine and Andy Williams.

* The Williams Brothers Quartet (including a 15 year-old Andy Williams) made their recording debut backing Bing Crosby on his commercial recording of the 1944 Oscar winning song "Swinging On A Star" - which went on to sell more than 3 million copies. Andy and his brothers were paid the scale rate of $15 dollars each

Janis Paige was born 1922 in Tacoma,Washington ( Bing Crosby's birthplace). Although trained as an opera singer, she set her sites on a show business career.Folloowing a bit part in MGM's "Bathing Beauty"(1944) she was discovered by a Warner Brothers talent scout while working as a waitress/singer at the Hollywood Canteen - and was immediately signed to a contract with the studio. Her vivacious looks and peppery personality help to enliven many Warner Brothers films of the 1940s usually as third or fourth lead - often opposite Jack Carson. On leaving the studio in 1949 she briefly teamed with Carson in a nightclub act before appearing New York's Copcaban club as a solo attraction. She reached the highpoint of her career in 1954 as co-star of the hit Broadway musical " The Pajama Game" She later starred in her own TV series "It's Always Jan" and returned occasionally to the big screen - most notably in "Silk Stockings" (1957)

She's still around and this year she appeared in a TV special "Broadway, The Golden Age by the Legends who were there."(2002).

Cheers
Ken

[Dominic McHugh]

Thanks for the info - Kay Thompson sounds like she was quite a lady!

The reason I asked the question was that I have always felt that Kay and Janis as the 'second' women in films with Fred Astaire duetted with him better and suited him more physically than the female leads. I feel that especially in 'Funny Face', where Audrey Hepburn is so much younger than Fred, it didn't make sense that he falls for the pretty girl rather than his more contemporary co-star Thompson, who also has a less insipid character than we see in Audrey at the beginning. Thompson's renditions of songs such as 'Bonjour Paris' and 'On How to Be Lovely' carry the film where it could have fallen apart due to Hepburn's thin tone colour. I am not set on fire by either of Audrey's solos - singing or dancing. 'Think Pink' and 'Clap Yo' Hands' are also very enetertaining. I'm really appreciative that you've filled me in on her enormous talent - I have always loved Thompson's performance in this film, but it's so hard to find other examples of her in films. The 'Bonjour Paris' sequence is one of may favourite numbers in any musical.

As for 'Silk Stockings', again I don't know what Fred sees in the cold female lead of Cyd, and their dancing together in this film is less successful than in 'The Band Wagon'. With Janis Paige, however, the film really comes alive, especially in 'Stereophonic Sound', again a real highlight in any musical film.

Thanks for your help, Ken. One further question (sorry): I read in a book a few weeks ago that the 'I Used to Be Colour-Blind' sequence from RKO's 'Carefree' was originally meant to be filmed in colour. How monumental that would have been! Can you elaborate? (Sorry to keep you busy on trivia!).

Cheers

Dominic