It may seem odd that by far my favorite of Fred Astaire’s dance partners is, in fact, not a dancer at all. But the above clip of Paulette Goddard and Astaire performing “I Ain’t Hep To That Step But I’ll Dig It” from “Second Chorus” (1940) rocks me every time
On Monday I promised to post only Fred Astaire items this week, featuring dancing partners who he only worked with once or twice. Yesterday I broke that promise by not posting anything. (It was a travel day so I’m allowed). Here’s another Fred/Rita number, ‘I’m Old Fashioned’, from ‘You Were
Let’s keep this short (work-wise) and lovely (in every other way) week simple. I’m going to post only Fred Astaire dance numbers all week, specifically ones that might be a bit more obscure to those who mostly know the Ginger Rogers-era Fred. He made two movies with Rita Hayworth–”You’ll Never
In queasy acceptance of the fact that the most noxious week in American history has now officially begun, I’ve decided to post the most noxious musical numbers ever filmed. What better way to kick things off than with this stinker from ‘The Goldwyn Follies’ (1938) featuring the wildly unfunny Ritz
Let’s close this autumnal week with some madcap 1920s dancing featuring Joan Crawford. Above and below I’ve posted a few minutes from ‘Our Dancing Daughters’, the 1928 silent vehicle that officially launched Crawford’s career and world wide fame. Actually, calling the film ‘silent’ isn’t quite accurate as it was released
Today I offer two views of this week’s subject Gloria Swanson in the late 1920s/early 1930s. Above is a little reel that jams together a few obscure but interesting snippets of film–it’s a bit of a hodgepodge but I thought worth including in our loose and free-wheeling survey of La
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Roptw1AGp8 I never knew there was a black and white version of ‘The Flintstones’. That’s no doubt because when the show aired in syndication in the 1970s (which is when I saw it) black and white was felt to be undesirable to the children who were watching the show. Far
Above is from a 1965 ‘Flintstones’ episode wherein the children of the Flintstones and Rubbles–Pebbles and Bam-Bam–have their moment in the singer/celebrity spotlight. The song that was chosen for them, ‘Open Up Your Heart (and Let the Sunshine In)’ has a curious history. It was written in 1954 by Stuart
Compare and contrast the animated Ann-Margaret as shown in yesterday’s Flinstone’s clip with the real deal. Above is the opening pre-credit A-M number from ‘The Swinger’ (1966), a film that delivers so much less than its title (and title sequence) promises that, if it were a vaudeville show, it would
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXCiS2FpmIc Apropos of yesterday’s ‘Flintstones’ musical moment, here is the hottest cartoon character ever drawn–save for, perhaps, Jessica Rabbit. (Or Petunia Pig, if the BBW world is more your cup of darjeeling). Ann-Margret was square in the middle of her ‘Viva Las Vegas’ fame when this tribute was drawn by