Live on all the networks at the same time! Merman and Martin had a ball putting this together. They were never rivals, though people tried their best to make it so. Two totally different personalities and talents. No competition.
These two ladies were legends! I find that when they sing together, it's quite harmonious and pleasant. One's an alto and the other a "belting" soprano. These two were stars in their day. I would like to say that I definitely think that Ethel should've gotten and deserved a Kennedy Honors - it was her that brought a lot of musicals into popularity and basically contributed almost all her life to musical theater.
This is real entertainment, no controversial things in it like we see on tv now. People need to take a lesson from the people like these. Five Stars*****
Stylistically, I agree. But my mother saw Merman live in the 1930's or '40's, reminding me that this was in the days before amplification. "Man, she was able to reach the last row, with her voice!"
I can't believe that I was a child of ten or eleven, and saw this on tv. It was a bit of history-and I was so excited to see it again! Thank you for posting.
Thank you for posting this video. I've wanted to find it for years. I remember seeing this on live TV when I was 10 yrs old. It impressed me than and still does. Mary did her best to match Ethel's power and comes off well, but Ethel was a force of nature. She opens her mouth and sings and it just fills the entire theater. I loved Mary Martin , she was extremely talented and had a beautiful voice. Ethel's voice, on the other hand, couldn't be called beautiful, but it was thrilling and I still love to hear it. The only thing I can compare her voice with is a huge bagpipe band. When I hear one in person it gives me thrilling chills. The tone of a single bagpipe is similar to her voice, but it takes a massed marching band of bagpipes to really have the same effect as Ethel's voice did. She never needed a mike, unlike most of today's singers, her voice carried over the orchestra and chorus with nothing obstructing her face. That unique voice, unaided by mikes or sound systems, was why people paid to see and hear her.
@@virghammer1 I just watched it again. I had been noticing Ethel's eyes lately on other videos and realized she has huge Bette Davis eyes. I'm sure that made a big impression on stage live. When she uses them she steals the show from Mary and that's hard to do. BTW I recommend you watch the video from 1980 with Mary Martin and Larry Hagman at the Royal Variety Performance. It's at the top of the list on the right on this page. They were great together and I didn't know Larry could sing so well. I should have expected that though, look who his mother is.
@SFHndymn Merman used to sing in movie theatres, before she made it to Broadway. Back then, they had a piano player to entertain in between movies (double features, another thing of the past), and Merman used to sing to keep the crowd in place. My mother remembered seeing her more than once, back in Brooklyn, 'way back when.
I love this duet! Believe me or not, but 6 months ago I didn't know any of these 2 legends. And now I've turned into a total Merman fan! That's the great thing about youtube. At 0:23-0:28 Merman looks a bit scary though!!
My larger point is, as with my political points, it is possible to appreciate the talents of and love both Mary Martin AND Ethel Merman, that one doesn't necessarily have to choose one or the other. And just think how much would have been missed if either had not graced "The Great White Way" (a pseudonym for Broadway) with their legendary performances.
This is Mary and Ethel's legendary quarter-hour duet from "THE FORD 50th ANNIVERSARY SHOW", simulcast on NBC AND CBS, and originally telecast live on June 15, 1953.
Ah two greats! No more like these two. Ever. Mary Martin was -- and remains -- one of my very few idols. A magnificent talent and a very lovely lady, too. I miss her every day.
Thanks for the post. I was too young to have seen the show, but it congers memories from a little later of my parents, and aunts & uncles enjoying the two ladies
No one has a sense of humor today is the problem. These two were naturals, God given gifts they used to bring joy to all of us. Today, people are selected based on looks not talent.
To get back on-topic, and for the record, I agree with you Mary Martin was a wonderful entertainer, highly regarded, along with Ethel Merman, as the queens of the Broadway stage in its peak period. Julie Andrews may be the definitive "Maria Von Trapp," from her film performance in the same role Martin originated on Breoadway. But it was Martin who inspired Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II to produce and write the show in the first place.
You forgot to mention, 'vaimusic', that "The Ford 50th Anniversary Show", one of the most influential specials on network TV, was simulcast on two networks- CBS and NBC.
@@stanmarcusgtv Your take is still BS, and my initial response was rendered out of sheer stupefaction, but I have time now to state why you are way off base.To LOL at me, and then call Mary Martin a "non entity" is beyond the pale. First, Mary Martin had AT LEAST three shows which were NOT YET WRITTEN offered to her. The subsequent writing would have had to have been done knowing she was to star. They were "South Pacific," "Peter Pan," and "The Sound of Music." There may very well be more, but those are certainly enough to burst your invalid little Merman bubble. There is no denying Mernan's force and presence. She was a Broadway legend, but Mary Martin was beyond that, singing in virtually every genre and impeccably. She had the voice, the technique, the interpretive ability to sing so many different types of songs, from Broadway, to Disney, to Big Band, to classical, to children's to comedy and all the proof is conveniently right here on YT. Merman could NEVER have done that and she didn't try. I bought her disco album as a joke. And it was. For example, they both sing, "I Get a Kick Out of You" on YT. Sorry, but no comparison. Mary Martin completely internalizes it and pulls the nuances out with her lovely voice. That's one example. In the end, they are each unique, so to paraphrase the Master: Render unto Merman the things that are Merman's and to Martin, the things that are hers.
Wow - real singers, singing live and without mics, each with a thoroughly unique and distinctive voice, not resorting to profanity or mean spirited humor, and who didn't call in sick at least once a week. Take a good look and weep, because this Broadway is as dead as the dinosaurs...and it's a damn tragedy.
As with Merman in "Annie Get Your Gun" and "Gypsy" (and Andrews herself, in "My Fair Lady," for that matter), Martin also lost the leads in films of roles she originated on Broadway, to Andrews in "The Sound Of Music," and to Mitzi Gaynor in "South Pacific." And I'm glad you also mentioned "Peter Pan," as for a generation of us who grew up with that production on television, Martin's performance was as electrifying in its time as those annual telecasts of "The Wizard Of Oz."
@chattymagpie1210 Quite the performer? She was a major Broadway star, and she did movies, too. She starred in South Pacific, The Sound of Music, and many more.
@Jayee123 Ethel started before theaters all had audio amplification. Singers were trained to always keep their face turned straight forward so their voice would carry to all parts of the theater.
No, she just drowns everyone else out, and in a duet, that's not good. Mary Martin actually had the better voice, in range, quality, nuance, technique, but Merman was Merman, a sheer force of nature and they both were legends.
Mary Martin was a better singer with a lyric singing tecnique that she decided not to use in her singing performances although we can hear her lyric voice in The Great Victor Herbert with Allan Jones.She was a mezzo soprano.and very talented singer and actress.. Merman was a force of nature she didnt have a vocal tecnique but her voice was of a clairon and didnt need a M mike..Both were great and the biggest Broadway Stars of the Golden Era.But Mary received more Tony Awards three(South Pacific Peter Pan and The Sound of music when she bet Merman for Gypsy)and Ethel only one for Call Me Madam..
yeah she was and it is sad that singers today are sooo dependant on there mic. I saw some show and the mic blew and you cold barly hear her and i was in the 5th row!
You're right, they didn't. I was observing how tightly corseted they are; that was the 50's fashion under womens' formalwear. In fairness to Merman, it's the style of the gown she's wearing here that determines how her bustline looks. If satisfaction2000 were to look at some of her other clips, he'd see her bustline looks different: it's the style of the gown (& corset beneath) that determines how her silhouette looks.
"irishguyzz" already stated some of what I would have said, except that true philanthropy is a personal sacrifice given freely, not from involuntary taxation. Also, I recently saw actress Jane Kaczmarek (a liberal) state on a television show that, even though they are on opposite sides of the poltical spectrum, she and actress Patricia Heaton are good friends and Heaton is always the first to pull out her checkbook or show up for a charity event when Kaczmarek has asked her.
@davedave9103 Such a pity. The irony of it is that Mary Martin got a Kennedy Center Honor. Not saying that she didn't deserve it. She was quite the performer herself.
In 1964 the liberals of the G.O.P. were sometimes called "the Rockefeller wing" of the party, to differentiate between the Barry Goldwater conservatives. In fact, Michigan Governor George Romney (father of Mitt) was one such G.O.P. moderate, who walked out of the national convention in protest of Goldwater conservatives, many who opposed civil rights legislation.
Other notable Republican liberals and moderates have been Senator Margaret Chase Smith of Maine, Reprsentative Millicent Fenwick of New Jersey, Vice President (and longtime "Empire State" governor) Nelson Rockefeller of New York, Sen. George Smathers of Florida, Sen. Charles Percy of Illinois, Sen. Lowell Weicker of Connecticut, and Gov. Francis Sargent, Rep. Margaret Heckler, Sen. Edward Brooke, and Sen. Scott Brown, all of Massachusetts.
Honestly! There are always those who have to shit stir to make themselves relevant. The ONLY point here is the sheer talent, the legendary performance of these two legends.
Of course Exxon, which had been "Esso" (for "S.O."/ "Standard Oil"), was also originally Rockefeller money. Younger students of political history may need to be informed (and older students reminded) that Republicanism is not necessarily synonymous with conservatism and/or the "Christian Right," that at one time (and even today) there have been many moderate and even liberal Republicans.
For that matter, there have also been conservative-moderate (besides pro-segregagationist "Dixiecrats") Democrats, mostly based on defense and foreign policy matters, among them Sen. Henry "Scoop" Jackson of Washington, Sen.Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, Sens. Zell Miller & Sam Nunn of Georgia, and Rep. Harold Ford of Kentucky, an African-American and one-time leader of the so-called "Blue Dog Democrats."
Kaczmarek's larger point is liberals and conservatives shouldn't always immediately assume an adversarial stance, that is possible to work together and there are good and bad in both camps.
My experience is that pvt sector to pick up the slack that has occurred more and more over the past 12 years, others need to do jobs, (like me, as I am a social worker) that in most other places, other countries, is done by the govt. Here in my office, we have a slew of people all with MA's or MSW's and all realizing that we'll never make back what we shelled out for our degrees, but we do it, anyway. All Democrats. Just my own little black stats book. I'm sorry, tho, for mentioning it here.
I don't think it is fair to put Mary Martin down, as she had der hits, and sang more, shall I say, soothingly than Ehtel, who was great! Mary did 'South Pacific, Peter Pan, Sound of Music, plus so many more. Look it up on WIKI. She did not, as someone below said, end up in South America as a bore doing 'philosophical' work, and I think you meant, 'philanthropic', work, which, unless one is a part of the GOP, is usually applauded.
@jmuslvr Have you ever seen Call Me Madam..the movie? Merman is hammier than a pig farm and she could not act. And Hollywood did give Martin a spin and she was considered a total snore.
![What's My Line? - Ethel Merman; Allen Ludden [panel] (Oct 27, 1963)](/img/n.gif)
Live on all the networks at the same time! Merman and Martin had a ball putting this together. They were never rivals, though people tried their best to make it so. Two totally different personalities and talents. No competition.
Yup! Well said.
These two ladies were legends! I find that when they sing together, it's quite harmonious and pleasant. One's an alto and the other a "belting" soprano. These two were stars in their day.
I would like to say that I definitely think that Ethel should've gotten and deserved a Kennedy Honors - it was her that brought a lot of musicals into popularity and basically contributed almost all her life to musical theater.
Wow. Amazing talents
Ethel Merman is just amazing!!!! What a voice. A true American treasure.
Merman once said, "Mary Martin, she's okay...if you like talent."
Now THAT'S entertainment! Oh, for the good ole days..when singers could really SING!! Thanx for the clip.
once in a life time singers perfect
This is real entertainment, no controversial things in it like we see on tv now. People need to take a lesson from the people like these. Five Stars*****
Look at that smile martin gave no animosity just straight appreciation unlike these days
Wow! Merman really had a set of pipes on her!
Same here! This clip is revelatory! I live in San Francisco bay area and they both toured here at one point in their careers.
Loved them both!
Stylistically, I agree. But my mother saw Merman live in the 1930's or '40's, reminding me that this was in the days before amplification. "Man, she was able to reach the last row, with her voice!"
I can't believe that I was a child of ten or eleven, and saw this on tv. It was a bit of history-and I was so excited to see it again! Thank you for posting.
Great !!! Simply GREAT !!!!
Thank you for posting this video. I've wanted to find it for years. I remember seeing this on live TV when I was 10 yrs old. It impressed me than and still does. Mary did her best to match Ethel's power and comes off well, but Ethel was a force of nature. She opens her mouth and sings and it just fills the entire theater. I loved Mary Martin , she was extremely talented and had a beautiful voice. Ethel's voice, on the other hand, couldn't be called beautiful, but it was thrilling and I still love to hear it. The only thing I can compare her voice with is a huge bagpipe band. When I hear one in person it gives me thrilling chills. The tone of a single bagpipe is similar to her voice, but it takes a massed marching band of bagpipes to really have the same effect as Ethel's voice did. She never needed a mike, unlike most of today's singers, her voice carried over the orchestra and chorus with nothing obstructing her face. That unique voice, unaided by mikes or sound systems, was why people paid to see and hear her.
Well said, Marilynn!
@@virghammer1 I just watched it again. I had been noticing Ethel's eyes lately on other videos and realized she has huge Bette Davis eyes. I'm sure that made a big impression on stage live. When she uses them she steals the show from Mary and that's hard to do. BTW I recommend you watch the video from 1980 with Mary Martin and Larry Hagman at the Royal Variety Performance. It's at the top of the list on the right on this page. They were great together and I didn't know Larry could sing so well. I should have expected that though, look who his mother is.
@@virghammer1 Thank you!
@SFHndymn Merman used to sing in movie theatres, before she made it to Broadway. Back then, they had a piano player to entertain in between movies (double features, another thing of the past), and Merman used to sing to keep the crowd in place. My mother remembered seeing her more than once, back in Brooklyn, 'way back when.
That is just the best.
I love this duet!
Believe me or not, but 6 months ago I didn't know any of these 2 legends. And now I've turned into a total Merman fan!
That's the great thing about youtube.
At 0:23-0:28 Merman looks a bit scary though!!
My larger point is, as with my political points, it is possible to appreciate the talents of and love both Mary Martin AND Ethel Merman, that one doesn't necessarily have to choose one or the other. And just think how much would have been missed if either had not graced "The Great White Way" (a pseudonym for Broadway) with their legendary performances.
Right on!
I was very pleased to see these videos posted-I remember seeing this show live so many years ago. So thank you!
I saw it too, I was 10 at the time and it thrilled me.
This is Mary and Ethel's legendary quarter-hour duet from "THE FORD 50th ANNIVERSARY SHOW", simulcast on NBC AND CBS, and originally telecast live on June 15, 1953.
I love them both, but I love love love Mary Martin!!!!!!
Ah two greats! No more like these two. Ever. Mary Martin was -- and remains -- one of my very few idols. A magnificent talent and a very lovely lady, too. I miss her every day.
Thanks for the post. I was too young to have seen the show, but it congers memories from a little later of my parents, and aunts & uncles enjoying the two ladies
Notice how singing seemed to be more fun back then. It seems much more serious now.
No one has a sense of humor today is the problem. These two were naturals, God given gifts they used to bring joy to all of us. Today, people are selected based on looks not talent.
@@EagleArrow They also seem to be chosen for having scratchy sounding rough voices now. Baffles me that people prefer to listen to that
Ethel is so funny as a guest in The Lucy Show.
They compliment each other well.
Absolute perfection...as a young Girl I was mesmerized by Ethel!! check out their eyes tho..funny!! huge while singing like they are on something!
To get back on-topic, and for the record, I agree with you Mary Martin was a wonderful entertainer, highly regarded, along with Ethel Merman, as the queens of the Broadway stage in its peak period.
Julie Andrews may be the definitive "Maria Von Trapp," from her film performance in the same role Martin originated on Breoadway. But it was Martin who inspired Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II to produce and write the show in the first place.
GLORY!
You forgot to mention, 'vaimusic', that "The Ford 50th Anniversary Show", one of the most influential specials on network TV, was simulcast on two networks- CBS and NBC.
Well this does recall Sondheim's remark that Ethel steadily upstaged everybody, but honestly, with a voice like that, how could you not?
--Not to worry about Mary, she can hold her own just fine, thank you...
@@photo161 not really Merman can easily blow her off the stage
@@stanmarcusgtv No, Martin could more than hold her own. And she had a much higher quality voice.
@@mmjhcb LOL - Martin was a non-entity compared w/ Merman, who had the best compose specifically for her
@@stanmarcusgtv Your take is still BS, and my initial response was rendered out of sheer stupefaction, but I have time now to state why you are way off base.To LOL at me, and then call Mary Martin a "non entity" is beyond the pale. First, Mary Martin had AT LEAST three shows which were NOT YET WRITTEN offered to her. The subsequent writing would have had to have been done knowing she was to star. They were "South Pacific," "Peter Pan," and "The Sound of Music." There may very well be more, but those are certainly enough to burst your invalid little Merman bubble. There is no denying Mernan's force and presence. She was a Broadway legend, but Mary Martin was beyond that, singing in virtually every genre and impeccably. She had the voice, the technique, the interpretive ability to sing so many different types of songs, from Broadway, to Disney, to Big Band, to classical, to children's to comedy and all the proof is conveniently right here on YT. Merman could NEVER have done that and she didn't try. I bought her disco album as a joke. And it was. For example, they both sing, "I Get a Kick Out of You" on YT. Sorry, but no comparison. Mary Martin completely internalizes it and pulls the nuances out with her lovely voice. That's one example. In the end, they are each unique, so to paraphrase the Master: Render unto Merman the things that are Merman's and to Martin, the things that are hers.
breath-taking
My mother said this was one of Broadway's greatest all time rivalries. They were friends I believe but were ultra competetive with each other.
Wow - real singers, singing live and without mics, each with a thoroughly unique and distinctive voice, not resorting to profanity or mean spirited humor, and who didn't call in sick at least once a week. Take a good look and weep, because this Broadway is as dead as the dinosaurs...and it's a damn tragedy.
amazing!
As with Merman in "Annie Get Your Gun" and "Gypsy" (and Andrews herself, in "My Fair Lady," for that matter), Martin also lost the leads in films of roles she originated on Broadway, to Andrews in "The Sound Of Music," and to Mitzi Gaynor in "South Pacific."
And I'm glad you also mentioned "Peter Pan," as for a generation of us who grew up with that production on television, Martin's performance was as electrifying in its time as those annual telecasts of "The Wizard Of Oz."
Love
@chattymagpie1210 Quite the performer? She was a major Broadway star, and she did movies, too. She starred in South Pacific, The Sound of Music, and many more.
@Jayee123 Ethel started before theaters all had audio amplification. Singers were trained to always keep their face turned straight forward so their voice would carry to all parts of the theater.
@primogennaio It's right above you. It'sfrom a TV special from 1953 for Ford Motor company's 50th anniversary.
much as I love them both Ethel has the voice
No, she just drowns everyone else out, and in a duet, that's not good. Mary Martin actually had the better voice, in range, quality, nuance, technique, but Merman was Merman, a sheer force of nature and they both were legends.
Mary Martin was a better singer with a lyric singing tecnique that she decided not to use in her singing performances although we can hear her lyric voice in The Great Victor Herbert with Allan Jones.She was a mezzo soprano.and very talented singer and actress..
Merman was a force of nature she didnt have a vocal tecnique but her voice was of a clairon and didnt need a M
mike..Both were great and the biggest Broadway Stars of the Golden Era.But Mary received more Tony Awards three(South Pacific Peter Pan and The Sound of music when she bet Merman for Gypsy)and Ethel only one for Call Me Madam..
yeah she was and it is sad that singers today are sooo dependant on there mic. I saw some show and the mic blew and you cold barly hear her and i was in the 5th row!
Yeesh …
Amen. Ditto.
Ditto!!!
Does anyone know when or where this was taped?
@ch1aka2 Yes, by her first husband. She has a daughter, Heller, from her marriage to Richard Halliday.
The Indian Love Call.
You're right, they didn't. I was observing how tightly corseted they are; that was the 50's fashion under womens' formalwear. In fairness to Merman, it's the style of the gown she's wearing here that determines how her bustline looks. If satisfaction2000 were to look at some of her other clips, he'd see her bustline looks different: it's the style of the gown (& corset beneath) that determines how her silhouette looks.
@24kevinB So true
"irishguyzz" already stated some of what I would have said, except that true philanthropy is a personal sacrifice given freely, not from involuntary taxation.
Also, I recently saw actress Jane Kaczmarek (a liberal) state on a television show that, even though they are on opposite sides of the poltical spectrum, she and actress Patricia Heaton are good friends and Heaton is always the first to pull out her checkbook or show up for a charity event when Kaczmarek has asked her.
Isn't Mary Martin the mother of Larry Hagman (aka JR Ewing on Dallas)?
Yes.
LOL mary lookes pissed @1:13
Oooooooooh, you're a model! Well, smell you.
: )
LOL I thought the same thing. Rather scary!
@davedave9103 Such a pity. The irony of it is that Mary Martin got a Kennedy Center Honor. Not saying that she didn't deserve it. She was quite the performer herself.
@Soloman1001 You can say that again.
Like looking at the great ruins of some ancient highly superior civilization.
In 1964 the liberals of the G.O.P. were sometimes called "the Rockefeller wing" of the party, to differentiate between the Barry Goldwater conservatives. In fact, Michigan Governor George Romney (father of Mitt) was one such G.O.P. moderate, who walked out of the national convention in protest of Goldwater conservatives, many who opposed civil rights legislation.
@kylemcgrath14 I Got Rhythm, by Cole Porter.
I Got Rhythm was written by George and Ira Gershwin, not Cole Porter.
Other notable Republican liberals and moderates have been Senator Margaret Chase Smith of Maine, Reprsentative Millicent Fenwick of New Jersey, Vice President (and longtime "Empire State" governor) Nelson Rockefeller of New York, Sen. George Smathers of Florida, Sen. Charles Percy of Illinois, Sen. Lowell Weicker of Connecticut, and Gov. Francis Sargent, Rep. Margaret Heckler, Sen. Edward Brooke, and Sen. Scott Brown, all of Massachusetts.
0:15
I read somewhere that they were lovers in real life...don't know if it's true or not but there were certainly rumors about Martin.
Ethel looks like the type that'll say 'I'll sing with you all day but I ain't playin' that shit!!!'
Not Mary Martin. She had a longtime affair with Jacqueline Suzanne.
Honestly! There are always those who have to shit stir to make themselves relevant. The ONLY point here is the sheer talent, the legendary performance of these two legends.
Of course Exxon, which had been "Esso" (for "S.O."/ "Standard Oil"), was also originally Rockefeller money.
Younger students of political history may need to be informed (and older students reminded) that Republicanism is not necessarily synonymous with conservatism and/or the "Christian Right," that at one time (and even today) there have been many moderate and even liberal Republicans.
I think it's where Madonna got her idea for the metal pointed bra.
Both of them were wonderful, but you can tell from Mary Martins eyes that she felt like a Mack Truck was about to run over her any second...
For that matter, there have also been conservative-moderate (besides pro-segregagationist "Dixiecrats") Democrats, mostly based on defense and foreign policy matters, among them Sen. Henry "Scoop" Jackson of Washington, Sen.Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, Sens. Zell Miller & Sam Nunn of Georgia, and Rep. Harold Ford of Kentucky, an African-American and one-time leader of the so-called "Blue Dog Democrats."
Poor Mary, it must have been like singing against a circular saw cutting metal.
Kaczmarek's larger point is liberals and conservatives shouldn't always immediately assume an adversarial stance, that is possible to work together and there are good and bad in both camps.
You have no idea.
I am not so sure they were the best of friends. they were in compition most of the time and you can tell they try to one up one another.
My experience is that pvt sector to pick up the slack that has occurred more and more over the past 12 years, others need to do jobs, (like me, as I am a social worker) that in most other places, other countries, is done by the govt. Here in my office, we have a slew of people all with MA's or MSW's and all realizing that we'll never make back what we shelled out for our degrees, but we do it, anyway. All Democrats. Just my own little black stats book. I'm sorry, tho, for mentioning it here.
I don't think it is fair to put Mary Martin down, as she had der hits, and sang more, shall I say, soothingly than Ehtel, who was great! Mary did 'South Pacific, Peter Pan, Sound of Music, plus so many more. Look it up on WIKI. She did not, as someone below said, end up in South America as a bore doing 'philosophical' work, and I think you meant, 'philanthropic', work, which, unless one is a part of the GOP, is usually applauded.
@jmuslvr Have you ever seen Call Me Madam..the movie? Merman is hammier than a pig farm and she could not act. And Hollywood did give Martin a spin and she was considered a total snore.
Another example of someone's "misinformation" being passed off as factual.
@grenadian11 Well, SHAME on her for looking "a little mature!"
Mary Martin is wonderful, but in that duet with Ethel Merman she was forced to become an old parrot... and I don't mean just the looks.