By some bizarre coincidence, today we celebrate not one but two birthdays - and the connection between them is quite joyful.
For the late Mr Donald O'Connor (before his greater fame courtesy of Singin' in the Rain) and the late Miss Peggy Ryan - born on this date in 1925 and 1924 respectively - together formed a formidable dance partnership in the 1940s, in the kind of "hep cat" teen movies that occupied the slot between Judy Garland/Mickey Rooney and the Frankie Lymon/Jayne Mansfield/Russ Tamblyn vehicles of the 1950s.
With titles like Get Hep to Love, What's Cookin'?, It Comes Up Love and Mister Big, this type of film was deliberately geared towards youngsters, and none of them was particularly "plot-heavy", working as they did as a fillip to the more mature and glossy (but similar) Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers/Eleanor Powell/Rita Hayworth dance extravaganzas.
But fun nonetheless!
Happy Sunday!
Peggy Ryan
Donald O'Connor
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