Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Jennifer Holliday - And I am telling you I'm not going (1982)



"And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" (also known in short as just "And I Am Telling You") is a torch song from the Broadway musical Dreamgirls, with lyrics by Tom Eyen and music by Henry Krieger. In the context of the musical, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" is sung by the character Effie White, a singer with the girl group The Dreams, to her manager, Curtis Taylor Jr., whose romantic and professional relationship with Effie is quickly ending. The lyrics to "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going", often considered the show's signature tune, describe Effie's love for Curtis, both strongly devoted and defiant. She refuses to let Curtis leave her behind, and boldly proclaims to him, "I'm staying and you ... you're gonna love me."

In addition to its presence in the musical, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" is also notable as the debut single of two women who portrayed Effie. Jennifer Holliday originated the role on Broadway in 1981 and won a Tony Award for her performance. In 1982, Holliday recorded a number-one R&B hit version of "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going". Jennifer Hudson portrayed Effie in the 2006 film adaptation of Dreamgirls, winning an Oscar for the role. Hudson's version became a Top 20 R&B single, and a number-one dance hit.

Jennifer Holliday version

In 1982, Jennifer Holliday, the actress who portrayed Effie in the original Broadway production, released the song as a single. It was her first single release and it met with great success, topping the Billboard R&B charts and attaining top forty positions on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart. In 1983, Holliday won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female for the single.

"And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" was designed as the closing number of Dreamgirls' first act. Holliday's performance of the song, in a style owing much to gospel music singing traditions, was regularly staged to thunderous applause; it was hailed as the highlight of the show in several printed reviews of the musical.[1] In his review of Dreamgirls' opening night performance, New York Times theatre critic Frank Rich referred to Holliday's "And I Am Telling You" as "one of the most powerful theatrical coups to be found in a Broadway musical since Ethel Merman sang "Everything's Coming Up Roses" at the end of Act I of Gypsy"[2] "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" remains Holliday's signature song.

Liza Minnelli Interview 1980

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Full Film,My Week with Marilyn 2011

My Week with Marilyn is a 2011 British drama film directed by Simon Curtis and written by Adrian Hodges. It stars Michelle Williams, Kenneth Branagh, Eddie Redmayne, Dominic Cooper, Dougray Scott, Judi Dench and Emma Watson. Based on two books by Colin Clark, it depicts the making of the 1957 film The Prince and the Showgirl, which starred Marilyn Monroe (Williams) and Laurence Olivier (Branagh). The film focuses on the week in which Monroe spent time being escorted around London by Clark (Redmayne), after her husband, Arthur Miller (Scott), had left the country.
Principal photography began on 4 October 2010 at Pinewood Studios. Filming took place at Saltwood Castle, White Waltham Airfield and on locations in and around London. Curtis also used the same studio in which Monroe shot The Prince and the Showgirl in 1956. My Week with Marilyn had its world premiere at the New York Film Festival on 9 October 2011 and was shown at the Mill Valley Film Festival two days later. The film was released on 23 November 2011 in the United States and 25 November in the United Kingdom. For her portrayal of Monroe, Williams was awarded the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy Motion Picture. She also earned Best Actress nominations from the Academy Awards and British Academy Film Awards.


Plot

Following his graduation from university, aspiring filmmaker Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne) travels to London to get a job on Laurence Olivier's (Kenneth Branagh) next production. Hugh Perceval (Michael Kitchen) tells Colin there are no jobs available, but he decides to wait for Olivier, whom he once met at a party. Olivier and his wife, Vivien Leigh (Julia Ormond), eventually show up and Vivien encourages Olivier to give Colin a job on his upcoming film The Prince and the Showgirl, starring Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams). Colin's first task is to find a suitable place for Marilyn and her husband, Arthur Miller (Dougray Scott), to stay at while they are in England. The press find out about the house, but Colin reveals he hired another just in case, impressing Olivier and Marilyn's publicist, Arthur Jacobs (Toby Jones).
The paparazzi find out about Marilyn's arrival at Heathrow and they gather around the plane when it lands. Marilyn brings her husband, her business partner, Milton H. Greene (Dominic Cooper), and her acting coach Paula Strasberg (Zoë Wanamaker) with her. She initially appears to be uncomfortable around the many photographers, but relaxes at the press conference. Olivier becomes frustrated when Marilyn is late to the read-through. She insists Paula sits with her and when she has trouble with her lines, Paula reads them for her. The crew and the others actors, including Sybil Thorndike (Judi Dench), are in awe of Marilyn. Colin meets Lucy (Emma Watson), a wardrobe assistant whom he is attracted to, and they go on a date. Marilyn starts arriving later to the set and often forgets her lines, angering Olivier. However, Sybil praises Marilyn and defends her when Olivier tries to get her to apologise for holding the shoot up.
Marilyn struggles to understand her character and leaves the set when Olivier insults her. Colin asks the director to be more sympathetic towards Marilyn, before he goes to Parkside House to check on her. He hears an argument and finds a tearful Marilyn sitting on the stairs with Arthur's notebook, which contains the plot of a new play that appears to poke fun at her. Arthur later returns to the United States. Vivien comes to the set and watches some of Marilyn's scenes. She breaks down, saying Marilyn lights up the screen and if only Olivier could see himself when he watches her. Oliver tries unsuccessfully to reassure his wife. Marilyn does not show up to the set following Arthur's departure and she asks Colin to come to Parkside and they talk. The crew becomes captivated by Marilyn when she dances for a scene and Milton pulls Colin aside to tell him Marilyn breaks hearts and that she will break his too. Lucy also notices Colin's growing infatuation with Marilyn.
Colin and Marilyn spend the day together and are given a tour of Windsor Castle by Owen Morshead (Derek Jacobi). Colin also shows Marilyn around Eton College, and they go skinny dipping in the River Thames. Marilyn kisses Colin and they are found by Roger Smith (Philip Jackson), Marilyn's bodyguard. Colin is called to Parkside one night as Marilyn has locked herself in her room. Colin enters her room and Marilyn invites him to lie next to her on the bed. The following night, Marilyn wakes up in pain and claims she is having a miscarriage. A doctor tends to her and Marilyn tells Colin that she wants to forget everything. She later returns to the set to complete the film. Olivier praises Marilyn, but reveals she has killed his desire to direct again. Lucy asks Colin if Marilyn broke his heart and he replies that she did, a little. Marilyn comes to Colin's B&B and thanks him for helping her. She kisses him goodbye and Roger drives her to the airport.

Watch the movie on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOskw1nnvRA

Full Film,Some Like it Hot 1959 Marilyn Monroe

Some Like It Hot is an American romantic screwball comedy film, made in 1958 and released in 1959, which was directed by Billy Wilder and starred Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and George Raft.
The supporting cast includes Joe E. Brown, Pat O'Brien, Joan Shawlee and Nehemiah Persoff.
The film is a remake by Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond of a 1935 French movie, Fanfare d'Amour, from the story by Robert Thoeren and Michael Logan, which was also remade in 1951 by German director Kurt Hoffmann as Fanfaren der Liebe. However, both the French and German films were without the gangsters that are an integral part of the plot of Some Like It Hot. Wilder's working title for his film was Fanfares of Love, then Not Tonight, Josephine before he decided on Some Like It Hot as its release title.
During 1981, after the worldwide success of the French comedy La Cage aux Folles, United Artists re-released Some Like It Hot to theatres. In 2000, the American Film Institute listed Some Like It Hot as the greatest American comedy film of all time.


Plot

Two struggling musicians, Joe and Jerry (Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon), witness the Saint Valentine's Day massacre of 1929. When the Chicago gangsters, led by "Spats" Colombo (George Raft), see them, the two flee for their lives. They escape and decide to leave town, taking a job that requires them to disguise themselves as women, playing in an all-girl musical band headed to Florida. Calling themselves Josephine and Daphne, they join the band and board a train. Joe and Jerry both become enamored of "Sugar Kane" (Marilyn Monroe), the band's vocalist and ukulele player, and struggle for her affection while maintaining their disguises. In Florida, Joe woos Sugar by assuming a second disguise as a millionaire named "Junior", the heir to Shell Oil, while mimicking Cary Grant's voice. An actual millionaire, Osgood Fielding III (Joe E. Brown), becomes enamored of Jerry in his Daphne guise. One night Osgood asks Daphne out to his yacht. Joe convinces Daphne to keep Osgood ashore while he goes on the yacht with Sugar. That night Osgood proposes to Daphne who, in a state of excitement, accepts, believing he can receive a large settlement from Osgood immediately following their wedding ceremony.
When the mobsters arrive at the same hotel for a conference honoring "Friends of Italian Opera", Spats and his gang see Joe and Jerry. After several humorous chases (and witnessing yet another mob murder, this time of Spats himself and his crew), Jerry, Joe, Sugar, and Osgood escape to the millionaire's yacht. En route, Joe reveals to Sugar his true identity and Sugar tells Joe that she's in love with him regardless. Joe tells her that he is not good enough for her, that she would be getting the "fuzzy end of the lollipop" yet again, but Sugar loves him anyway. Jerry, for his part, tries to explain to Osgood that he cannot marry him, launching into a range of objections from insisting that he can't get married in his mother's dress ("We are not built the same way") to the tearful confession that he can "never have children." Osgood dismisses them all and remains determined to go through with the marriage. Finally, exasperated, Jerry removes his wig and shouts, "I'm a man!", only for Osgood to override this final revelation by uttering the film's memorable last line: "Well, nobody's perfect."

Full Film,Ladies of the Chorus 1948 Marilyn Monroe


Ladies of the Chorus is a 1948 Columbia Pictures film starring Marilyn Monroe in her first major role as Peggy Martin, a dancer who falls in love with a wealthy man, Rand Brooks. Adele Jergens played her mother, despite the fact that Jergens was only nine years older than Monroe, who worries about the class difference between the two, and wonders if her daughter will be happy. The film was directed by Phil Karlson.
Monroe sings Every Baby Needs a Da Da Daddy and Anyone Can See I Love You, but the film was not a success, and Monroe's contract with Columbia Pictures was not renewed.

Photoshoot 1950 Marilyn Monroe










Portrait of American actress Marilyn Monroe (1926 - 1962) at a photo shoot in Griffith Park, Los Angeles, California, August 1950. Dressed in shorts and a bikini top, she lies back on a wooden bench and reads a script.

Monroe In 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes' Rare Photos




Production still shows American actress Marilyn Monroe (1926 - 1962) as she performs 'Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend,' from the film 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes' (directed by Howard Hawks, 1953), with cast of unidentified male dancers, Los Angeles, California, 1953. The film co-stars Jane Russell.

Marilyn Monroe on the Roof Photos 1955




Marilyn Monroe On Set For 'There's No Business Like Show Business'

Portrait of American actor Marilyn Monroe (1926 - 1962) (born Norma Jean Mortensen), in a light-colored, beaded gown, as she leans against an open trailer door on the 20th Century Fox studios set during the filming of director Walter Lang's film, 'There's No Business Like Show Business,' 1954