Metro's Two For Price Of One
 |
| Unlike The Better-Known Hilton Sisters, This Dishy Duo Was Not Conjoined |
The Wilde Twins Parent Trapping In Twice Blessed (1945)
posted by John McElwee at 11:00 AM
Friday, July 25, 2014
The Wilde Twins Parent Trapping In Twice Blessed (1945)
3 Comments:
Lee and Lyn were also part of a singing trio: Lee, Lyn, and Lou (Lou Sidwell, who left the act to get married).
In the early forties they worked in Hollywood short subjects:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYbyrWahrbA
and in Soundies:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZRyPaZrw2c
Thanks, Scott. I really like the Wilde twins, and wish they'd done more starring features.
Donald Benson has some ideas about Disney and MGM looking out for each other:
Conspiracy theorist at work:
Conceivably MGM itself had borrowed the story from an even earlier source (perhaps the same one the novelist used?), and chose to settle quietly. That could disincline them from publicly pressing the point with Disney, for fear a visible financial transaction would void the settlement. That could play into any of the following scenarios:
-- In the 50s Uncle Walt announced "Rainbow Road to Oz" on his TV show and had the Mouseketeers do several numbers. While he had the rights to most of the Oz books, MGM certainly could have quietly pressured him to protect the ongoing profitability of their own Oz epic (and possible remake/sequels?). "Rainbow Road" was abandoned. A few years later, MGM thoughtfully looks the other way when Disney remakes a minor 45 release. In fact, one might wonder if MGM even made their own movie a bit less available to TV as part of a gentlemanly agreement.
-- Alternatively, maybe letting "Parent Trap" slide was further payback to Disney for lending Josh Meador to animate the monster in "Forbidden Planet." The fact that they went to Disney and gave Meador AND Disney onscreen credit suggests they were in trouble; otherwise they would have stuck with in-house animation and effects talent.
-- Maybe it was Disney who had to pay back after MGM came and pointed out the resemblance; whether Disney knew "Twice Blessed" existed is a moot point. I don't know of any big 1960s favors to MGM; if it happened it may have been something like the unrelated bargain sale of a Disney-held literary property, or Disney backing away from a different project that seemed to step on MGM's toes.
Influenced by Cartoon Research's article about "Hoppity Goes to Town", which suggests the film wasn't a victim of timing (Pearl Harbor) but of Paramount quietly dumping it.
Post a Comment
<< Home