Today I left my televison on TCM even while the sound was off, just so I could glance every now and again at the different faces of Ziegfeld. Evidently it was a day devoted to Flo, as movie after movie drifted by featuring, in different ways, his illustrious 'Follies'. I recorded 'Ziegfeld Girl' but the rest of them I can easily do without, especially the melodramatic snooziness of 'The Great Ziegfield' where William Powell proves, without a doubt, just how much of a jerk the guy was. However, during the broadcast of 'Ziegfeld Follies'-I saw something that made me sit up and take notice. A vision that held my attention even without sound. It was the glorious face of Kathryn Grayson.
I have always been a fan of Kathryn. I first saw her, when I was just a littlun, in the Gene Kelly movie 'Anchors Aweigh'. At the end of that film, she completely levels the place w/ a rendition from the Sleeping Beauty ballet that sounds more like a stringed instrument than any human voice I've heard. But she is so darned INTERESTING to look at as well. Her eyes are perpetually downturned, her nose is pugged...she SHOULD be ugly. But she is absolutely doll-like and lovely and her mouth is shaped like a perfect heart. So I just can't look away when she is on the screen. She captivates me and it isnt just her blissful pipes and beautiful hair (it was always beautiful until she cut it into a little poodle-doo that made me weep with frustration). She just had a charmed presence...impossible to duplicate. Watch the following clip and worship at the Grayson throne with me.
