distributor song of the open road
Royal Wedding is a 1951 Metro - Goldwyn - Mayer musical comedy film starring Fred Astaire and Jane Powell , with music by Burton Lane and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner . The film was directed by Stanley Donen ; it was his second film and the first he directed on his own . It was released as Wedding Bells in the ___MASK2___ . Harry Clifford Keel ( April 13 , 1919November 7 , 2004 ), known professionally as Howard Keel was an American actor and singer . He starred in many film musicals of the 1950s . He is best known to modern audiences for his starring role in the ___MASK66___ television series " Dallas " from 1981 to 1991 , as Clayton Farlow , opposite Barbara Bel Geddes ' s character . But to an earlier generation , with his rich bass - baritone singing voice , he was known as the star of some of the most famous MGM film musicals ever made . Metro - Goldwyn - Mayer Studios Inc . ( abbreviated as MGM or M - G - M , also known as Metro - Goldwyn - Mayer Pictures , Metro - Goldwyn - Mayer or Metro , and for a former interval known as Metro - Goldwyn - Mayer / ___MASK10___ , or MGM / UA ) is an American media company , involved primarily in the production and distribution of feature films and television programs . Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor , DBE ( February 27 , 1932  March 23 , 2011 ) was a British - American actress , businesswoman , and humanitarian . She began as a child actress in the early 1940s , and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s . She continued her career successfully into the 1960s , and remained a well known public figure for the rest of her life . The ___MASK55___ named her the seventh - greatest female screen legend in 1999 . Song of the Open Road is a 1944 musical comedy film directed by S . Sylvan Simon , from a screenplay by Irving Phillips and Edward Verdier . It was the debut film of teenage singer Jane Powell . Powell ' s real name was Suzanne Burce , but prior to the release of this film MGM assigned her the stage name `` Jane Powell '' ( the name of the character she portrays in this film ) . Jane Powell ( born Suzanne Lorraine Burce , April 1 , 1929 ) is an American singer , dancer , and actress . Powell rose to fame during her childhood as a singer in her hometown of Portland , Oregon , and signed to Metro - Goldwyn - Mayer while still in her teens . Once there , the studio used her vocal , dancing , and acting talents , casting her in such musicals as " Royal Wedding " ( 1951 ) with Fred Astaire , " A Date with Judy " ( 1948 ) with friend Elizabeth Taylor , and " Seven Brides for Seven Brothers " ( 1954 ) with Howard Keel . In the late 1950s , her film career slowed , leading her to a prolific theater and television career .