jane powell celebrate 80th birthday

April 1st marks the 80th birthday of MGM songbird Jane Powell. Groomed by the studio in the mid 1940s to be a teen soprano in the Deanna Durbin mold, Powell scored a big success with A DATE WITH JUDY (1948).

Born 80 years ago today in Portland, Oregon, Jane Powell had a relatively brief but memorable film career in the '40s and '50s, playing the sweet-natured leading lady in a series of musicals and romances.

I had the pleasure of briefly meeting Powell five years ago, when she was the guest of honor at the Port Townsend Film Festival. There, she reminded the audience of her Northwest roots (her father worked for Wonder Bread in Portland, but they often visited family in Tacoma), smilingly shared that she was only the third choice to play Fred Astaire's partner in "Royal Wedding" ("June Allyson was taken pregnant, Judy Garland was taken ill"), noted that she was maid of honor at Elizabeth Taylor's first wedding, and confirmed that the pioneer-lady skirts she wore in "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" were indeed made from old quilts, and were "very heavy."

Powell (who was born Suzanne Burce, and took her screen name from her first movie, 1944's "Song of the Open Road") also told us that her favorite film from her career was the 1950 romance "Two Weeks With Love," where she was partnered with Ricardo Montalban. (She plays a teen who falls in love with a dashing older man while on vacation with her family in the Catskills -- sort of a more innocent "Dirty Dancing.") Here, as a little birthday tribute, is a clip of Powell and Montalban (who died earlier this year, at the age of 88) from that movie, dancing a charming tango.

She was Fred Astaire’s partner in ROYAL WEDDING (1951), confidently holding her own on the dance floor alongside the master. (Despite their 30-year age difference, they were strangely plausible as brother and sister.) But it was SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS (1954) that showed Powell off best, proving that she was a major movie-musical presence. Opposite Howard Keel, also at his best, and given some glorious tunes by Gene de Paul and Johnny Mercer, Powell was marvelous as Milly, the young woman who falls in love (with Keel) on sight. She marries him, only to find out that he was looking for someone to cook and clean for him and his six backwoods brothers. But she is more than a match for all seven of them!

The strength, warmth, and depth in Powell’s performance set her apart from the manufactured emoting of her soprano rivals at MGM, Kathryn Grayson and Ann Blyth. If either of those ladies had played Milly, the character would have been arch and insufferable. The vigorous spunk in Powell’s Milly feels authentic rather than cute. Her rendition of “Wonderful, Wonderful Day” is her vocal highlight, an uncontained expression of pure happiness, comparable to Julie Andrews’ mountain-top outburst in the Alps. Powell’s acting merited an Oscar nomination, to go with the film’s Best Picture nod. SEVEN BRIDES is one of the screen’s greatest movie musicals, enhanced by Stanley Donen’s zesty direction, Michael Kidd’s thrilling choreography, the irresistible ensemble of brides and brothers, handsome and rugged Keel, and, perhaps most of all, the gifted and altogether captivating Jane Powell. (You can read much more about SEVEN BRIDES and Powell in my book SCREEN SAVERS.) Happy Birthday, Milly!

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Amanda Alexis Lee Photos

Meet Amanda Alexis Lee, model from Texas and gorgeous.

Amanda Alexis Lee is in the news today because she is a finalist in the Maxim.com Hometown Hottie contest. The long haired blond model, variously known as Amanda Alexis hails from Dallas, Texas.

The 2009 Hometown Hotties contest is in its second week. If you are so inclined, there is still time to vote. And if you yourself are a hottie who is looking to get a little, um, exposure, there is also time to enter the contest. But I digress.

As a biography, Amanda Alexis Lee is 26 years old. She is from Dallas, Texas. She is also known as Alexis Lee and mistakenly known as Amanda Lee. She graduated from the University of North Texas with a Bachelors of Arts and Sciences degree in Applied Arts and Sciences with an emphasis in Alternative Dispute Resolution, Sociology and Hospitality Management.

Amanda Alexis Lee is 5′7′ tall, weighs 115 pounds and her measurements are 34DD-25-36. She is a professional model.

She was the 2002 Hawaiian Tropic Rookie Texas State Finalist in 2003 and advanced to the Internationals in 2003 as Miss Italy Hawaiian Tropic. She has also been a Hawaiian Tropic Radio spokes model and special appearance model. In 2003, she appeared in Playboy, notably in the Miss January College Playmate and some special appearances at events for the magazine. In 2003-04 she was Miss Donald Trump World 2003-2004 and later became an HBO Fightstand Ring Card Model.

In addition to numerous appearances as a professional model in magazines, commercials, and music videos, she is also Miss Hawaiian Tropics North Texas Director. In that capacity she works to assist aspiring models in the Miss Hawaiian Tropic and Ms. Planet Beach Pageantry System.

Amanda Alexis Lee Photos and a Sense of Purpose

The tag line Maxim has come up with respect to voting in the Hometown Hotties contest is rather illuminating "You were looking for a purpose in life - we just gave it to you."

During times of economic hardship, people are desperate to be entertained. And they also seek out various guilty pleasures (McDonald's is doing a brisk business in this tanking economy, for example. Liquor sales are up, too). During the Great Depression, people flocked to the movies in an effort to forget about their troubles for a couple of hours, and they're doing the same thing during the Great Recession (the box office is pulling in record numbers).

Well, the same thing can be said about Amanda Alexis Lee and the Maxim Hometown Hotties contest. It's a pleasant diversion that, yes, may actually give some people a sense of purpose. I would not be surprised at all if the 2009 Hometown Hotties draws a record number of voters (by the way, American Idol received a record number of votes - 36 million to be exact - after last weeks results show. This lends further credence to this theory).

Amanda Alexis Lee Photos Benefit Many

Sex sells and it always has. But it sells even more during hard times. It's a great benefit to Maxim and Amanda Alexis Lee - and to the legions of boys of all ages who are vigorously casting votes in the 2009 Hometown Hotties contest. May the best hottie win.

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