On Area Movie Screens & Vicki Leigh at the Showboat – May 1954

There's plenty to look at on the movie page from the May 1, 1954 Lorain Journal.

Strangely enough, there's no John Wayne feature, or even a Bowery Boys epic for those Lorainites with refined tastes (like me). For Westerns, the one that leaps out at me is The Boy From Oklahoma, starring Will Rogers, Jr. Here's a clip.

What's interesting about this film is that it was the template for the TV series Sugarfoot, starring Will Hutchins as the mild-mannered cowpoke named Tom Brewster who was studying to be a lawyer. He wasn't your regular cowboy hero; he was shy around women, didn't wear a gun and only drank sarsaparilla (with a dash of cherry). But despite his naive demeanor, he was mighty good with his guns and his fists.

I like Will Hutchins' interpretation of the Tom Brewster character better than the way he was depicted in the movie. (I bought a DVD of the first season of Sugarfoot earlier this year and am really enjoying it.)

Another movie that seems to dominate the page is the musical Rose Marie, with Howard Keel, Ann Blyth, Fernando Lamas and Bert (the Cowardly Lion) Lahr. 

Looks like my kind of movie, seeing as I'm such a big fan of Canada, with plenty of good scenery. Bert Lahr as a funny Mountie looks like a riot.

Elsewhere on the page are ads for businesses I've featured on the blog over the years, including Vian's Barbecue and the Charcoal Pit.

I said there was plenty to look at on this page, and one of the main sights is lovely Vicki Leigh, who was appearing at the Showboat. The ad copy notes, "She's beautiful, she's talented, she is 22 years old and she has a figure that puts Venus de Milo to shame.

"She stands 5 feet 6 inches tall, she has blonde hair, blue eyes, with a 38 inch bust, 25 inch waist and the rest of the measurements in keeping to add up to a gal you can't take your eyes off.

"Vicki is starting Monday at the Showboat with Hank Young and the Tunesters. Look for her, she is worth seeing."

Here's Vicki in an ad that ran in the Journal on May 3, 1954. I like the simple, "WOW."

Like many other performers that passed through Lorain during the 1950s, Vicki is difficult to track down today. Vicki was mentioned in the Feb. 3, 1954 edition of Variety, which noted that she and her trio would be appearing at the Seven Seas, Omaha's 'top downtown nightery' on Friday, Feb. 5th.

In the May 13, 1955 copy of the The Globe, which appears to be the official newspaper of Camp Lejeune, N.C., Vicki is featured in an article and photo about her upcoming performance with a new trio.

Vicki continued to show up in newspapers for the next year or so, performing in or near Chester, PA. (which is about a half hour from her native Philadelphia). Show dates included Dec. 1955 (with the Sensations), Feb. 1956 and April 1956. After that she seems to have disappeared.

Here's hoping that Vicki continued to perform and achieve some measure of success and ultimately, happiness. Perhaps someone familiar with her will leave a comment at some future date.