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Vera Ellen: The Magic and Mystery [Paperback]

David Soren (Author)
4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)


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Book Description

0072341378 978-0072341379 December 2000
Vera-Ellen should have been one of Broadway and Hollywood’s most enduring stars. She was a fine dramatic and light comedic actress, and was considered by a number of authorities to be the greatest all-around dancer of her generation. And for a brief moment in 1950, she was an American household name, as famous as Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio or General Douglas MacArthur. She could do tap, toe dancing, adagio, modern dance (formerly known as dramatic dancing), comic dancing, partnered dancing, prop dancing, Apache dancing and advanced acrobatics. She could also sing well enough to be featured on Broadway and television. Her obsessive perfectionism was legendary; nobody worked harder on a routine or accomplished it with greater attention to detail. Not only were each of her steps perfect but the transitions from step to step were flawless and remarkably beautiful to observe. Like Fred Astaire, who admired her, she had the ability to make each complex routine seem effortless, as if she were expressing herself spontaneously.

Vera-Ellen's work in films such as On The Town, White Christmas, Words and Music, Three Little Words, The Belle of New York and Call Me Madame will never be forgotten by film musical fans. This much anticipated biography will not disappoint those fans.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

  • Paperback
  • Publisher: Mcgraw-Hill College (December 2000)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0072341378
  • ISBN-13: 978-0072341379
  • Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 0.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,535,654 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

17 Reviews
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4 star:
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3 star:
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2 star:
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Average Customer Review
4.1 out of 5 stars (17 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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74 of 74 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars An Amazing Dancer and a Life Unraveled in Thorough Detail, February 6, 2006
Anyone who has seen 1949's "On the Town" or 1954's "White Christmas" has likely been mesmerized by the extraordinary dancing of Vera-Ellen, as beautiful and impressive as any dancer presented by the Hollywood studio system at the time. What author David Soren, a professor at the University of Arizona and obviously a devoted fan, reveals is a woman who was so consumed by her perfectionist standards as a dancer that she may have lost sight of other aspects of her life that needed attention, in particular, her health. The extent of Soren's research is impressive from her family history through her professional career to what is known of her reclusive life between her retirement in the late 1950's and early death at age sixty.

While interesting, the early chapters are strictly for her hardcore fans as Soren goes extensively into her family background and early beginnings as a stage dancer and eventually the youngest Rockette ever at Radio City Music Hall. The book gets inevitably more interesting as it covers her Hollywood years. As a dancer, she was often transcendent, partnering with the likes of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, both of whom apparently adored and respected her. She was pretty and personable as a leading lady but not wildly talented as an actress. Yet, her aspirations to be taken seriously were dashed by an unsupportive studio, MGM, who saw fit to give her just one chance at a dramatic part in a low-budget 1953 potboiler with Edward G. Robinson called "Big Leaguer". In fact, one is struck by the extent of control that MGM had in shaping not only her career but her appearance and her life overall.

Similar to what has been documented with Judy Garland, Vera-Ellen was pressured to stay thin and developed odd eating habits (such as her obsession with steak), and indeed the most revealing chapter focuses on her alleged anorexia, a medical condition that did not have anywhere near the prominence in the 1950's it does now. When looking at "White Christmas" with this knowledge, it does strike me how skinny she looks, and only now do I see the concerted effort the producers made to hide her aging neck. The chapters chronicling her life after her last movie, 1957's "Let's Be Happy", show an ego-dictated existence that seems to be sadly unraveling - a child she bore at age 42 died of SIDS three months after birth, her subsequent second divorce, her solitary life in a Hollywood mansion. In her later years, she rarely resurfaced in public, and her obsession with not disappointing fans makes her seem sadly like Norma Desmond in "Sunset Boulevard". However, Soren does a great service by providing a readable book on a performer who based on her handful of wondrous screen appearances, should not be relegated to the whatever-happened trivia pile.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Vera-Ellen: The Magic and the Mystery, February 6, 2007

I found this an excellent book of an actress/dancer that so little had been heard of for so long and I was delighted to have come across it whilst looking for information on her, on the Internet. For anyone interested in the old musicals, this book is a must. Eileen, Cyprus.
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18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Hollywood Horror Story, December 1, 2007
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There is something quite creepy in the story of Vera-Ellen's rise to fame, how she dazzled all too briefly in a few musicals of the late forties and fifties, how she was misused and discarded by MGM, and how she sacrificed her health and private life for a career that ultimately brought her pain, lonelieness and an early death. This almost reads like a "What not to Do" manual for young upcoming performers. At first, Vera-Ellen did all the right things. Her perfectionism made her a brilliant dancer, but it also fuelled a neurotic obsession with her weight that went into overdrive when MGM told her she should be thinner.
That started the decline which - in this biography reads like a Gothic horror story. In every appearance, even when extreme dieting had started to age her prematurely, she exuded a joyous exuberance which matched her classy dancing talents. And yet her contributions to the Hollywood musical are mostly ignored, most woundingly in "The MGM Stock Company" where she is pictured in the group cover pic, but does not rate her own chapter, even tho minor character actors do. David Soren goes overboard in praising her acting talents. His obvious adoration of her is touching. But we still need a more balanced account of Vera-Ellen's life and achievments. Sadly, with the star herself and most of her peers gone, we may never get it. Thank God that video and DVDs have preserved her vibrant talent.
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In 1858 Herman Rohe was born in the tiny town of Crete, Illinois just a few miles south of the quickly growing city of Chicago. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
magic anc, prop dancing, comic dancing, women with anorexia, dancing talent, big leaguer, specialty number
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New York, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, White Christmas, Call Me Madam, Los Angeles, Alma Rohe, Danny Kaye, Happy Go Lovely, Donald O'Connor, Fred Maurer, Costa Rica, Robert Alton, Tenth Avenue, Wonder Man, Marie Windsor, The Kid, Three Little Girls, Tony Martin, World War, Las Vegas, Ray Bolger, Connecticut Yankee, Debbie Reynolds, Rock Hudson
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