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 I watch it. I’ve posted it before but for those who are new to it you have a great treat in store. And for those who’ve seem it before, watch it again. You’ll be glad you did. Paulette apparently had heard about Astaire’s notoriously grueling rehearsal schedules and, always more than a little headstrong, was having none of it. The story goest that she locked herself in a studio for a weekend with a dance instructor who’d learned the choroeography, mastered it and insisted that they shoot the rehearsal with Fred. And that’s what you see–the first and only take that they did. It’s perfect. The fact that Paulette was my first (and still number one) screen goddess crush doesn’t influence me at all in the selection of this as my favorite Astaire routine. I even actually once wrote her a fan letter. Don’t tell anyone I told you that…