"Va Va Voom" Star of the Day

Grace Kelly
Today let us highlight the Princess of Monaco.

Grace struck out on her own after high school, heading to New York's bright lights to try her luck. Grace worked as a model but made her acting debut on Broadway in 1949. She also had a brief stint in television. Not content with the work in New York, Grace moved to Southern California for the more prestigious part of acting -- motion pictures.

In 1951, she appeared in her first film Fourteen Hours when she was 22. It was a small part, but a start nonetheless. The following year she landed the role of Amy Kane in High Noon, a western starring Gary Cooper and Lloyd Bridges which turned out to be very popular. In 1953, Grace appeared in only one film, but it was another popular one, Mogambo. The film was a jungle drama in which fellow cast members, Clark Gable and Ava Gardner turned in masterful performances. It was also one of the best films ever released by MGM.

Must-See Movie: High Society

High Society (1956)
With a stellar cast and some catchy tunes, this is a no-brainer to see...but there are still some cons that go with the pros of how "must-see" this movie is.

Here's the story:  Jazz musician C.K. Dexter Haven (Bing Crosby) still holds a torch for his ex-wife, Rhode Island socialite Tracy Samantha Lord (Grace Kelly). He stays at a neighbor's house, bringing his full jazz band (including Louis Armstrong) to disrupt Tracy's upcoming nuptials to to a boring but wealthy man (John Lund).  But that's not the only conflict.  Reporter Mike Connor (Frank Sinatra) and photographer Liz Imbrie (Celeste Holm) from Spy Magazine, a fictional tabloid newspaper, are there to cover the wedding.  They are essentially blackmailing their way in, holding on to some embarrassing information about Tracy's father.  So to prevent the tabloid from getting the true story, Tracy begins an elaborate charade, pretending to be overly snobbish and frivolous, as well as introducing the tabloid to the wrong people.  To make matters even more confusing, Mike falls in love with Tracy, and she wakes up on the day of her wedding confused and unsure of what to do.

"Va Va Voom" Star of the Day

Donald O'Connor

Donald O'Connor was born on August 28, 1925 in Chicago, Illinois, to a family of circus performers.  He entered the family business in the family's vaudeville act, becoming a featured dancer in low-budget musicals.  Ten months after O'Connor's birth, his 7-year-old sister Arline was struck by a car and killed. O'Connor's devastated father died of a heart attack weeks later.

During the Great Depression, the surviving O'Connor's traveled from city to city, performing for food if necessary.  His mother had become extremely overprotective of her remaining children, seeming never to completely recover from the shock of losing her daughter and husband.  Donald enjoyed being on stage, which served as escape from his domineering mother.

Sisters from "White Christmas"

I love the movie "White Christmas," and this is the absolute funniest scene in the film. Trying to create a decoy for someone after the girls, Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye dress up like the two sisters and lip-synch to their act.

Bing Crosby sings "White Christmas"

Following up from yesterday...Although listed as a "video" of the song, this video is from a clip of the film "Holiday Inn," where Bing Crosby first sang the tune.