April 12 Ann Miller

Happy birthday Ann Miller and Jane Withers.

TCM celebrated Ann Miller’s birthday with a day of films. I watched Watch the Birdie with Red Skelton (in 3 roles) and Arlene Dahl. My favorite role of hers is in Kiss Me Kate. I will watch that for Howard Keel’s birthday (4-13). I avoided the films for many years since it is a remake of Buster Keaton’s The Cameraman. It is a loose interpretation of a remake. The film is very funny. There were several scenes where I just burst into laughter.

Ann has a small role in the film. She plays a beauty contest winner Miss Lucky Vista (that is title a home development). She’s wearing a one piece bathing suit, sash and high heels. She has several spokesperson/model like poses. Red Skelton plays a cameraman who takes pictures of the ground breaking, where they are raffling off live turkeys. It is decided that Red will take publicity pictures of the truck with Ann standing by the company name. Ann gets on the running board as they follow the truck. When she gets parallel to the turkey truck she waves and the driver gets distracted and runs the truck into a large pile of lumber. Turkeys fall out of the back of the truck. Ann gets off truck and goes to where the turkeys are so she can pose with them and runs along with them.

Later when Red shows the film, you see her running with her back to the camera “you can’t see my eyes” she states several times. The film has some incriminating evidence on 2 people. 1 man hires Ann (for a diamond bracelet) to get the film from Red. “I just act dumb because men don’t like smart girls” Ann states. She goes to Red’s shop and tries to seduce him with hugs, chasing, running her fingers through his hair and kissing him to get the film. Arlene Dahl who is interested in Red comes in and is jealous of Ann. She slaps Ann with her purse and leaves. “I can’t understand it. I am so beautiful and everybody’s always slugging me.” She leaves without the film.

I don’t think she is trying to parody a vamp or the dumb blonde, but she is very funny. She certainly outshined Arlene Dahl in the film.