The Winds Stretch Their Legs at Musical Movies Quiz

Answer: Al Jolson

"The Jazz Singer" had its theatrical release in February 1928, but most of the studio collaborators had the chance to see a premiere on October 6th, 1927. That's why the year between brackets precedes the year of the actual theatrical release.

Al Jolson plays the title role: a musician from a traditional Jewish family, who disappoints his father by pursuing a jazz career instead of taking upon him the task of the main cantor at the local synagogue.

One of the lines spoken by Al Jolson is the famous "Wait a minute, wait a minute. You ain't heard nothing yet". According to reliable sources, Al Jolson improvised this line just after the opening credits.

Before "The Jazz Singer", Al Jolson (1886-1950) had only one role in a short movie, but he did gain fame before 1927 in several stage productions. Later on, he would star in musicals such as "The Singing Fool" (1928) and "Swanee River " (1939).

The red herrings in this question all collaborated on "The Jazz Singer": Darryl F. Zanuck was the director, Louis Silvers conducted the orchestra and Harold McCord edited the movie.

Answer: Top Hat (1935)

"Flying Down to Rio", the first movie with Fred and Ginger (albeit in supporting roles), was based upon a soundtrack by Vincent Youmans, best known for the movies "No No Nanette" (1930 and 1940).

"The Gay Divorcee" had a soundtrack by various composers. Cole Porter wrote "Night and Day", and Con Conrad was responsible for "The Continental", which were the two best known numbers from that 1934 movie, which also featured an uncredited performance in a dance number by a young Betty Grable.

"Top Hat" and "Shall We Dance" are probably the two best known movies starring Fred and Ginger. Irving Berlin wrote the music and the lyrics to the songs featured in "Top Hat", including "Dancing Cheek to Cheek". George and Ira Gershwin came up with the entire soundtrack (music and lyrics) for "Shall We Dance".

"Top Hat" tells the story of an American dancer named Jerry Travers (Fred Astaire) visiting London. When he rehearses his new dance steps in his hotel room, he accidentally wakes a model named Dale Tremont (Ginger Rogers) in her room below. She storms in to complain, but falls in love at first sight.

Answer: Fantasia (1940)

In "Fantasia", one of the most imaginative parts is the "Dance of the Hours" by Amilcare Ponchielli - performed by ostriches, hippos in tiny tutus, elephants and alligators.

"Fantasia" is a Walt Disney production intended to introduce young children to the world of classical music. It features seven famous pieces of classical music animated by the Disney studio workers. For instance, in "The Dance of the Hours", ostriches perform a ballet in the morning, followed by hippos around noon and elephants in the evening. When night falls, the evil alligators take over the ballet and try to expel the other animals.

"The Cat Concerto" is a Tom and Jerry cartoon with the tomcat playing the piano, and duelling with the mouse Jerry. You can check this one out on Youtube. This movie was suggested by JanIQ's cat.

"Meet Me in St. Louis" (a romantic movie) and "My Darling Clementine" (a western) don't include any animation.

Answer: Debbie Reynolds

Debbie Reynolds (1932-2016) had only a few minor roles until "Singin' in the Rain". In this movie she plays Kathy Selden, a dancer in a minor company who accidentally meets Don Lockwood, the (fictional) most famous movie star of the last silent movies. Don Lockwood and Lina Lamont excel in silent movies, but as the studios ask for "talkies", it becomes clear Lina's harsh voice would turn each and every production into disaster. The solution? Kathy Selden would speak and sing the dialogues, and Lina would just have to lip synch.

After "Singin' in the Rain", Debbie had major roles in "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" (1964) and "Mother" (1996).
Debbie Reynolds did not win an Oscar for any of her movies, but the Screen Actors Guild presented her a Life Achievement Award in 2014.

Rita Moreno has a minor part in "Singin' in the Rain", but she and Natalie Wood are more famous for "West Side Story" (1961). Dorothy Lamour played in several "Road to" movies with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby.

Answer: The Sound of Music (1965)

The movie we're looking for, starts with the song "The hills are alive, with the sound of music". A young nun named Maria (role by Julie Andrews) doesn't quite fit in the nunnery and is sent to the family von Trapp as a governess. Maria wins the heart of the seven children and most importantly of their father, Captain von Trapp (played by Christopher Plummer). When the Nazis threaten to take over power in Austria, Maria and the family von Trapp flee to Switzerland.

Maria uses the song "Do-Re-Mi" to teach the children solfege, using syllables to indicate the exact pitch of the notes in a C scale.

"The Sound of Music" won five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Music.

"West Side Story" is Leonard Bernstein's version of the Shakespearean play "Romeo and Juliette". "Mary Poppins" is a fairy nanny, and "My Fair Lady" sketches how a professor phonetics teaches a flower girl to speak politely and meanwhile falls in love with her.

Answer: Grease (1978)

All of these '70's musicals feature great dance numbers, like the "Wedding Celebration and Bottle Dance" in "Fiddler", when the couple is raised up on chairs, or Liza Minelli's mesmerizing dance with her delicious nylon-clad legs straddling a chair as she sings "Cabaret", or Jesus' triumphal entry to Jerusalem with the crowd singing "Hosanna" in "Superstar", or the frenetic abandon of all the high school kids in "We Go Together" from "Grease".

Only "Grease" however "is the word"... and only "Grease" is set in a US high school. It tells the tale of two students from Rydell High School. Sandy, a newcomer and a bit of a goody-two-shoes, and Danny, a greaser and one of the cooler kids with a reputation to uphold as a ladies' man, and their complicated path to finding love and fun at school. "Fiddler" takes place in Russia, "Cabaret" in Germany and "Jesus Christ Superstar" in the Middle East.

Answer: Xanadu (1980)

Gene Kelly (1912-1996) was from an entirely different generation as Olivia Newton-John (born 1948). Portraying these two as a love couple is, in view of the age difference, quite unexpected.
Gene Kelly is better known for his earlier musicals such as "An American in Paris" and "Singin' in the Rain". Olivia Newton-John is best known for "Grease".
It's probably not much of a surprise to anyone who has seen "Xanadu" that it was not nominated for a single Oscar. It was a muddled tale about a modern-day ad man who is unmotivated in his work, but who then finds inspiration when he meets an authentic Greek muse (who is not supposed to be involved with humans, only inspire them to greatness). One thing leads to another, and all the rules are broken in a psychadelic roller-rink disco. Yes, it is that strange! The film was nominated for many Razzies (the awards for the Worst films and performances of the year), including a nomination for Olivia Newton John as Worst Actress. Robert Greenwald won the Worst Director Razzie that year for "Xanadu".

All of the other movies did earn Oscar nominations for female contributions. Sissy Spacek won Best Actress for playing Loretta Lynn in "Coal Miner's Daughter" and that film got six other nominations (all for male contributions). "Victor Victoria" won an Oscar for Best Music and Score (for male contributions), and got six other nominations, including Best Actress (for Julie Andrews), Best Supporting Actress (Leslie Ann Warren) and Best Costume Design (Patricia Norris). "Yentl" also won the Oscar for Best Music and Score for films made in 1983 (with three recipients, one woman and two men), and also received four other nominations, including Best Supporting Actress (Amy Irving). Surprisingly enough, the movie did NOT earn director Barbra Streisand a nomination, which many saw as a snub to the female director.

Answer: Beauty and the Beast (1991)

The Beast and Belle were certainly different from each other, and at first it seemed like they would never be able to communicate. Belle was kept as a virtual prisoner at the Beast's castle, and her initial goal was to try to escape. After coming to see each other with new eyes, they ended up being much better matched (physically, and mentally), and this allowed the Beast to be restored to his human princely form.

"Aladdin" featured a penniless ragamuffin and thief and a wealthy princess, an unlikely pair as there ever was. Nonetheless, they grew to understand and love each other after sharing adventures and a magic carpet ride.

"The Lion King" featured perhaps the best matched of couples, with Simba and Nala both coming from the aristocratic lines of the lions and being childhood friends, but Simba had ended up taking a very different path after his father's death, rejecting his birthright. He was even eating bugs and singing "Hakuna Matata" when Nala found him and helped him regain his rightful position in society.

Finally, Quasimodo, the hunchback, and Esmeralda, the wily gypsy, were certainly mismatched, but even they grew to understand and appreciate each other in the end of Disney's adaptation of the Victor Hugo tale.

Although all four of the Disney films mentioned were released in the 1990s, and all had musical and dance numbers involving somewhat mismatched couples, only "Beauty and the Beast" was nominated for Best Picture. The film actually won a Golden Globe for Best Comedy or Musical for movies released in 1991, too.

Answer: ABBA

ABBA was indeed the original group that performed the songs from "Mamma Mia". ABBA was a Swedish pop group that gained fame by their win in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974 (for their song "Waterloo"). Other famous ABBA songs mixed in the soundtrack are "I Have A Dream", "Money, Money, Money", "The Winner Takes It All" and "Thank You for the Music". The musical tells the tale of a young girl living on an idyllic Greek Island who was raised by her single mom. On the verge of her wedding, she finds her mother's diary and discovers that her father may be one of three men that her mother was involved with at the time she got pregnant.

The girl decides to invite all three possible dads to her wedding... The songs of ABBA provide the perfect backdrop to the plot, and though I liked the Broadway play better than the movie (partly because not all of the actors chosen were musically talented, and Meryl Streep was a bit too old to play the mother), the movie was still a fun romp and is worth seeing.

Answer: Anne Hathaway

"Les Miserables" was adapted as a musical for the stage initially and has enjoyed successful runs. In 2012, a movie version was released that featured Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe and Anne Hathaway in leading roles.

Jean Valjean was imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread. His multiple attempts to escape from jail only ended up earning him additional prison time. The movie begins when Jean is finally released after 19 years. Kindness from the Bishop changes his life and the story moves ahead eight years to find him now the owner of a factory where the lives of the three leading characters intertwine.

One of the best known songs from the musical is Fantine's rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream".

Anne Hathaway was born in 1982 in New York. She did not adopt a stage name, it's a pure coincidence she bears the same name as Shakespeare's wife. Anne's first movie role was the main character in "The Princess' Diaries". She also starred in "Brokeback Mountain", "Alice in Wonderland" and "Interstellar".