Playbill 1931 - GEORGE WHITE'S SCANDALS - Ethel Merman, Rudy Vallee

Jasmine Records (UK)

George White's Scandals (1934) Rudy Valee, Jimmy DuranteDirectors: Thorton Freeland, Harry Lachman, George WhiteCo-stars: Alice Faye, Adrienne Ames, Cliff Edwards, Gregory Ratoff, Dixie Dunbar, George Irving80 minutes, Black and WhiteDVD-R: Region ALL Legendary Broadway impresario George White made his Hollywood debut with this musical, which he wrote, co-directed, and starred in as himself. Reporter Miss Lee (Gertrude Michael) is looking for a story and approaches White as he's assembling the latest edition of his famous revue. As it turns out, she has lots of backstage gossip to choose from; Mona Vale (Alice Faye), White's latest discovery, is making her Broadway debut in the show, and she's fallen in love with the star, Jimmy Martin (Rudy Vallee). Jimmy, however, only has eyes for Barbara Lorainne (Adrienne Ames), a snooty high society type also in the cast. A quarrel between Mona and Barbara leads to a fight, with Jimmy coming to Barbara's rescue; a despondent Mona decides to leave the show if she can't have the man she loves. Meanwhile, comedian Happy Donnelly (Jimmy Durante) finds himself torn between his feelings for Mona and another young dancer in the show, Patsy Day (Dixie Dunbar), who is also thinking about quitting in disappointment. Amidst the romantic turmoil, a wacky salesman (Gregory Ratoff) keeps trying to make a sale with White, and the cast periodically breaks into song, belting out ten numbers, including "Oh You Nasty Man, " "My Dog Loves Your Dog, " "Every Day Is Father's Day with Baby, " "Sweet and Simple, " and "The Man on the Flying Trapeze."

Varese (Japan)

Robert Morse

This item comes with a certificate of authenticity from Hollywood Collectibles.

Prism Leisure Corporation (UK) ( June 05, 2002 ), Genre: Soundtracks

Broadway star Ethel Merman's voice was a mesmerizing force and her vitality was legendary, yet the popular perception of La Merm as the irrepressible wonder falls far short of all that she was and all that she meant to Americans over so many decades. This marvelously detailed biography is the first to tell the full story of how the stenographer from Queens, New York, became the queen of the Broadway musical in its golden age. Mining official and unofficial sources, including interviews with Merman's family and her personal scrapbooks, Caryl Flinn unearths new details of Merman's life and finds that behind the high-octane personality was a remarkably pragmatic woman who never lost sight of her roots.Brass Diva takes us from Merman's working-class beginnings through the extraordinary career that was launched in 1930 when, playing a secondary role in a Gershwin Brothers' show, she became an overnight sensation singing "I Got Rhythm." From there, we follow Merman's hits on Broadway, her uneven successes in Hollywood, and her afterlife as a beloved camp icon. This definitive work on the phenomenon that was Ethel Merman is also the first to thoroughly explore her robust influence on American popular culture.

Sepia Records ( May 12, 2009 ), Genre: Pop Vocal

Mary Martin

More than twenty years after her death, Ethel Merman continues to set the standard for American musical theater. The stories about the supremely talented, famously strong-willed, fearsomely blunt, and terrifyingly exacting woman are stuff of legend. But who was Ethel Agnes Zimmermann, really? Brian Kellow’s definitive biography of the great Merman is superb, and the first account to examine both the artist and the woman with as much critical rigor as empathy. Through dozens of interviews with her colleagues, friends, and family members, Kellow traces the arc of her life and her thirty-year singing career to reveal many surprising facts about Broadway’s biggest star.