Dorothy Provine in 'The Roaring 20's'

[jaytlr9]

As I recall, Dorothy got to play a character in this series, not just sing. I always liked her from the time I was a kid. This footage reminds me why. Thanks.

[cosycleaner]

Miss Provine looking splendidly 60s in a period setting, as all the actresses and female singers did on TV and films in those days - but a charming performance nevertheless.

[leopadilla1945]

why hasn't someone posted "someone to watch over me" by Dorothy Provine? Isn't it available? Leo

[Klaaaan1]

I was in high school when this series was on. I never missed an episode. I always wanted to meet her.

[nanlisa]

Morganafan: I know it was in the early 60's. I was a little girl back then.

[nanlisa]

Come to think of it, I do remember it.

[nanlisa]

The Roaring 20's with a disco ball from the 70's. (That ball looks like a 70's disco ball.)

[morganafan]

@nanlisa......"The Roaring 20's" TV series was filmed in the early 1960's.

The first mirror balls were introduced into nightclubs during the 1920s. As part of the general themes of the Roaring 20s, these balls were seen as a popular accent to performing artists such as dancers and musicians.

Throughout the 1930s and 40s, mirror balls were frequently seen in films as a representation of glamour and glitz. They accompanied the large-scale dance numbers seen in a number of movies of the era.

[nanlisa]

I was only a little girl back in the early 60's. I do have some memory of this show.

[kemchobhenchod]

Rest in peace Dorothy.

[SweetJaneofGoth]

Like my grandma says her mom had a lot of sex in the 20's cuz drinking wuz outlaw. She would get drunk and have a lot of sex. She also did a lot of drugs cuz drugs were legal. She would drink, screw, and do drugs. She had sex in church too. She liked sex.

[hebneh]

After 50 years, my memory of this show is spotty. But it's amazing how many people (like me) remember this short-lived series.

In December 1960 I do remember a first-grade classmate describing an ornament on our classroom Christmas tree as looking like "a Roaring Twenties ball".

It really seemed like Dorothy Provine was going places when she starred in this program, but her career never really happened, for some reason.

[TopWineman]

I loved her when I was 33, I still do at 73. The series was way too short, have often wondered why.

[revived45s]

In England, the only sight we had of Dorothy Provine, was her appearance in "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World". The problem was - she played such a MISERABLE character in the movie. Only ONCE, for a few seconds, did she get a chance to shine: in the truck, when she spots her brother driving his car past. But these pieces show what a HONEY she was. No wonder America loved her.

[GaryLovesLisa]

In "The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows" it says the show's stories were set in New York City, but IMDB states that it was set in Chicago. Which is correct?

[CarlDuke]

@GaryLovesLisa I'm not 100% sure, but I am pretty sure that it was New York. The complete Directory is a very authoritative source. Also the show revolved around Dorothy as Pinky Pinkham, based loosely on Texas Guinan, a New York City saloon hostess, famous for her tagline, Hello Suckers, and 3 newspaper men who according to another source I found worked for a paper called the New York Record.

[machineamsterdam]

We used to get this programme on RTV (Rhodesia Television) in the very early 60s in Nkana-Kitwe, Northern Rhodesia (today's Zambia). Dorothy Province and The Roaring Twenties was part of a global Twenties revival. For a brief moment, Provine as a "flapper" were in the spotlight around the world. Some here posted how the smashing car in the opening and closing credits were an indelible childhood memory ... that is so true ... I remember really wanting to see that every time.

[Hawkeye752]

She was great and so was this show which had a short run on TV.

[tearreau]

Thank you for these D P clips. I was too young to stay up to see the programmes when they were on British television in the 60s as they did not start until around 11 pm, but I managed about two and got the LPs. She appeared on Sunday Night at the London Palladium but had to mime through an attack of acute laryngitis. I remember a very jolly number she did on the Roaring Twenties entitled "I'd love to be a Monkey in the Zoo". Do you have that? A pity the LPs were never issued as cd.

[psjtache]

Great show and Dorothy was the greatest! Love her singing Barney Google and Am I Blue - the latter a real Torch Song! And "Don't bring Lulu" - great fun! RIP Dorothy and thanks for all the pleasure!

[sloopguy]

Not much talent here.....

[morganafan]

No, I'm not nuts......

The first mirror balls were introduced into nightclubs during the 1920s. As part of the general themes of the Roaring 20s, these balls were seen as a popular accent to performing artists such as dancers and musicians.

Throughout the 1930s and 40s, mirror balls were frequently seen in films as a representation of glamour and glitz. They accompanied the large-scale dance numbers seen in a number of movies of the era.

[morganafan]

This is my reply to live4marilyn who left the comment:

WHAT!!! Disco balls in the 1920s!! Are you nuts!!

[jsbach15]

@morganafan You are correct! My initial thought upon seeing a mirror ball in the 70's during the disco era, was ROARING 20's! THank you.

[ruapria]

I remember this show, as a kid i use to sneek down to Mr. Jimmys house and watch the show My grand ma would not let us see programs with sex and violence at the time. It seems so tame now. My how times have changed.

[TCall2004]

RIP Dorothy Provine.

[PanAm812]

I agree with Zyxquark - I'm 56 also but grew up in Brisbane Australia - I thought I was the only one in the world who remembered "The

Roaring Twenties" and the whole song - Very sorry to lose Dorothy

[Mr76Yearsago]

@PanAm812 No, you are not the only one. Your same age, I distinctly remember the debut of the show Saturday, October 15,1960. Warner Brothers response to its "formula show" format half a century ago and to the "Untouchables" craze. . The newspaper tabloid that flourished then this show chronicled.. It was (what I remebered of it )great! Also. Dorothy Provine was the mirror image of a then 1st grade teacher who "took me under arm" ..That lady was a great talent. R.I.P.

[ToughXArmy69]

Dorothy Provine was a real doll. Sensational in "The Roaring 20's" she became a big TV star. Under contract to Warners, that studio cast her in the movies

"Wall of Noise" and"The Great Race" and loaned her out to Columbia for Jack Lemmon's "Good Neighbor Sam" and UA"It's A Mad Mad Mad World starring Spencer Tracy.

Dorothy Provine had a big romance with Frank Sinatra aftr a few more movies she got married and quit the business. She passed away this Spring.

Lovely star. RIP

[hedablinka]

I've bought the LP (again) online, a brand new quality LP, so you can still get it, I can't remember whether it was on eBay or elsewhere, but I remember I didn't have much trouble finding it--and the music, OH the Music! So much better than my old scratched copy of years ago.

[Lockbar]

This is why you tube is great. Brings back great memories. When we felt safe and happy when we were kids. She sure was a cutie.

[sydneycat22]

i'm sorry to hear that dorothy died recently the roaring 20's was one of my favourite tv shows when i was a kid,thanks for posting this clip

[64098]

I'm so sorry she's gone, I like her a lot in anything I've seen her do.

[glawsny]

If I'm not mistaken didn't Dorothy sing the title song Roaring Twenties originally when the program started?

[zyxquark]

Ok, you blew my mind with this one. I'm fifty-six and I used to watch this when I was five or six--this is the kind of thing I remembered and thought no one on earth remembered but me. God, youtube is freaking amazing. And thanks.

[saxondog2001]

I am from the Seattle Area .. and have always been proud of Dorothy Provine -- and always will be. The Roaring Twenties was a fun show. Thanks for posting this.

[ducdebrabant]

What I'd love to see again is the episode called "The Prairie Flower" where chorus girl Pat Crowley is so crazy to be a star she murders the star she's understudying (Patrice Wymore) and is put on in her number (where we see the murdered woman's nail polish smeared on Crowley's body). You get to see both women do the same number. I remember it so fondly, though I was only a child.

[susantyrellfan]

I had a big crush on her. I was 8. It was fun.

[MrLARodger]

I too remember this TV show, I guess I was about 12 at the time. I also remember seeing them film parts of "It's a Mad Mad Mad World" at Peck Park in San Pedro CA. She was a beautiful woman and from what I have read a very underrated actress. RIP Dorothy.

[SteveBrant55]

Rest In Peace, Dorothy Provine

And thanks for the video, morganafan!

[Juliaflo]

In loving memory--Dorothy Michelle Provine: 1935-2010.

We are losing our icons by the multiude.

Thank heaven for YouTube, and the like.

[rmcherry4]

I remember this show, but I was only 4 or 5 when it was on. I seem to remember other lyrics to the theme song. "bathtub gin" rhymed with "walk right in" to the Roaring Twenties. Anyone else remember this?

[SFShoim]

RIP Dorothy Provine! This was a favorite show of this budding teenager...

[deliaena]

Dancing With the Stars, eat your heart out!!

Dorothy was a real talent.

[1lordthorpe]

28th April thanks morganafan, I looked on wikipedia again today and there is no mention of her death. Did you see it there? I'm glad she's not dead, hope she's living happily. Thought it was strange we didn't see something on the news, I live in Australia now and she was a big star here too.

[1lordthorpe]

27th April 2010 Sad to read on Wikipedia that Dorothy Provine died on the 25th April 2010. I used to love the roaring twenties T.V. show but the only thing I can remember about it was Dorothy Provine she was fabulous." Don't bring Lulu" was a chart hit in the U.K.

[clydesplace]

@1lordthorpe

I read this also on The Hollywood Reporter.

Dorothy Provine, a leggy, bouffant blonde who appeared in such films as "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World" and on TV's "The Roaring '20s," died April 25 from emphysema at a hospice in Bremerton, Wash. She was 75.

A native of Deadwood, S.D., Provine reportedly landed the role of the titlular bank robber in 1958's "Bonnie Parker Story" just three days after arriving in Hollywood.

[CarlDuke]

Wonderful clip, but where was John Dehner in the intro. Late in the clip her plea to the chumps to keep on drinking was a reference to 20s nightclub hostess Texas Guinan, who would great her customers with an Hello Suckers.

[machineamsterdam]

We watched this on Rhodesia Television in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) in central Africa in the very early 60s when television first arrived in our country. The show was a global hit for a few seaons—I remember paparazzis following Provine around the world and her photo splashed across the papers. It sparked a Neo-Flapper revival around the world.

[tara19392009]

did somebody has the part where miss provine sings "someone to watch over me"?? I try so hard to find that version!!...PLEASE....Ann

[TheFalconracer]

Never missed a show with Dorothy, she was the very best. One of the few that quit while on top of her game. Thanks for the post!

[txmcxlx]

The 20's were great. Dope was legal and on every corner was a nightclub where there was booze, gambling, drugs, and prostitution under one roof. All thanks to Women's Suffrage.

[fdr4u2]

dorothy provine!! wow111 that brings back memories of my ggramma and me watching and loving her songs every sat night. thank u sooo much!!

[LaVerne37]

I was robbed!!! What a sweet potato she is!!! My town was so small that we didn't get the ABC network till the late 60's so I missed Dorothy in this series...shoot!!!

[hotwok19]

She is not known primarily as a singer but Dorothy Provine was a very competent one as is shown here. Also, here on You-Tube she can be seen singing a slightly comic song "He shouldn'a, oughtn'a, hadn'a swang on me", from the film The Great Race. Again, she gives a fine performance. I remember, too, that she also had a minor hit record with "Don't Bring Lulu" in the UK in the early sixties.

[hotsickle]

She has a wonderful voice!

[riversidefan2]

Not just a nostalic version of 77 Sunset Strip this was also Warner's hopping on the bandwagon started by "The Untouchables" a few years earlier. Also remember this is Warner Brothers, never afraid to do a remake of a successful film every 2 years. Never afraid to reuse a good set , a song they own, or a prop. For instance, take a closer look at the little piano used in Pinky's first number. I'll bet it's the same one Sam used in "Casablanca"!

I loved these shows too.

[tilmon1]

i wonder if these episodes are available on ebay

[fromthesidelines]

This was the studio's "nostalgic" version of their successful "77 SUNSET STRIP" format- and it was quite good. Virtually all of the songs "Pinky" sang were from the Warner publishing libraries...and, of course, having Dorothy record the albums that were tied into the series generated more revenue for them. Not many people remember that Dorothy was a featured player on a previous "SUNSET" variation, "THE ALASKANS" (1959-'60).

[garyowen4ever]

she must have been coached by choreographer BOB FOSSE,,,she is pure FOSSE style.

[Juliaflo]

Gary Vinson went on to star in McHale's Navy. Tragically, he committed suicide sometime in the 1970's or 1980's.

[garyowen4ever]

i loved her so.....doris day on high octane expresso coffee...............

[glawsny]

I liked it better when Dorothy sang the opening

[vrobbie53]

This is great, I remember this show and it spurred my interest in the 1920's along with hot looking women. THANKS!

[ennui2000]

I had such a huge pre-teen crush on Dorothy Provine, you can't imagine. I'd watch the show just to catch a glimpse of Dorothy doing one of her flapper numbers, never failing to be amazed at the odd and undeniably pleasurable sensations her appearance induced in my fevered pre-adolescent brain. My parents noticed this and were relentless in their teasing ("She's your girlfriend!"). Don't I wish...

[speedy45rpm]

Haha, me too. Something about Pinky Pinkham in here flapper outfit. Plus I just liked the ambiance and setting of the show. That image of the car hurtling over the building is one of the indelible TV images of childhood.

[hrpman]

There seem to be lots of us about with the same crush! I even wrote a letter to her at her fan club back in '62 - never (sob) got a reply! I wonder if she'll ever read this tho?

[aditawz]

Thank -you for this post. I BEEN looking for this tv show intro for years.

[Baflar]

Delighted to see this! My memory may be faulty (I was very young at the time) - but wasn't 'Don't Bring Lulu' sung by Dorothy Provine over the programme end-titles? And - if so - I have a feeling it wasn't the same as the 'single' that was subsequently issued, and featured elsewhere on YouTube. I'd love to hear the original original again, but it will need someone with the TV series to determine whether my memory is right or not!!

[morganafan]

Hi...and thanks for your comment...On the few videos I have of the show the end-titles are the same as the opening (chorus music and mirror-ball). As far as I know the two LPs issued connected with the programme, "The Roaring 20's" and "Vamp of the Roaring 20's" were recorded independent of the TV versions. Her TV version of "Don't Bring Lulu" is slightly different to the LP - presumably to fit into the story line.

[Baflar]

Very interesting! So my memory is half-right at least. Do you have a clip of the TV version of 'Don't Bring Lulu'? I've been hoping to hear it again for about 46 years!

[dyinglikeflies]

I also remember the opening as similar to the closing.

[SweetJaneofGoth]

@Baflar Like what duz it matter. My grandma did wardrobe in Hwood and says that the music was dubbed. she says the records were a pro singer who worked for the studios and made tons of fake records for TV shows.

[dyinglikeflies]

I remember the series and the song from my earliest childhood. Next and last time I saw Dorothy Provine was in the movie The Great Race with Tony Curtis and Natalie Wood.

[waverly2468]

Ms. Provine is hot. I'm only familiar with her from the Man from UNCLE episode "The Alexander the Greater Affair."