Greetings from VKMfanHuey!!!

Welcome to the Gingerology blog for the 1932 Fox film, Hat Check Girl!!!

Ginger ...

Please note the 'menu' above, which has various information regarding the film; to the right (just below the Gingerology link) there are additional links regarding the film.

Please feel free to leave a comment with any general info, links, pics, or just to say hi!

...And be sure to check out our 'main' site, Gingerology - just click on the Ginger pic to the right. There you'll find a list of ALL of Ginger Rogers' films; click on any one, and you will be directed to a 'dedicated' blog about that film (not unlike this blog).

Keep It Gingery, y'all!

VKMfanHuey

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Friday, April 11, 2014

Archive Post #4 - from Gingerology - originally posted November 28, 2012

...er... have y'all looked at the 'blogs I follow'...

...down at the lower right of the page? Ms. Molly Brown, of "Trade Corner for Ginger Rogers", has the following post from a few days ago:

"Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Clause*...Coming Soon to 'The Corner'... HAT CHECK GIRL (1932)"
(* - can be taken as the proper spelling in this context... )
...now, when you click on the link, it sends ya to her site, but no info as of yet regarding HCG... I honestly have heard some 'rumblings' here and there regarding a supposed copy of HCG floating around... if it DOES surface, that would be pretty much the coolest thing to ever occur in Gingerology's short history (well, for me, being at 100 West Moore Street in Independence, MO. on 07/16/11 was pretty awesome...) but, THIS would obviously complete the GingerFilm collection...well, save for a few of her early 'shorts'...

SO, here's hopin', right? Molly has dug up a LOT of Gingery stuff over the last year or so, so... until proven otherwise, I'm drinking that gingery-infused Kool-aid!!! How bout Y'ALL???

KIG!

Hu
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11 comments:

  1. I actually spoke with her through email, and she said it was a draft post, but the catch was-
    That 20th Century Fox had a big fire at the warehouse in 1937. But a nitrate 35mm survived it. Then she said the copy is held safely in New York.

    Hopefully they convert it, and then Molly can crack down on it!!! :)

  2. would be so exciting if Hat Check Girl really had decided to reappear!!!! We all know its out there somewhere afterall!!

  3. OMG, that would be a GREAT Christmas present for Gingerology!! I hope Santa Claus knows how very good, and gingery, you've been this year. Let's have the first screening at your house! I can bring chips and dip ;)

    Until then, save me a cup of that Kool-aid!

  4. ...a sign that the Mayans were right! ORRRRR, is this why they 'ended' their calendar, as they knew that HCG would resurface for all Gingerologists?

    ...if it DID show up, how cool would it be to rent out a theater...heck, the Craterian would be awesome, albeit a wee bit far away for Hu... I'd figure it out, tho...

    Which I guess leads to THIS... if it becomes 'available'...what's the asking price for MB? oof...y'all might need to sock away a few bones for winter... hopefully she'll take it easy on us... I would bestow her as a charter member of the G-ology Hall of Fame...well, heck, ALL of y'all belong in that, so...

    Anyway, hope it pans out... I'll try to keep tabs on the info as it becomes available...guess I need to mosey over and sweet talk MB, right? That usually doesn't end well for me... :-/

    OK - KIG, y'all!
    Hu
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    1. I like your Mayan theory... they figured with the return of HCG, they would no longer need to be counting the days!!

      I was reading in the "Hollywood Reporter" from June 1933, I'm a little behind in my reading, that Warners paid Ginger Rogers $5000 for her Torch Song number so they could use it as a special short subject and THAT was why the number was cut from "Gold Diggers of 1933". I wonder if that piece of film still exists. And wouldn't it make for a stupendous bonus feature on a "Hat Check Girl" dvd? I have a feeling the level of ginergy-ness might be low in HCG and may equal "Broadway Bad" in VKM screen time. But you never know!

      I'll keep my eyes open for updates, so KIG!
    2. hmmm...never knew that about Torch Song....well, it explains it somewhat...although they STILL should have kept it in the feature film...

      As to HCG - it is actually supposed to have some pretty good scenes with ginger...not sure about 'quantity' of time, but the 'SassyGinger' index is supposedly set quite high! So worth the wait, more than likely...

      keep your ear to the ground, your nose to the grindstone, and your eye on the prize... if that's actually possible!

      If not...then just KIG!!!

      Hu
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    3. Not that you are still speaking of Torch Song but.... I found another article on that missing number, this time in Motion Picture magazine (July 1933). Apparently, the writer was on the set during shooting of the movie (or made it sound like he was) and here is what he wrote:

      It may be remembered that Ginger Rogers who plays "Fay" and Mervyn LeRoy, the director, were once announced engaged, but have since broken up. The matter was never mentioned on the set until Ginger did this number. She has never been in better voice, and every word of her song was delivered right at Merv. There is no denying that he was flustered. His fiery red face attested that, when Ginger sang, "Romance passes by-that's why; I've got to sing a torch song; To someone far apart; For the torch I bear; Is burning there-; Right in my heart."

      THAT might be why the number was cut... Merv! ...of all the nerve!

      The entire article is worth reading if you have the time. It describes the movie scene by scene and includes behind the scenes tidbits.
      http://archive.org/stream/motionpicture45moti#page/42/mode/2up
      and
      http://archive.org/stream/motionpicture45moti#page/62/mode/2up
      and
      http://archive.org/stream/motionpicture45moti#page/64/mode/2up

      Have I mentioned how much I LOVE archive.org?!

      KIG!
    4. TCM suggests the same thing that Merv was behind it although they say it differently

      'Ginger Rogers, who had scored a small hit in Forty-Second Street, was still free-lancing in Hollywood when her boyfriend, director Mervyn LeRoy, got her cast in this film and prominently featured her in the opening number. The relationship didn't last the production shoot, and her other song, "I've Got to Sing a Torch Song," was largely cut.'

      my knowledge of Ginger and Merv's relationship isnt great but does that mean they were still dating when I'm in the Money' was filmed..
    5. ...well, guess it would have been pretty heavy to see Ginger sing a song pretty much about how you and her have broken up... but dang, man, suck it up and see the awesomeness that is the performance - and KEEP IT IN THE FILM!!! It would have probably vaulted the 'Gingery Goodness scale' at least 5-6 films up the rankings.... and, as I've written before, I feel there were other scenes which were 'cropped' which had Ginger in them...the scene where she is doing the 'guess who?' to ol' Kibbie - the dialogue seems pretty 'uneven' in that scene...
      anyway, a sad deal if true...
      Thanks for the info, y'all!

      KIG!

      Hu
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  5. I don't have anything to offer :( only maybe a trip to the US... oh wait that'd be me travelling... who owns this copy in New York anyone?
    1. ..that's kinda what I'd like to know...where IS it? I guess they 'transfer' the original to computer best they can, and work on it from there...it may be that Fox is about to release some of their 'classics'...I'm pretty sure they have a collection of them... of course, HCG is mandatory, but would also love a 'true' copy of Broadway Bad...not the best movie per se, but it's just awesome to see Ginger and Joan together...I've become a pretty big JB fan as well...

      We'll figure it out...we typically do, right? Just have to channel the 'Inner Ginger' to make it so!!! :-]

      KIG, Kat!!!
      Hu
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Archive Post #3 - from Gingerology - originally posted September 25, 2012

Eighty Years to the Day...

...Fox Films released 'Hat Check Girl'... that elusive little minx...

I would be remiss (...and remember, kiddos, it's better to miss than to remiss) if I didn't mention the ONLY film Ginger appeared in which no Gingerologist has seen...that I am aware of... it's the Quest for the Girl...Hat Check, that is...

I've heard there are copies out there, but... where? and HOW do we get a hold of them? AND, has it been transferred to electronic file, or is the decades-old cellulose nitrate film being allowed to slowly disintegrate in its tin canister crypt?   ARRRRGH!!!

Well, I still have a feeling this lost GingerFilm will surface SOMEWHERE, and hopefully we can all check it out at roughly the same time, and compare notes... Don't Stop...Believin'...

As for other Gingery items, well, not a heap going on currently...I had a few issues with the internet last weekend, so it put me a few days back...however, the 'fix' ended up reviving my old computer, so I'm back on-line with it, in addition to my new laptop...so all's well, y'all... double 'll's abound here...:-)

So, hope to catch up on the weekend...in the meantime, hope all is well with everyone, have a Gingery remainder of the week, most easily accomplished, by...

Keepin' It Gingery, of course!

Hu
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10 comments:

  1. Huey, did you finally get a chance to see the fan video I posted? I'll bet you like it!

    Onto Roberta!
    1. ...it STILL doesn't work on my end...I'll pull it up tomorrow at work for sure!

      I've got the first 'round' of 'setup' for the GingerBlogs'...still a ways to go, tho... mainly set up the 'pagetabs' just under the header pic... 75 times takes quite a bit of time! But now I can start 'dumping' screencaps and reviews to this point into each blog.

      Thanks, Ron! KIg1
      Hu
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  2. Hope it's around for your sake (and for all Ginger fans, myself included). If someone has a copy, I hope it surfaces somewhere and a watchable print is made.

    To give you some reason to hope, a Carole Lombard film (co-starring Gary Cooper, no less!) was in the same predicament for many years, until a miracle of sorts occurred: http://carole-and-co.livejournal.com/45444.html.
    1. ...I've heard it's out there...SOMEWHERE... ...now, what kind of shape it's in, is something totally different... again, Ginger plays a 'peripheral' role, but...we need it just the same! Of course, a few of the 'shorts' are not currently available either - Campus Sweethearts -and- A Day of a Man of Affairs... those may well be lost in the sands of time, unfortunately... but, it's really awesome that those are the only ones NOT available!

      OOf...I couldn't get the link to work - dang, what IS it with not getting stuff to open? But I DID float over to Carole and Co...great stuff, as usual... actually, I think I DID run across the info regarding that film... it's weird how certain films you think would 'survive' end up rare... maybe they'll all turn up sooner or later1

      KIG - and Carole-y, of course, VP!!!

      Hu
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  3. It's sad and a shame that there is no electronic copy of this what so ever. I wonder if it is true that people have a copy of it....but why would you not turn it in!? If I had a film copy I would turn it in, there would be no way I would just let the film disintegrate and rot.
    If I was old enough and rich I would try and research and do something about it!
    Oh well, hopefully someday we will be able to see the film....but chances are not likely.

    Well have a great Wednesday day! School has actually been going excellent for me. Hopefully this weekend I'll get a Ginger Rogers collection post up. Already have the pics but there so many of them!
    1. HCM will turn up...I can FEEL it...

      Great to hear school is moving right along for ya... get all your homework before Gingery stuff! ...like you never hear that from SCD!!!

      KIG, GF!!!

      Hu
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  4. My latest Lombard item at "Carole & Co." keeps in Gingery, too -- as Carole appears in the October 1933 issue of Movie Classic that has a splendid Marland Stone portrait of Ms. Rogers on the cover: http://carole-and-co.livejournal.com/547003.html.
    1. ...I've always loved that series of photos... but that pic is great! Some of those folks should have gotten into poster drawings for the movies... I'm sure most of them did, but...some of the poster work is not nearly as awesome as this1

      And yes, that would be a great one to own... hmmmm... gotta wait until payday, tho.

      KIG and Carole-y, VP!

      Hu
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  5. It makes me wonder if anyone who may have it in their possession is even aware of the fact :/

    The notes on TCM's website http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/77456/Hat-Check-Girl/notes.html are fairly detailed, although not very inspiring regarding hope of finding it..
    1. ...the detailed synopsis gives me pretty fair hope there's a watchable copy out there... not sure if they did those type of 'reviews' back when the film was released... typically the 'general review' with commentary.

      Here's hoping!!!

      Have a great big ol' Gingery week, Kat!!!

      Hu
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Friday, September 6, 2013

Archive Post #2 - from Gingerology - originally posted April 1, 2011

HAT CHECK GIRL FOUND...

...to be a VERY hard film to find a copy of... ...Y'all have a snarky, yet beguiling April Fools Day, y'all! Could you imagine what Ginger pulled on April 1st? She was quite the prankster, ya know! The pic above looks like she was up to something... BTW - I would be pretty mad at myself now if I had just read this post... :-P ...where's your holiday spirit? Hope to get the Tenderfoot review up by tomorrow... until then... KIG, y'all!!! VKMfanHuey ---

7 comments:

  1. ...but it does exist, right? As long as it does, that's good news. I bring this up because apparently four-fifths of films made before 1930 have either disappeared or are incomplete, and at 8 p.m.(ET) Sunday, TCM in the U.S. is showing some of those incomplete snippets in a special called "Fragments." Some of the stars to be shown include a few Ginger probably liked in her youth, such as Clara Bow (her lone film footage in color!) and Douglas Fairbanks Sr. Looks like something most classic Hollywood buffs would be interested in seeing.

    Incidentally, while doing some Carole Lombard research the other day, I discovered that in 1939, RKO briefly wanted Carole and Ginger to co-star in "Vigil In The Night." I'm guessing it never happened because the role Ginger would have played was sort of a supporting role, and by '39 she had gained enough popularity and star power to warrant her own A-level vehicles. It's unfortunate they never made a film together, though. And both loved to pull pranks.

    My entry on "Vigil," which concerns another actress considered for the part, can be found at http://community.livejournal.com/carole_and_co/397867.html
     
  2. OK, you got me. :)

    But I'm sure it WILL be found someday!
     
  3. I want Fred and Ginger outtakes! You'd think they would be somewhere...

    My April Gingertennial pic is up!
     
  4. That's not nice!! - but you got me. : )
     
  5. no way Ron - you know Fred the perfectionist probably had those destroyed!
     
  6. VP: I have heard a few folks say they have heard of someone who heard...blah blah blah... that they had a viewing of it from original print... but was in horrendous condition... would LOVE to see FOX clean a copy up and distribute it... I feel they SHOULD have a copy, although it is pretty disheartening to hear of so many pre-30's movies gone... thanks for the info about the 'fragments' deal on TCM... should be quite interesting... AND, sad that Ginger and Carole couldn't get going on a film together...would have been great to see! Thanks again for all the AWESOME info, VP!!!

    Betsy: Well, here's hoping someone finds a set of reels in a trunk somewhere and gets them to the proper restoration gurus... Hope you are well, Betsy! - BTW - if ya don't mid me asking, how is the 'A-train' going for you? I am currently just trying the 'low-fat' deal, with mixed results... will probably get on Atkins by summer...it is a superior method!!!

    Ron: GandF 'bloopers'... would be pretty awesome - there's probably some of those 'almost, not quite' shoots of their routines... AND great pic of Ginger! That one is DEFINITELY from 'Shall We Dance', since that freaky finned chrome desk-counter thingie she is leaning on is used in the scene where she signs up for the mail plane off of the ship...

    AC: Sorry - yeah, it was a pretty cruel one - again, if I had read that, then found it was bogus, would have been just a bit hacked off... but thanks for not breaking out the skeet rifle on me! :-]

    SG: yep - I concur... Fred probably had it in his contract that he either gets all the stuff that didn't make it into the film, or just to have it scrapped... but ya never know... although if it was out there, would probably be in VERY bad shape for its age and lack of 'care'...

    Well, hope everyone is alright out there, and made it thru AFD without further incident!!!

    KIG!
    VKMfanHuey
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  7. Keep your fingers crossed. One of Lombard's films, "I Take This Woman" (1931, co-starring Gary Cooper) was presumed lost for decades, but a 16mm copy of it was found in the Maine home of author Mary Roberts Rinehart, whose book "Lost Ecstasy" was adapted for the movie. It has since been shown in theaters such as Film Forum and the Myrna Loy Center in Helena, Mont. (also Cooper's hometown, although curiously he and Myrna never made a movie together), but comparatively few have seen it and it hasn't been issued on DVD.

    I believe Lubitsch's wonderful "The Smiling Lieutenant" (jazz up your lingerie!) was also deemed lost until it was found in Czechoslovakia some years back. Since then, it's been regularly seen on TCM and has been issued as part of a collection of 1929-32 Lubitsch musical films.

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Archive Post #1 - from Gingerology, originally posted October 10, 2009

OK...went over to TCM a few minutes ago...

...well, the website, not the 'brick-and-mortar' building... sifted down to 'Hat Check Girl', and left a review...which, of course, was REALLY a 'plea' to TCM, hoping they will show it, IF they have it... not sure if there will be a response or anything, but worth a shot, right?
...Not that clear a picture from 'Stage Door', but definitely a Hat I would like to Check!!!
...Hey, if y'all want to throw your two cents in as well, here is the specific link to HCG... just go to 'post a review' about halfway down the right side of the page:




and, just above the place to place a 'review' (i.e., 'plea'), there is a spot to vote for this movie to be released on DVD...which REALLY gets the gears in the mind to grinding, since they can consider it for DVD, then... they must HAVE IT!!!!

GINGEROLOGISTS UNITE!!!

...Keep it Gingery...
...Ginger is a Rockstar...
VKMfan.............OUT.

9 comments:

  1. ...Not that clear a picture from 'Stage Door', but definitely a Hat I would like to Check!!!

    The hat .. or the girl under the hat? ;)

    Mm, Stage Door, I'm dying to see that movie. I must get the dvd soon.
     
  2. "The hat .. or the girl under the hat? ;)"
    I know the answer to that one.

    OH MARIA YOU NEED TO SEE STAGE DOOR! It's one of my favourite movies period!

    Lauren
     
  3. haha, I think we all know it ;)

    I'm wanna see it so much. The other day I saw a clip on youtube and, damn it! She was wonderful in it. I really hope to get it soon.
     
  4. I hate watching movies on YouTube, but if you are really desperate, it's on there. (Last I checked anyway.)

    Lauren
     
  5. Me too, lauren. That's why I want to wait a little and get the dvd to watch properly.
     
  6. ...I think Lauren has me pegged... oh, well...guilty as charged!

    Stage Door is a great one... so much dialouge - you can watch it over and over and catch new stuff each time! Of course, it is well worth the price, just for the VKM - Kate matchup...
     
  7. I left a comment on TCM above yours!

    Lauren
     
  8. ...way to go, Lauren!!! :-)
    Now, if we could get a couple dozen more... Again, not sure if anyone at TCM really checks these out, but it's worth a shot!
     
  9. Aaahh Stage Door...one of my favorites - such a brilliant cast

    Ginger Rogers
    Katharine Hepburn
    Ann Miller
    Lucille Ball
    Eve Arden

    Who knew?

Sunday, April 21, 2013

First Post...

Hi, y'all!!!

...just an 'initial post' in order to field any comments you may have regarding this blog... look for future posts over time, which will also be noted on the Gingerology home site.

Until then... thanks for dropping by, and...

Keep It Gingery!!! (KIG)!!!

VKMfanHuey
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