Search - Mary Martin, Ethel Merman :: The Ford 50th Anniversary Show

The audio accompaniment to the DVD of a historic event, Mary Martin and Ethel Merman's appearance on The Ford 50th Anniversary Show on June 15, 1953, united two of the 20th century's greatest musical stars, both of whom are underrepresented on film. Merman stars things off with "Alexander's Ragtime Band" and "Mademoiselle from Armentières" (best known for the line "Hinky dinky parlez-vous"). The pantomime and lip-synch sketches are skipped, for good reason, leading to the pièce de resistance: the closing 13-minute medley with the stars singing together. They begin with solo renditions of two signature numbers ("There's No Business Like Show Business" and "A Wonderful Guy") before trading off snippets of older songs such as "By the Light of the Silvery Moon" and "Wait 'Til the Sun Shines, Nellie." More intriguing is their series of "I" songs, which leads to more signature songs ("I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair" and "I Get a Kick Out of You." From there, the medley closes in a rush, with the stars singing in counterpoint then together on a reprise of "There's No Business Like Show Business." The CD is a mere 17 minutes, but then the DVD is only 27 minutes itself. Still, the DVD should be the primary choice due to the rare opportunity to see two great stars sharing the stage. --David Horiuchi