Adolph Green

Auntie Mame -- The legendary Rosalind Russell ('Gypsy,' 'His Girl Friday') recreates on screen her Broadway triumph as an eccentric grande dame who teaches her 10-year old nephew to appreciate life.

Academy Award-winner Gene Kelly ("Singin' in the Rain," "An American in Paris"), Oscar-nominee Dan Dailey ("The Pride of St. Louis"), and 5-time Tony-winner dancer/choreographer Michael Kidd ("Seven Brides for Seven Brothers," "Hello Dolly!") star as three WWII comrades who meet again during a ten-year reunion only to discover they have nothing in common. Co-starring the exquisite Cyd Charisse ("Singin' in the Rain"). A musical delight directed by Kelly and Stanley Donen ("Singin' in the Rain," Seven Brides for Seven Brothers"), it received Oscar-nominations for Best Screenplay and Score.

The last Astaire/Rogers movie, about a show-biz team divided by career ambitions, is also the duo's only color film. Highlights: Fred's Shoes with Wings on and the pair's They Can't Take That Away from Me.

Judy Holliday re-creates her Broadway role of flibbertigibbet telephone operator Ella Peterson in Bells are Ringing. Ella works for Susanswerphone, a hole-in-the-wall answering service run by her cousin Sue (Jean Stapleton). Our girl Ella can't help but become involved in the lives of her customers, which bring her to the attention of a dimwitted police detective, Barnes (Dort Clark), who suspects that Susanswerphone is a front for a house of ill repute. The cop is so obtuse that he never notices the story's genuine criminal, a flamboyant German bookie (Eddie Foy Jr.) who poses as a record executive and uses the names of composers as code for the various racetracks around the country. To avoid Barnes' wiretapping, Ella goes around New York in person to minister to the needs of her clientsmost notably playwright Jeffrey Moss (Dean Martin), who is in danger of becoming an alcoholic if he can't come up with a good idea for a play. Assuming a false identity, Ella prattles on about some of her other clients, notably a dentist (Bernie West) who composes pop songs on his air hose. Moss is inspired by Ella, and eventually falls in love with her. Because she will not reveal who she really is to Jeffrey, Ella decides that her relationship is founded on lies, and walks out of his life. But Moss, together with the other Susanswerphone customers who have been "rescued" by Ella, show up at Ella's doorstep for a happy ending.