Two of the greatest dancers of the era, Fred Astaire and Elanor Powell, in a show full of great music and a pretty good story, what could be wrong with that. NOTHING.
Nice copy, good sound and picture quality, if you like the old musicals and don't have this on now is your chance.
Heck even George Murphy is good in it.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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SHE WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST DANCERS OF ALL-TIME!!!
Added 6/27/2009
I do not often post reviews or respond to reviews as I am doing here, but after reading R. L. Pulliam's remarks about Eleanor Powell, I feel the need to do so because I wouldn't want anyone who may be just discovering Ms. Powell's talents to get the wrong idea about her dancing because of R. L. Pulliam's remarks.
While I do believe that R. L. Pulliam is entitled to his opinion when it comes to Powell's dancing style, at the same time, I must take exception to the remarks that Powell didn't have "creative flair for invention" and that Powell "danced pretty much the same way in each film".
Nothing can be further from the truth!!!
Perhaps R. L. Pulliam has not actually SEEN many of her other films. Perhaps he is only judging Powell by the very short excerpts which were shown in the "That's Entertainment" films (most of her numbers in these were extremely cut-to-the-bone and do not provide even a small glimpse of what she was capable of).
She did ALL of her own choreography and much of it was quite inventive! In "Lady Be Good" she did a very creative number with a cute little dog! In "Ship Ahoy" she did a very inventive number teaming herself with the great drummer Buddy Rich! In that same film she also did a number where she tapped out a message in Morse code. Extremely creative! In "I Dood It" she did a very inventive western rope dance! In "Honolulu" she did an excellent impersonation of the great Bill Robinson, dancing his famous stairway-dance routine, step-for-step (one need only compare this to Robinson's own version which can be found on a VHS called "Jazz Band Ball"). When Ms. Powell was still in her teens she worked often with Mr. Robinson at private parties in New York, where he taught her his famous dance
I would also like to point out that this film was not the first time that Powell worked with George Murphy! They had first appeared together in the film "Broadway Melody of 1938", so perhaps Murphy was not so intimidated by Powell after all. Oh, by-the-way, in that film, Powell choreographed a very creative number for Murphy and herself where they danced in the rain, and almost 15 years BEFORE the great Gene Kelly did it!!! Anyone who watches this number today will no doubt see how this routine influenced Mr. Kelly's later and more famous number. However, in Powell's version, she and Murphy actually end up by falling into a large puddle!!!
I will end with a quote from Mr.Astaire, who In his autobiography 'Steps in Time', remarked about Powell: "She 'put 'em down like a man', no ricky-ticky-sissy stuff with Ellie. She really knocked out a tap dance in a class by herself."
The only thing which I will add to Mr. Astaire's remarks is that while Powell did "put 'em down like a man", she remained extremely feminine while doing it.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Last of the Great Black & White Musicals
Added 5/24/2009
Like many of the musicals of the thirties and forties, the story is a little tough to get through. But the swing dance number of Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine" is something, the likes of which, we'll never see again.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Just Fabulous
Added 1/9/2009
This movie was corny but the dancing was terrific...the quality of the video was very good...received in a timely manner.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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A Classic
Added 11/22/2008
This movie is now 68 years old.
The last dance sequence with Fred Astaire and
Eleanor Powell would probably be one of the
greatest dances of all time.
Even Frank Sinatra in "That's Entertainment"
said "you will never see the likes of this
again"
Watch it again and again and I'm sure
you'll agree.
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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Two of the greatest dancers of the era, Fred Astaire and Elanor Powell, in a show full of great music and a pretty good story, what could be wrong with that. NOTHING.
Nice copy, good sound and picture quality, if you like the old musicals and don't have this on now is your chance.
Heck even George Murphy is good in it.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
SHE WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST DANCERS OF ALL-TIME!!!
Added 6/27/2009
I do not often post reviews or respond to reviews as I am doing here, but after reading R. L. Pulliam's remarks about Eleanor Powell, I feel the need to do so because I wouldn't want anyone who may be just discovering Ms. Powell's talents to get the wrong idea about her dancing because of R. L. Pulliam's remarks.
While I do believe that R. L. Pulliam is entitled to his opinion when it comes to Powell's dancing style, at the same time, I must take exception to the remarks that Powell didn't have "creative flair for invention" and that Powell "danced pretty much the same way in each film".
Nothing can be further from the truth!!!
Perhaps R. L. Pulliam has not actually SEEN many of her other films. Perhaps he is only judging Powell by the very short excerpts which were shown in the "That's Entertainment" films (most of her numbers in these were extremely cut-to-the-bone and do not provide even a small glimpse of what she was capable of).
She did ALL of her own choreography and much of it was quite inventive! In "Lady Be Good" she did a very creative number with a cute little dog! In "Ship Ahoy" she did a very inventive number teaming herself with the great drummer Buddy Rich! In that same film she also did a number where she tapped out a message in Morse code. Extremely creative! In "I Dood It" she did a very inventive western rope dance! In "Honolulu" she did an excellent impersonation of the great Bill Robinson, dancing his famous stairway-dance routine, step-for-step (one need only compare this to Robinson's own version which can be found on a VHS called "Jazz Band Ball"). When Ms. Powell was still in her teens she worked often with Mr. Robinson at private parties in New York, where he taught her his famous dance
I would also like to point out that this film was not the first time that Powell worked with George Murphy! They had first appeared together in the film "Broadway Melody of 1938", so perhaps Murphy was not so intimidated by Powell after all. Oh, by-the-way, in that film, Powell choreographed a very creative number for Murphy and herself where they danced in the rain, and almost 15 years BEFORE the great Gene Kelly did it!!! Anyone who watches this number today will no doubt see how this routine influenced Mr. Kelly's later and more famous number. However, in Powell's version, she and Murphy actually end up by falling into a large puddle!!!
I will end with a quote from Mr.Astaire, who In his autobiography 'Steps in Time', remarked about Powell: "She 'put 'em down like a man', no ricky-ticky-sissy stuff with Ellie. She really knocked out a tap dance in a class by herself."
The only thing which I will add to Mr. Astaire's remarks is that while Powell did "put 'em down like a man", she remained extremely feminine while doing it.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
Last of the Great Black & White Musicals
Added 5/24/2009
Like many of the musicals of the thirties and forties, the story is a little tough to get through. But the swing dance number of Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine" is something, the likes of which, we'll never see again.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
