Word: ann
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...Down . . . Finally, last week, the Big Test came, and 51 boys & girls-the pick of 4½ million-nervously lined up in the auditorium of the Department of Commerce. The first words were easy, at least to Doris Ann-assonance . . . homily . . . camellia. But by the end of the fifth round, 28 contenders had been spelled down. Gradually the words got harder-depilatory . . . asthmatic . . . contumacious . , . and one by one the victims fell. At one point, Doris Ann thought that she too was a goner: she spelled hegira with a "j". But after consulting the dictionary, the judges found that hejira...
...that point. Doris Ann had been lucky. She had taken each word slowly, often asking the pronouncer to repeat it for her. But her opponent, Marjorie Foliart of Crafton, Pa., was a speller who could go both forwards and backwards. To add to the tension, the spelling bee suddenly had a visitation: Secretary of Commerce Charles Sawyer came down from his office to witness the final rounds...
...words flew by -retrousse . . . shibboleth . . . oleaginous . . .-Doris Ann hardly knew what they all meant. Finally came cicerone, which Doris Ann thought had a final "i". Marjorie got it right, but she promptly missed farraginous. Doris Ann got that one right, but she still had one more word to go before she could claim the winning $500 and the free trip to New York...
...word she got was vignette, and Doris Ann took her time. "V." she began . . .". . . i . . ." Then she cautiously added a "g". Finally, in one glorious last spurt she cried "N-E-T-T-E," and before she knew it. Secretary Sawyer was on his way to the platform to shake her trembling hand...
Unfortunately, the screenplay is not quite so chic. Red Skelton inherits a half interest in a Paris dress salon and stages a musical fashion show on the premises. Howard Keel sings and has romantic designs on Designer Kathryn Grayson; Ann Miller and Marge and Gower Champion do some fast stepping, and blonde Zsa Zsa Gabor just flounces around. When it is dressed up with songs and smart styles, Lovely to Look At has a champagne sparkle. At other times, it is as flat as dead soda...