Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Tripping the Light Fantastic

THE FUTURIST! as a child loved Fred Astaire movies... principally the films he made at RKO with Ginger Rogers. He was told by his mother that he sat on the floor of the living room transfixed by those old black and white images as Astaire and Ginger performed their foot work magic that was interspersed between the screwball plots of the films. THE FUTURIST! never found the later MGM color musical extravaganzas as enjoyable ... maybe it was because Ginger wasn't present or the plots were just so uninteresting and the musical numbers so bloated. However, there was always the magic of Astaire dancing. Sometimes just taking some of those moments away from the BIG Hollywood cornball is enough.

For instance, this scene between Astaire and Eleanor Powell in BROADWAY MELODY OF 1940 from MGM ... it is total magic. The beautiful black and white cinematography and set design and costume design and most of all those effortless foot movements. This is why THE FUTURIST! loves movies ... it just takes him away.

*Please ignore the slight interruption of an apparent Japanese voice for a few moments. THE FUTURIST! believes this is an excerpt from the Asian dubbed version of THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT.


2 comments:

Dara said...

I agree with TF!. Much prefer the elegant, Black & White Astaire/ Rogers films. I'm not even sure if I've seen this one, it's been years since I watched any of them. I remember searching for Top Hat on VHS for ages. And taping others ones off TV. Ah, the old days!

THE FUTURIST! said...

Is TOP HAT on DVD in Scotland or in your vast collection? It is the tops, in TF!'s opinion.