Customer Reviews

Hollywood Ladies Sing

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I'm a French guy and a fan of the US 40s & 50s Hollywood movies. I just recently discovered these 2 ladies and I recommend this double feature CD which is a reissue of 2 LP albums recorded in the 50s by 2 actresses:
- LIZABETH SCOTT, who starred most of the time as a sultry femme fatale & vamp & villain in great 40s and 50s noir movies genre, was a sexy subtle combination of Monroe & Bacall & Veronica Lake and had really the perfect ideal sexy voice for cosy jazz lounge ambiances.
- French actress DENISE DARCEL who made it in the USA was more the curvaceaous lively voluptuous sexpot with good humour.

SCOTT had a short film career from 1945 to 1957 and DARCEL did a dozen of films in the 50s. SCOTT has really demonstrated a talent as a singer (oddly enough,when she played nightclub singers in several noir movies her own singing was dubbed by other vocalists !). DENISE DARCEL took the opportunity to sing and you'll listen to a reflection of her cabaret programme (sometimes 1 or 2 slightly risqué songs yet still performed with the aura she was known for and with her really innate charm).

What a great idea to combine on the same CD 2 LPs which had never been realeased before on CDs ! Although they had little in common in their screen personas beside the fact that they were somehow renowned - and also cast for - their glamorous and sexual allure, both actresses had actually the same fate : a short film career ending in the 50s, recording of their own LP in the 50s, then forgotten by many people, ultra rare public appearances for decades and yet still alive (DARCEL (83) born in 1925 and SCOTT(86) in 1922 !)...Don't miss these 2 delicious artists please !

This CS is a must have for Hollywood legends fans, sultry vamps and jazz lovers....

I`ve had expensive, hard to come by records of the LIZABETH album and the sound was usually awful. It`s a pleasure to get it on CD with good sound.

Thanks once more to Flare Records for preserving two unique LP's that came out of the fifties. Lizabeth Scott and Denise Darcel had nice careers--Scott blossomed in the forties with her great noir-type film vamps in Strange Loves of Martha Ivers, Desert Fury, Dead Reckoning and into the fifties with more interesting film roles. She chose to end her film career with a role opposite Elvis Presley in Loving You, doing only a few TV roles and later another film called Pulp with Michael Caine.

She recorded her only album for VIK and chose some wonderful tunes to warble. (There is a costly VIK CD version from Japan if one can find it.) Her throaty voice was perfect for each of the songs. She does a fine job of He's Funny That Way, I'm In Love Again, Willow Weep For Me and How Did He Look. Legalize My Name is a highlight, as is When A Woman Loves A Man.

She would have been dynamite in a club setting at the time, but never ventured out to do live gigs. She had sultry blonde looks and lots of attitude. Her leading men included Bogart, Burt Lancaster, Alan Ladd, Charlton Heston and Presley. It's great to have this reminder of her on CD.

Darcel was a saucy enchantress who had the only female role in the MGM masterpiece Battleground, which starred Van Johnson. She appeared in a string of MGM films including an Esther Williams musical, Dangerous When Wet, but had her best film roles opposite Gary Cooper and Burt Lancaster in Vera Cruz, a big budget western, and Westward the Women with Robert Taylor, another big western film.

The cover of her only recorded album was extremely scintillating for the time. The tunes are all well chosen for her voice and personality. She also does a version of Legalize My Name. Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered, My Man and I'm In The Mood For Love are among the highlights. She mingles French and English on several of the songs.

She went on to do many appearances in clubs, on stage and on TV when her film career faded. Her stage work included "Oh Captain" in the role Yvonne DeCarlo did on film (Captain's Paradise), and "Pardon My French."

I got to see her about twenty years ago when she joined the all-star cast of a revival of Sondheim's "Follies" at the Long Beach Civic outside Los Angeles and she still looked great and sounded terrific.

This CD of these two fabulous femmes is highly recommended. This is great nostalgia from an era that was so different.

Ever since film found its voice there has been a fascination with stars who attempt to sing. This double-header features two actresses who never reached the top and are now forgotten, but film buffs recalling their many screen roles may be unaware of their vocal attributes until now.

Frequently playing the femme fatale in film-noir movies like PAID IN FULL and DARK CITY, husky-voiced Lizabeth Scott ended up in Elvis Presley's LOVING YOU (1957) and did little thereafter. Apparently her vocals were invariably dubbed whenever she played screen chanteuse roles which is quite surprising considering the vocal quality she displays on this 1957-released album LIZABETH. Well-chosen songs - LEGALISE MY NAME, HE'S FUNNY THAT WAY, WILLOW WEEP FOR ME and HOW DID HE LOOK? are effectively interpreted with Lizabeth's acting abilities utilised to their full degree. Sounding at times like Peggy Lee, she has her own style and it's a pity no further albums followed. Great accompaniment by Henri Rene and his Orchestra

Denise Darcel was one of those imported actresses Hollywood grabbed without thinking how best she could be used in movies. Adding a modicum of glamour but not much else to routine westerns, action movies and occasional musicals (DANGEROUS WHEN WET with Esther Williams), Denise did get to warble in some of them and was later drawn to the US nightclub circuit and occasional Broadway plays and musicals. However, the 1958-released BANNED IN BOSTON appears to be the only solo album Denise waxed. She uses her heavy Gallic accented vocal charm to maximum effect for I'M IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, LOVE FOR SALE, EVERY MAN IS A STUPID MAN and two sophisticated songs from PAL JOEY - WHAT IS A MAN? and IN OUR LITTLE DEN OF INIQUITY whilst LEGALISE MY NAME pops up once again. Denise reverts to French lyrics occasionally as on the verse of her stunning and dramatic MY MAN leaving CHATTANOOGA CHOO-CHOO to hit the tracks as contemporary rock-styled fun. Dave Appell conducts the orchestra.

It's great that UK-based Flare Records has made these albums available again with effective remastering, although slight surface noise is discernable when listening through headphones but hardly enough to worry about on a commendable reissue such as this.