Jane Powell, The Girl Next Door, R.I.P. / CLASSIC MOVIES ROUND-UP

Jane Powell, The Girl Next Door, R.I.P.

18.9.21

Jane Powell is one of those Golden Age of Hollywood stars I grew up with. It feels like I've seen numerous of her films but the reality is I have only seen two: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Royal Wedding. Yet I've seen both of them so many times since my childhood that Jane (my namesake) feels like an old friend. Sadly she died this week, on the 16th of September, at the age of 92 from natural causes.

Powell, born as Suzanne Lorraine Burce on 1 April 1929, was the typical girl next door (she wrote an autobiography The Girl Next Door ... And How She Grew, published in 1988). She was sweet-natured, petite and pretty, the girl you'd want your parents to meet. She made her film debut in Song of the Open Road (1944), with a character named Jane Powell and adopted this as her stage name.

As a 5-year old child she sang on the local radio and her voice developed into a high-pitched soprano as she got older. By the time she was 14, she won a popular radio talent show while vacationing in California with her parents. This didn't go unnoticed by the Hollywood moguls and she was soon signed to a seven-year contract with MGM. Being only in her teens when her film career started, she starred in Deanna Durbin type of movies: musicals and fluffy romances. Among them were Holiday in Mexico (1946), Three Daring Daughters (1948), A Date with Judy (1948), Luxury Liner (1948), Nancy Goes to Rio (1950) and Two Weeks with Love (1950).

Her two best known films are the ones I've seen numerous times: Royal Wedding (1951) and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954). Royal Wedding has her billed with Fred Astaire, playing siblings in a song and dance duo, taking their show to London at the time of the royal wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Philip. In Seven Brides for Seven Brothers she plays the role of Milly Pontipee, a feisty and perky character, marrying Howard Keel without knowing he has six ill-mannered brothers living with him. Of course she will teach them all some manners, including the husband. I love these two films!

After her film career Powell was active on the stage, touring in musical productions. She also made several guest appearances in popular TV-shows and in the early 1990s temporarily replaced Eileen Fulton as Lisa Grimaldi on the daytime soap opera As the World Turns (I mention this because I've been a fan of this series back in the days).

In her personal life she married five times and had three children from her first two marriages. She met her fifth husband Dickie Moore when he interviewed her for his book about child actors. He'd been a popular child actor himself and I've seen him in numerous films (among others Blonde Venus and So Big). Powell and Moore were married from 1988 until his death in 2015. Following her husband's passing Powell sold their Manhattan apartment and moved permanently to their second home in Wilton, Connecticut. This is where she died last Thursday, in the home she had shared with her true love.

Coming to my list of watched Powell films! Well, list is a big word with only two films, but I'll add the month and year when I rewatched the film for the last time:

*Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (first seen in childhood, seen multiple times, and rewatched on the big screen in July 2019)

*Royal Wedding (first seen in childhood, seen multiple times, and rewatched on the big screen in August 2019)

I've also seen Powell's appearances in That's Entertainment! (1974): It's a Most Unusual Day (from A Date with Judy) sung by Powell; and Hallelujah sung by Powell, Kay Armen, Ann Miller, Debbie Reynolds, Vic Damone, Russ Tamblyn and Tony Martin, from Hit the Deck (1955).

I have always preferred Powell's singing voice to Kathryn Grayson's. While Grayson had trained as an opera singer, I couldn't find information (after a quick search online) on what singing background Powell had. But whatever her training was, she had a beautiful voice. I simply love her ballad Too Late Now (from Royal Wedding), and I've always enjoyed her solo song Wonderful, Wonderful Day and her duet with Howard Keel When You're in Love (both from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers).

Not so surprisingly her dancing stands in the shadow of her singing. During the heyday of the Hollywood musical everyone could sing and dance a little — sometimes excelling in one of the two skills and not being bad at the other — so to see a singer dance was nothing out of the ordinary. And you kind of took it for granted that they could pull off the routines. Jane Powell was never praised for her dancing skills, but when you watch her performance closely during the number with the longest title in musical history How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Love You When You Know I've Been a Liar All My Life (from Royal Wedding), you will be impressed. When I watched this musical on the big screen in 2019, it really hit me how wonderful her dance routines were and how well she could hold her own next to Fred Astaire. Incidentally, she got the part of Astaire's sister after first casting choice June Allyson withdrew (because of pregnancy) and Allyson's replacement Judy Garland got fired. Powell was nervous for the part, because she felt she lacked the dancing experience, but from the start she got along fine with Astaire and he was very understanding and patient with her. We can only be grateful that she got the role and I will never get tired of watching Royal Wedding. And Seven Brides for Seven Brothers too, for that matter!

“People are always fascinated by the so-called golden age of musicals, but it wasn't all that great. Everything was glazed. Those movies didn't reflect reality. I was at MGM for 11 years and nobody ever let me play anything but teenagers. I was 25 years old with kids of my own and it was getting ridiculous. Publicity was froth. Everything you said was monitored. With me, they didn't have to worry. I never had anything to say, anyway. It was hard work, I had no friends, no social interaction with people my age and the isolation was tough. But I had to support my family, so I did what I was told and had no other choice.”

I will try and watch some Jane Powell films before the month is over. For now I'm mostly interested in watching A Date with Judy (1948), Three Daring Daughters (1948), Rich, Young and Pretty (1951) and Hit the Deck (1955). Stay tuned for my September round-up post to see what Powell films I've watched!

Rest in peace, sweet Jane!