And, oh what a break for me...

It's the Saturday Picture Show! Today's theme is... well, I'll just let you guess:

What would you guys like to see on these posts? How many pictures is enough? Too much? Not enough? Right now, I'm going with five.

I can see the sun up high, though we're caught in a storm

Today's Spotlight will feature a Spotlight on a Musical Number: "Isn't This A Lovely Day (To Be Caught In the Rain)?" from Top Hat.

I confess, I didn't like this scene for years. Ginger's jodhpurs weren't the pretty dresses I preferred and the dance sequence felt too long. So, growing up, I usually skimmed this scene or skipped it altogether.

Now? I love it. I love the tempo change midway through the dance, I love the way Ginger copies Fred's moves at the beginning of it, I love the way they whirl around the bandstand. I love seeing her fall in love with him over the course of the song.

This is what I love about musicals. I love that so much can happen in the course of a song. The song almost transcends time - it doesn't matter that the scene is less than 10 minutes long. They experience the whole beginning of a relationship in those few minutes. And, to me, it feels real. Because the song and dance acts are almost symbolic in the way they transport characters through emotions and relationships.

What are your thoughts on this song? Love it? Don't care for it? Neutral?

Watch the song here:

Tailor-made for two

So, I've been making little notes and ideas for blogging for months now. I was really excited about the prospect of getting back into it but kept thinking, "this will be an eventual thing" and "I want everything lined up and ready to go before I get start." There are still some post ideas that I'm saving for when they're ready... although as I write this, I'm thinking, "meh. I could do sneak peeks. Even I post about projects that I never finish, that's ok, right? We're all human." It might actually be even more encouraging to write posts about projects in the works, regardless of whether or not I finish them - I may discover that there are a lot of people just like me - with tons of unfinished projects on their desks. I find unfinished projects both exciting and discouraging. On the one hand, all of the possibilities! On the other hand, why can't I just finish?? So, you may see some in-the-works posts coming up. I'll ruminate and get back to you.

Anyway, as I was saying, I've been postulating over getting back int the blogosphere for a while now. But, what finally tipped me over the edge to say, "you know what? I'm just going to start!" was rewatching La La Land (2016).

I've heard a lot of mixed reviews of La La Land. Most people I talked to loved it. Several people hated it. This isn't actually going to be a full-fledged review of the movie, for several reasons...

1. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it yet - I go back and forth on this movie, to be honest with you. There are times when I love it and times when I think it's trying too hard. But writing a review feels like I'm committing to one feeling over the other and I'm just not ready for that yet...
2. It's still pretty new and I'd like to avoid spoilers
3. I haven't decided if I'm going to actually do reviews yet. On the one hand, I feel like I'd give honest reviews of movies; on the other hand, I really hate when people say negative things about movies that I love and I'd really hate to upset someone by writing a less than glowing review of a favorite movie. I've tiptoed around that for years. I haven't made up my mind if I want to continue tiptoeing or if I'm going to test the waters of review...

What I'd like to do today is discuss one very specific moment in the movie and talk about classic movies that also use this styling and maybe throw in some compare/contrast.

Ah! I love blogging now! I can use gifs! It's so magical!

I will not pretend that I am the first person to discuss this scene but that doesn't mean I can't be the next person to do so. This was a pretty memorable part of the Epilogue sequence. It was featured in the trailers and it was beautifully filmed. Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling are outfitted in simple black and white outfits against a black backdrop with stars that reflected in the shiny floor - it looked like something right out of a classic movie. Well, after all, it was...

In Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940), Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell famously danced to Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine" in front of what is basically the same minimalistic but nonetheless magical background. As Frank Sinatra famously quipped in That's Entertainment (1974), "you know, you can wait around and hope but, I'll tell ya, you'll never see the likes of this again" (Okay, actually, he quipped that when talking about this scene, which is very similar but does not have the same romantic vibe as the one I'm going to discuss). Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell were both unarguably masters of tap-dance. This wasn't amateur hour - this was a unique pairing of two of the greatest dancers of the day. This dance, in particular, in context of the movie, is basically the first time the two characters dance on equal footing. They dance together at other points throughout, but usually Fred Astaire's character is an ambitious hoofer, admiring the starlet Eleanor Powell portrays - or he is pretending to be someone else. In this scene, they are completely themselves and can be unapologetically perfect. I love this dance. Admittedly, it isn't my favorite Fred Astaire duet, but it's high up there. I love the simple elegance of the set up. I love that this is a true incarnation of Fred Astaire's famous quote, "either the camera will dance, or I will." There are no admiring audience members in the shot and very few views of the band in the background to distract the viewers from simply admiring the two dancers at the center of the screen. It was a beautiful sequence. I can't really blame the filmmakers of La La Land for emulating it.

But they weren't the first ones to do so. In 1952, MGM released Lovely to Look At, a remake of RKO's Roberta (1935). It's a cute musical, but there are parts of it I don't love - Red Skelton's slapstick, for one thing, and, for another, Howard Keel's portrayal of a character that is so unlikeable that I wonder why the girl is supposed to fall in love with him (yes, yes, he was extremely handsome and had a beautiful voice but, really? Come on, Kathryn Grayson, you could have done better). However, I really love Marge and Gower Champion in this movie. They are, really, my favorite part of it. I love Gower Champion's choreography style. 

This movie was filmed in color so it is the most different of the three scenes I'm comparing here today. However, I think it is still worth mentioning. In one notable scene, the two characters dance in a little restaurant that fades away in a dusty blue backdrop filled with stars... sound a little familiar? 

The scene is beautiful and romantic and set to the gorgeous Jerome Kern tune, "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes." Though filmed in color, I think it is notable that Marge Gower's dress is a similar tone to the backdrop, giving the whole scene an understated feel - the musicals of the 1950's, particularly MGM's were not known for being understated, which makes this sequence really stand out to me. (Confession: this scene is actually my favorite of the three I'm comparing here today.)

I was really excited about La La Land before I even knew what the movie was about. The posters all looked amazing and, when the trailers came out, there was dancing and singing and - well, I was just thrilled to pieces. And when I finally went to go see it, I think a part of me was hoping that this film would usher in a new era of musicals. Maybe, once again, we could have some dance scenes to gush over, dresses to replicate, and songs to learn. But, when I watched the movie (and every time I rewatch it), I was... underwhelmed. We are not, sadly, looking at MGM in the 1950's. Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling are good in their roles - highly enjoyable - but they are no Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell, nor are they a new Marge and Gower Champion.

And yet, there is something uniquely enjoyable about that. I watch "Begin the Beguine" and "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" and I yearn for something so romantic and polished. I want to be in a pretty dress and a beautiful setting, with a handsome and able dancer lifting me and twirling me to something by Gershwin or Porter or Kern... I'm not ruling out the possibility, but I'm aware that this is unlikely to happen. La La Land gives me something a little more attainable. It's not perfect; but, let's be honest, I'm no Eleanor Powell or Marge Champion either. I can't reasonably imagine myself in either of their places. But I can imagine myself dancing in a more ballroom style with someone.

This is why I love and don't love La La Land. It reminds me that life isn't actually like the movies. But it gives me something a little more tangible. That low-hanging fruit is both encouraging and discouraging and it's something I have to reprocess every time I watch the movie.

Whew! I sure got loquacious for my first post back. They won't all be like this. I guess I was saving up! What are your thoughts on these sequences? On La La Land or any of the other movies mentioned in this post?

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May your every wish come true

Happy New Year!

I’m back! Oh, if I had a dollar for every time I said that…

It’s a New Year and it’s a new attempt to rekindle some life into this blog of mine. This year, I’m going to simplify things: I will publish one post every Thursday and each month will have a theme. The theme for January, for instance, is New Year’s. By the end of the month this theme might be a bit of a stretch, but it’s still the beginning of the year, so I’m going to say it’s fine.

So, we’re going to start with Holiday Inn. Yes, it’s often considered a Christmas movie and, by now, you’re probably all Christmased out. But there are two New Year’s celebrations in the film, one of which is the finale, so I’d say it’s as much a New Year’s film as it is a Christmas film (if not more). Not to mention the fact that I watch this movie every Fourth of July – let’s face it: it’s Holiday Inn and it works for just about every holiday.

Holiday Inn (1942)

Paramount

Director:  Mark Sandrich

Featuring: Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Marjorie Reynolds, Virginia Dale, Walter Abel, Louise Beavers, and Irving Bacon

Plot in a nutshell: 

Tired of the hectic lifestyle as a performer, singer Jim Hardy (Crosby) decides to open an inn in Connecticut that will be open only on holidays. When Jim falls in love with his newest entertainer, the beautiful Linda Mason (Reynolds), things get pleasantly more complicated. And when Jim’s friend, dancer Ted Hanover (Astaire), begins to compete for Linda’s affection, things get even more complicated, although in a less pleasant way. As the threesome wend their way through a calendar of red-letter days, antics ensue and a score of Irving Berlin songs mark each holiday.

 Trivia:

- Irving Berlin got the idea for the film after writing the song "Easter Parade" for his 1933 show "As Thousands Cheer," and planned to write a play about American holidays, but it never materialized. He later pitched the idea to Mark Sandrich, who go the ball rolling for the film. (IMDb)

- It was a success in the US and the UK, the highest grossing musical film to that time. It was expected that "Be Careful, It's my Heart" would be the big song. While that song did very well, it was "White Christmas " that topped the charts in October 1942 and stayed there for eleven weeks.
- The success of the song "White Christmas" eventually led to another film based on the song, White Christmas (1954), which starred Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen. It was a loose remake of Holiday Inn, with a plot-line again involving an inn, but otherwise different from the earlier film.

Thoughts on the film:

Although this is a classic movie with some great lines, some wonderful songs, and some fantastic dances, I can’t lie when I say that it isn’t my favorite. It’s a wonderful movie – don’t get me wrong! But I love Fred Astaire and I don’t like his character very much at all in this film. Ted is a manipulative, selfish, back-stabbing friend. And as much as I like Bing Crosby, I don’t think his character deserves the girl either. He’s also selfish and manipulative in his attempts to win Linda. Neither of the two friends seem to really care what Linda wants or thinks; they trick and scheme rather than actually talk it out. I get all excited every time I decide to watch this movie and then as soon as Ted arrives at the inn I remember how frustrating the next hour is going to be.

Favorite quotes/clips:

That being said, the songs really are wonderful. I love both scenes of “White Christmas” – they’re homey and romantic. It’s no wonder the song did so well when it had such a good send-off in this film. “You’re Easy to Dance With” is a really cute scene that I’ve always enjoyed. And I really like “Let’s Start the New Year Right.” For a holiday that’s pretty raucous, I like that the main song for the holiday is an intimate little number that Jim sings to Linda while they serve up dinner in the kitchen. As I said before, I love the firecracker scene. But that’s getting way ahead of myself. I’ll wait until July to elaborate on how it’s one of the best Fred Astaire solos of all time.

The Navy must be a wonderful institution.

It produces such a modest, shrinking type man...

It's summer! Summer means the beach! Sunglasses! Barbecues! Nautical-themed outfits! And what better way to celebrate...er... nautical-themed outfits than nautical-themed posts? So, for the month of July, I will discuss my favorite sailor-filled musicals. Please feel free to weigh in on your personal favorites as well.

So, to start:

Follow the Fleet (1936)

As you can see by the poster, this film features the great Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. It's one of their few films where they're cast as the secondary characters. If you ask my sister, those are the best - and she may be right. In their supporting roles, Fred and Ginger get a chance to shine without having to bicker, they get to have fun, crack jokes, steal scenes, and be adorable without having to go through all of the heartache and frustration of their mixed up romances as lead characters.

I'm going to steal the plot summary from IMDb: When the fleet puts in at San Francisco, sailor Bake Baker (Astaire) tries to rekindle the flame with his old dancing partner, Sherry Martin (Rogers), while Bake's buddy Bilge Smith (Randolph Scott) romances Sherry's sister Connie (Harriet Hilliard). But it's not all smooth sailing: Bake has a habit of losing Sherry's jobs for her; and despite Connie's dreams, Bilge is not ready to settle down.

So, there you have it. As far as trivia goes, I've read that Irene Dunne was originally intended for the role of Connie but was unavailable at the time. It's an interesting fact considering Dunne was cast opposite Scott in Fred and Ginger's other supporting role film a year prior, Roberta. Follow the Fleet also includes a young and pretty Lucille Ball. I believe this was when she was still in Ginger Rogers' mother's school for aspiring actresses. A sharp eye will notice a young Betty Grable as a singer in "Let Yourself Go." There's a bugle call gag in this movie that also shows up in The Gay Divorcee and Roberta. I'm not sure where this gag originated. Do any of you know? This movie is also notable for being the only one in the Fred and Ginger series where the two characters are, throughout the film, working class characters. They don't hobnob with high society, fly down to Italy for the weekend. Ginger isn't a model for a couture dressmaker. And Fred isn't a well-known dancer. Their previous gig as a dancing team featuring "High Class Patter and Genteel Dancing" is a bit of a joke.

 The movie features some spectacular dance scenes: there's the somber "Let's Face the Music and Dance," which is the only part of the movie where Fred appears in his typical hat and tails. This is the dance where Ginger's sleeve hit Fred in the face. From what I read he was pretty dazed by the impact. Small wonder, her beaded dress must have weighed a ton. "Let Yourself Go" is always a fun time. And, my personal favorite, "I'm Putting All My Eggs In One Basket" is so funny and cute - it's impossible to watch without smiling.

 

Have you seen Follow the Fleet? What are your favorite songs? Your favorite lines? Check my Facebook page for more pictures, video clips, and quotes!

Will you be a patriot or a lover?

Happy Fourth of July!

Er.. remember that time when I said I was going to post every week on this thing? Oh, yeah, about that. Anyway, here we go...

This won't be much of a post because
a) It's 1 in the morning and I work tomorrow
b) I don't know a whole heap about these movies and, while I'd love to do more research on each of them, see a, above and
c) okay, I don't actually have a point c, but I wanted to keep this list going.

I just wanted to talk about my favorite patriotic movies and on this patriotic holiday, it seemed appropriate to share them.

Holiday Inn (1942)

Fred Astaire's "Let's Say It With Firecrackers" routine has been a long-time favorite of mine. I love the music, the firecrackers, his facial expressions, his hopping around, his attitude, his outfit. I mean, really, it's a fantastic sequence. What's not to love? That's really about all this movie has in terms of Independence Day references. But, isn't that enough?

Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)

Born on the 4th of July and all! Talk about made for a holiday viewing! This movie really is wonderful. It has so many fantastic songs, James Cagney is brilliant, Joan Leslie is delightful, it's funny, touching, and makes you feel pretty good about being American.

1776 (1972)

This is what I'll be watching when I get home tonight as I kick back with my subway leftovers and kick off my wet work shoes (yes, I know, I really know how to party). I love this movie. Really. It's so much more than the movie your US History teacher made you watch Sophomore year. It's so funny, the songs are amazing, the performances are fantastic. It makes me cry. It's romantic. It's one of my favorite movies ever. Tonight's viewing may very well begin yet another segment of my life where I watch the movie over and over again - and, do you know something? I wouldn't mind. It's totally worth every minute of its 3 hour running time (ok, I could do without a good portion of "Molasses to Slaves to Rum" and "Mama, Look Sharp" depresses me beyond belief... but every other minute is pure delight).

I'll be posting videos of these movies on my Facebook page today (provided I remember, of course). Those are my top picks for today. What are your favorite Fourth of July flicks?

Should you select the right effect you cannot miss

Ok! Here we go: back to it!

I want to get started with a compare/contrast post. Today, we're going to discuss:

Roberta (1935) and the remake Lovely to Look At (1952)

I have a funny double standard when it comes to remakes. If a storyline is recycled but was released in the 30's through the 60', I am much more accepting of it than if it was released recently.  

First, the original:

Roberta tells the story of a young football coach, John Kent (Randolph Scott) is traveling to Paris with his friend, Huck Haines (Fred Astaire) and Huck's band, "The Wabash Indianians." After some confusion with the band's booking, John visits his Aunt Minnie to see if she can get the band a job. Aunt Minnie owns a couture dress shop, Roberta's. John falls in love with his aunt's assistant, Stephanie (Irene Dunne) while Huck runs into an old sweetheart, a client of the shop, Countess Tanka Scharwenka (Ginger Rogers). After Aunt Minnie dies, John inherits Roberta's. Just when things are getting settled between John and Stephanie, John's ex-girlfriend, Sophie, shows up and adds a bit of mayhem to the plot. In the end, they decide to save the dress shop by combining talents and throwing a musical fashion show with Huck's band to showcase Stephanie's designs.

This is a storyline that I'm surprised has yet to be picked up in contemporary film. I feel like the story of a football coach inheriting a couture dress shop in Paris would provide filmmakers with all sorts of possibilities. I'm glad they haven't though; they'd probably fill it with crass humor and remove all of the charm and wit in the original.

The remake fascinates me because it keeps the basic storyline, sort of: unlikely American guy inherits a Parisian dress shop. However, characters are added and meshed together and everyone is a sort of combination of the original characters. I kind of like this approach because it makes it harder to compare the two. In Arlene Croce's The Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers Book, she remarks that Marge and Gower Champion are "dizzy" as Fred and Ginger. When I watched Lovely to Look At, I remembered her criticism and walked into the movie with some wariness. But, as much as I love her book, I disagree with her critique: Marge and Gower Champion aren't Fred and Ginger. They get some of the songs that Fred and Ginger performed in the original and Gower Champion is somewhat like Huck Haines, but they're actually pretty new characters to the plot. 

Ok, so let me break down the remake for those who haven't seen it. Al Marsh (Red Skelton), Tony Naylor (Howard Keel), and Jerry Ralby (Gower Champion) are having difficulties in getting their show picked up by investors. Tony's showgirl girl friend, Bubbles (Ann Miller) offers to help them out, but Tony refuses her help. When Al receives word that he has inherited a dress shop from his aunt in Paris, the three pack up and head over to try and sell the shop and get on with their show. When they arrive, however, they discover that the shop is bankrupt and that the adopted daughters of Al's late aunt, Stephanie (Kathryn Grayson) and Clarisse (Marge Champion) have been waiting for Al to arrive and help them save the business. What follows is a great deal of mixed up love triangles, with Jerry and Clarisse being the only couple to come out uncomplicated: Al and Tony both fall for Stephanie, Stephanie falls in love with Tony, and when Bubbles shows up unexpectedly, and tries to win Tony back, Al starts to fall for her too. In the midst of all these romantic entanglements, the group decides to throw a musical fashion show (sound familiar?) and bring the shop back into the spotlight. Tony's love for Stephanie is put to the test when he finds a backer for the show and he must decide whether to continue with his own plans or stay in Paris to help with the fashion show.

a different approach to a musical fashion show

Again, this remake fascinates me. The songs and basic premise are the only things that really tie it back to the original. The additional complication of the show adds a different set of problems to the plot and the characters are all over the place compared to their original counterparts. The John Kent character is split into two by being Al, who inherits the shop, and Tony, who falls for Stephanie and has a girlfriend from back home who creates just the right amount of confusion to the budding relationship. Huck Haines is in part Tony, for being the friend of the heir, and Jerry, who's on the sidelines for a good part of the film. Stephanie is really the only character to stay consistent in name and role. But, Bubbles is a weird combination of John's girlfriend, Sophie, and Huck's nightclub performer girlfriend, Tanka. You see? When you start comparing all of the characters, it starts to get a little confusing. I like that! And I didn't even bring up Zsa Zsa Gabor who, I think, is a bit like Tanka as well.

I still like the original best. It's very funny and has a really cute storyline that is pretty uncomplicated. I love all of the characters in it. John Kent is very frustrating at times, but he's still pretty endearing. And Fred and Ginger are at their bantering best in this one. They never actually fight at all, which is a refreshing change in the pattern of mistaken identities and mixed up plot lines that they usually got. 

The remake is a really cute move with some great songs. I don't like Tony's character at all, so I have a hard time understanding why Stephanie would fall in love with him; she deserves so much better. I'm not a huge fan of Red Skelton's physical humor, either, so that's a factor too. I love Marge and Gower Champion in the movie and I didn't have a problem with them taking Fred and Ginger's songs - I think they made the songs their own pretty well. The biggest problem I have with the movie, really, is that I don't like one of the main characters and he gets the girl at the end. As far as remakes go, though, it's a creative take on an original story.

What do you guys think? Have you seen either of the movies? Both? How did they compare?

My heart won't let my feet do things they should do

Another comparison post! I really love these! I'm afraid that I'll eventually run out of songs but when that happens, I guess I'll just think of something else to write about! Plus, after I've written a post, I'll often discover another version of the song, so that's always an option too.

Anyway, the song for today's discussion is "I Won't Dance" by Jerome Kern. Now, the obvious choice is to, yet again, compare Roberta and Lovely to Look At, which are actually the same story, so that's almost cheating. But I do like comparing remakes. And this song happens to be pretty popular in other movies too. Take a look:

from Roberta (1935), we have Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers:



then there's Till the Clouds Roll By (1946) with Lucille Bremer and, of all people, Van Johnson:



then, of course, there's Lovely to Look At (1952), with Marge and Gower Champion. I'm sure I've said this before but I do think it's a pity that this movie was a remake simply because the Champions were fantastic dancers in their own right. Obviously no one can compare to Fred and Ginger but they had their own style and spark. I really do enjoy watching them a great deal.



Now, we come to the contemporary portion of our discussion. There are several movies post-1980's that use this song. Love's Labor's Lost, Warm Springs, (both which have Kenneth Branagh, oddly enough). I wanted to show you the former one here but it's not on YouTube, so you'll have to take my word for it that it's pretty cute. The second one is a TV movie that I'd never heard of but looks way too sad for me to actually watch so I won't bother putting it in here. Now, what I will post here is a movie that I don't really have any interest in watching all the way through, but I find this dance sequence quite intriguing. Take a look:



Despite the fact that Gene Kelly never (to my knowledge) sang this song, I think it's fascinating how much this scene pays homage to him. Running through the taxi cab and dancing with trashcan lids are both used in It's Always Fair Weather and then, of course, rolling over a couch is totally Singin' in the Rain-ish. He even jumps up on a lamppost! It makes me wonder how many other musicals they're referring to throughout the scene.

They asked me how I knew my true love was true

Two "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" posts in a week might be a little much but I really do love this song. I know I'm not alone in this because there are multiple versions of it. Here are just a few examples:

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers performing it in Roberta (1935)


Gower Champion and Cyd Charisse in Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)


Marge and Gower Champion in Lovely to Look At (1952)


I'd never say one is better than the other. I like them all, really. It's just cool to see so many interpretations of this beautiful song, don't you think? And each from a different decade.

She started this heat wave by...

Hey! It's another comparison post! I do like these a lot. I'll often watch movies or listen to soundtracks and discover new ideas for these posts. It's fascinating to me how a song can change between performers. As we prepare for another hot summer, I thought "Heat Wave" would be an appropriate topic. I'm sure there are other renditions of this number but the ones that came to mind were Marilyn Monroe's in There's No Business Like Show Business and the one performed by Fred Astaire and Olga San Juan in Blue Skies. Let's take Marilyn's version first.

In this clip, Marilyn gets all of the attention. The whole scene is all about her anyway. Contextually, she's taking the thunder from love-interest, Donald O'Connor's mother, played by Ethel Merman. Her costume and rendition to the song is in direct contrast to the showy, brassy version that the show biz family would have performed. Marilyn's version is, not surprisingly, pure sexiness. We're taking the whole lyric literally as Marilyn sings about her effect on the weather. She doesn't even have to say how she started the heat wave; we can see for ourselves! In a way, this number could have been replaced with any other song - it could even have been alluded to - its relevance to the plot is simply that this beautiful and sexy girl is stealing Donald O'Connor's heart, so completely that he is willing to let her steal his family's thunder. Seeing her do it is a special treat and, as the dad, played by Dan Dailey, points out - we can see why he did it.



In this clip, the song is performed in a huge production number, complete with a full chorus, sets, and costumes. The scene is a moving forward of the plot. The climax of the song ends with Fred Astaire's character falling off a bridge - a pivotal point in the film as a whole. The whole number, despite the lyrics, are actually centered around Fred Astaire (he is the major name, after all). Leading into the number, we see Fred taking a drink and know that things do not bode well for him. The number begins with Fred sitting on a staircase, he is the one who gets the solo dance bit, and his fall at the end of the number ends the scene. The lyrics have little to do with the scene at hand, except as backdrop and to allow for a showy and exotic production number. Despite how cute and sexy Olga San Juan is, she is not the focal point of the scene. As performed here, the song isn't about a girl so hot she's making the temperature climb, it's about a man who sees a girl and his interest in her ultimately (possibly indirectly) leads to his demise - a sort of mirroring of the plot in the film. The sexiness is decidedly toned down compared to Marilyn's version. The dresses cover up a great deal more in this one. I find that Olga's head scarf detracts somewhat from her appeal. I'm too distracted by her bunny ears to notice what else is going on! And the lyrics are changed - her feet are what make the temperature rise. This is definitely a Fred Astaire number.



What do you think?

How long has this been going on?

I really don't know where I found this photo. I think I stumbled upon it when I tried to look up a different picture of Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn but I just think it's one of the cutest and funniest pictures ever.

Still a voice within me keeps repeating, "You. You. You."

One of my favorite dances from my favorite dancing team!

You kiss while you're dancing

I love them so much! And this picture is just perfection.

It will hit the spot

And of course, just because...



Every time I see this picture, I'm amazed by the physics of it. How on earth is he holding her by her fingers like that? Incredible!

I must be quite a guy

Note: You may recognize this post from a few weeks ago. That was the same time that I was doing a whole bunch of housecleaning and posting up a whole bunch of old posts that never got published and were just collecting dust in my list of posts. I was rather excited about this particular post so I rescheduled it on a less crowded day.

Today I'm going to highlight 3 videos. Woohoo! The theme is: roller skates! I feel as if everyone knows about Gene Kelly's fantastic dance scene on roller skates in It's Always Fair Weather. The dance is truly marvelous, but I always get a little irritated because Fred and Ginger did it first in Shall We Dance.



Of course, that's not to say that Gene wasn't absolutely brilliant when he did it several years later. And, I will admit, he carried the whole idea further, I think.



Then, I discovered yet another dancer doing this just the other day. One of my favorites, Donald O'Connor, dances in skates as well! So, here is Donald in I Love Melvin. The dancing portion begins around the 2 minute mark:

to show that I was dancin' by...

This photo, I'm pretty sure, can't quite handle all of the awesome it contains. Or maybe I can't. Can you imagine being a fly on the wall for this conversation?

And what did we see? We saw the sea.

So, I'm sick. I've actually been sick but now it's moved to my nose and chest where all I do is sniffle and cough. The only good thing about being sick is that it gives you an excuse to relax. This said, I'm having a movie marathon. I love movie marathons. I think it's so fun to have a theme and plan a whole line-up of films (hmm. new blog post series?). Today, I decided to go for a theme of... well, I'll let you figure it out. Here's the line up:
Follow the Fleet (1936)
Born to Dance (1936)
Two Girls and a Sailor (1944)
Anchors Aweigh (1945)
On the Town (1949)
Hit the Deck (1955)

And because movie marathons are no fun alone, I'll let you join me (without having to get sick too). Ready? Here we go:

I hope you enjoyed the movie marathon!

I'm like an ocean wave that's bumped on the shore

or

Remakes and the Contemporary Double Standard

I don't really know what I'd do without YouTube. I've discovered so many things and movies and movie stars through it. For example, I was watching movie clips and browsing through the suggestions list when I came upon this little gem:

I love Marge and Gower Champion. I actually discovered them originally through YouTube with this little number that I absolutely adore. Anyway, in watching the first clip, I remembered reading about Lovely to Look At (1952), which was a remake of the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers film Roberta (1935), in a Fred and Ginger book where the author said that Marge and Gower Champion were "dizzy" as Fred and Ginger. I think that was the word she used: dizzy or dizzying or something. Anyhow, while watching this clip, I thought about that and found that I disagreed. I like them in those roles. They're different that Fred and Ginger and I don't think they're even trying to be Fred and Ginger. The whole plot is changed and characters are split and altered that they're really two different movies altogether.

Same song, Fred and Ginger style.

But. Were I watching a contemporary remake of Roberta and saw two contemporary actors dancing a dance that originated on screen with Fred and Ginger, I'd probably go out of my mind with frustration and judgment. Who do they think they are anyway? The upstarts! Trying to be Fred and Ginger?! Sickening!

What's funny to me is that there are tons of remakes that Hollywood churned out, some not even twenty years after the original (like in the case of these two movies). So why the Double Standard? I know I've discussed this before but it really fascinates me. I mean, some remakes I prefer to the originals (like in the case of Silk Stockings/Ninotchka). I don't think I have an answer for this question; it's just something I like to muse over. Your thoughts?

**I should clarify: I don't like Lovely to Look At better than Roberta. I'm just saying that some of the old remakes are so good that I like them just as much, if not better than the originals.

Just west of Pittsburgh, babe.

I love this picture! This scene cracks me up every time!

Do you really think we can dance together?

One of my favorite dances of all time. So amazing.