Yes, from 1957 to 1959, How to Marry a Millionaire was TV show! It starred Merry Anders, Lori Nelson and Barbara Eden before her I Dream of Jeannie days. Eden steals the show as the bubbly Loco. Despite sharing a name with the Betty Grable character in the original, this Loco is really more of a hybrid of Grable’s happy flirt and Marilyn Monroe’s near-sighted dim bulb. I think Anders, as Mike, is supposed to be the level-headed Lauren Bacall character. I don’t know where that leaves Nelson.
Though it only lasted two seasons, this is a fun show. It is by necessity less glossy and glamorous than its big screen sister, but it’s got an amusing, more mischievous tone. This 1957 episode, called The Three Pretenders, is the third in the series.
Well, as you can see from this promo, Clara Bow wasn't meant to be a musical star. That said, she's awfully cute--and quite a sport for dancing and singing when she was terrified to even speak on film. After hearing the many stories of Bow's negative experiences with the talkies, I was so surprised to find that she actually had a charming speaking voice. It wasn't so much that she couldn't speak well, it's just that it frightened her to do it on film. I wish she had made more talkies, because she was charming in a whole new way when she spoke, but I'm happy she managed to at least star in a few.
Look at this--Joan Fontaine and Richard Basehart on a 1981 episode of the Love Boat! I need to make a master list of all the classic movie star appearances on this show. I know there were a ton of them.
I get giddy with delight whenever I watch Chico Marx playing the piano. He always manages to incorporate a heavy dose of slapstick into his light-hearted performances, and because he keeps that happy anarchy going, it never feels like his musical interludes stop the action.
Janet Gaynor wasn't made for musicals, but her charming warble always brings a smile to my face. It always seems as though she is just an ordinary woman, wandering around singing happily to herself--and the cameras just happen to be there. Here she sings My Heart's Desire in Adorable (1933), the last in a string of popular musicals she made in the early thirties.
I've heard stories about how tough Audrey Hepburn could be, but I'd never seen that with my own eyes until I watched this clip from 1963. Wow, she's not going to let that reporter push her around!
Norma Jean isn't quite "Marilyn Monroe" yet in this 1948 clip from Ladies of the Chorus, but she's already singing about diamonds and sugar daddies.(The part with the dolls is bizarre.)