Anchors Aweigh

The ship's whistle blared and warplanes streaked overhead Saturday as the Navy commissioned its newest aircraft carrier, the Ronald Reagan, and former First Lady Nancy Reagan told the crew to "bring her to life." The carrier, nearly 1,100 feet long and standing 20 stories above the waterline, is the first to be named for a living president. The flight deck covers 4.5 acres. The former president, 92 and ailing with Alzheimer's disease, didn't attend the ceremony at Norfolk Naval Station.

Gene Kelly on Film "An American in Paris" Kelly sings and dances to Gershwin tunes in this 1951 Oscar best picture winner "Anchors Aweigh" Kelly meets Tom and Jerry in this 1945 musical, for which he earned a lead actor Oscar nomination "Cover Girl" Kelly and Rita Hayworth dance up a storm in this 1944 musical-comedy

Gene Kelly on Film "An American in Paris" Kelly sings and dances to Gershwin tunes in this 1951 Oscar best picture winner "Anchors Aweigh" Kelly meets Tom and Jerry in this 1945 musical, for which he earned a lead actor Oscar nomination "Cover Girl" Kelly and Rita Hayworth dance up a storm in this 1944 musical-comedy

The Method Fest Independent Film Festival, which celebrates the art of the actor, opens Thursday at the Regency Agoura 9 in Agoura Hills with James Ivory's latest film, "The City of Your Final Destination," starring Anthony Hopkins. Among the 30 features and 59 shorts at the festival, which continues through Wednesday, will be "The Good Heart," with Brian Cox, "The Lightkeepers " with Richard Dreyfuss and Bruce Dern, who also will be honored at the festival, and "The Greatest," with Pierce Brosnan and Susan Sarandon.

In reviewing the television program "Roger Rabbit and the Secrets of Toon Town" and attempting to correct some oversights he found in it, Charles Solomon commits some of his own (TV Review, Sept. 13). He credited "Anchors Aweigh" (1944) as one of the earlier movies to blend live action with animation. True, but perhaps it would have been more appropriate if he had credited my father, Max Fleischer, for not only inventing the Rotoscope, the process by which this is accomplished, but for using it so successfully for many years in his animated series "Out of the Inkwell" (1917)

The Method Fest Independent Film Festival, which celebrates the art of the actor, opens Thursday at the Regency Agoura 9 in Agoura Hills with James Ivory's latest film, "The City of Your Final Destination," starring Anthony Hopkins. Among the 30 features and 59 shorts at the festival, which continues through Wednesday, will be "The Good Heart," with Brian Cox, "The Lightkeepers " with Richard Dreyfuss and Bruce Dern, who also will be honored at the festival, and "The Greatest," with Pierce Brosnan and Susan Sarandon.

The spring/summer 2010 men's collections presented during New York Fashion Week didn't break much new ground compared with what was shown on the runways of Milan and Paris this summer, but designers did give the men's wardrobe of a year hence some tweaks as they, like their European counterparts, cut back on the spectacle and focused on showing a wider array of wearable pieces. Blue men group The biggest carry-over from Europe was the range of blue hues that covered the catwalk, from a pale peaceful shade evoking notions of the sky to vibrant cobalts and oil slick shades, with nearly every shade in between.

Not content with major commissions across the United States, including the new federal office building under construction downtown, the architectural firm of Ellerbe Becket (formly Welton Becket) of Santa Monica has taken to the seas. Specifically, the cruise ship Star Princess.

The Community Services Department has reserved space on a cruise ship to celebrate the Fourth of July. Residents will board the Ruth Julia in Long Beach Harbor and watch the fireworks display off the bow of the Queen Mary. Dinner at the Colonial Restaurant, also in Long Beach, will precede the event. Registration for the event is at the Fountain Valley Recreation Center, 16400 Brookhurst St. All ages may attend. Transportation to and from the event is included.

A U.S. Navy honor guard will haul down the flag for the last time at the Subic Bay Naval Station on Wednesday as part of the planned withdrawal of all U.S. forces from the Philippines. The final few hundred sailors and Marines will move back to the adjoining Cubi Point Naval Air Station until they too leave on Nov. 24, ending more than a century of U.S. military presence in the country.

Kathryn Grayson, an MGM singing star in the 1940s and early '50s in musicals such as "Anchors Aweigh," "Kiss Me Kate" and "Show Boat," has died. She was 88. Grayson died Wednesday of natural causes at her home in Los Angeles, said publicist Dale Olson. A dark-haired beauty with a heart-shaped face and a brilliant coloratura voice, Grayson signed with MGM as a teenager and made her screen debut in "Andy Hardy's Private Secretary," starring Mickey Rooney, in 1941. She went on to appear opposite Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly in "Anchors Aweigh," Kelly in "Thousands Cheer," Sinatra in "The Kissing Bandit," Mario Lanza in "The Toast of New Orleans," Howard Keel in "Show Boat," "Lovely to Look At" and "Kiss Me Kate," and Gordon MacRae in "The Desert Song," among other musicals.

The spring/summer 2010 men's collections presented during New York Fashion Week didn't break much new ground compared with what was shown on the runways of Milan and Paris this summer, but designers did give the men's wardrobe of a year hence some tweaks as they, like their European counterparts, cut back on the spectacle and focused on showing a wider array of wearable pieces. Blue men group The biggest carry-over from Europe was the range of blue hues that covered the catwalk, from a pale peaceful shade evoking notions of the sky to vibrant cobalts and oil slick shades, with nearly every shade in between.

Barack Obama's trip to Europe and the Middle East, seen as crucial to burnish his foreign policy bona fides, will play out before big audiences. All three television network anchors plan to interview the Democratic presidential candidate during the tour. Political analysts see the combined audience of 20 million as a potential boon to Obama, but also a bust if he makes any major missteps.

The ship's whistle blared and warplanes streaked overhead Saturday as the Navy commissioned its newest aircraft carrier, the Ronald Reagan, and former First Lady Nancy Reagan told the crew to "bring her to life." The carrier, nearly 1,100 feet long and standing 20 stories above the waterline, is the first to be named for a living president. The flight deck covers 4.5 acres. The former president, 92 and ailing with Alzheimer's disease, didn't attend the ceremony at Norfolk Naval Station.

There's gold in them thar ports! Or so it might seem, judging by the gold rush of cruise ships heading for Alaska this summer, including the largest vessel ever. For cruisers it means more choices and, in many cases, more competitive fares. Although Alaska cruising has been growing in recent years, the Sept. 11 attacks sent new ships into the market as some cruise lines decided to pull back from Europe this summer and redeploy to domestic destinations that some U.S. travelers perceive as safer.

News, weather and bloopers: Continuing my series on local TV news, I phoned Jess Marlow to see if he could remember any classic boo-boos. Marlow, who co-hosts KCET's "Life and Times Tonight," told me about a humorous moment from his days as an anchor at KNBC-TV Channel 4. One night, consumer affairs reporter David Horowitz delivered what was (or seemed like) a very long segment on a rather dry subject.

Fox's new regional sports shows, operating on the principle that viewers like anchors who root for the home teams, are off to the expected start, and under fire from the non-cheerleader press. The Detroit Free Press' Steve Crowe wrote that it "hurt" to watch an anchor from Seattle named Angie Arlati "pretend to care as much about Detroit sports as Detroiters." In Houston, the Chronicle's David Barron wrote, "One thing that absolutely has to go . . .