We've featured the memorable partnership of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers on several occasions. I couldn't stand to watch their films when I was younger but have grown to appreciate the artistry and beauty of their dance scenes. Their films also featured many classics from the Great American Songbook, most of them introduced to audiences for the first time. Below are my nine favorites, arranged chronologically.
The Continental, composed by Herb Magidson & Con Conrad. From The Gay Divorcee (1934).
Night & Day, composed by Cole Porter. The Gay Divorcee.
Cheek To Cheek, composed by Irving Berlin. From Top Hat (1935).
I Won't Dance, composed by Jerome Kern & Dorothy Fields. From Roberta (1935).
The Way You Look Tonight, composed by Jerome Kern & Dorothy Fields. From Swing Time (1936)
Extra added bonus version from Tony Bennett!
Let's Face The Music And Dance, composed by Irving Berlin. From Follow The Fleet (1936). My favorite of their music and dance sequences.
They Can't Take That Away From Me, composed by George & Ira Gershwin. From Shall We Dance (1937).
They All Laughed, composed by the Gershwins. Shall We Dance.
Let's Call The Whole Thing Off, composed by the Gershwins. Shall We Dance.
Showing posts with label Fred Astaire. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fred Astaire. Show all posts
Friday, December 22, 2017
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
Parov Stelar
(Tip of the hat to faithful reader DM who made me aware of this video)
Parov Stelar is an Austrian producer and musician specializing in electro swing (whatever that is!). This is Booty Swing which freely samples Lil Hardin Armstrong's 1938 hit, Oriental Swing. Hardin was the second wife of Louis Armstrong.
The video features footage from dance films of the 1930s, mostly starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The opening scene is from their 1936 film Swing Time.
Parov Stelar is an Austrian producer and musician specializing in electro swing (whatever that is!). This is Booty Swing which freely samples Lil Hardin Armstrong's 1938 hit, Oriental Swing. Hardin was the second wife of Louis Armstrong.
The video features footage from dance films of the 1930s, mostly starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The opening scene is from their 1936 film Swing Time.
Tuesday, November 8, 2016
Tired Of Thinking About The Election?
There may be trouble ahead, but while there's music and moonlight and love and romance, let's face the music and dance.
And moving from the sublime to the ridiculous, how about a tribute to the greatest song in the world?
And moving from the sublime to the ridiculous, how about a tribute to the greatest song in the world?
Sunday, December 27, 2015
Let's Face The Music And Dance
What a pleasure to watch. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers from Follow The Fleet (1936). The song was composed by Irving Berlin for the film. The clip below supplies the full set up and context for the song and dance which THC found quite surprising. It's worth watching the whole thing (and you'll see young Lucille Ball looking over Fred's right shoulder in the opening sequence) but if you want to start when Ginger Rogers makes her first appearance go to 2:30. THC doesn't know much about dancing technique but thinks anyone with a heart will find the nearly three minute sequence with no cuts to be breathtaking, beautiful and moving. Along with Fred & Ginger notice the third character, Ginger's dress and the legs it encases. How did they do that?
Sunday, May 11, 2014
I Won't Dance
Lesson #2 from Fred Astaire's masterclass: "You Don't Need To Have A Great, Or Even Good, Voice To Be A Great Singer". For Lesson #1 see Puttin' On The Ritz and for a particularly relevant related post see Putin On The Ritz.
Originally written for a Broadway show by Jerome Kern (music) and Oscar Hammerstein and Otto Harbach (lyrics) the lyrics were rewritten by Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh for the 1935 film Roberta starring Astaire and Ginger Rogers (along with Irene Dunn and Randolph Scott). In the film Fred and Ginger perform it as a duet but the version below is all Astaire (you can find the movie version here which features an entertaining piano solo by Fred to kick it off).
Kern, Fields and McHugh had quite the songwriting resumes. Kern was responsible for Ol' Man River, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes and The Way You Look Tonight (the last co-written with Fields) while Fields and McHugh also teamed up to write On The Sunny Side Of The Street and I Can't Give You Anything But Love.
As an extra bonus, listen carefully to the lyrics and discover how the prescient Astaire lays the groundwork for a successful product liability defense decades down the road.
Originally written for a Broadway show by Jerome Kern (music) and Oscar Hammerstein and Otto Harbach (lyrics) the lyrics were rewritten by Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh for the 1935 film Roberta starring Astaire and Ginger Rogers (along with Irene Dunn and Randolph Scott). In the film Fred and Ginger perform it as a duet but the version below is all Astaire (you can find the movie version here which features an entertaining piano solo by Fred to kick it off).
Kern, Fields and McHugh had quite the songwriting resumes. Kern was responsible for Ol' Man River, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes and The Way You Look Tonight (the last co-written with Fields) while Fields and McHugh also teamed up to write On The Sunny Side Of The Street and I Can't Give You Anything But Love.
As an extra bonus, listen carefully to the lyrics and discover how the prescient Astaire lays the groundwork for a successful product liability defense decades down the road.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Puttin' On The Ritz
Want to know how someone without a great voice can still be a great singer? Listen to Fred Astaire doing Irving Berlin's Puttin' On The Ritz. Not easy to do what he does here.
Of course, this song had another famous cover in the 1970s:
Of course, this song had another famous cover in the 1970s:
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