Cyd Charisse who was known for her dancing in classic films with Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly died Tuesday in Los Angeles She was in her mid-80s Her publicist confirmed to press that Charisse was admitted to the hospital Monday after suffering a heart attack and did not recoverA Texas native she got her start with the Ballet Russe but became known as a darling of the musicals of the 1940s and 50s Along with Rain Charisse starred in numerous classics including Ziegfeld Follies The Band Wagon and Brigadoon MGM was her home studio and she once described it as a fairyland says the AP Born as Tula Ellice Finklea Charisse married Nico Charisse in 1939 and then Tony Martin in 1948 She has two sons Tony Jr and NickySilk Stockings was the last of her dancing roles in films but she continued to act in dramatic roles making her Broadway debut in 1992 One of her more famous subsequent roles was as Dean Martins new wife in 1962s Somethings Got to Give which wa
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Send your movie questions to FlickChickSee Maitland McDonagh and Ken Fox review this weeks new flicks in Movie TalkI recently had the pleasure of meeting the Finnish-born dancer and actress Taina Elg star of this weeks DVD Tuesday pick the musical Les Girls 1957 Hear me out before you stop reading because you dont like musicals Im not wild for them generally but over the years Ive been steered to some great ones by friends in the know Les Girls is a little gem I discovered on my own and all because someone sent me an Ask FlickChick query scroll down about what had become of the gamine Miss Elg I discovered that she was alive well and living just a few blocks from me and subsequently had a thoroughly delightful phone conversation with her some of which wound up in my answer Then last week I found myself at a publicity event where I was able to meet Miss Elg in the flesh and she was even more charming Right then and there I decided to try to turn a few
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Question: When Pedro Almodovar won the best original screenplay Oscar for Talk to Her (2002), the announcer said as he was walking up to the stage that it was his second nomination, the other being for best director for the same film. But didn't he win an Oscar for All About My Mother (1999) in the foreign-language-film category? I know that the nominees in that category are actually the countries where the films were released and produced, but why does the director get to accept the award, not the producers? Do Oscar winners who are absent the night they win still get to receive their statuettes even if it's long after they won? And finally, what happens if your Oscar is stolen or broken — can you get a new one?
Answer: Wow, you are full of questions! The director gets to accept the award because the Academy say
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Question: Please tell me the title of the movie in which Gene Kelly danced with trash-can lids on his feet.
Answer: It's Always Fair Weather (1955), which was originally conceived as a sequel to On the Town (1949). By the time it made it to the screen, the character's names were changed and there were no references to the night they spent together in New York as carefree young sailors on leave. But the idea remains: Soldiers Ted Riley (Gene Kelly), Doug Hallerton (Dan Dailey) and Angie Valentine (Michael Kidd) come through World War II together and before parting ways at the war's end, they promise t
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Question: I am having trouble locating the title of a Donald O'Connor movie from the '50s in which he did a song and dance on roller skates. Has this been released on video?
Answer: When people think dancing on roller skates, they think Gene Kelly in It's Always Fair Weather (1955), but you're looking for the musical I Love Melvin (1953). It isn't on DVD, but it was issued on video in 1995 and there are lots of used copies floating around. Donald O'Connor plays an assistant photographer who rashly promises to make a cover girl of chorine Debbie Reynolds, and his tap number on roller skates i
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