The background singing girl on the right is Joy Hodges. Hodges was a star of B-pictures in the late 30s and 40s and was the best friend of a young Iowa football broadcaster named Ronald Reagan. Hodges cajoled young Dutch to come to Hollywood for a screen test and arranged the whole thing for him. I met her in the mid-90s at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. She was making an appearance at Cinecon and she told me that afternoon she was going out to Reagan's ranch to see her old pal!
Among the cast, was Harriet Hilliard, who would be the wife of Ozzie NElson; Lucile Ball; And, the little bone in the middle..? That, folks, was Betty Grable..!
Ginger Rogers was *not* a good singer; in fact she's right up there with Ruby Keeler as one of the worst singers of the 1930s. Just listen to the horrible and continuous flat notes in "We're In The Money". Entertaining? Unquestionably. An exceptional dancer? Without a doubt one of the best. But singing was just not her forte.
@iVenge Your criteria for what makes a good singer is flawed and irrelevant when you have so many people who like her singing. A good technique does not a good singer make. Its interpetetion delivery phrasing and all 3 are pretty good. I could think of alot of so called singers whod ruin Jazz by trying to sing it like Opera. Get with it .
@BadboybillyC A good singer should hit their notes too. These gals had heart, that's for sure, and their performances are timeless, but both Rogers and Keeler were flat about as much as they were on key.
@iVenge Ginger Rogers was what used to be termed a comedienne - a female actor of various, versatile and assorted talents in a comedy, that was her forte. Whatever talents she had or lack there of, it worked! The presentation of her combined talents was always much better than any individual part.
Oh, just one more thing! The trio comprise of Betty Grable (middle) Jeanne Gray (next to Ginger) & Joy Hodges (on the end). This comes from someone who stupidly turned down a dinner invitation (with others of course) to meet Ginger in 1970. OK sock it to me!!
I have just been reading all the comments on this great clip and the "Ginger's better than Betty's" comments - no she's not - yes she is. No wonder we still have wars when passions are enflamed so easily, over such trivia. It's a great number, but at the time it wasn't rated so highly by Ginger or Fred - it was just another routine - ya pick 'em up and ya lay 'em down!! So be good & play nicely together!!
I love this era! The only bad thing was racism and sexism, if it wasn't for that I'd go back in heartbeat! Such fantastic music, grace and art! I love Ginger!
ppl in the 30`s look so happy i wish i was born in that time...oh wait maybe not.....cuz WWII was almost around that time nevermind....lol anyway great music .. i love it <3
@xxsm13xx You do realize, don't you, that America was in the deepest economic possible at this time? Times were brutal. No matter what actors were going through personally back then, it was their art and skill to appear light, carefree, happy-go-lucky. It helped audiences forget their troubles, at least while they were in the theater. Lightness and comedy are the very toughest things to do.
I thought ginger was amazing. Beautiful and talented like few are today. She could act, sing and of course, no one comes close to her dancing. She was also incredible in The Gay Divorcee and Flying Down To Rio where she eclisped the exquisite Dolores Del Rio.Fred & Ginger are often imitated, but never duplicated. These two would laugh at todays "dancing."
This song is awsome thanks for posting this its helping me with an important audition right before i almost gave up p.s. for your information jayMOb the hater I am a middle schooler not all old people
thats not nice and not true I am a middle schooler and I am using this song for an audition cause it awsome if your not gonna comment nice dont comment at all you hater
Stop arguing. They both were big stars in their own way. Both weren't great singers but of course Ginger was the better dancer. Betty played single fiddle to Alice Faye until She replaced Alice in the movie Down Argentine Way but of the 3 Alice was the better singer.
People should know better by now...If you say good things about the video, thumbs up, bad things thumbs down. Almost everyone who pressed the video thats playing right now, usually loves it.
OK film buffs: is that tiny blond girl dancing at 1:27 Mary Kornman from the Our Gang comedies? I know she was in Flying Down To Rio in 1933 with Rogers/Astaire, where she said of Delores Del Rio's character some line like "what is it those Brazilian girls have below the Equator that we don't have!". What a deathless quip.
@keleigh97 Who was better? Ginger Rogers or Betty Grable? I love these discussions, but when you hear either Ginger Rogers OR Betty Grable mentioned, you know EXACTLY who they were, now...don't you? See, everybody wins!
@MeergyMekeerty Who was better? Ginger Rogers or Betty Grable? I love these discussions, but when you hear either Ginger Rogers OR Betty Grable mentioned, you know EXACTLY who they were, now...don't you? See, everybody wins!
@MeergyMekeerty Who was better? Ginger Rogers or Betty Grable? I love these discussions, but when you hear either Ginger Rogers OR Betty Grable mentioned, you know EXACTLY who they were, now...don't you? See, everybody wins!
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
barbrasgirl: I have to laugh at your response that was not Betty Grable. I confimed it with R.K.O. Please educate yourself before you make stupid remarks.
That was not a stupid remark. Yes Betty Grable was in the group. I was disputing the fact that Betty Grable was a bigger star than Ginger. She deffinitely was not. Ginger was far more important.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
I cannot talk to anyone so uneducated about film history. Betty Grable was the biggest star and box office champion in 1941 thru 1943. Ginger could not even compete with Betty's star quality. Please educate yourself before you make stupid answers. Go to Betty Grable's biography and educate yourself.
I don't know who you think you are talking to people like that. Ginger Rogers won an Oscar in 1940 for Kitty Foyle. That alone makes her better than Betty Grable who was a nonentity beside Ginger.
Barbras: Look if you have a computer, go to Betty Grable and see for yourself how bad Grable was. You are really in the dark, you need a flashlight. I will be your light.
burtwiseman, you're an arrogant ass. Barbrasgirl8 is right. Adding to what she said, Ginger was the highest paid star of 1942and named by American Film Institute as 14th greatest screen legend. Plus she was obviously part of the greatest dance team ever. How about YOU get educated, impotent little man.
ogdenn: First of all you do not know what your talking about. My dad worked at R.K.O and Fox he worked in the film editing dept. So I know what im talking about. There is no comparison between Rogers and Gable who the biggest star was. Ask the soldiers who were in WW2. Grable was the biggest of all between 1942 and 45. Im a idiot just by ans. you.
Ogdenn: According to the Film Historical and the 20th Century Archieves. "BETTY GRABLE WAS THE HIGHEST PAID PERFORMER DURING THE WAR YEARS."But you know more, you moron.
I got my information from The Internet Movie Database, but I'm sure your lil daddy is just the smartest thing going. Or, like you, THINKS he is. Being a putz probably runs in the family. Now go have daddy read you a bedtime story. I'm wasting no more time on an adolescent fool.
Betty Grable was, indeed, a very important figure in Hollywood in the 1940's. But, as someone who live in that time and was an avid fan of the theatre, Ginger Rogers was a much more recognized, household name back then. When my girlfriends and I would go to view a musical or drama, it was to see Ginger - not Betty, though, I quite like her.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
Evalinaj: I lived in that time also, as im 75. But I cannot believe you said that Ginger was greater than Betty. I guess you do not know statistics. Look it up Grable was no.1 for year's during the 40's. Please educate yourself before you make stupid replys.
A stupid reply? I'm beginning to doubt the validity of your supposed age. I'm 82. Betty was a large Box office draw, but it was Ginger who you would talk about after seeing a movie with the girls or the boys. In the end, Ginger's celebrity outlasted Betty's anyway. I love Betty well enough but Ginger WAS the larger power in Hollywood.
Evalinaj: What's the use in trying to educate you. First of all im 75, worked at R.K.O. for 20-years and Monagram studios for 10 years in film editing. Betty was No.1 box office for Fox for 4 years, Ginger was no comparison. Go to 20thCentury Fox and get some facts, as you really do not know what your talking about.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
Evalina:I just looked it up on bettygrabledotcom. "BETTY GRABLE WAS THE NO.1 BOX OFFICE PERSON AND HIGHEST PAID ACTRESS OF ANYONE IN THE 40'S" iM QUOTING WHAT I JUST READ. Please before you make dumb remarks educate yourself before making a stupid comment.
You worked at RKO in the 1940's? Well, that's a clear fib. The studio begun going bankrupt in 1939 and were in the process of laying off workers until they formally dissolved in 59. There's no way you could have been hired in the 1940's, regardless of your era. I' beginning to get the feeling, listening to you, that you're a child.
General Tire still owned RKO in the 1980's when I did a lot of work (on a contract basis) for RKO. The Meryl Streep film "PLENTY" is an RKO film. The video recording of "SWEENEY TODD" with Lansbury and George Hearn was also by RKO.
Not only a first-rate performance from Ginger, but a fine back up from that anonymous trio. I've always liked this song; it's perfect for Ginger's voice.
One thing I especially like about YouTube is the spirit of friendship and generosity in which members share information with others who have the temerity not to know the same things they do. I'm sure your graciousness will serve as an example for many self-satisfied potato heads to come. Thanks for the comment.
The background singing girl on the right is Joy Hodges. Hodges was a star of B-pictures in the late 30s and 40s and was the best friend of a young Iowa football broadcaster named Ronald Reagan. Hodges cajoled young Dutch to come to Hollywood for a screen test and arranged the whole thing for him. I met her in the mid-90s at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. She was making an appearance at Cinecon and she told me that afternoon she was going out to Reagan's ranch to see her old pal!
frankietrent 1 year ago
Among the cast, was Harriet Hilliard, who would be the wife of Ozzie NElson; Lucile Ball; And, the little bone in the middle..? That, folks, was Betty Grable..!
zipper179 1 year ago
Ginger Rogers was *not* a good singer; in fact she's right up there with Ruby Keeler as one of the worst singers of the 1930s. Just listen to the horrible and continuous flat notes in "We're In The Money". Entertaining? Unquestionably. An exceptional dancer? Without a doubt one of the best. But singing was just not her forte.
iVenge 1 year ago
@iVenge Your criteria for what makes a good singer is flawed and irrelevant when you have so many people who like her singing. A good technique does not a good singer make. Its interpetetion delivery phrasing and all 3 are pretty good. I could think of alot of so called singers whod ruin Jazz by trying to sing it like Opera. Get with it .
BadboybillyC 1 year ago
@BadboybillyC A good singer should hit their notes too. These gals had heart, that's for sure, and their performances are timeless, but both Rogers and Keeler were flat about as much as they were on key.
iVenge 1 year ago
@iVenge Ginger Rogers was what used to be termed a comedienne - a female actor of various, versatile and assorted talents in a comedy, that was her forte. Whatever talents she had or lack there of, it worked! The presentation of her combined talents was always much better than any individual part.
Fiftiesflashback 1 year ago
Oh, just one more thing! The trio comprise of Betty Grable (middle) Jeanne Gray (next to Ginger) & Joy Hodges (on the end). This comes from someone who stupidly turned down a dinner invitation (with others of course) to meet Ginger in 1970. OK sock it to me!!
guggle86 1 year ago
I have just been reading all the comments on this great clip and the "Ginger's better than Betty's" comments - no she's not - yes she is. No wonder we still have wars when passions are enflamed so easily, over such trivia. It's a great number, but at the time it wasn't rated so highly by Ginger or Fred - it was just another routine - ya pick 'em up and ya lay 'em down!! So be good & play nicely together!!
guggle86 1 year ago
I LOVE this, Ginger Rogers has one of my favorite singing voices of all time.
thefantastikmrbone 1 year ago
Wow, this is such a catchy song!
I wish they would compose songs like this nowadays...
anastaire33 1 year ago
DIVA is what she is..
@MeetLovelySmith: Yes,that is her voice.
wvanderwahl 1 year ago
I love this era! The only bad thing was racism and sexism, if it wasn't for that I'd go back in heartbeat! Such fantastic music, grace and art! I love Ginger!
sentul678 1 year ago 6
ginger was the best singer, dancer, and actress of her time.
aren't those the boswell girls behind her?
issurchaim 1 year ago
Is this Ginger's voice or was it dubbed?
MeetLovelyIvySmith 1 year ago
@MeetLovelyIvySmith nope that's her voice!
oh wait, someone already answered that :D
imagine if Alice Faye sang that song! Her voice would have also gone very well with this music!
anastaire33 1 year ago
Boy! This song lifts my spirits!
moilman 2 years ago
ppl in the 30`s look so happy i wish i was born in that time...oh wait maybe not.....cuz WWII was almost around that time nevermind....lol anyway great music .. i love it <3
xxsm13xx 2 years ago 3
@xxsm13xx You do realize, don't you, that America was in the deepest economic possible at this time? Times were brutal. No matter what actors were going through personally back then, it was their art and skill to appear light, carefree, happy-go-lucky. It helped audiences forget their troubles, at least while they were in the theater. Lightness and comedy are the very toughest things to do.
UncleCharlieOakley 1 year ago
I thought ginger was amazing. Beautiful and talented like few are today. She could act, sing and of course, no one comes close to her dancing. She was also incredible in The Gay Divorcee and Flying Down To Rio where she eclisped the exquisite Dolores Del Rio.Fred & Ginger are often imitated, but never duplicated. These two would laugh at todays "dancing."
wvanderwahl 2 years ago
reckon this is one of ginger's best songs that she sings alone
katandbaby 2 years ago
I love Kristin Chenoweth's version of *Let Yourself Go*.
Kroovy68 2 years ago 3
@Kroovy68 yay another Rogers/ Cheno fan!! :)
TheatreFanatic4eva 1 year ago
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lmao mummies!!!
nah this that shit though.
jayM0b 2 years ago
Is that the Boswell Sisters doing backup vocals?
Velostigmat 2 years ago
nope, but that sure is Betty Grable singing in that trio!!!
LAOPERAMAN 2 years ago
@LAOPERAMAN
BETTY GRABLE, WOW! You have a good eye. Just goes to show you that there is always a new star on the horizon ready to eclipse
Fiftiesflashback 2 years ago
This song is awsome thanks for posting this its helping me with an important audition right before i almost gave up p.s. for your information jayMOb the hater I am a middle schooler not all old people
ShowBizGal247 2 years ago
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Compare the Ginger Rogers version of this song to the Boswell Sisters, also available on YT. Poor Ginger turns out to be the weak sister.
fiveanddimer 2 years ago
Comment removed
jayM0b 2 years ago
Please don't be disrespectful. I am a young person who loves this movie. There are many others as well.
winkieandleah 2 years ago
thats not nice and not true I am a middle schooler and I am using this song for an audition cause it awsome if your not gonna comment nice dont comment at all you hater
ShowBizGal247 2 years ago
i love follow the fleet!!!!!!!!!!
phantomphiddler5 2 years ago
Stop arguing. They both were big stars in their own way. Both weren't great singers but of course Ginger was the better dancer. Betty played single fiddle to Alice Faye until She replaced Alice in the movie Down Argentine Way but of the 3 Alice was the better singer.
Georgewos 2 years ago
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wow, is that christina aguilera?
norwalkstylee 2 years ago
La rubia del medio es Betty Grable. :)
alfonsinamdq 2 years ago
People should know better by now...If you say good things about the video, thumbs up, bad things thumbs down. Almost everyone who pressed the video thats playing right now, usually loves it.
GoldenBowAndArrow 2 years ago 2
I think Ginger Rogers sings this song cuter.
beeje 2 years ago
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I think Kristin Chenoweth sings this song better.
sugar4585 2 years ago
I just listened to that Kristin Chenoweth version.
Talented, yes, but without Gingers voice the song is completely ruined.
ScottElwood32 2 years ago
Kristen's version of this is a jazzy modern bar version of this 1930s classic. It's apples and oranges.
DouglasUrantia 2 years ago 3
@DouglasUrantia I absolutely love both versions... :D
Vilmita03 1 year ago
OK film buffs: is that tiny blond girl dancing at 1:27 Mary Kornman from the Our Gang comedies? I know she was in Flying Down To Rio in 1933 with Rogers/Astaire, where she said of Delores Del Rio's character some line like "what is it those Brazilian girls have below the Equator that we don't have!". What a deathless quip.
rgsfield 2 years ago
What a beautiful and talented cast; no wonder people flocked to see these movies during the Depression when most people didn't have much extra money-
rgsfield 2 years ago
Thanks forputting this clip up. This is one of my favorite songs.
Jimmy
JimmyMartinn 2 years ago 2
Ginger was known for more than just a set of pretty legs as Miss Grable. Ginger was the consummate actress. She could do everything well.
keleigh97 3 years ago 15
@keleigh97 Who was better? Ginger Rogers or Betty Grable? I love these discussions, but when you hear either Ginger Rogers OR Betty Grable mentioned, you know EXACTLY who they were, now...don't you? See, everybody wins!
Fiftiesflashback 1 year ago
Why argue over it?..It's not fair to Betty to compare her to someone as wonderful as Ginger Rogers.
MeergyMekeerty 3 years ago 12
...so true lol
kenaco2009 3 years ago 2
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Fiftiesflashback 1 year ago
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Fiftiesflashback 1 year ago
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@MeergyMekeerty Who was better? Ginger Rogers or Betty Grable? I love these discussions, but when you hear either Ginger Rogers OR Betty Grable mentioned, you know EXACTLY who they were, now...don't you? See, everybody wins!
Fiftiesflashback 1 year ago
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Fiftiesflashback 1 year ago
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Fiftiesflashback 1 year ago
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@MeergyMekeerty Who was better? Ginger Rogers or Betty Grable? I love these discussions, but when you hear either Ginger Rogers OR Betty Grable mentioned, you know EXACTLY who they were, now...don't you? See, everybody wins!
Fiftiesflashback 1 year ago
HAHAHA
Reading your comments is a blasty blast
(Ginger rocks Betty's socks off)
kenaco2009 3 years ago
kool
Rbkid2008 3 years ago
Ginger Rogers is absolutely gorgeous/adorable.
Even better, she wasnt just a pretty face, she had more talent in one foot than half the people on youtube PUT TOGETHER!
kenaco2009 3 years ago 3
I love Ginger Rogers and I love this song! :0)
kenaco2009 3 years ago
ginger was soooo cute!! I wish today was like that we dont just go dancing anymore.
sarahachesghan 3 years ago
*pouts* why can't we dress like that anymore?
jajaeeyore93 3 years ago 6
one of the girls in the video is Betty Grable. Betty became a much bigger star than Ginger.
burtwiseman 3 years ago
I don't think so!
barbrasgirl8 3 years ago 2
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barbrasgirl: I have to laugh at your response that was not Betty Grable. I confimed it with R.K.O. Please educate yourself before you make stupid remarks.
burtwiseman 3 years ago
That was not a stupid remark. Yes Betty Grable was in the group. I was disputing the fact that Betty Grable was a bigger star than Ginger. She deffinitely was not. Ginger was far more important.
barbrasgirl8 3 years ago 3
This comment has received too many negative votes show
I cannot talk to anyone so uneducated about film history. Betty Grable was the biggest star and box office champion in 1941 thru 1943. Ginger could not even compete with Betty's star quality. Please educate yourself before you make stupid answers. Go to Betty Grable's biography and educate yourself.
burtwiseman 3 years ago
I don't know who you think you are talking to people like that. Ginger Rogers won an Oscar in 1940 for Kitty Foyle. That alone makes her better than Betty Grable who was a nonentity beside Ginger.
barbrasgirl8 3 years ago 4
Barbras: Look if you have a computer, go to Betty Grable and see for yourself how bad Grable was. You are really in the dark, you need a flashlight. I will be your light.
burtwiseman 3 years ago
burtwiseman, you're an arrogant ass. Barbrasgirl8 is right. Adding to what she said, Ginger was the highest paid star of 1942and named by American Film Institute as 14th greatest screen legend. Plus she was obviously part of the greatest dance team ever. How about YOU get educated, impotent little man.
ogdenn 3 years ago 3
ogdenn: First of all you do not know what your talking about. My dad worked at R.K.O and Fox he worked in the film editing dept. So I know what im talking about. There is no comparison between Rogers and Gable who the biggest star was. Ask the soldiers who were in WW2. Grable was the biggest of all between 1942 and 45. Im a idiot just by ans. you.
burtwiseman 3 years ago
Ogdenn: According to the Film Historical and the 20th Century Archieves. "BETTY GRABLE WAS THE HIGHEST PAID PERFORMER DURING THE WAR YEARS."But you know more, you moron.
burtwiseman 3 years ago
I got my information from The Internet Movie Database, but I'm sure your lil daddy is just the smartest thing going. Or, like you, THINKS he is. Being a putz probably runs in the family. Now go have daddy read you a bedtime story. I'm wasting no more time on an adolescent fool.
ogdenn 3 years ago 2
Betty Grable was, indeed, a very important figure in Hollywood in the 1940's. But, as someone who live in that time and was an avid fan of the theatre, Ginger Rogers was a much more recognized, household name back then. When my girlfriends and I would go to view a musical or drama, it was to see Ginger - not Betty, though, I quite like her.
EvalinaJ 3 years ago 4
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Evalinaj: I lived in that time also, as im 75. But I cannot believe you said that Ginger was greater than Betty. I guess you do not know statistics. Look it up Grable was no.1 for year's during the 40's. Please educate yourself before you make stupid replys.
burtwiseman 3 years ago
A stupid reply? I'm beginning to doubt the validity of your supposed age. I'm 82. Betty was a large Box office draw, but it was Ginger who you would talk about after seeing a movie with the girls or the boys. In the end, Ginger's celebrity outlasted Betty's anyway. I love Betty well enough but Ginger WAS the larger power in Hollywood.
EvalinaJ 3 years ago 5
Evalinaj: What's the use in trying to educate you. First of all im 75, worked at R.K.O. for 20-years and Monagram studios for 10 years in film editing. Betty was No.1 box office for Fox for 4 years, Ginger was no comparison. Go to 20thCentury Fox and get some facts, as you really do not know what your talking about.
burtwiseman 3 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Evalina:I just looked it up on bettygrabledotcom. "BETTY GRABLE WAS THE NO.1 BOX OFFICE PERSON AND HIGHEST PAID ACTRESS OF ANYONE IN THE 40'S" iM QUOTING WHAT I JUST READ. Please before you make dumb remarks educate yourself before making a stupid comment.
burtwiseman 3 years ago
You worked at RKO in the 1940's? Well, that's a clear fib. The studio begun going bankrupt in 1939 and were in the process of laying off workers until they formally dissolved in 59. There's no way you could have been hired in the 1940's, regardless of your era. I' beginning to get the feeling, listening to you, that you're a child.
EvalinaJ 3 years ago 2
hahaha, i completely agree
kenaco2009 3 years ago
EvalinaJ: First of all why should I lie. I was hired by General Tire Co. in 1949 who owned RKO worked till 1955 and was hired to another division.
burtwiseman 3 years ago
General Tire still owned RKO in the 1980's when I did a lot of work (on a contract basis) for RKO. The Meryl Streep film "PLENTY" is an RKO film. The video recording of "SWEENEY TODD" with Lansbury and George Hearn was also by RKO.
GeorgeWTush 2 years ago
Yeah! Sock it to 'em Eva me old darlin'. Mwahh!
priapus56 3 years ago
I wish I was alive to see Fred and Ginger in theatre! :(
beeje 3 years ago
My dancing squad went to competition and danced to this song! We are the 2008 state champions! Thanks Ginger for making this song popular!
sdgirl15 3 years ago
Not only a first-rate performance from Ginger, but a fine back up from that anonymous trio. I've always liked this song; it's perfect for Ginger's voice.
smurfswacker 3 years ago
wacker; That was Betty Grable in that group. Anonymous ha ha, educate yourself jerk.
burtwiseman 3 years ago
One thing I especially like about YouTube is the spirit of friendship and generosity in which members share information with others who have the temerity not to know the same things they do. I'm sure your graciousness will serve as an example for many self-satisfied potato heads to come. Thanks for the comment.
smurfswacker 3 years ago 3
tks for your kind remarks, always like to help with my great knowledge of film history.
Anything you want to know about Ginger or Fred always come to me for film education.
burtwiseman 3 years ago
Just e mailed RKO and that was Betty Grable in that film. She was in that group.
burtwiseman 3 years ago