Delightful to hold

Our beautiful Ipomoea multifida

Having had a bit of a long lie-in, I awake to find glorious sunshine bathing us again, and the gardens here at Dolores Delargo Towers are saying "thank you".

As I get my arse in gear to actually get out there, however, let us raise a glass in honour of the 98th birthday today [yes! She is still with us] of the lovely Marge Champion, who, with her former husband Gower [they divorced in 1973; he died in 1980], revitalised the world of dancing in the Technicolor age in such films as Show Boat, Bye Bye Birdie and Hello Dolly, and this one...

Lovely to Look At, indeed!

Marge & Gower Champion in Lovely To Look At (1952)

Facts:

• Miss Champion was the model for Walt Disney’s original Snow White.
• Lovely to Look At is a remake of the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movie Roberta; Marge and Gower were originally asked to do a series of colour remakes of Fred and Ginger's classics, but they turned down the proposal.
• Among many others who got their first break in Marge and Gower's sumptuously choreographed shows was none other than Miss Carol Channing, who Marge "discovered" in 1940.
• In 2009, at age 90, Marge was still dancing - as featured in a television documentary on her friendship with dance partner Donald Saddler [watch it here].

Marjorie Celeste "Marge" Champion (born Marjorie Belcher, 2nd September 1919)