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Posted: |
Sep 21, 2021 - 3:23 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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Rich momma's boy “Wade Kingsley, Jr.” (Jerry Lewis) returns west with “Slim Mosley, Jr.” (Dean Martin), the son of his murdered father's partner to foil a gang trying to gain control of his family ranch. The two are PARDNERS in this 1956 modern western comedy. Lori Nelson plays “Carol Kingsley,” Wade’s cousin.
Dean Martin, Lori Nelson, and Jerry Lewis in PARDNERS
During the weeks PARDNERS was being filmed, rumors began about the impending demise of the Martin and Lewis partnership. So when "The End" title appears on the screen, Dean and Jerry address the audience and exclaim: "We're not ready for 'The End' yet!" Then they shoot the letters off the screen with their six-guns. Addressing one another as "Dean" and "Jer," they thank the audience for attending the picture, stating how much they enjoyed making it, and that they hope the audience will come to their next film.
Martin and Lewis’ last live performance as a team was a thirteen-day engagement at The Copacabana nightclub in New York City, on the tenth anniversary of their first performance. The same day that PARDNERS was released to theaters, they played their last performance at the Copa. This was director Norman Taurog’s fourth film with Martin and Lewis. Frank DeVol arranged and conducted the music and also provided some uncredited background score. PARDNERS was the #25 film at the box office, with a $10.3 million gross.
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Posted: |
Sep 22, 2021 - 12:40 AM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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Lori Nelson had her first lead role in a film with the 1956 teenage exploitationer HOT ROD GIRL. After a fatal accident takes the life of one of the local hot rod kids, things go from bad to worse for a small group of friends in the racing scene. Antisocial newcomer “Bronc Talbott” (Mark Andrews) shows up in town, taunts local mechanic “Jeff Nothrup” (John Smith) and hits on Jeff’s girl, “hot rod girl” “Lisa Vernon” (Lori Nelson). The film marked the motion picture debut of actor/impressionist Frank Gorshin (1934--2005). Gorshin's performance in the film included several short impersonations, including one of his signature pieces as James Cagney.
When the Ford Motor Co. introduced the 1955 Thunderbird, Lori Nelson was one of the first Hollywood actresses to get one. It came in white, but she had it custom-painted canary yellow. The ‘55 Thunderbird that Nelson drives in HOT ROD GIRL was her own car. The script called for her to drive a sports car but there wasn't enough money in the budget to rent one, so she offered to drive her own car, which the production company gratefully accepted.
HOT ROD GIRL was the first film of Nacirema Productions, a company co-owned by David T. Yokozeka and Norman T. Herman. The word Nacirema is "American" spelled backwards. Leslie T. Martinson directed the film, which grossed $600,000 at the box office.
Composer Alexander Courage received credit in both the opening and closing film credits. In the opening, his credit reads "Music composed and conducted by." In the closing credits, his credit reads "Composer--Conductor Alexander Courage" and is followed by a list of noted jazz musicians who performed the film's score, grouped by instrument in "The Band" and "The Quintet." The listing of 22 musicians, which included Bud Shank on sax and Maynard Ferguson on trumpet, was unusual, since none of the musicians appear onscreen.
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Posted: |
Sep 22, 2021 - 9:38 AM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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UNTAMED YOUTH is set in the rural South, where sisters and musical performers “Janey” (Lori Nelson) and “Penny Low” (Mamie Van Doren) are hitchhiking to Hollywood, when the corrupt Sheriff “Mitch Bowers” (Robert Foulk) arrests them. During their trial, the county judge, “Cecile Steele” (Lurene Tuttle), sentences them to thirty days, which they can choose to serve in prison or at a work farm. The girls choose the latter and are taken by Mitch with other young offenders to a cotton farm owned by sleazy “Russ Tropp” (John Russell).
Mamie Van Doren, Jeanne Carmen, Lori Nelson, and John Russell in UNTAMED YOUTH
Howard W. Koch directed the 1957 film. In addition to scoring the picture, Les Baxter wrote or co-wrote five songs for the film.
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Posted: |
Sep 23, 2021 - 1:00 AM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN was a ninety-minute musical film in color, originally made as a television special and first shown by NBC on Tuesday, November 26, 1957, as one of their Thanksgiving Week offerings for that year. It preempted that evening's telecasts of “The Nat King Cole Show” and “The Eddie Fisher Show.”
Based on the famous poem of the same name by Robert Browning and using the music of Edvard Grieg arranged by Pete King with special lyrics by Hal Stanley and Irving Taylor, it starred Van Johnson as The Pied Piper, Claude Rains (in his only singing and dancing role) as the Mayor of Hamelin, Lori Nelson as the Mayor’s daughter “Mara”, and Jim Backus as the King's Emissary.
The film was directed by Broadway veteran Bretaigne Windust. In a direct nod to Browning's poem, nearly all of the dialogue in THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN was written in rhyme, much of it directly lifted from the poem.
Rather than release the film’s song score, RCA Victor released a children’s album of sort, with orchestral versions of many of the Grieg tunes, with the story narrated by Joseph Fielding, and with the only credited vocals being those of Van Johnson alone. Lori Nelson had sung on two of the film’s numbers: a solo of "My Heart Will Fly To Heaven" (adapted from "Wedding Day at Toldhaugen") and a duet with Van Johnson on a reprise of Johnson’s earlier solo "How Can I Tell You?" (adapted from "Piano Concerto in A Minor"). Only the latter song appears on the LP, and the singers are credited as “Van Johnson and Soloist in Duet,” leading one to believe that Lori Nelson is not that soloist.
The film was repeated on NBC the following year, and in 1961 was released to theaters domestically and overseas.
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Posted: |
Sep 23, 2021 - 12:13 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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“How to Marry a Millionaire” was a sitcom that aired in syndication and on the NTA Film Network, from October 7, 1957, to August 20, 1959. The series was loosely based on the 1953 film of the same name starring Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable, and Lauren Bacall. “How to Marry a Millionaire” was one of the first television sitcoms based on a feature film.
The series follows the adventures and mishaps of three 20-something women who are attempting to marry a rich man. The three women are “Michelle ‘Mike’ McCall” (Merry Anders), an intelligent (and often scheming), wise-cracking Wall Street secretary; “Loco Jones” (Barbara Eden), a ditzy but good-hearted "Miss Magoo"-esque fashion model who, despite having very poor eyesight, refuses to wear her glasses in the presence of men; and “Greta Hanson” (Lori Nelson), a sophisticated, college educated co-hostess of the quiz show “Go For Broke”
After viewing the pilot, all three major networks passed on the series. National Telefilm Associates (NTA) and 20th Century-Fox Television (which owned part of the series) sold and distributed the series to 115 independent syndicated channels. “Millionaire” was included in a package deal with two other NTA productions, “This Is Alice” and “Man Without a Gun,” that subscribing syndicated stations aired in a programming block on the same night.
Lori Nelson, Barbara Eden, and Merry Anders in “How To Marry a Millionaire”
“How to Marry a Millionaire” was generally well received by critics and audiences, and a second, abbreviated season was ordered. However, Lori Nelson's character was written out and a new character, “Gwen Kirby” (Lisa Gaye), was added to the cast. Nelson later said she chose to quit the show stating, "I felt that I was the biggest of the three actresses in terms of star status...I felt that I needed to move on. I didn't need to be stuck in that little series that was in syndication."
However, Nelson's co-star Merry Anders said that Nelson was fired. According to Anders, the series' entire first season, 39 episodes, was shot before the series debuted on television. While promoting the series shortly before its debut, Nelson gave an interview in which she said that she was disappointed with her role. She stated she felt her role was not as well defined as her co-stars' who were more clearly based on their movie counterparts (Mike McCall was patterned after Lauren Bacall's role while Barbara Eden's character was a combination of the Betty Grable and Marilyn Monroe roles). Anders stated that when NTA got wind of Nelson's remarks, they fired her.
The abbreviated second season lasted 13 episodes. Lori Nelson appeared in 30 of the series’ 52 episodes.
Merry Anders, Barbara Eden, and Lori Nelson
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Posted: |
Sep 23, 2021 - 4:25 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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After leaving “How To Marry a Millionaire,” Lori Nelson did guest shots on various television series, mostly westerns, for three years, through 1961. At that point, Nelson took a 10-year hiatus from screen acting to focus on her family. On December 10, 1960, Nelson had married composer Johnny Mann in Los Angeles. The couple had two daughters, Lori Susan and Jennifer, then divorced in April 1973.
In 1971 Nelson returned to the screen for a single appearance on the sitcom “Family Affair,” then took another hiatus, this time for 20 years. She made three appearances in the 1990s, in a Brazilian film (BLACK GAUCHO), a made-for-TV thriller (“SECRET SINS OF THE FATHER), and a direct-to-video film (“MOM, CAN I KEEP HER?”).
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