The adroit comedienne Charlotte Greenwood practically built a career on double-jointed hips. Even when well into middle age, she could perform complete leg-splits as well as kick higher than the top of her own head - sideways!. There was something really infectious when she did this because it clearly gave her such joy and she wanted you to feel it too. Her eccentric humor was all the more incongruous on account of her aura of elegance in that fastidiously styled coiffure and those glamorous, magnificently tailored gowns she wore.
This stratospheric head shot is part of the montage at the end of THE GANG'S ALL HERE, where the cast, in what looks like the aftermath of multiple beheadings, come out to sing yet another chorus of "A Stairway to the Stars." Even as they wind up as a large platter of solarized distended heads, their good spirits makes THE GANG'S ALL HERE the cheeriest experience on film, no matter how often you've seen it.
She really makes that movie. The leads are pretty dull, but Carmen and Charlotte more than make up for it. And "Paducah" of course. ; )
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