Below, is the DVD movie cover...

Also, below is the link to a very splendid 2011 orchestral and singing version of "This Heart of Mine", which was broadcast on BBC Television very recently (2011). First the male soloist sings the lovely song and then later, the choir sings it too  - copying the presentation from the old 1945 film "Ziegfeld Follies".

All we are missing is the elegant dancing of Fred Astaire and his partner in this film Lucille Bremer.  In the movie cameo, Fred plays the role of a jewel thief - he goes immaculately dressed to a glittering party (ball) and observes all the guests arriving dripping in diamonds and jewellery!  Our thief soons spots the glamorous young lady (Miss Bremer) and seeks to dance with her.  Their dancing is very graceful and includes gliding movements on a moving part of the stage (which looks like they're dancing on ice).

The lady is captivated by Fred's dancing but as they say goodbye to leave the party, as he holds her close while dancing, he slips off the catch to her diamond bracelet and puts it into his pocket without her realising that she has been robbed (so he thinks!).

Having successfully stolen her diamond bracelet, he gets his hat from the butler and turns to leave the party place.  However, the lady taps him on the shoulder and calls him back - she then unclips her diamond necklace and hands it over to him!  The thief takes it but is perplexed. As he walks away, he starts to put the necklace in his pocket but then it he realises that the lady has "overlooked" his crime and loves him!  The lady joins him and after a kiss, they go off happy together.

Presumably, the thief will now be a reformed character and marry the lady?

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From the Web:

"....The next sequence, however, is pure Minnelli. Harry Warren and Arthur Freed's song, This Heart of Mine, is a ballroom-dance ballet, reminiscent of the Astaire-Rogers' "Let's Face the Music" and Dance from "Follow the Fleet". It tells in movement of a gentleman-thief (Astaire), who crashes a society ball and woos a bejeweled princess (Lucille Bremer). After their dance, his greed clashes with his love, and as they exit, he wins both the diamonds and the girl...."

Note that before the "thief" (Fred) starts singing, he offers the princess a cigarette.  You couldn't do that today! 

I believe that they've even censored the famous Beatles photo in Abbey Road in N.W.London on the zebra-crossing where one of the Beatles (Paul, second from the left) had a cigarette drooping from his hand!

(with cigarette!)

"Forget Me Never" was originally recorded for Elvis's post-army film "Wild In The Country" (Twentieth Century Fox 1961) co-starring Hope Lange and Tuesday Weld amongst others.  In order to keep up the dramatic content, a couple of songs were dropped in the final cut including this pretty song.  Elvis acted very well in this serious movie, but it made less money at the box office.

The song and still photos from the movie can be heard and seen in the slide show below:

Collector's CD below:

From the Web:

Wild in the Country is a 1961 film drama starring Elvis Presley in which he portrays a troubled young man from a dysfunctional family who pursues a literary career. The screenplay was written by playwright Clifford Odets.

Recording sessions took place on November 7 and 8, 1960, at Radio Recorders in Hollywood, California, under the supervision of producer Urban Thielmann. Five songs were recorded for the film, all ballads with "Lonely Man" and "Forget Me Never" left out of the film.

I am very pleased to see that this tribute topic for Lea has now received 71½ thousand viewings to date.

Thanks to all those who kindly look in from time to time to help keep alive the memory of lovely Lea De Mae, who left this world too soon.

Vic. 29 Jan 2012.

"There Will Never Be Another You" - the song was composed by Harry Warren and Mack Gordon for the musical film "Iceland".

It was recorded by Frank Sinatra for a special wartime government recording in late 1942 or early 1943. Here is a 1961 recording on Capitol Records.

There will be many other nights like this
And I'll be standing here with someone new
There will be other songs to sing

Another Fall, another Spring
But there will never be another you

There will be other lips that I may kiss
But they won't thrill me like yours used to do
Yes, I may dream a million dreams
But how can they come true
If there will never ever be another you

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"Laughter In The Rain" - the song composed by Neil Sedaka and Phil Cody and recorded by Neil Sedaka in 1975 as can be heard below. It reached No.1 in the charts in the USA.

Strolling along country roads with my baby
It starts to rain, it begins to pour
Without an umbrella we're soaked to the skin
I feel a shiver run up my spine
I feel the warmth of her hand in mine

Ooooh, I hear laughter in the rain
Walking hand in hand with the one I love
Ooooh, how I love the rainy days
And the happy way I feel inside

After a while we run under a tree
I turn to her and she kisses me
There with the beat of the rain on the leaves
Softly she breathes and I close my eyes
Sharing our love under stormy skies

Ooooh, I hear laughter in the rain
Walking hand in hand with the one I love
Ooooh, how I love the rainy days
And the happy way I feel inside

I feel the warmth of her hand in mine
Ooooh, I hear laughter in the rain
Walking hand in hand with the one I love
Ooooh, how I love the rainy days
And the happy way I feel inside

Ooooh, I hear laughter in the rain
Walking hand in hand with the one I love
Ooooh, how I love the rainy days
And the happy way I feel inside

From the Web:

Neil Sedaka (born March 13, 1939) is an American pop/rock singer, pianist, and composer. His career has spanned nearly 55 years, during which time he has sold millions of records as an artist and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collaborating mostly with lyricists Howard Greenfield and Phil Cody.

Neil Sedaka's autobiography is:  Laughter in the Rain: My Own Story. New York: Putnam 1982. ISBN 0-399-12744-5

Some of his most popular hit songs are:  "Oh! Carol", "Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen",  "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do", "Calendar Girl",  "That's When The Music Takes Me" and a later recording "Solitaire". Neil Sedaka is due to tour the UK again in October this year.

Below, the young Neil Sedaka...

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Thank you for the music!

The song "Night and Day" was composed by Cole Porter and originally introduced in the 1932 show "Gay Divorce" sung by Fred Astaire.  The song is said to be Cole Porter's most popular contribution to the Great American Songbook and has been recorded by dozens of artists.

Fred Astaire sang it again in the RKO 1934 film version of the show, renamed "The Gay Divorcee", and it became one of his signature pieces. The film was re-named after objections to the original title (gay = happy).

The song became very well-known after Frank Sinatra's 1956 recording on "Capitol" records - he made 3 versions of the song one earlier, another later.  In the later version the introductory words were also dramatically sung. These are:-

Like the beat, beat, beat of the tom tom
When the jungle shadows fall
Like the tick, tick, tock of the stately clock
As it stands against the wall.
Like the drip, drip, drip of the raindrops
When a jungle shower is through.
So a voice within me keeps repeating you, you, you.

and here it is - the great 1956 version of "Night and Day",

Sinatra sings!

Apart from "The Rolling Stones"!, there is a lovely version by songstress Jo Stafford at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-HJvrZQPYA&feature=fvwrel

Jo Elizabeth Stafford (November 12, 1917 - July 16, 2008^[1]) was an American singer of traditional pop music and jazz standards and occasional actress whose career ran from the late 1930s to the early 1960s. Stafford was greatly admired for the purity of her voice and was considered one of the most versatile vocalists of the era.^{[note 1]} .... Stafford's work in radio, television and music is recognized by three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.^[4] 

^{(from WIKI)}

It's 9 years since Chris Danneffel's photo assignment in Prague in September 2003 when Chris met Lea.  The day they met Lea had earlier been making an interview recording on film for inclusion of the "Private Life of Lea De Mae" Double DVD Set.

Amongst Chris's photos taken in Prague was one of Lea in the local Park, a wooded area.  Lea like the colours of the photo and Donati in China included part of it in the first ever "poster" he made for the forums.  You may remember that good-natured Lea did not ask for any modelling fee, which would be expected for a well-known movie performer.

I have created below a new but quite simple wallpaper with Lea pictured against an Autumn background of trees with leaves of red and gold from another location, as per the song "Autumn Leaves".  Lea looks stunning!  Those lovely eyes!

The words of the song are:

The falling leaves drift by the window
The autumn leaves of red and gold
I see your lips, the summer kisses
The sunburned hands, I used to hold

Since you went away, the days grow long
And soon I'll hear old winter's song.
But I miss you most of all my darling,
When autumn leaves start to fall.

It was originally composed in 1945 in the French language as "Les Feuilles Mortes" and in 1947, English lyrics were written by USA songwriter, Johnny Mercer.  The original French composers were Joseph Kosma and Jacques Prévert.

Frank Sinatra's 1945 version of the song (also recorded by Jo Stafford and Nat King Cole amongst others) can be heard at either of the following locations:

I know from Bernd that some of the UK links we have are not available in Germany, but I hope that one of the above links for Youtube works.