Nobody does it quite like Fred.

Hi everyone,

Last week, the Smithsonian put me in the clouds with Gene Kelly at the Museum of American History. This week, they offered a date with Fred Astaire at the Hirshhorn Museum. Thursday night, Fred Astaire: Dancing with Genius, offered a mix of lecture by fan/Fred expert Christine Bamberger with film clips and recordings to explore the dancer's life and work. 

Fred Astaire's name inevitably came up in whatever I read about Gene Kelly. People like to compare them because they were the two giants of dance at the time, but I never understood the comparison: Their styles are completely different. 

Growing up, I saw most of Fred Astaire's movies. But, unlike the instantaneous adoration that hit me with Gene Kelly, my love for Fred Astaire was more gradual. At first, I thought he was clumsier than Gene Kelly: To me, Fred always seemed to tap too hard and fast; I worried that he might fall over at any second. In my eyes, Gene just floated on air. 

As I got older, I realized that Fred Astaire would never fall over. He could do whatever he wanted with his feet, and everything would always be precise, elegant, and perfect. Someone who knew Fred said his body oozed dance, even when just walking down the street. I believe it!

The lecturer sounded just like me – if you replace Fred with Gene: She fell in love with Fred when she saw That's Entertainment! at 13.  She's a writer/editor for a government contractor, but she watches classic movies all the time. And, by now, she's learned so much about Fred Astaire that she can serve as an expert resource on the topic. 

I wouldn't call myself an expert on Gene Kelly, and I'm definitely not an expert on Fred Astaire: I haven't even read any books about Fred Astaire (yet). So, I was excited to go to this event to learn more about the other giant.

To my surprise, I knew most of what was highlighted in the lecture. I was amazed to find out, though, that Fred Astaire primarily thought of himself only as an entertainer and nothing much more. Always humble, he didn't consider or care much about being remembered for his talent. Instead he stayed focused on moving forward and trying new things. 

Well, Fred Astaire was entertaining! What I love most about him is his musicality; he always made his songs distinctly his own. In fact, songwriters of the day, such as George Gershwin and Cole Porter, asked him more than any other entertainer to introduce their songs in his movies. Fred Astaire had his own style of singing and seemed to play instruments with ease--talents that, I learned, he just "picked up along the way." As Christine said after we watched Fred play an elaborate tune on the piano, "It's not fair, is it?"

Ultimately, the lecture made me want to watch Fred Astaire dance. So, here's one of my favorites, "A Shine on Your Shoes," from 1953's The Band Wagon.

This dance makes me so happy! Of course, Fred is amazing. (You'll see what I mean about his musicality here.) This song was written in 1932 by Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz, and this is a wonderful version of it. But, for me, the shoe-shiner practically steals the show – I love this guy! He's beaming! His name is Leroy Daniels, a real-life dancing shoeshine man they found in Los Angeles. Check it out: 

Copyright: MGM

I suppose, if Fred Astaire showed up at my shoeshine stand, I'd be that happy too – especially if I had remembered to wear my pink socks.

[I'm] Old-Fashioned.

I waited a few days, but I couldn't get the song by Jerome Kern and Johnny Mercer--or the dance by Rita Hayworth and Fred Astaire--out of my head.


Rita Hayworth is best known for her femme fatale character in Gilda,  but I knew her first as a fantastic dancer in Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire musicals. When I finally saw Gilda, I preferred her sunny side.


In You Were Never Lovelier (1942), Rita plays the second-eldest daughter of a wealthy Argentine family. Her father (Adolfe Menjou)  wants his four daughters to marry in order, but Rita--having not met anyone interesting yet--is holding up the line. To speed things along, he sends her flowers and gifts from a secret admirer and plans to find her a suitable husband later.


Meanwhile, Fred Astaire shows up looking for work, and Rita--of course--falls for him. Her father does not approve! Oh, the drama!


Most musicals are the same.  You know how things will end and that you'll feel all warm and fuzzy inside. But the joy is in getting there: the cheesy lines, the music, the dancing. It'll all make you smile!


Here is Rita and Fred's wonderful performance of "I'm Old-Fashioned" from You Were Never Lovelier. Fred Astaire once said that Rita was his favorite of all his dancing partners. What do you think? 



© Columbia Pictures


Here, The Mother Kitty and B.J. pay tribute to Fred and Rita's beautiful dance:



[Illustration Friday: September 24, 2010]


B.J.'s a little disappointed that I cut out his lines, which he'd been practicing all day: "Sister, I was raised amongst the grasshoppers. I am strictly from corn!" But I didn't have enough room.


Don't worry, he's over it. Who complains when you get to be Fred Astaire?


Are you smiling? Warm and fuzzy? Now, this song and dance be stuck in your head all week!

Routine

(Illustration Friday - August 22, 2008)

I fell behind on my drawings because of TCM's annual Summer Under the Stars Festival in August. Whose idea was it to have consecutive days devoted to Greer Garson, Rita Hayworth, Fred Astaire, and Gene Kelly? Thanks, but I think I nearly overloaded my DVR. In any case, on Fred Astaire Day, I pointed out my favorite Fred and Ginger dance routine to the kitties. The Mother Kitty and Simon have been practicing it ever since.

September has been busy and a bit stressful, another reason for my delayed posts. For the first time ever, I had to redraw a drawing completely - not once, but four times! The first time, I accidentally colored Kitty's tail brown. She yelled at me and spent the rest of the day licking herself. The second time, I colored her front paws brown. She shrieked and tried to wipe them off on Simon, who mistook her gesture for affection. The third time, I didn't even get to coloring, as I drew the exit door too long. At that point, Kitty rolled her eyes, stomped off, and refused to speak to me until I convinced her that we were paying homage to Fred Astaire's perfectionism by repeating the routine so many times to get it right.

In the movie Swing Time, Ginger, who plays a dance teacher, gets mad at Fred, a gambler, because she thinks he stole a quarter from her. He finds her dance studio and asks to be paired up with her "to learn," but he really just wants to have the chance to explain what happened to her quarter. [If only all of my arguments were only about a missing quarter....] He pretends to be a hopeless dancer, frustrating her into telling him to save his money and go home. Her boss overhears and instantly fires her for turning away students. Rest assured, Fred saves the day by showing the boss what he's learned from her: In celebration of completing this seemingly simple drawing and to guarantee a smile, here's The Real Thing.



As Ginger's boss praises at the end, "It's sheer heaven, my dears, shear heaven!" Enjoy!