Happy People
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SWC75
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In 1978 Dennis Potter wrote a musical BBC TV series called "Pennies from heaven" starring Bob Hoskins as a music salesman, (people bought sheets of music from popular songs to play on their pianos and sing to at parties), with romantic dreams as represented by the movies these songs were from and wishes his life was like that. unfortunately his life is fully of tragedy so he uses his imagination to escape into the musical sequences form the films he loves.
It was a highly praised series and Hollywood decided to make a movie of it in 1981. unfortunately, they cast two leads who had more of a comic persona, Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters and the film came off looking like a parody to the films of the 30's rather than a tribute to them, showing the need for such escapism in hard times. (Martin might have come off better in later years when his reputation as an all-around actor had improved: at the time he was just seen as a goofy comedian.)
One of the big scenes in the film is when Martin and Peters watch Astaire and Rogers dance their famous dance and then see themselves in the scene. It plays better now than ti seemed to then:
I saw this with my parents, who had lived through the depression and my mother cried all the way home, saying she hated the film for mocking the films she loved and needed so much in that era. I had to point out to her that the film was intended as a serious tribute to those films. it was just knocked off-kilter by the casting.
Fred Astaire saw Pennies From Heaven and hated it: ""I have never spent two more miserable hours in my life. Every scene was cheap and vulgar. They don't realize that the '30s were a very innocent age, and that [the film] should have been set in the '80s – it was just froth; it makes you cry it's so distasteful." (Wikipedia)
There was nothing innocent about the 1930's. Fred's view of it was from the vantage point of a movie star and the contrast to what his movies were like and what the rest of the world was like may have caught him by surprise.
It was a highly praised series and Hollywood decided to make a movie of it in 1981. unfortunately, they cast two leads who had more of a comic persona, Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters and the film came off looking like a parody to the films of the 30's rather than a tribute to them, showing the need for such escapism in hard times. (Martin might have come off better in later years when his reputation as an all-around actor had improved: at the time he was just seen as a goofy comedian.)
One of the big scenes in the film is when Martin and Peters watch Astaire and Rogers dance their famous dance and then see themselves in the scene. It plays better now than ti seemed to then:
I saw this with my parents, who had lived through the depression and my mother cried all the way home, saying she hated the film for mocking the films she loved and needed so much in that era. I had to point out to her that the film was intended as a serious tribute to those films. it was just knocked off-kilter by the casting.
Fred Astaire saw Pennies From Heaven and hated it: ""I have never spent two more miserable hours in my life. Every scene was cheap and vulgar. They don't realize that the '30s were a very innocent age, and that [the film] should have been set in the '80s – it was just froth; it makes you cry it's so distasteful." (Wikipedia)
There was nothing innocent about the 1930's. Fred's view of it was from the vantage point of a movie star and the contrast to what his movies were like and what the rest of the world was like may have caught him by surprise.
SWC75
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His retirement lasted two years. Gene Kelly broke a leg and was unnble to do "Easter Parade" with Judy Garland and Fred agreed to replace him. it renewed his popularity and he went on to have some of his most memorable performances after that.
One was this spectacular number in Easter Parade, where he was re-united with his cane for "Steppin Out With My Baby":
One was this spectacular number in Easter Parade, where he was re-united with his cane for "Steppin Out With My Baby":
SWC75
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Fred wanted to do something similar with Cyd in "The Band Wagon" so the Vamp was back a year later:
From a comment under "Dancing in the Dark":
"The choreography cleverly conceals the elfin Fred's inability to do proper lifts with less than wraith-like partners: for example, he uses the park bench in a variant of the 'hurdle lift' from 'The Yam' in 'Carefree' to bolster himself. Not that it matters, when so much emotion can be conveyed without toting the lady around, just by moving in unison. Cyd said when she rehearsed with Gene Kelly, who was ballet-minded, she came home covered in bruises; with Fred, not a mark. Notice her slightly splay-footed, waddling gait when they are wandering through the dancers, betraying her balletic origins, and Fred's quizzical looks. He never forgot to act with his face as well as his body."
From a comment under "Dancing in the Dark":
"The choreography cleverly conceals the elfin Fred's inability to do proper lifts with less than wraith-like partners: for example, he uses the park bench in a variant of the 'hurdle lift' from 'The Yam' in 'Carefree' to bolster himself. Not that it matters, when so much emotion can be conveyed without toting the lady around, just by moving in unison. Cyd said when she rehearsed with Gene Kelly, who was ballet-minded, she came home covered in bruises; with Fred, not a mark. Notice her slightly splay-footed, waddling gait when they are wandering through the dancers, betraying her balletic origins, and Fred's quizzical looks. He never forgot to act with his face as well as his body."
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Fred Astaire had another summit meeting. It came in an All-Star review called "Ziegfeld Follies" (1946):
Gene is the more powerfully built man and the more explosive dancer. Fred is smoother and more lithe. Fred's like a figure skater: Gene's more the gymnastic type. Gene does things that look difficult. Fred does things that look easy.
Don't forget to look a the statue in the background in each segment, including the final one where both the rider and the horse have harps.
Gene is the more powerfully built man and the more explosive dancer. Fred is smoother and more lithe. Fred's like a figure skater: Gene's more the gymnastic type. Gene does things that look difficult. Fred does things that look easy.
Don't forget to look a the statue in the background in each segment, including the final one where both the rider and the horse have harps.
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SWC75
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The reference to Rita Hayworth was for Kelly's star-making performance in "Cover Girl" (1944), which contained the famous "Alter Ego Dance", where Kelly, in still another dance down the street, (see the first two posts), finds he cannot dance away from himself.
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Gene did another difficult and innovative sequence in 1945 when he danced with Jerry the Mouse in 'Anchors Away'. Jerry the Mouse was MGM's answer to mickey Mouse in a series of 'Tom and Jerry' cartoons that began in 1940. originally, the studio wanted to join forces with Disney and have Gene dance with Mickey Mouse but Disney declined to share their creation and Jerry the Mouse, (done by Hanna and Barbera), was substituted.
the sequence is one of those things was was more spectacular in its time than it appears now because it was a pioneering attempt to do something we are now used to: combining live actors with animated characters, in this case in a complex dance. The sequence took two months to create, including time to add in a shadow for Jerry when animators noticed that gene had one and Jerry didn't
the sequence is one of those things was was more spectacular in its time than it appears now because it was a pioneering attempt to do something we are now used to: combining live actors with animated characters, in this case in a complex dance. The sequence took two months to create, including time to add in a shadow for Jerry when animators noticed that gene had one and Jerry didn't
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Frank had another summit meeting in that film:
There were no specialists in those days. Dancers had to sing, singers had to dance and they both had to act and tell jokes. per the IMDB, it took 8 weeks and 72 takes to get this sequence just the way Kelly wanted it.
The IMDB has these contradictory notes:
"Legend has it that this film saw the birth of a longstanding resentment between Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly as Sinatra took umbrage at the way Kelly dominated so many of their numbers together. (At this point, Sinatra had failed to make much of a mark as a film actor and saw this as his big break, something that was ultimately denied him by Kelly's dynamic performance.) Although the two would go on to make two more films together, Sinatra never forgot being upstaged on Anchors Aweigh (1945) and would get his revenge many years later when he denied Kelly a role in Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964). "
"Although many have said that a longstanding resentment between the two leads was started during this project, there is little to no evidence to suggest this. Quite the opposite, it was this film that started a lasting friendship between Sinatra and Kelly that spawned two other film projects. "
i''l go with the latter. if they resented each other I doubt they'd have done "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" and "On the Town" together.
There were no specialists in those days. Dancers had to sing, singers had to dance and they both had to act and tell jokes. per the IMDB, it took 8 weeks and 72 takes to get this sequence just the way Kelly wanted it.
The IMDB has these contradictory notes:
"Legend has it that this film saw the birth of a longstanding resentment between Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly as Sinatra took umbrage at the way Kelly dominated so many of their numbers together. (At this point, Sinatra had failed to make much of a mark as a film actor and saw this as his big break, something that was ultimately denied him by Kelly's dynamic performance.) Although the two would go on to make two more films together, Sinatra never forgot being upstaged on Anchors Aweigh (1945) and would get his revenge many years later when he denied Kelly a role in Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964). "
"Although many have said that a longstanding resentment between the two leads was started during this project, there is little to no evidence to suggest this. Quite the opposite, it was this film that started a lasting friendship between Sinatra and Kelly that spawned two other film projects. "
i''l go with the latter. if they resented each other I doubt they'd have done "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" and "On the Town" together.
SWC75
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Gene's most famous achievement and the pinnacle of the Hollywood musical, is, of course, the ballet to Gershwin's 'An American in Paris' in the movie of the same name. He incorporated many of the most famous impressionist paintings into this 13 minute extravaganza. I've always thought the film should have needed with this but they tacked on a 'Hollywood' ending where his girl abandons his rival and comes running to him. 
Amazingly, there's no one clip of the whole thing I could find on the internet. here's what i could find:
Amazingly, there's no one clip of the whole thing I could find on the internet. here's what i could find:
