Boy, would it have been wonderful if Ethel and Frank had done more work together. They are absolutely delightful in this clip. He seems to really like her and she is in heaven with him. They are totally spontaneous.
Frank blows the lyrics and wrecks the rhyme when he sings "candied ribbon" instead of "ribboned candy" to rhyme with Napoleon Brandy - but being the star he was, he wasn't thrown by it although he obviously knew what he had done - I still love it!
In case anyone doesn't know it This was a LIVE performance. There were no retakes and this was never filmed. Existing copies are from kinescopes, films made from television screens. Some of these are now being digitized. They are priceless reminders and evidence of the trials performers went through. You'll see walls falling over, people slipping, actors not being able to open doors, some singers starting in the wrong key or just completely forgetting the lyrics.
Wikipedia says "It has been reported that Merman and Sinatra did not get along well; this was the only time they worked together." No attribution though.
The gushing comments here are sweet and naive, how happy they were and how much Ethel and Frank genuinely liked each other and were having a wonderful time. I thoroughly enjoyed this and glad it was uploaded; it's one of only two times in their long careers they performed together (that I know of). But they were actors. There's no way to really know how they felt about this material, about each other, about anything.
The lyrics changed at some point. This play was from 1934 originally. Notice how he says "candied ribbon" instead of "Mahatma Gandhi". The world didn't know about Gandhi pre WW2.
In 1936 Crosby & Merman starred in the film version of Anything Goes. Many lyrics were changed for the film version as well. 20 or so years later, Sinatra is playing the Crosby role in this performance. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-LCfqIXiLxSE.html
I've done that. I can sing this stuff too. One guy called me gay. I found that so amusing because it was intended as an insult. I stole his thunder after thanking him. I felt it as compliment.
@Walt1896lovesDick Please explain to me how Ethel Merman followed in Sutton Foster's footsteps. Ethel died when Foster was nine. If anything, Foster if following in Ethel's.
I've seen the 2011 Revival and although I do love it, this is just best. These two have so much more character. In comparison to this, the 2011 version is boring. In my honest opinion, there's nothing that can be originals and classics this included.
I personally thought it was meant to be sarcastic, so when I first saw the comment I laughed. What made me think so was the statement that "Ethel Merman should stop following in the amazing Sutton Foster's footsteps", which is of course absurd; if the commenter was serious, I'm sure it would be phased another way. Also, note how many times Sutton's name is used more than necessary, and the excessive use of exclamation marks.
@Walt1896lovesDick i get you love sutton foster, so do I, SHES A GODDESS, but ethel merman came first thats number one, and twon, ethel merman is a legend. no matter whos better, she will always bee deamed as such,
Wow, Frank has no voice. I know Ethel is a powerhouse and can drown anybody out, but listening to Frank alone I can hear that he cannot project his voice at all =/
Well for a guy that "Couldnt project his voice at all" he did OK honey, and just by the way, if ya got through a song at all with Ethel Merman and you were heard you had done real good.
togian755 what are you on about? 'Not too many people in the 45+ age group prance around like they're at a high school prom though.'..everyone i know the 45 + age group all prance around like that all the time ... don't you go out?
They had outgrown these roles as sadly they were no longer in the age group for which these roles were written (it happens to everyone). They sang and dance well enough but they should have left the roles to younger performers who would have been more convincing in them..
