Vera-Ellen has a lovely face, dances beautifully, and delivers snappy dialogue well--but I found her body disgustingly thin both in full dress and costume. Yuk.
I wasn't shocked at all to read in her IMDB bio that she struggled with anorexia--I knew it as soon as I saw her. Poor thing.
I did notice for the first time last night that she has more weight on her when she was dancing with Kaye and the other man in the dance number where she was wearing hot pink. Her thighs are much bigger. But later when she dances in the skimpy outfit (looks greenish yellow with matching shoes) with the same guy her thighs are noticeably thinner. The panty part of her outfit is even baggy.
"two things are infinite:the universe & human stupidity & I'm not sure about the universe"
This has been said before. She looked great and had the stamina to do all those dance numbers. I liked all four lead actors but she was a very big part of this film.
According to the biography here on IMDB, Vera-Ellen *WAS* anorexic, before the term was even coined, as early as the 1950s, and had used dancing to overcome ill health at least twice in her tragic life
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I've read the theory that it sin't Vera-Ellen in the Choreography number, and have tended to discount it because it seemed, like many such theories I seee on IMDB, to ignore Occam's Razor. But I watched the movie last night, and I'm now wondering if there isn't some truth to it.
I had been noticing how unattractively skinny Vera-Ellen's legs appeared in the "Mandy" number. Then, in the Choreography number, a female dancer is lowered into the midst of Kaye and his Martha Graham type dancers, who freeeze in position, watching in awe as the leggy newcomer does a series of extremely rapid-fire taps in the style of Ann Miller. I had always assumed the legs were supposed to be Judy's (Vera-Ellen's), but this time I noticed how much more shapely and solid-looking these "mystery legs" were. Certainly not like the broomsticks in heels that we saw in "Mandy."
But then when we see a full view of the dancer--a long view--the supposed Judy didn't even look facially like Vera-Ellen. A ballpark resemblance but this dancer seemed to have a rounder, more chipmunk-cheeked face. When she dances closer her face isn't fully visible, and just before we see Vera Ellen's face, there appears to be a cut of some kind, and then the dancer's face comes fully into view, and it's Vera-Ellen. I'm not saying this is what happened, but it suggested to me that V-E couldn't do those machine-gun-like taps that the number called for, and a stand-in was put in her place and that V-E was stuck in right before the cut.
I think I also saw another pair of legs near the grassy knoll. No, seriously . . .
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Maybe V. E.'s weight fluctuated and by the time she did "Choreography" her legs and face had filled out a little. Or, since dancer Barrie Chase was in the movie ("Charmed, I'm sure") maybe it was her doing the machine-gun-like taps and most of the number in the long shots.
shareIt's definitely Vera Ellen all the way through Choreography.
I saw some stills of her from a few years before White Christmas and she had more meat on her bones, her face was filled out more, she looked so much more healthy than she does in White Christmas.
The poor thing was most likely already suffering with anorexia by the time White Christmas was made.
I think that differences in her appearance from within this film, from one scene to another, are more a function of her wardrobe. To my eye, she looks uniformly the same, in terms of body mass. Some of the outfits seem to show it more than others.
Sounds reasonable. That apparent cut just before you see her up close still makes me suspicious, however.
shareYes, I agree with jackboot, it's the costume. In "Choreography" the little skirt and straighter cut panties cover up the tops of her thighs, but in "Mandy" the cut of costume reveals part of her hips and all of her inner thighs and we get to see just how very thin she is. It IS disturbing, but wow, what a dancer! The choreographer really knew how to showcase her talent, too. In one number, I forget which, I noticed her stumble a bit. I was watching for something like that after seeing "Baryshnikov: Live at Wolf Trap." His anorexic and coke addicted partner Gelsey Kirkland had a lot of trouble balancing, and at the end of the tape she warns against sacrificing health for thinness.
shareWho is posting this nonsense. It IS Vera-Ellen all the way through, but it's not her singing voice. She was NOT a singer and her voice was dubbed by an obviously VERY good singer in her singing numbers.
Vera-Ellen was one of the best dancers in Hollywood and it shows in this film more than in any other. The "Mandy" number is perhaps the most exciting & sensational dance numbers ever filmed.
The first time I saw "White Christmas" as a child, I thought that Vera-Ellen was my Barbie doll come to life! There used to be an urban legend that she was the inspiration for Barbie, but it wasn't true - though it almost coulda been!!
share*EXACTLY*, cagordon22--Vera-Ellen looks just like a Barbie doll in WC, not a fleshed-out, healthy woman. She needs a sandwich or two; no question.
As a child i never noticed how thin she was as weight and appearance wasn't so much of an issue at the time, just the entertainment value. Just goes to show how image obsessed Hollywood has made the world which is a real shame.
I have to add though i am watching White Christmas on TV right now (BBC2 for UK ppl) and whilst she has a seemingly unusually small waist she is still curvy. Back then the hourglass shape was womanly and sexy. 33-36 bust 22-25 waist and 34-36 hips seemed to be pretty average which is very curvy compared to the straight up and down boy shape of women today.
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I didn't think it was Vera Ellen, either, so I did a little searching and found that there is a Vivian Mason listed in the IMDB credits as "Rehearsal Blonde," previously uncredited: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0556995/
She was Stella Jackson in the Phoney Heiress episode of The Cisco Kid. At 23:23 she looks like she could be the dancer in White Christmas: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xbd6ox_the-cisco-kid-phoney-heiress_s hortfilms
Also, she played a golddigger in the A Missed Fortune episode of The Three Stooges. At 6:30 and again at 7:58: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1gPjhRkz3k
And, most convincing to me, she plays Ella in another Stooges episode titled Shot in the Frontier. From the very beginning of this episode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRdq2ENwryI
To compare here's a link to the Choreography number in question: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oK0muBlAB0&feature=results_main&am p;am p;playnext=1&list=PL318545B4079598D7
She could pass for the woman in that number, but I'm still not sure. It's strange that they'd give her a wig for that number and at the same time she's not as thin in her face and legs as all of the other numbers. And there does seem to be a very brief cut when they show the close-up of her face. I could not get the video to pause on it no matter how many times I tried. It's that brief.
What other number has someone who might be listed on IMDB as "Rehearsal Blonde?"
ETA: I think I've found the answer. The first rehearsal scene has a blonde woman practicing next to Vera Ellen. I guess it is VE in the Choreography scene, but it seems like it must have been filmed long before or after the rest. Who could find/answer that question?
- Sally
The perfect human being is uninteresting. - Joseph Campbell
Watching this for the first time, I was shocked by the scene when they're first on the train... she's wearing a belt around her waist that is cinched so small it looks like you could put your hands on her waist and nearly touch fingers on both sides. :o
shareAs a very young child, I just assumed that RC was fat. It wasn't until I grew up a little that I realized VE was just so skinny.
shareThere's a quote I read somewhere that one or two of RC's dresses were lost after the movie, and they recreated them from frame-by-frame examination...and her measurements from the designer's notebook: 36C or D (I forgot which), 27, 38.
I'll take that...
Yes, even by todays standards when women are expected to be rail thin, it is really painful to watch her in this movie. She was far more attractive and healthy looking in "On The Town" and the films she made for Goldwyn.
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Get me a bromide - and put some gin in it!
Her legs and thighs were definitely skinny. Just like two sticks!
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