Nine decades ago this December, moviegoers were witnessing the beginning of one of the most successful movie teams, as well as the demise of one of the most dramatic.
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers made box office magic during the Depression-era 1930s in nine Art Deco musical comedy delights from Rko including 1934’s “The Gay Divorcee” and 1936’s “Swing Time.” Their chemistry was unmatched, and they literally made beautiful musical together introducing countless standards including the Oscar-winning “The Continental” and “The Way You Look Tonight.” And their dancing was robust, romantic and heavenly-just check out the “Never Gonna Dance” routine from “Swing Time.”
It was 90 years ago this week, their first pairing “Flying Down to Rio” opened at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City. One of the big surprises is that the duo aren’t the stars of the lightweight pre-Code musicals: Dolores Del Rio, Gene Raymond...
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers made box office magic during the Depression-era 1930s in nine Art Deco musical comedy delights from Rko including 1934’s “The Gay Divorcee” and 1936’s “Swing Time.” Their chemistry was unmatched, and they literally made beautiful musical together introducing countless standards including the Oscar-winning “The Continental” and “The Way You Look Tonight.” And their dancing was robust, romantic and heavenly-just check out the “Never Gonna Dance” routine from “Swing Time.”
It was 90 years ago this week, their first pairing “Flying Down to Rio” opened at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City. One of the big surprises is that the duo aren’t the stars of the lightweight pre-Code musicals: Dolores Del Rio, Gene Raymond...
- 12/28/2023
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
In the December 12, 1936 issue of The Literary Digest (reprinted on the Reel Classics website), Fred Astaire's infamous rehearsal process for the upcoming film "Shall We Dance?" was recorded in all its difficult glory. Astaire, Hollywood legend has it, was a perfectionist when it came to dancing, and he and his co-stars --- Ginger Rogers in the case of "Shall We Dance?" -- would rehearse until the point of injury. Hermes Pan, the film's choreographer, recalls a moment when Rogers took off her shoe to reveal a bloody sore, with Astaire chiming in that his blisters were about ready to pop. Pan called off rehearsals after that.
Given...
The post Why Fred Astaire Never Enjoyed Watching His Own Movies appeared first on /Film.
Given...
The post Why Fred Astaire Never Enjoyed Watching His Own Movies appeared first on /Film.
- 8/4/2022
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Let's be fair to Disney/Sony/Fox/whoever they think they are: there's been a DVD release of William Wellman's Roxie Hart (1942), but it's not currently streaming, which is a crying shame. It's a masterpiece, up there with The Public Enemy or Safe in Hell or Midnight Mary, Wellman's excoriating, criminous pre-Codes.The story may be a familiar one: former newspaperwoman Maurine Dallas Watkins' stage hit Chicago was filmed as a Cecil B. DeMille production in 1927, and more recently in musical form with Bob Fosse's choreography put through a blender by Rob Marshall, Harvey Weinstein, and Martin Walsh, who promptly won the Oscar for Most Editing.Our story, and its heroine, are laid in the great city of Chicago in the Roaring Twenties. An opening title solemnly dedicates the picture to all those women who have filled their husbands full of lead out of pique. George Montgomery plays an old newspaperman and then,...
- 5/1/2020
- MUBI
Most of us know Betty Grable from the famous pin-up copied by the cover artwork for this release; by 1944 Ms. Grable was Fox’s biggest earner, and the Armed Force’s most popular daydream babe both back home and at the front. This movie pulled in the multitudes, even though Betty doesn’t even play a model suitable for pin-up duty! But just imagine: in almost any town during wartime with a war industry somewhere nearby, movie theaters played around the clock, with sold-out audiences, to accommodate swing shift defense workers.
Pin Up Girl
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1944 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 84 min. / Street Date June 18, 2019 / Available from Twilight Time Movies / 29.95
Starring: Betty Grable, John Harvey, Martha Raye, Joe E. Brown, Eugene Pallette, Dorothea Kent, Dave Willock.
Cinematography: Ernest Palmer
Choreography: Hermes Pan
Original Music: Song Score Ð James V. Monaco (Music)/Mack Gordon (Lyrics); Charles Henderson, Emil Newman (Musical Directors)
Written by Robert Ellis,...
Pin Up Girl
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1944 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 84 min. / Street Date June 18, 2019 / Available from Twilight Time Movies / 29.95
Starring: Betty Grable, John Harvey, Martha Raye, Joe E. Brown, Eugene Pallette, Dorothea Kent, Dave Willock.
Cinematography: Ernest Palmer
Choreography: Hermes Pan
Original Music: Song Score Ð James V. Monaco (Music)/Mack Gordon (Lyrics); Charles Henderson, Emil Newman (Musical Directors)
Written by Robert Ellis,...
- 7/23/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Stars: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Victor Moore, Helen Broderick, Eric Blore | Written by Howard Lindsay, Allan Scott | Directed by George Stevens
Dazzling dancer “Lucky” (Fred Astaire) steps off stage and straight into his wedding outfit. But his colleagues don’t want to lose their star player to some dame, so they find ways to stop him. Lucky’s lateness triggers a fit of rage in the father of the would-be bride, and he issues an ultimatum: Lucky must go to New York, build a fortune, and return only when he earns the status (i.e. money) to marry his daughter.
Moments later, Lucky is in the Big Apple, where he falls in love with literally the first girl he meets. In classic rom-com stalker style, Lucky pursues Penny (Ginger Rogers) against her wishes. He chases her into a dance studio, where he masquerades as an amateur in order to humiliate...
Dazzling dancer “Lucky” (Fred Astaire) steps off stage and straight into his wedding outfit. But his colleagues don’t want to lose their star player to some dame, so they find ways to stop him. Lucky’s lateness triggers a fit of rage in the father of the would-be bride, and he issues an ultimatum: Lucky must go to New York, build a fortune, and return only when he earns the status (i.e. money) to marry his daughter.
Moments later, Lucky is in the Big Apple, where he falls in love with literally the first girl he meets. In classic rom-com stalker style, Lucky pursues Penny (Ginger Rogers) against her wishes. He chases her into a dance studio, where he masquerades as an amateur in order to humiliate...
- 7/8/2019
- by Rupert Harvey
- Nerdly
Swing Time
Blu ray
Criterion
1936 / 1.33 : 1 / 103 Min.
Starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers
Cinematography by David Abel
Directed by George Stevens
The image of a tuxedo clad Fred Astaire hopping an empty boxcar sums up the double-edged appeal of Swing Time, a transcendent musical-comedy in which Fred and Ginger meet the depression head-on – Runyonesque sentimentality is avoided thanks to George Stevens’ no-nonsense direction and the clear-eyed love songs of Dorothy Fields and Jerome Kern.
Astaire plays a down-on-his-luck hoofer named Lucky who catches sight of a beautiful dance instructor named Penny and naturally falls in love (those too-perfect names will hang over the movie like a curse). The smitten hoofer trails her to the studio where she coaches would-be romantics in the art of… being Fred Astaire. Penny does her best with the supposedly flat-footed interloper but only succeeds in getting fired by her bad-tempered boss played by Eric Blore.
Lucky...
Blu ray
Criterion
1936 / 1.33 : 1 / 103 Min.
Starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers
Cinematography by David Abel
Directed by George Stevens
The image of a tuxedo clad Fred Astaire hopping an empty boxcar sums up the double-edged appeal of Swing Time, a transcendent musical-comedy in which Fred and Ginger meet the depression head-on – Runyonesque sentimentality is avoided thanks to George Stevens’ no-nonsense direction and the clear-eyed love songs of Dorothy Fields and Jerome Kern.
Astaire plays a down-on-his-luck hoofer named Lucky who catches sight of a beautiful dance instructor named Penny and naturally falls in love (those too-perfect names will hang over the movie like a curse). The smitten hoofer trails her to the studio where she coaches would-be romantics in the art of… being Fred Astaire. Penny does her best with the supposedly flat-footed interloper but only succeeds in getting fired by her bad-tempered boss played by Eric Blore.
Lucky...
- 6/18/2019
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
“Am I decent?” They said that Ginger Rogers gave Fred Astaire sex appeal, but the teaming of Astaire and Rita Hayworth is something else. Columbia’s 1941 release is a weak service comedy until the dancing starts, at which point it becomes one of the better musicals of the year – and the breakout vehicle for Ms. Hayworth.
You’ll Never Get Rich
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1941 / B&W/ 1:37 flat full frame / 89 min. / Street Date April 18, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95
Starring: Fred Astaire, Rita Hayworth, Robert Benchley, John Hubbard,
Osa Massen, Frieda Inescort, Guinn ‘Big Boy’ Williams, Cliff Nazarro.
Cinematography: Philip Tannura
Art Direction: Lionel Banks
Film Editor: Otto Meyer
Original Music: Cole Porter
Written by Michael Fessier, Ernest Pagano
Produced by Samuel Bischoff
Produced and Directed by Sidney Lanfield
Freed from his Rko contract in 1939, Fred Astaire never signed another long-term deal. He instead jumped from studio to...
You’ll Never Get Rich
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1941 / B&W/ 1:37 flat full frame / 89 min. / Street Date April 18, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95
Starring: Fred Astaire, Rita Hayworth, Robert Benchley, John Hubbard,
Osa Massen, Frieda Inescort, Guinn ‘Big Boy’ Williams, Cliff Nazarro.
Cinematography: Philip Tannura
Art Direction: Lionel Banks
Film Editor: Otto Meyer
Original Music: Cole Porter
Written by Michael Fessier, Ernest Pagano
Produced by Samuel Bischoff
Produced and Directed by Sidney Lanfield
Freed from his Rko contract in 1939, Fred Astaire never signed another long-term deal. He instead jumped from studio to...
- 4/29/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
“Before I said I was going to do Finian’s Rainbow I should have read the book.”Finian’s Rainbow (1968)
Commentator: Francis Ford Coppola (director)
1. Regarding the film’s opening frame featuring the word “overture” onscreen, he says it’s because this was what was referred to as a roadshow production. “They were like a night at the theater. You were given a program, it was an event, and as you came to your seat there was an overture playing.” It’s a long absent format, but Quentin Tarantino recently revived it for some screenings of The Hateful Eight.
2. He says a benefit of 70mm productions was that “the soundtrack would be in six-track magnetic stereophonic sound and was very high quality.”
3. The Warner Bros/Seven Arts logo reminds him of his time spent at the latter company working as a staff writer when they bought WB. “It was quite a coincidence related to my directing this...
Commentator: Francis Ford Coppola (director)
1. Regarding the film’s opening frame featuring the word “overture” onscreen, he says it’s because this was what was referred to as a roadshow production. “They were like a night at the theater. You were given a program, it was an event, and as you came to your seat there was an overture playing.” It’s a long absent format, but Quentin Tarantino recently revived it for some screenings of The Hateful Eight.
2. He says a benefit of 70mm productions was that “the soundtrack would be in six-track magnetic stereophonic sound and was very high quality.”
3. The Warner Bros/Seven Arts logo reminds him of his time spent at the latter company working as a staff writer when they bought WB. “It was quite a coincidence related to my directing this...
- 3/15/2017
- by Rob Hunter
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
As a musical it’s excellent — fine tunes and lyrics, great singing and dancing by the ever-youthful Fred Astaire, the glorious songbird Petula Clark, and the impishly weird Tommy Steele cast appropriately as a grimacing Leprechaun. The update of what was a politically acute Broadway hit in 1947 is awkward but the show is a melodious pleasure — great color, fine voices and peppy direction by Francis Ford Coppola on his first big studio feature.
Finian’s Rainbow
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1968 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 145 141 min. / Street Date March 7, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Fred Astaire, Petula Clark, Tommy Steele, Don Francks, Keenan Wynn, Barbara Hancock, Al Freeman Jr., Ronald Colby, Dolph Sweet, Wright King, Louis Silas.
Cinematography: Philip Lathrop
Film Editor: Melvin Shapiro
Original Music: Ray Heindorf
Written by E.Y. Harburg, Fred Saidy
Produced by Joseph Landon
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Finian’s Rainbow is a unique musical with a strange history.
Finian’s Rainbow
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1968 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 145 141 min. / Street Date March 7, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Fred Astaire, Petula Clark, Tommy Steele, Don Francks, Keenan Wynn, Barbara Hancock, Al Freeman Jr., Ronald Colby, Dolph Sweet, Wright King, Louis Silas.
Cinematography: Philip Lathrop
Film Editor: Melvin Shapiro
Original Music: Ray Heindorf
Written by E.Y. Harburg, Fred Saidy
Produced by Joseph Landon
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Finian’s Rainbow is a unique musical with a strange history.
- 3/4/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Deadline goes behind the camera. Exclusive: Mandy Moore did an extraordinary job as choreographer of La La Land. It is a shame there is no Oscar category for that; the last to Hermes Pan in 1937, when Academy Awards were given for Dance Direction. But since then, only occasionally has a choreographer gotten official Academy recognition in the form of Honorary Oscars, such as the one given to Jerome Robbins for West Side Story in 1961 and Onna White for Oliver in…...
- 2/14/2017
- Deadline
It's in glorious Technicolor Metrocolor, CinemaScope and StereoPhonic Sound! Fred Astaire's final MGM musical gives him Cyd Charisse and a Cole Porter score, plus some nice Hermes Pan choreography. The script and Rouben Mamoulian's direction aren't the best, but the combined magic of the musical and dancing talent saves the day. Silk Stockings Blu-ray Warner Archive Collection 1957 / Color / 2:40 widescreen / 117 min. / Street Date July 12, 2016 / available through the WBshop / 21.99 Starring Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Janis Paige, Peter Lorre, George Tobias, Jules Munshin, Joseph Buloff, Wim Sonneveld Cinematography Robert Bronner Art Direction Randall Duell, William A. Horning Film Editor Harold F. Kress Original Music Cole Porter Written by Abe Burrows, Leonard Gershe, George S. Kaufman, Leueen MacGrath, and Leonard Spigelgass Produced by Arthur Freed Directed by Rouben Mamoulian
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
On the Town? The Pajama Game? Damn Yankees? The Warner Archive Collection's next musical up for the...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
On the Town? The Pajama Game? Damn Yankees? The Warner Archive Collection's next musical up for the...
- 7/23/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Fred Astaire ca. 1935. Fred Astaire movies: Dancing in the dark, on the ceiling on TCM Aug. 5, '15, is Fred Astaire Day on Turner Classic Movies, as TCM continues with its “Summer Under the Stars” series. Just don't expect any rare Astaire movies, as the actor-singer-dancer's star vehicles – mostly Rko or MGM productions – have been TCM staples since the early days of the cable channel in the mid-'90s. True, Fred Astaire was also featured in smaller, lesser-known fare like Byron Chudnow's The Amazing Dobermans (1976) and Yves Boisset's The Purple Taxi / Un taxi mauve (1977), but neither one can be found on the TCM schedule. (See TCM's Fred Astaire movie schedule further below.) Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musicals Some fans never tire of watching Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dancing together. With these particular fans in mind, TCM is showing – for the nth time – nine Astaire-Rogers musicals of the '30s,...
- 8/5/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Review Aliya Whiteley 19 Jun 2013 - 06:47
Aliya finds this John Wayne adaptation of Shakespeare to be interesting, if uncomfortably old-fashioned, watching...
If you’re going to watch a movie version of Shakespeare’s The Taming of The Shrew you have a quite a few options: from Dw Griffith’s 1908 silent version to the 2010 Bollywood film Isi Life Mein. You could try Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor hamming it up in Franco Zefferelli’s 1967 film, or enjoy the music of Cole Porter and the choreography of Hermes Pan in 1953's Kiss Me, Kate. Or there's 10 Things I Hate About You, which surprisingly feels like one of the more faithful renditions, with Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles spitting venom at each other in a very enjoyable way.
And then there's McLintock!, a comedy western from 1963 with the stamp of John Wayne all over it, determined to tell an old story in an old-fashioned way.
Aliya finds this John Wayne adaptation of Shakespeare to be interesting, if uncomfortably old-fashioned, watching...
If you’re going to watch a movie version of Shakespeare’s The Taming of The Shrew you have a quite a few options: from Dw Griffith’s 1908 silent version to the 2010 Bollywood film Isi Life Mein. You could try Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor hamming it up in Franco Zefferelli’s 1967 film, or enjoy the music of Cole Porter and the choreography of Hermes Pan in 1953's Kiss Me, Kate. Or there's 10 Things I Hate About You, which surprisingly feels like one of the more faithful renditions, with Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles spitting venom at each other in a very enjoyable way.
And then there's McLintock!, a comedy western from 1963 with the stamp of John Wayne all over it, determined to tell an old story in an old-fashioned way.
- 6/18/2013
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
Top 10 Aliya Whiteley 28 May 2013 - 06:55
The 1930s to the end of the 20th century saw the release of some classic tap dancing movies. Here's Aliya's pick of the 10 best...
Either you love movies in which people suddenly break into tap dance routines to express their innermost desires, or you hate them. If you hate them, you’re in luck – they pretty much don’t exist in modern film any more.
Having said that, there have been some great dancing moments in the last few years, such as Amy Adams having a me party in The Muppets, or Meryl Streep bouncing up and down on the bed in Mamma Mia! But these aren’t tap dances, and they’re much more about enthusiasm than skill. Or High School Musical, Take The Lead and others give us great modern or ballroom dancing, but within the context of people putting on a show,...
The 1930s to the end of the 20th century saw the release of some classic tap dancing movies. Here's Aliya's pick of the 10 best...
Either you love movies in which people suddenly break into tap dance routines to express their innermost desires, or you hate them. If you hate them, you’re in luck – they pretty much don’t exist in modern film any more.
Having said that, there have been some great dancing moments in the last few years, such as Amy Adams having a me party in The Muppets, or Meryl Streep bouncing up and down on the bed in Mamma Mia! But these aren’t tap dances, and they’re much more about enthusiasm than skill. Or High School Musical, Take The Lead and others give us great modern or ballroom dancing, but within the context of people putting on a show,...
- 5/24/2013
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
Chicago – What is striking about George Chakiris is not so much the memories of his unforgettable performances in films of another era, but his true kindness and humility in the wake of all that jazz. Winner of the Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 1961, playing Bernardo in “West Side Story,” the combination of his youth, energy and gratitude comes from his roots as a dancer.
Chakiris was born of Greek immigrant parents in Norwood, Ohio. Ending up in Los Angeles at a young age, he was able to hook into his advocation by studying at the American School of Dance there (story below). He touched the last gasp era of great Hollywood musicals, famously backing up Marilyn Monroe in the “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend” number from the film “Gentleman Prefer Blondes” [1953] and started hearts a-fluttering when he made a key cameo one year later in the holiday film classic,...
Chakiris was born of Greek immigrant parents in Norwood, Ohio. Ending up in Los Angeles at a young age, he was able to hook into his advocation by studying at the American School of Dance there (story below). He touched the last gasp era of great Hollywood musicals, famously backing up Marilyn Monroe in the “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend” number from the film “Gentleman Prefer Blondes” [1953] and started hearts a-fluttering when he made a key cameo one year later in the holiday film classic,...
- 2/12/2012
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Swing Time (top); Hermes Pan, Fred Astaire, George Stevens on the set of Swing Time (bottom) The George Stevens-directed Ginger Rogers-Fred Astaire musical Swing Time will be presented as part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ "George Stevens Lecture on Directing" series on Tuesday, October 26, at 7:30 p.m. at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. Swing Time will be introduced by director, producer, actor and comedian David Steinberg, who, as per the Academy's press release, considers this 1936 Rko musical his favorite movie. Many, in fact, consider Swing Time the very best Astaire-Rogers musical. Personally, I was a little disappointed when I saw it a few years ago; I was also surprised to realize that Shall We Dance?, released the following year, was basically a carbon copy imitation. But my disappointment notwithstanding, the stylish Swing Time has a number...
- 9/28/2010
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
In 1935, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers made cinema history with their most successful film partnership, Top Hat. However, it wasn’t Astaire’s headgear that got people talking; it was Rogers’ ostrich feather dress worn in the Oscar-nominated song ‘Cheek to Cheek’.
The fact remains that this is quite possibly the most memorable, beautiful and romantic musical number ever captured on film, and Rogers’ dress contributes to this greatly.
Whenever Astaire and Rogers dance, they are making love without undressing, without even kissing in the majority of their films; “they is angels” remarks unfairly condemned criminal Kofi as he fulfils his dying wish of watching the lovers perform ‘Cheek to Cheek’ in the film The Green Mile (1999).
In this scene, Rogers certainly does look like an angel in her now-famous dress, accessorised only by a glass panel-style bracelet (costume jewellery in enamel or glass was very fashionable in the 1930s...
The fact remains that this is quite possibly the most memorable, beautiful and romantic musical number ever captured on film, and Rogers’ dress contributes to this greatly.
Whenever Astaire and Rogers dance, they are making love without undressing, without even kissing in the majority of their films; “they is angels” remarks unfairly condemned criminal Kofi as he fulfils his dying wish of watching the lovers perform ‘Cheek to Cheek’ in the film The Green Mile (1999).
In this scene, Rogers certainly does look like an angel in her now-famous dress, accessorised only by a glass panel-style bracelet (costume jewellery in enamel or glass was very fashionable in the 1930s...
- 8/11/2010
- by Sarah H
- Clothes on Film
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