Absolute Hollywood Torch

Clockwise: Alice Faye; Helen Forrest; Jane Russell; and Kaye Ballard.

It's another Saturday night, the perfect time to sit back and listen to some ladies sing from their heart with an old-fashioned love song,one I'm sure was wrote for you and me... Wow, I just quoted Three Dog Night. I guess I'll let that go and go to the first song. In a movie from 1934, 'She Learned About Sailors', Alice Faye delivered a great performance on a song by the great Richard Whiting. Enjoy as Alice sings "Here's The Key To My Heart".

While many might know Kay Ballard fro her work on television shows like 'The Mothers-In-Law', she also had a long career as a singer, working with big bands, and later on Broadway. This is a clip of Kaye singing "In Other Words", a popular standard song written by Bart Howard in 1954. It later became known when sung by a man named Frank Sinatra, and the song went by another name, "Fly Me To The Moon".

Helen Fogel was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey. She had dreams of being a singing star, and soon was in New York City and Washington, DC, singing at clubs and on radio programs. It was in DC that she was 'discovered' by Artie Shaw, who was looking for a girl vocalist to replace the departing Billie Holiday. Only by that time, Helen had changed her name from Fogel to Forrest. Forrest went on to sing with some of the biggest names in the business, and also appear in some movies. Check out this clip, where Helen sings "I Had The Craziest Dream" from the 1942 movie, "Springtime in the Rockies", written by Harry Warren and Mack Gordon.

When she first was cast by Howard Hughes in his film 'The Outlaws', the actress was a brunette bombshell, admired for her great beauty and glorious curves. But she was more than a pretty girl with a good rack, she was a wonderful entertainer. Russell went on to star in many films, dramas and comedies, as well as some great musicals. While she will long be remembered as Marilyn Monroe's partner-in-crime in the great 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes', it was not her only foray into musicals. In this clip, Jane sings with Hoagy Carmichael on "My Resistance Is Low", with music by Hoagy and lyrics by Harold Adamson, from the 1952 movie, 'The Las Vegas Story'.

Enjoy your weekend!