Theatergoers are in for a supreme treat Friday night at 9:30 on WNET when the talents of DD-winner and without question 2007 Tony nominee Christine Ebersol of Scott Frankel/Michael Korie/Doug Wright's Grey Gardens are presented in all their vocal glory on New York Voices.

This Saturday, WNET�s 9 P.M. movie is William Wyler�s masterpiece The Best Years of Our Lives, 1947's Oscar-winning Best Picture. There've been excellent movies on the subject of war-weary vets returning home from world conflict, but none yet have captured the devastating poignancy of this film about soldiers returning to small-town America from WW2 and attempting to pick back up their lives as the nation undergoes a new beginning. In spite of its age, the film has stood the test of time [thanks heavily to the Oscar-winning screenplay by Robert Sherwood, adapted from MacKinlay Kantor's novel] and, all these years later, has a strong revelancy. There are some stunning visuals in glorious B&W [by cinematographer Gregg Toland], such as Dana Andrews� visit to a fighter plane cemetery. The superb cast includes Frederic March [Oscar, Best Actor], Myrna Loy, Teresa Wright, Virginia Mayo, Cathy O�Donnell, Hoagy Carmichael [who sings "Lazy River"], Gladys George and Harold Russell [a double-amputee who won the Featured Actor Oscar].

Special note to WNET, Channel 13: We love you, but you are way overdue purchasing telecast rights to a new block of Saturday movies. And how about putting some of that loyal Syms [where Educated Consumers are their best customers] sponsorship toward some outstanding indies and docs from recent years?


Retrospective of Second Tier Musicals

A lost era of Hollywood history is revealed in B Musicals � 49 movies in all, from the 40s and 50s [some in double and triple bills] � through April 19 in Film Forum�s retrospective of musical second features, most of which have never been on video or disc or, for that matter, seen on TV.

In Hollywood's Technicolor musical heyday, a B-picture meant a bottom-of-the-bill quickie in B&W from a major studio or a best effort from a �Poverty Row� studio, such as Columbia Pictures [in that era] and Republic, whose heart was its Westerns franchise [many starring Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, John Wayne and Rex Allen].

Though low on budget, they were high on talent. The films in the B Musicals line-up, many in new, remastered prints, proved to be basic training for such future A-list stars Sinatra, Garland, Crosby, Rooney, Rogers, Grable, Monroe, Reynolds, O'Connor, Jane Powell, Alice Faye, Ann Miller, Linda Darnell, Dorothy Lamour, Mitzi Gaynor, Martha Raye and Marge & Gower Champion � not to mention directors, choreographers and songwriters and screen writers [such as Herman Mankiewicz, who wrote Citizen Kane].

B Musicals will give younger movielovers the rare opportunity to discover the wondrous comic and the amazing vocal talents of the all-but-forgotten brilliant �hillbilly� comedienne Judy Canova, who could go from marvelous face mugging and yodeling to stun with operatic arias.

On Monday, the actress's daughter, TV�s Diana Canova will pay tribute to her mother and introduce a triple bill which includes comic classics Joan of Ozark [1942] in which Canova brings down a Nazi spyring; Sis Hopkins [1941], which has country bumpkin Canova going to college and starring in a "Spring Fling" show with lavish costumes and sets [well, they are taking it from the auditorium straight to Broadway!]; and Hit the Hay [1945], where Canova is discovered singing opera as she milks a cow and ends up saving an opera company from financial ruin by introducing "jive opera."

In spite of the age of these three films, and the fact that they are obviously dated and from a bygone era, some comic gems shine through. Republic and Columbia had the good sense to feature stellar character and comic actors in co-starring roles. You'll recognize faces that continued to pop up in lesser roles for another decade or two.

The special thing about Sis Hopkins is that it doesn't look like a "B musical." There are quite entertaining songs [such as the stirring, patriotic anthem "Look At Me, Look At You"] by future Broadway greats Frank Loesser [Guys and Dolls] and Jule Styne [Funny Girl] in their prolific Hollywood period, first-rate choreography by Aida Broadbent in "Here We Are Studying History/Cleopatra." None other than [late] Broadway producer Cy Feuer was musical director. The great deadpan comic Charles Butterworth steals every scene he's in, but gets stiff competition from anything-but-subtle Jerry Colonna, here a sort of substitute for Groucho Marx, but who has one of the funniest lines of that period in the scene where he steps out of a bubble bath in a tub equipped with two phones. Adding support is a very young Susan Hayward The film received a 1942 Oscar nomination for B&W Art/Interior Decoration.

The series also features a rare screen appearance by Fats Waller; the song and dance trio the Andrews Sisters in a triple bill on Easter Sunday that also headlines Abbott & Costello [the hilarious Buck Privates] and the Ritz Brothers [Argentine Nights]; and, on the April 12th triple bill, MM singing and dancing in her first featured role in Ladies of the Chorus [1949].

B Musicals is programmed by Bruce Goldstein, FFs Repertory Program Director. For this series, he relied on such advisors as Clive Hirschhorn, author of The Hollywood Musical; British musicals expert Tom Vallance, author of The American Musical; and Howard Mandelbaum, co-author of Screen Deco and Forties Screen Style and founder of the Photofest movie stills archive.

Film Forum [209 Houston Street, West of Sixth Avenue] tickets are $10.50; $5.50 for FF members, children under 12 and senior citizens Monday-Friday for shows beginning before 5 P.M. For more information, schedules, cast list, showtimes and membership, call (212) 727-8110 or visit www.filmforum.org.


New Musicals in a Cabaret Setting

The Laurie Beechman Theatre [407 West 42nd Street, at Ninth Avenue, in the West Bank Caf�] will host triple-bill premieres of short musicals on Fridays [April 6, 13 and 20] at 7 P.M. The works � Playtime by Erato Kremmyda and Sean Keogh, Mrs. Smith Goes to Washington by Karlan Judd and Robin Share and Momento Mori by Rob Broadhurst and Maggie Coleman � are by students in NYU�s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing program. Phil Geoffrey Bond and Ryan Mekenian are directing, with musical direction by Ray Fellman and Sam Willmott.

Admission is a $12 cover charge, with a $15 food/beverage minimum. For reservations, call (212) 695-6909 between Noon and 6 P.M.



[Photos: 2) JOAN MARCUS; 3 and 4) DAVID MORGAN; 5) JOHN QUILTY; 6) MARTHA SWOPE; 9 and 10) PHOTOFEST]

= ~ = ~ = Recent Archive = ~ = ~ =

Monday, March 5, 2007
[ STARS ] A Banner Season for All-But-Forgotten Playwright Harley Granville-Barker; Voysey Inheritance's Designers; Philharmonic's Fair Lady; Metropolitan's Gaud� to Dal�

Wednesday, March 21, 2007
[ STARS ] Curtain Up on Kander & Ebb's Curtains; Harvey Fierstein Back to Broadway in New Muscial; Recalling Broadway 1938; A CD of 1929 Broadway Classics; Encores! Restores Berlin and Hart's Face the
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With the death of Fred Ebb in 2004, Curtains, years in development, marks the last collaborations by the longest-running songwriting team in Broadway history; More.

Monday, April 2, 2007
[ STARS ] Kristin Chenoweth to Host Drama Desk Awards; Another Phantom Milestone; A Passion Play; The Balcony Returns; At the Ballet; Choice TV and Film Programs