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Song of the Day #6,245: ‘Is It a Crime?’ – Judy Holliday

Continuing my appreciation of the films of Vincente Minnelli, I’ll start this week off by celebrating the many great actors who appeared in his films.

It would be madness to not start with the ladies. Minnelli worked with a laundry list of Hollywood’s great actresses, and often highlighted their gifts in a way no other director could. His subject matter and themes were too wide-ranging to put him in the ranks of traditional “woman’s directors” like Douglas Sirk, but his films were certainly showcases for amazing female talent.

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Song of the Day #6,244: ‘I Got You Babe’ – Sonny & Cher

Sonny & Cher owned the #1 spot of Billboard’s Hot 100 the week of August 10, 1965 with ‘I Got You Babe,’ their signature song.

Written by Bono, this was the first single from the duo’s debut album, Look at Us. Cher wasn’t a fan of the song at first, doubting it would be a hit, but it ended up topping the charts for three weeks and selling more than a million copies.

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Song of the Day #6,243: ‘Ain’t That a Shame’ – Pat Boone

Throwing back to the week of August 9, 1955, we find Bill Haley & The Comets hanging on to the top spot with ‘Rock Around the Clock.’ This was the sixth of eight consecutive weeks that song held on to the top spot.

In #2 that week was Pat Boone’s recording of the Fats Domino track ‘Ain’t That a Shame.’ Boone recorded and released the song in the same month Domino’s hit radio and ended up climbing the charts faster. Ain’t that a shame, indeed…

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Song of the Day #6,242: ‘I Remember It Well’ – Maurice Chevalier and Hermione Gingold

With all due respect to the host of talented actors and writers with whom Vincente Minnelli worked, if I had to boil down his greatest strengths to two words they would be composition and color.

Minnelli started as a stage designer and costumer, and he brought that visual flair to the cinema. Even the worst of his movies always look beautiful. If you’re not blown away by the story, just follow the camera and drink in all the glorious reds and yellows.

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Song of the Day #6,241: ‘Taking a Chance on Love’ – Hazel Scott

Though he is best known for his musicals, Vincente Minnelli was quite a successful director of studio comedies. He made seven of them in his career and most were profitable for MGM.

The best-known is 1950’s Father of the Bride, starring Spencer Tracy and an 18-year-old Elizabeth Taylor. That heartwarming family comedy did so well that a sequel was immediately greenlit, shot on the same sets with the same cast, and released to theaters within a year. That one, Father’s Little Dividend, found Tracy and his wife (played by Joan Bennett) becoming grandparents.

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