Love Letters to Old Hollywood

My first blogathon has arrived, and I'm excited to say that it looks like it's going to be a success! Seeing the love for Mr. Minnelli is amazing. I want to thank everyone who was generous enough to participate, and thanks to all of the readers who are going to help make this blogathon fun and great!

After the sensational success of I Love Lucy 's first three seasons, Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball wanted to hit the big screen. While Ball had been the self-proclaimed Queen of the B's, the studios never really knew how to best illustrate her talent. Arnaz, meanwhile, was hardly given a chance in Hollywood. After the fateful Too Many Girls , the film that introduced him to Lucy, Desi was only in a few more movies before I Love Lucy , partly because he had enlisted for WWII and partly because, like his wife, he wasn't handled properly. Once television made them instant icons, the powerful duo looked to Hollywood to expand their empire. It probably didn't hurt that they were returning to Tinseltown as huge successes, either. Released in 1954, The Long, Long Trailer proved that audiences were willing to pay to see the couple that they could just as easily see for free in the comfort of their living rooms. MGM studio head Dore Schary offered Lucy and Desi an irresisti...

It's true! Just ten days until my first blogathon! I've been incredibly pleased with the turn-out so far, especially because I've never hosted, so thank you to everyone who has signed up! I'm super excited to read your entries. If you're reading this and you decide "Hey, I'd love to help celebrate Vincente Minnelli," you can still drop me a line. Feel free to comment on this post or on the original announcement post . I'll be accepting participants until the very last day of the blogathon (Dec. 18th)! If you can't participate, please help spread the word through whatever social media you use, and if you have a blog, please consider posting one of my banners to help me advertise. I'd appreciate it greatly! But wait, there's more! At the end of my Minnelli blogathon, I'll be announcing my next blogathon! Yep, I haven't even hosted my first one yet and I'm already thinking of my second -- it's ...

It sounds like an icky premise. A playboy artist is forced by a judge to play along with the teenage crush of the judge's 17-year-old sister; comedy ensues. Thankfully, The Bachelor and the Bobbysoxer is a joyful and hilarious film that is handled expertly by the likes of Cary Grant (never more charming), Myrna Loy (gorgeously wry), Shirley Temple (doe-eyed perfection), and the Oscar-winning script of Sidney Sheldon (so much fun). Let's dive in! It's morning at the Turner household, and maid Bessie (Lillian Randolph) is having a rough time waking the house up. Teenager Susan (Temple) doesn't budge until Bessie threatens to bring in her older sister Margaret (Loy), which is a laugh since Margaret is still cozy in bed herself. Later at the breakfast table, Susan gives us a bit of foreshadowing when she asks Margaret what sentencing she gave in her latest case, the one where an older man ran away with a 16-year-old girl. It turns out that Susan has been placing bet...