Before she became the most famous housewife on television, Lucille Ball was a film star, primarily at RKO. One of her earliest performances has her exchanging wisecracks with no less than Katherine Hepburn and Ginger Rogers in Stage Door (1937). It was at RKO that Ball began a lifelong friendship with a promising young filmmaker named Orson Welles. This Tuesday, Warner Brothers will be releasing five movies that starred Ball, three from her earlier years, and two of her later films.
The older films should be of greater interest to film fans. Dance, Girl, Dance, from 1940, stars Ball as an aspiring dancer who finds her niche in burlesque rather than ballet. The film was directed by Dorothy Arzner, one of the few female directors in Hollywood, who later became a mentor to Francis Ford Coppola at UCLA. The Big Street features Ball’s first teaming with Henry Fonda filmed in 1942. Fonda plays the busboy in love with nightclub singer Ball. The film is based on a story by Damon Runyon, famous for his tales about the characters who populated Broadway night life. Best of all is Du Barry was a Lady, a 1943 technicolor musical from MGM. Another comic who found a home on television, Red Skelton, stars as a hat check man who dreams he is in the French Revolution. Gene Kelly co-stars, along with Zero Mostel and Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra. Lucille Ball’s hair was dyed red for this film, which became her permanent hair color.
From 1963, Critic’s Choice pairs Ball with Bob Hope. He’s a theater critic and she’s an aspiring playwright. The film was based on a play by Ira Levin who later wrote Rosemary’s Baby. The 1974 musical Mame essentially reminded audiences that the story was better served when Rosalind Russell starred as Auntie Mame. Look for a review of at least one of the DVDs coming up this week from your pals at Screenhead.
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