Whatever Happened to Miriam Lavelle?

Researching the Busby Berkeley extravaganza The Gang's All Here (now available on DVD), I noticed a mention of specialty dancer Miriam Lavelle, who seems to have something of a fan base on YouTube. The acrobatic Lavelle appeared in several films (including The Gang's All Here) in the 1940s, but I haven't found much else about her on the Internet. Which makes me curious about the rest of her career.

Here she is in Seven Days Ashore (1944).



Source (1:32)

SUMMER CAMP!

The Chelsea Classics series at the Chelsea Clearview (23rd Street between 7th and 8th Avenues0 kicks off the summer season with presidential candidate Hedda Lettuce hosting Mahogany (Wednesday, June 25th at 9:00 pm), Cry-Baby (Thursday, June 26th at 7:00 pm and 9:30 pm), and Mommie Dearest (Saturday, June 28th at 10:00 pm). (A problem with Thursday night's screening of Cry-Baby is that it's up against MOMA's 8:30 pm screening of Jacques Demy's amazing French musical The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, but if you don't mind missing Guy Maddin's introduction, you might be able to catch the second showing of Umbrellas on Sunday, June 29th at 5:00 pm.)

Then Hedda heads off and homemaking queen Brini Maxwell steps in for a set of Thursday screenings starting with the gloriously cheesy Busby Berkeley extravaganza The Gang's All Here (July 3rd at 7:30 pm and 9:30 pm). The other July screenings are Thoroughly Modern Millie (July 10th at 7:00pm and 9:30pm), the superb and subtle Preston Sturges comedy The Palm Beach Story (July 17th at 7:00pm and 9:30pm), Alfred Hitchock's Rear Window (Thursday, July 24th at 7:00pm and 9:30pm), and The Ritz (July 31st at 7:00pm and 9:30pm).

Realizing that managing all these movies and dates might be overwhelming, I offer three suggested must-sees—Mommie Dearest, Umbrellas (at MOMA), Gang's All Here—plus these clever tips on how to get organized. Note that Brini's colors are not unlike Demy's!



Source (7:11)




Source (3:51)

COLOR COMES TO QUEENS

There's a feast for the eyes at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria this weekend. The conclusion of the museum's Technicolor festival includes one of my favorite movies, The Gang's All Here (6 pm today), the rarely screened but perhaps definitive Busby Berkeley musical that's big on crazy-gaudy production numbers and laughably short on plot. (Note, however, that it's now on DVD!) On the other end of the spectrum is Apocalypse Now Redux (5 pm tomorrow), with Vertigo (2 pm tomorrow) and All That Heaven Allows (3 pm today) further enhancing the program.

Photo: David Marc Fischer