Film Festival: Cruise Ship Romance Shall We Dance (1937) is the seventh pairing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. This time he is the star of a Russian ballet troupe and Ginger is the famous tap and jazz dancer he admires. Traveling on a cruise ship is a huge piece of the plot. I’ve always…
Fred Astaire
Swing Time wedding and gambling: Lisa’s Home Bijou
Film Festival: Weddings, Hollywood Style Swing Time (1936) opens with John “Lucky” Garnett (Fred Astaire) dancing on stage with all male dance troupe. His manager Pop Cardetti (Victor Moore) is backstage playing card tricks for money. Lucky is leaving show business to get married, to the dismay of his troupe. Lucky dresses beautifully in a…
Lisa’s Home Bijou: You Were Never Lovelier
Film Festival: Latin Flavor In You Were Never Lovelier (1942), Rita Hayworth plays a Buenos Aires princess in the style of “Taming of the Shrew.” Margarita Cansino was a dark-haired beauty that first was noticed as her father Eduardo’s ballroom dance partner. In her late teens she made a few movie appearances (Charlie Chan in Egypt). Then…
Lisa’s Home Bijou: Holiday Inn
Film Festival: The Holidays One of America’s most-beloved Christmas songs is White Christmas. Written by Irving Berlin during World War II, it served as a reminder of home and hearth for many GIs. Bing Crosby introduces the song in the musical, Holiday Inn (1942), a film that is about a lot more than just Christmas….
Lisa’s Home Bijou: Top Hat classic art deco musical
Film Festival: Art Deco DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION, Hollywood movies gave audiences a glamorous escape from reality. RKO’s Top Hat has glamour in spades, featuring exotic locales, beautiful clothes, big dance numbers and fantastic art deco sets. This is one of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers‘ finest moments in any film. “Heaven, I’m in heaven, And…