Artists who never made it to the Met. but- would today!

[@echoecho3108]

This was such fun! Thanx muchly for sharing! And thanx so very much for including The Ritz Brothers, and their full routine. RIP, darling Harry, Jimmy, and Al, and thanx so very very much, gentle men, for the magic, music, and memories.

[@ransomcoates546]

Bravo! I’ve often thought the same of singers in my amateur choral group.

[@mpdirigent]

Fanny Brice's turn as the diva an absolute gas, particularly when the piccolo steps on "her" entrance! Great stuff!

[@liberte5847]

The best ever historical Hollywood rendering historical experience rendez-vous ! Merci beaucoup for this incrediblle craziest EVER VERSION. From Paris France. Always WEAR YOUR FACEMASK IN ANY SITUATION UNTIL NEW ORDER. Merci beaucoup from Paris France

[@oak4901]

singers with such beautiful voices..they have to lampoon their art to be popular with the masses.,...Ritz bros always great...

[@tomfroekjaer]

Terrific !!!!

[@65attila]

Love it - Thanks-John

[@Zva26]

If anyone cares to take the time to listen to Kate Smith sing "Love is a Many Splendored Thing" on KZbin (in 1970), they'd stop laughing pretty damn fast. The woman had a voice of pure liquid gold.

[@lalagonegaga]

We should be so lucky to have singers of Kate Smith's calibre.

[@HFritzson]

THE RITZ BROTHERS ARE GODS.

[@RialtoTwo]

W.C. was certainly impressed!

[@randysills4418]

RialtoTwo He despised classical singers!

[@doGreatartistsgrowontrees]

Brilliant! This adds a welcome light spin to the sadness and garbage that pass for triumphs at the Metropolitan Opera today.

[@Joeleole]

Thank you so much for posting this! I keep coming back to it it's HILARIOUS!!!

[@pax41]

The first one was funny as hell. Thanks for the good laugh to start my day.

[@cantorandopera]

A good laugh on a very cold Sunday afternoon! First girl actually has a pretty voice. Thanks Doug for sending this my way. And thanks to StuartLou for finding these treasures.

[@xxsaruman82xx87]

The first girl has a high larynx. Sounds like Dessay.

[@hebneh]

Normally I can't stand comedy routines that go on too long, but W.C. Fields enduring the endless song - and repeatedly trying to get up and leave - made me laugh. Even the 3rd repetition of "Gathering up the shells from the shore, Willie!"

[@tamerlano]

This is such a jem...whenever I'm feeling blah I watch these. So silly and so funny.

[@ternitamas]

I love them!

[@snoopenny]

I checked all the comments and not one mentioned the second opera section was performed by no other than the great Fanny Brice!

[@rupepill]

Singers not easily forgotten.

[@MrNinamarie]

The Ritz Brothers dance routine at the end is priceless.

[@hebneh]

I've never seen Kate Smith cutting loose in a crazed dance routine that way. In later years she acted considerably more genteel and dignified.

[@barryobrien7935]

Yes, always very matronly. I remember she used to have a daytime show LIVE from NYC which aired at noon in Los Angeles so I could watch on my lunch break from junior high. This was 1951 or 1952 and called Matinee in New York I believe. It was really something to get Live shows from East as the network link was only completed in 1951.

[@jasonhurd4379]

First lady is better than Olga Peretyatko!

[@evgeny9965]

Was that first one Damrau.

[@ShawDAMAN]

Very funny video, well done, thanks. :-)

[@dmmillerjr]

The first actress is Carmen d'Antonio (dubbed by Lois Hodnott) in a comedy bit from "Broadway Melody of 1940".

[@SilverSingingMethod]

The first one reminds me of Dessay! ROFL!

[@howardjk42]

StuartLou, Thanks so much for this treat. Two questions:1. Who is the "coloratura" in the first segment? Just love the skates at the end! 2. Who is the tenor/bandleader in the 3 Stooges finale? Great stuff...

[@psmithii]

The bandleader is Tony Martin (with the Ritz Brothers, NOT the 3 Stooges) in a clip from the 1938 film "Kentucky Moonshine".

[@minacciosa]

I'm laughing so hard I can't write. This is spot on. I'll have to share this with everyone. What's amazing is the incredible control all these singers exercise to realize the comic effects. It is truly laughable that their parody of singers of the period has become something of a standard performing style today.

[@JessicaSarapoff]

They would be stars, "singing" all around the world!!!!

[@somersetuk525]

Congrats..happy days and what talent...Doug run for Pres:

[@althazarr]

Thanks for the preview of part of this year's Ameican Idol top ten! 8-)

[@operabilia]

Oh yes, StuartLou, they would certainly become the real stars of the MET! Excellent! What a funny, entertaining treasure. Even Erna Sack would envy that 911-high soprano in Il Bacio!

[@eschetchayil4]

#3 is hilarious! Poor Willie...I feel sorry for his ears.

[@caninbar]

HILARIOUS!!!!!

[@MrRichiekaye]

The singer in the WC Fields clip is Mary Barrett, I think.

[@rupepill]

It is hard to imagine Arditi's great colleague, Adelina Patti, leaving the stage using the means employed by the first singer in this video.

[@mikedinken8020]

Nora Cecil is serenading W.C. Fields. She had a great singing voice and began life in Shakespeare and the classics.

[@tg92277]

Which film is the excerpt at 1:40 taken from?

[@brithgob1620]

The Old Fashioned Way, a starring vehicle for WC Fields. The singer is Jan Duggan.

[@mmjhcb]

You've got to be good to be bad. Just look at Patricia Rutledge as Hyacinth -- fine singer making it sound dreadful.

[@stuartliff]

Fabulous! Unlike so many 'celebrities' today, all these artists have a thoroughly trained base on which to build their act. Is it just possible that No.1 could be Bea Lillie? She was the funniest female comedienne I ever saw and the diva lifting her skirt and roller-skating off, was one of her standard bonnes bouches. The lady certainly fits for size but the face does not seem quite long enough. Anyway - a million thanks for the 'wake up and face the day' laugh it provided. Vivian

[@spannerworks1]

Doug Britain's Got Talent may be - eat your heart out Simon Coward. Warmest regards Richard

[@thetuscanman]

The first one is really eerily reminiscent of Dessay

[@Bivolari]

There are so many talented and funny people in the world. Bless them all!

[@Stroheim333]

The Ritz Brothers 7:02. Here you see in which way they inspired Woody Allen (apparently not only the nervous sperm-sketch from Everything you want to know about sex...)

[@MrRichiekaye]

I've searched for the name of the first gal singer, but have come up empty. Where did the clip come from? Please, need to know...

[@pebrogan]

Carmen D' Antonio from the 1940 MGM musical, "Broadway Melody of 1940" starring Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell.

[@L1623VP]

The first singer is Kristen Chenoweth in her previous life.

[@psmithii]

IMDB credits this rendition (!) of "Il Bacio" to the vaudevillian Charlotte Arren. (Her husband Johnny Broderick is the pianist.) From "Broadway Melody of 1940".

[@ShawDAMAN]

MrCafiero: It does, rather!! lol- Very similar voice quality in spots!

[@davidcarlson2152]

Character actors are often more talented than headliners, if perhaps, less attractive.

[@FICKJINKS]

The first one was brilliant...Who was she

[@L1623VP]

Kristen Chenoweth in her previous life.

[@321abcable]

Fanny Brice actually could sing beautifully.

[@psmithii]

Fannie Brice's "A Heart That's Free" at 4:47 is a clip from her 1930 film "Be Yourself!"

[@willworkforwages]

Gelb would hire them immediately - an improvement to the current roster.

[@Rudziewicz]

1. Natalie Dessay

[@321abcable]

To answer question -first song is Il Bacio by Luigi Arditi.

[@TheMarcello68]

hilarious,very special video.5*

[@valeriecampbell9581]

Does anyone know the name of the lady doing the opera skit and the name of the song she's singing

[@rogerpropes7129]

If you mean the first one it's not opera, it's Il Bacio, The Kiss, by Arditi.

[@Sotzume]

LOL...True, true, true...!!!! But don't be too hard on Kate Smith....she had a lovely popular music voice...her version of "There Goes That Song Again" is quite lovely. And as for Natalie Dessay.....totally agree...YUCK.

[@KARINADIVA]

If only Montserrat Caballe could dance as well as No 2....

[@Shabannie]

Roller skates to fun. -------Ellen

[@GeorgeWTush]

@StuartLou It's Carmen D'Antonio.

[@thinthin54]

Carmen D' Antonio

[@RobinPratt]

#1 is a clip from the Astaire/Rogers "Barclay's of Broadway"

[@elizabethkizzar6375]

The first "singer" was that Irene Dunn pre Granny Clampet?

[@jasonhurd4379]

Irene Dunne was a beautiful and witty woman. Irene RYAN was Granny.

[@Bigband78]

Was that first lady Genia106?

[@OperaBohemian]

@StuartLou Whoever said Zinka Milanov was joking. lol

[@tomi1927]

could the 1st one be Bea Lillie????

[@pebrogan]

Nope - it's Carmen D' Antonio in a scene from MGM's 1940 film, "Broadway Melody of 1940" starring Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell.

[@francaver]

troppo esilarantissimo! oh boy :-)

[@thinthin54]

Is that Kate Smith singing Dinah or just a look alike?

[@unclelouie3828]

Yes. That's Kate.

[@emma41093]

@MrCafiero soooo true. I take it this is a dig at the met's standards these days lol

[@Stroheim333]

America's Got Talent 1942?

[@operassassinOperaAssassin]

1 person (P.Gelb) doesn't like this video.

[@vittoriostoraro]

: )

[@bcom11]

omg YES. natalie dessay=SCREAMER! ew

[@CurzonRoad]

:-D

[@Bivolari]

The first performer is the immortal Bea Lillie!

[@pebrogan]

Actually it's Carmen D' Antonio in a scene from MGM's 1940 hit, "Broadway Melody of 1940" starring Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell.

[@Bivolari]

So, who is it??

[@Bivolari]

@StuartLou #1 is BEA LILLIE

[@Bivolari]

I know. It's Placido Domingo. Doesn't he do anything...oops. I meant everything.