Beverly Elaine Luff

Thank you Mimi Gibson for inviting me to be part of the Golden Age Hollywood Show! It was great to meet the fans and connect with other actors from this magical time in film and television. A day I will never forget!

Met the lovely Mary Badham who played Scout in “To Kill a Mockingbird” with Gregory Peck. She is a huge fan of K-Dramas!

What a thrill to meet Patty Brady who made a number of films in the 1940s and 50s. She’s probably best known for “Cheaper By the Dozen.” We shared so many stories of our time in Hollywood. She’s delightful!

I was delighted to see Margaret O’Brien after so many years. We both worked on “Meet Me in St. Louis” with Judy Garland. It was great to reminisce about the old days. Thank you, Tootie!

We’re having so much fun at the Golden Age Hollywood Show in Las Vegas! If you’re in town, please come by and say hello!

Beverly singing "Aba Daba Honeymoon" with Debbie Reynolds and Carleton Carpenter in "Two Weeks with Love," She can be seen singing and swaying in a bright yellow pinafore with white stockings and gold locket.

[HQ] Aba Daba Honeymoon (Two Weeks With Love-1950) Debbie Reynolds & Carleton Carpenter perform "Aba Daba Honeymoon" in the 1950 musical "Two Weeks With Love".

In 1950 Beverly made “Two Weeks with Love” for MGM. The romantic musical starred Jane Powell, Ricardo Montalban and was the film debut for Debbie Reynolds. It was directed by Roy Rowland and based on the story “The Tender Hours” written by John Larkin, who co-wrote the screenplay with Dorothy Kingsley.

The story features the Robinson family who are vacationing at the Stanley House Hotel in the Catskills. The resort owner’s son Billy (Carleton Carpenter) is smitten with Patti Robinson (Jane Powell), who rebuffs his attentions. Her younger sister Melba (Debbie Reynolds) is interested in Billy, but he has his sights set on Patti.

In the meantime, Patti and her friend Valerie (Phyllis Kirk) compete for the attention of Demi (Ricardo Montalban), a handsome Cuban newly arrived at the resort. Valerie sabotages Patti’s efforts to attract Demi’s attention and goes so far as to convince the resort owner to remove Patti from the variety show, a staple of Catskills vacation resorts at the time.

The film is probably best known for “Aba Daba Honeymoon,” performed by Reynolds and Carpenter. Beverly played a resort guest who sings in the musical number. She can be seen singing and swaying in a pale yellow pinafore on the resort steps.

Reynolds and Carpenter subsequently recorded “Aba Daba Honeymoon” for MGM Records, which reached #3 on the Billboard charts. MGM sent the pair on a multi-city tour of Loews theaters to capitalize on its success. According to Billboard, the song went on to sell 3 million copies, becoming perhaps “the first really big single to come directly from a soundtrack.”

Fun Fact: Debbie Reynolds was discovered by talent scouts from MGM and Warner Bros. at the 1948 Miss Burbank contest. Both companies wanted her to sign up with their studio and had to flip a coin to see which one got her. Warner Bros. won the toss and signed her for two years. When they stopped producing musicals, Reynolds moved to MGM.

In 1949 Beverly made “Neptune’s Daughter” for MGM. The film starred Esther Williams, Red Skelton, Ricardo Montalban, Betty Garrett, Keenan Wynn, Xavier Cugat, and Mel Blanc. It was directed by Edward Buzzell and featured the debut of the Academy Award-winning song “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” by Frank Loesser.

Beverly played a nightclub patron in a big scene with the lead actors plus Xavier Cugat and his orchestra. She recalls that Buzzell insisted on take after take, as he wanted to capture the action from all possible angles. The shoot took three grueling days. Red and Betty kept everyone’s spirits up by goofing off on the set, mostly between takes. Beverly vividly remembers a scene where the two of them were supposed to enter the club from the kitchen. During one take, Red entered carrying Betty on his shoulders…facing him…with her skirt over his head. Beverly said it was the funniest and happiest set she ever worked on.

Fun facts: Esther plays a swimsuit designer in the film and went on to copy several swimsuit designs from this film in the line of swimwear she would later create.

Mel Blanc voices the character of Pancho with a high-pitched, exaggerated Mexican accent. Four years later, he recycled the voice for what would become the popular Warner Bros. cartoon character, Speedy Gonzales.

In 1944 Beverly made “Meet Me in St. Louis” for MGM. The film starred Judy Garland, Mary Astor, Leon Ames and Margaret O’Brien. It was directed by Vincente Minnelli.

Divided into a series of seasonal vignettes, starting with summer 1903, the film portrays a year in the life of the Smith family in St. Louis leading up to the opening of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (most commonly referred to as the World's Fair) in the spring of 1904.

Upon its release, “Meet Me in St. Louis” was both a critical and a commercial success. It became the second-highest-grossing film of 1944, second only to “Going My Way”, and was also MGM's most successful musical of the 1940s. In 1994, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

Beverly played a girl on the trolley and sang "The Trolley Song" with Judy and cast. The song was nominated for Best Original Song at the 1945 Academy Awards, but lost to "Swinging on a Star" from “Going My Way”.

Beverly is looking forward to meeting Margaret O’Brien in March and reminiscing about their work on this film.

In 1943 Beverly made “Lassie Come Home” for MGM. The film starred Roddy McDowell as Joe and canine actor Pal as Lassie. It was was directed by Fred M. Wilcox from a screenplay by Hugo Butler based upon the 1940 novel “Lassie Come Home” by Eric Knight. The film was the first in a series of seven MGM films starring "Lassie."

Set in the beautiful Yorkshire countryside, Mr. and Mrs. Carraclough (Donald Crisp and Elsa Lanchester) are hit by hard times and forced to sell their collie, Lassie, to the rich Duke of Rudling (Nigel Bruce), who has always admired her. After Lassie repeatedly escapes her kennel in an attempt to return home to Joe, the Duke takes Lassie to his home in Scotland, hundreds of miles from Yorkshire. There, his granddaughter Priscilla (Elizabeth Taylor) senses the dog's unhappiness and arranges her escape.

Lassie then sets off on the long trek to her Yorkshire home. She faces many perils along the way, but also meets kind people who offer her aid and comfort. At the end, when Joe has given up hope of ever seeing his dog again, the weary Lassie returns to her favorite resting place in the schoolyard at home. There, Lassie is joyfully reunited with the boy she loves.

Beverly played a village school girl. She, Roddy and Elizabeth attended school on set. She recalls that Elizabeth was absolutely gorgeous and painfully shy. When she wanted to ask Beverly a question, she would whisper it to Roddy, who would then ask Beverly, who would then speak to Elizabeth directly. She also remembers Roddy as very warm and charming.

Fun Fact: In 1993, “Lassie Come Home” was included in the annual selection of 25 motion pictures added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress being deemed as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and recommended for preservation.

In 1941 Beverly made “Babes on Broadway” for MGM. The film starred Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, and was directed by Busby Berkeley, with Vincente Minnelli directing Garland’s big solo numbers. It was the third in the Backyard Musical series about kids who put on their own show, following “Babes in Arms” (1939) and “Strike Up the Band” (1940).

Tommy Williams (Mickey Rooney) is a talented performer with aspirations of making it on Broadway. He teams up with his friend Penny Morris (Judy Garland) to organize a charity show aimed at benefiting British children affected by WWII. Despite facing numerous obstacles, their determination and talent push them forward. They gather a diverse group of friends and fellow performers, each bringing their unique skills to the project, to help overcome the challenges they encounter.

Beverly was a tap dancer in all of the group dance numbers. Though rehearsing and filming the dance sequences was long and tiring and she was often exhausted at the end of the day, Beverly says it didn't feel like work. Mickey and Judy kept things light and lively and kidded around a lot between scenes. It was a very fun set.

Fun facts: “Babes on Broadway” was Margaret O’Brien’s film debut. She played Maxine, a young girl at the audition (uncredited).

The song “How About You” was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Mickey Rooney met his first wife Ava Gardner on the set while dressed in drag as Carmen Miranda.

In 1941 Beverly made "Aloma of the South Seas" for Paramount Pictures. The film is based on the 1925 Broadway play, and a remake of the 1926 silent film of the same name. It stars Dorothy Lamour as Aloma and Jon Hall as Prince Tanoa, who were the reigning darlings of the South Sea Island adventures of this era.

Aloma and Prince Tanoa, betrothed since childhood, are separated when the young prince moves to the U.S. to pursue an education. When Tanoa returns 15 years later to assume the throne, they are finally reunited. However, he must first contend with his treacherous cousin who has his own eyes on the throne.

Beverly was featured as a Hawaiian dancer in the scenes in which Aloma reminisces about her childhood. She was cast not only for her overall look (dark hair, dark eyes), but for her ability to dance the hula.

Beverly recalls the studio applied body makeup to darken her skin and she wore a flower lei to cover her pre-pubescent chest. She danced in front of an ensemble of Hawaiian/Pacific Islander dancers and musicians. She remembers it being a very happy set, with the musicians playing and singing between takes.

Fun fact: Beverly prepared for the audition with actor/dancer Gwen Verdon, who attended Hamilton High School with Bev's older sister. Gwen lived with her mother in an apartment above the Meralta Theater in Culver City, before heading off to fame and fortune in New York.