Dear all (but especially Bostonians)

It's five a.m (aagh) and was just going out of the door for choir tour of
Flanders when I gathered from the World News on the radio that some
momentous sporting occasion has taken place for which the Bostonians have to
be congratulated.  I gather it has something to do with some bastardised
form of our ancient game of rounders; is that right?

Actually, Bill Bryson has been keeping us very well informed over here via
the Times - so, jolly well done old chaps!

Much love

An about to be very muddy

Sallyann

_________________________________________________________________
Use MSN Messenger to send music and pics to your friends
http://www.msn.co.uk/messenger

Sorry, it's very early in the morning - have just sent v rude message to
Bostonians under wrong heading - many apologies!

love

Sallyann

_________________________________________________________________
It's fast, it's easy and it's free. Get MSN Messenger today!
http://www.msn.co.uk/messenger

Sounds like "Delicious" (1931).

http://imdb.com/title/tt0021793/

numberonefredastairefan

> While flipping channels, I saw part of an ancient musical,
Delicious, on the Fox Movie
> Channel. Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell were the headliners,
along with "George
> Gershwin Music". Included in the cast of characters were Raul
Roulien (playing a Russian
> immigrant, complete with Brazilian accent). The face of Misha Auer
was also in the cast,
> giving him yet another opportunity to  to sing Ochi Chornya. Final
Fred connection: the
> script, such as it was, was written by Guy Bolton.

THEY DID IT! THEY DID IT! THEY DID IT! THEY DID IT!

Fred won the bet this time (maybe he bet The Babe).

(Or is there any money in Heaven?)



  --- In astaire@yahoogroups.com, "Sallyann Halstead"
<sallyannhalstead@m...> wrote:
>
> Sorry, it's very early in the morning - have just sent v rude
message to
> Bostonians under wrong heading - many apologies!
>
> love
>
> Sallyann
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> It's fast, it's easy and it's free. Get MSN Messenger today!
> http://www.msn.co.uk/messenger

I'm sure Fred's in heaven and betting to his heart's content, but I
doubt that the Babe spends much time up there... he's with Ty Cobb in
a much warmer place.

--- In astaire@yahoogroups.com, "chrisbamberger" <cnb@s...> wrote:
>
> THEY DID IT! THEY DID IT! THEY DID IT! THEY DID IT!
>
> Fred won the bet this time (maybe he bet The Babe).
>
> (Or is there any money in Heaven?)

Heehee--ya think so? (I don't know much of anything about Babe Ruth's
life, I must confess.)

Maybe Fred had the bet with Lou Gehrig.



--- In astaire@yahoogroups.com, "Rita Marlowe Schmidlap"
<bullgirl45@y...> wrote:
>
> I'm sure Fred's in heaven and betting to his heart's content, but I
> doubt that the Babe spends much time up there... he's with Ty Cobb
in
> a much warmer place.
>
> --- In astaire@yahoogroups.com, "chrisbamberger" <cnb@s...> wrote:
> >
> > THEY DID IT! THEY DID IT! THEY DID IT! THEY DID IT!
> >
> > Fred won the bet this time (maybe he bet The Babe).
> >
> > (Or is there any money in Heaven?)

I would assume F&G since there were 14 Val Lewton films.

numberonefredastairefan

>
> Below is a quote from The Digital Bits' Interview
>
> "GF: Fred and Ginger are coming to DVD in 2005 at long last… the
> Val Lewton films are coming in 2005…
>
> RAH: As a collection?
>
> GF: As a collection. All nine will be in one box."
>
>
> Are the Fred and Ginger movies coming as a collection, or is the
guy
> referring to the Val Lewton films?

A bit on "ultra resolution" from dvdtimes.co.uk in reference to
the "Robin Hood" box set:

"*The Ultra-Resolution Process
The Adventures of Robin Hood will be presented in Warner Bros.'
dazzling new "Ultra-Resolution," which allows today's viewers to see
parts of the images which were never visible before and sharper
detail than in conventional Technicolor release prints.

"WHV first used this process for Singin' in the Rain; and Ned Price,
Warner Bros.' Vice President of Mastering, Technical Operations,
says "'Ultra-Resolution' has been improved for The Adventures of
Robin Hood. As good as Singin' in the Rain turned out," Price
said, "…Robin Hood takes us one step further."

"65 years later, Warner Bros. is employing a process which begins
with scanning the original Technicolor 3-strip black and
white 'records' at extremely high (2k) resolution. The black and
white records are then combined electronically to create the color
images, which are also electronically re-registered, steadied and
cleaned before the final DVDs are produced."

numberonefredastairefan

> Also of interest in this interview is the information that the DVD
of
> "Easter Parade," which is now in production, will be released
in "ultra
> resolution" next year in a 2-disc set with the PBS
documentary "Judy
> Garland: By Myself."  I didn't see any mention of a release date
for the
> DVD of "The Band Wagon," which also is now in production.
>
> Mike

Sorry to hear nobody knew the answer.

--- In astaire@yahoogroups.com, "numberonefredastairefan"
<numberonefredastairefan@y...> wrote:
>
> Fred was mentioned on Jeapordy this evening (Monday). The queston
> was in the category "Old Songs" it was for, I believe, $800. The
> answer read "Fred Astaire's sister Adele introduced this Gershwin
> tune." No one knew the answer which ended up being "The Man I Love."
>
> numberonefredastairefan

--- In astaire@yahoogroups.com, "Sallyann Halstead"
<sallyannhalstead@m...> wrote:
>I gather it has something to do with some bastardised
> form of our ancient game of rounders; is that right?

Indeed. For anyone who cares to learn more about the game, the BBC
has done a nice job of translating it into English:

The basic rules:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/us_sport/3562135.stm
More, if you are a glutton for punishment:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/us_sport/3294559.stm

American Classics presents the Boston premiere of the original 1927 version
of the Kaufman/Gershwin "Strike Up the Band".  We've assembled our best
cast ever for these two special performances.

Join us as American Classics once again makes Boston musical theatre history.

Friday, November 5 at 7:30
Sunday, November 7 at 3
pre-concert talk one-half hour before each performance

Longy School of Music
27 Garden Street
Cambridge, MA
for tix: 617-254-1125
or order on line at www.amclass.org



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

These guys put on a wonderful show--if you are anywhere in their area
for these dates, I highly recommend you check them out!


--- In astaire@yahoogroups.com, Ben Sears <bsears@l...> wrote:
> American Classics presents the Boston premiere of the original 1927
version
> of the Kaufman/Gershwin "Strike Up the Band".  We've assembled our
best
> cast ever for these two special performances.
>
> Join us as American Classics once again makes Boston musical
theatre history.
>
> Friday, November 5 at 7:30
> Sunday, November 7 at 3
> pre-concert talk one-half hour before each performance
>
> Longy School of Music
> 27 Garden Street
> Cambridge, MA
> for tix: 617-254-1125
> or order on line at www.amclass.org
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

You Were Never Lovelier:

http://www.digitallyobsessed.com/showreview.php3?ID=6009

Bob Klineman -

From The Complete Lyrics of Ira Gershwin edited by Robert Kimball (the most
informed Musical Theatre Historian I've ever met):

"When the show (Lady, Be Good!) opened in Philadelphia, Adele Astaire, solo,
sang the song charmingly and to an appreciative hand. But sweetness and
simplicity in style do not make for the vociferous applause given dancing duets
and novelty numbers. So, after a week, "The Man I Love" was withdrawn. Actually
the show was in good shape and the elimination required no replacement, as the
show was a bit long anyway."

In the BBC radio series The Fred Astaire Story,  Adele is quoted that she might
have been too old to sing it (twenty-eight at the time). In the this same
series, Ira Gershwin, states that Adele sang it quite acceptably, but it seemed
to slow down a fast--paced show.

Also the Kimball book explains that the reason for its success started when
George Gershwin gave Lady Edwina Mountbatten an autographed copy of the sheet
music  On her return to London, she had her favorite band, the Berkeley Square
Orchestra, make a special arrangement for concerts. Soon other London bands were
playing it and then it was played in Paris.

Some Musical Theatre historians call "The Man I Love" the Gershwin's "wandering
song" since it was inserted in two more Gershwin shows without success - the
first version of Strike Up the Band (1927) and in Rosalie (1928).  According to
George Gershwin as he stated on one of his 1930's radio show - the reason for
its success was due primarily to its presentation by the well-known singer,
"Miss Helen Morgan."


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Too OLD? Sheesh! *I* was still singing "The Man I Love" when *I* was
28 years old! ('Didn't meet Mr. Bamberger until I was 31.)

Mrs. B


--- In astaire@yahoogroups.com, Bob Klineman <bobk516@o...> wrote:
> Bob Klineman -
>
> From The Complete Lyrics of Ira Gershwin edited by Robert Kimball
(the most informed Musical Theatre Historian I've ever met):
>
> "When the show (Lady, Be Good!) opened in Philadelphia, Adele
Astaire, solo, sang the song charmingly and to an appreciative hand.
But sweetness and simplicity in style do not make for the vociferous
applause given dancing duets and novelty numbers. So, after a week,
"The Man I Love" was withdrawn. Actually the show was in good shape
and the elimination required no replacement, as the show was a bit
long anyway."
>
> In the BBC radio series The Fred Astaire Story,  Adele is quoted
that she might have been too old to sing it (twenty-eight at the
time). In the this same series, Ira Gershwin, states that Adele sang
it quite acceptably, but it seemed to slow down a fast--paced show.
>
> Also the Kimball book explains that the reason for its success
started when George Gershwin gave Lady Edwina Mountbatten an
autographed copy of the sheet music  On her return to London, she had
her favorite band, the Berkeley Square Orchestra, make a special
arrangement for concerts. Soon other London bands were playing it and
then it was played in Paris.
>
> Some Musical Theatre historians call "The Man I Love" the Gershwin's
"wandering song" since it was inserted in two more Gershwin shows
without success - the first version of Strike Up the Band (1927) and
in Rosalie (1928).  According to George Gershwin as he stated on one
of his 1930's radio show - the reason for its success was due
primarily to its presentation by the well-known singer, "Miss Helen
Morgan."
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Does anyone know the exact date that The Band Wagon will be coming out? (Or
month?).

I thought it was this December but I guess not.



HIGH SOCIETY
=FANCY FREE=
      and free for anything fancy




>From: "numberonefredastairefan" <numberonefredastairefan@...>
>Reply-To: astaire@yahoogroups.com
>To: astaire@yahoogroups.com
>Subject: [astaire] Re: Fred and Ginger on R1 DVD in 2005
>Date: Fri, 29 Oct 2004 02:41:49 -0000
>
>
>A bit on "ultra resolution" from dvdtimes.co.uk in reference to
>the "Robin Hood" box set:
>
>"*The Ultra-Resolution Process
>The Adventures of Robin Hood will be presented in Warner Bros.'
>dazzling new "Ultra-Resolution," which allows today's viewers to see
>parts of the images which were never visible before and sharper
>detail than in conventional Technicolor release prints.
>
>"WHV first used this process for Singin' in the Rain; and Ned Price,
>Warner Bros.' Vice President of Mastering, Technical Operations,
>says "'Ultra-Resolution' has been improved for The Adventures of
>Robin Hood. As good as Singin' in the Rain turned out," Price
>said, "…Robin Hood takes us one step further."
>
>"65 years later, Warner Bros. is employing a process which begins
>with scanning the original Technicolor 3-strip black and
>white 'records' at extremely high (2k) resolution. The black and
>white records are then combined electronically to create the color
>images, which are also electronically re-registered, steadied and
>cleaned before the final DVDs are produced."
>
>numberonefredastairefan

_________________________________________________________________
Don't just search. Find. Check out the new MSN Search!
http://search.msn.com/

I'm 48. Should I walk east towards the Atlantic or west towards the
Pacific? It would be convenient, I guess, to jump into the
Mississippi and arrive at the Gulf of Mexico, but it's been done
before by children who were raised badly and merely attained a B
minus in the professor's class when they fully expected an A plus.

This occurs, at least, on the bridge that I know of.

But even if I wanted to shorten my life in pursuit of a higher
education, I wouldn't have the irony of hearing Esther Blodgett
singing out of the window.

Seriously, I am not suicidal...but I would still like Esther singing
out of my kitchen window.

Well. Let's get back on topic (and about time).

How about those Sox?

Jay

--- In astaire@yahoogroups.com, "chrisbamberger" <cnb@s...> wrote:
>
> Too OLD? Sheesh! *I* was still singing "The Man I Love" when *I* was
> 28 years old! ('Didn't meet Mr. Bamberger until I was 31.)
>
> Mrs. B
>
>
> --- In astaire@yahoogroups.com, Bob Klineman <bobk516@o...> wrote:
> > Bob Klineman -
> >
> > From The Complete Lyrics of Ira Gershwin edited by Robert Kimball
> (the most informed Musical Theatre Historian I've ever met):
> >
> > "When the show (Lady, Be Good!) opened in Philadelphia, Adele
> Astaire, solo, sang the song charmingly and to an appreciative hand.
> But sweetness and simplicity in style do not make for the vociferous
> applause given dancing duets and novelty numbers. So, after a week,
> "The Man I Love" was withdrawn. Actually the show was in good shape
> and the elimination required no replacement, as the show was a bit
> long anyway."
> >
> > In the BBC radio series The Fred Astaire Story,  Adele is quoted
> that she might have been too old to sing it (twenty-eight at the
> time). In the this same series, Ira Gershwin, states that Adele sang
> it quite acceptably, but it seemed to slow down a fast--paced show.
> >
> > Also the Kimball book explains that the reason for its success
> started when George Gershwin gave Lady Edwina Mountbatten an
> autographed copy of the sheet music  On her return to London, she
had
> her favorite band, the Berkeley Square Orchestra, make a special
> arrangement for concerts. Soon other London bands were playing it
and
> then it was played in Paris.
> >
> > Some Musical Theatre historians call "The Man I Love" the
Gershwin's
> "wandering song" since it was inserted in two more Gershwin shows
> without success - the first version of Strike Up the Band (1927) and
> in Rosalie (1928).  According to George Gershwin as he stated on one
> of his 1930's radio show - the reason for its success was due
> primarily to its presentation by the well-known singer, "Miss Helen
> Morgan."
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Bob,
I think Kimball was quoting the saga of this thrice-orphaned song
from Ira Gershwin's own book with the mile-long title:  LYRICS ON
SEVERAL OCCASIONS:  A SELECTION OF STAGE & SCREEN LYRICS WRITTEN FOR
SUNDRY SITUATIONS; AND NOW ARRANGED IN ARBITRARY CATEGORIES TO WHICH
HAVE BEEN ADDED MANY INFORMATIVE ANNOTATIONS & DISQUISITIONS ON
THEIR WHY & WHEREFORE, THEIR WHOM-FOR, THEIR HOW; AND MATTERS
ASSOCIATIVE, by Ira Gershwin Gent.

As the title suggests, this is a quirky, charming look at the
"back stories" of many of Ira's songs, with "The Man I Love" leading
the way.

Since this thread started with JEOPARDY, my eye was caught by
another of Ira's songs, one that dealt with quiz shows.  This song,
whose music was written by Arthur Schwartz for a 1946 show, was
called "The Land of Opportunitee," It was "a calypso about the stock
market, the race track, and quiz programs," which in those days
meant RADIO quiz programs.  Some of Ira's lyrics:

. . . So you go to a radio show which is
A question and answer program known as quiz.

When you face the mike you make no faux-pas;
All night long you studied the Britannica:

What's the color of red roses?
On your feet how many toes is?
Name the month after September.
What's on 25th December?
Oh boy, oh boy!
In one day how many hours?
Oranges are fruits or flowers?
Which is more, ten or eleven?
Just what year was Nineteen-Seven?
Oh boy, quiz kid!

Your answers have put the man in his place,
But now the big moment you must face.
The questioner he asks you, 'What is your name?'
You get $100,000 if you tell him the same.
Making a fortune is A, B, C.
In the Grand Land of Opportunitee.
And --
If you know what flag is Red, White and Blue,
He will throw in the sponsor's daughter, too.


Take THAT, Ken Jennings!




--- In astaire@yahoogroups.com, Bob Klineman <bobk516@o...> wrote:
> Bob Klineman -
>
> From The Complete Lyrics of Ira Gershwin edited by Robert Kimball
(the most informed Musical Theatre Historian I've ever met):
>
> "When the show (Lady, Be Good!) opened in Philadelphia, Adele
Astaire, solo, sang the song charmingly and to an appreciative hand.
But sweetness and simplicity in style do not make for the vociferous
applause given dancing duets and novelty numbers. So, after a week,
"The Man I Love" was withdrawn. Actually the show was in good shape
and the elimination required no replacement, as the show was a bit
long anyway."
>

> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Lorre: I am delighted to see you again, Mr. Astaire.

Fred: Hi, Peter! It's good to see you again!

Lorre: Stop yelling, Mr. Astaire. I have ringing in my ears.

Fred: Oh. Sorry. Perhaps you should look into that.

Lorre: Oh, so you think that I should look into my own skull? What,
what kind of a person would suggest such a thing?!

Fred: I dare say.

Lorre: Well, I dare you to say it again and if I wasn't so
comfortable in this chair I would do...well, I don't know what I
would do.

Fred: That's what I was hoping for. But, Peter, you're not petering
out on this, are you?

Lorre: Heh. Petering out. That's a great pun, and this from a man who
once called himself "Peter P. Peters"! I, I! I know what I could do
to you if I had the energy and enthusiasm.

Fred: Oh, Energy and Enthusiasm. I used to dance with them once.

Lorre: Heeh Heeh. Alright. You're okay, Mr. Astaire.

Fred: Ah. Call me Fred.

Lorre: You are okay, Fred. Please...may I have my original
disposition back, now?

Additions are solicited:

1.  One for my baby, and one more for the road.
1.  Night and day, you are the one.
1.  My One and Only
1.  My one and only highland fling
1.  I'm putting all my eggs in one basket
1.  When one of us gets the sniffles, the other one gets the sniffles...
2.  I've decided that love divided by two won't do...
3.  It's a quarter to three, there's no one in the place except you and
me...
3.  Instead of three, there'd be only one.
3.  Three little words, oh what I'd give for...
4.  One four my baby (sorry)
5.  On the avenue, Fifth Avenue, the photographers...
6.
7.  Ev'ry night at seven...
8.
9.
10.
11.

Mike

See my additions below:

--- In astaire@yahoogroups.com, RussellMA@w... wrote:

0.5 I've got the you-don't-know-the-half-of-it-dearie blues.
> 1.  One for my baby, and one more for the road.
> 1.  Night and day, you are the one.
> 1.  My One and Only
> 1.  My one and only highland fling
> 1.  I'm putting all my eggs in one basket
> 1.  When one of us gets the sniffles, the other one gets the sniffles...
> 2.  I've decided that love divided by two won't do...
> 3.  It's a quarter to three, there's no one in the place except you and
> me...
> 3.  Instead of three, there'd be only one.
> 3.  Three little words, oh what I'd give for...
> 4.  One four my baby (sorry)
> 5.  On the avenue, Fifth Avenue, the photographers...
> 6.
> 7.  Ev'ry night at seven...
> 8.
> 9.
10. Ten years went quickly by for both these sub-sti-antial men...
> 11.
19. I'm like a B-19 loaded with benzedrine...
20. Before they met again some twenty years they had to wait.
21. We live on the Rue Marceau, vingt et un le numero...
62. Say, haven't you read what Lincoln said in '62?
1000. A thousand laughs I've found from having you around.

Hi everybody!

I am much into Fred Astaires solo dance numbers. My favorite one is
Puttin on the Ritz, btw.

What I am wondering about for years now, is if the tap sounds in the
movies are real or if they have been put over later in post
production?
I have watched alot of Freds scenes and I have never noticed metal
tap plates under his shoes. In fact its quite obvious that he does
not wear them in some cases.

Maybe one of the Fred Astaire experts in here can shed some light on
this. Is it all fake?

Best regards
Dominik

As far as I know, the taps were put in later.  That was common in most
musical films of the era.  I don't think they were fake... but it may
not have been Fred Astaire doing the taps.  I know that in Singin' in
the Rain... in the famous number it wasn't Gene Kelly doing those
taps... it was his assistants.  I guess it would be treated exactly as a
sound effect... like Foley... something to dub in later.

I managed to get hold of a copy of Andre Previn's (out-of-print)
autobiography about his time in Hollywood (No Minor Chords) and in there
he writes how his wife couldn't believe that the taps weren't added in
until later in Fred Astaire movies.  Unfortunately that book is in a
box, but I could retrieve it and confirm that in the next day or so.

Regards
Kathryn

dragon777racoon wrote:

>
>
> Hi everybody!
>
> I am much into Fred Astaires solo dance numbers. My favorite one is
> Puttin on the Ritz, btw.
>
> What I am wondering about for years now, is if the tap sounds in the
> movies are real or if they have been put over later in post
> production?
> I have watched alot of Freds scenes and I have never noticed metal
> tap plates under his shoes. In fact its quite obvious that he does
> not wear them in some cases.
>
> Maybe one of the Fred Astaire experts in here can shed some light on
> this. Is it all fake?
>
> Best regards
> Dominik

--- In astaire@yahoogroups.com, "dragon777racoon" <mails@s...> wrote:
>
>
> What I am wondering about for years now, is if the tap sounds in
the
> movies are real or if they have been put over later in post
> production?
> I have watched alot of Freds scenes and I have never noticed metal
> tap plates under his shoes. In fact its quite obvious that he does
> not wear them in some cases.
>
> Maybe one of the Fred Astaire experts in here can shed some light
on
> this. Is it all fake?
>

Hi Dominik
I am sure there are many experts who can answer this more fully than
I but, owing to the time difference, I've seen your post early so
I'll jump in.

Far from being "fake", I believe that adding the taps in later
demomstrates even greater skill. I believe that in most of Fred's
films they were added later but invariably by Fred himself - he
wouldn't trust anyone else to be sufficiently accurate. I think Pan
once said that Fred could tell if a film was half a sprocket out of
synch. In some, however - notably the 'I'll be hard to handle' duet
in Roberta - they were recorded 'live'.

Keep enjoying,
Gill.

Hi Dominik - Gill's absolutely right. Almost always, the taps (and other sounds)
in dance
numbers are added in post-production. Singers are also usually lip-synching to a
pre-
recorded track also (which is why they don't sound out of breath after doing a
big dance.)
During a dance number, especially a big production number, there are a lot of
things
going on at the same time, and a sound glitch could ruin a whole take. As Gill
mentions,
the rare exception is Roberta, for which a special maple floor was constructed,
so that the
live sound could be captured (one reason this is my favorite Fred movie - it's
got a
freshness and immediacy that is as close to "live Fred" as one can get.)

Fred always dubbed his own taps, perfectionist that he was. I suspect Hermes Pan
did the
taps for Ginger sometimes and for Fred's other partners. Gene Kelly hardly every
dubbed
his own - but as a Fredlister pointed out a while back, the man was also
directing and
producing and probably felt this was a job he could delegate. I remember seeing
Gwen
Verdon talking to Dick Cavett about spending hours in the studio with Jeanne
Coyne when
they were junior dancers at MGM. They were tasked with dubbing the splashes into
the
title number for Singin' in the Rain by dancing with their feet in buckets of
water.

In the liner notes for the cd collection "The Complete London Sessions",
producer Ken
Burns talks about working with Fred and Bing Crosby in their last 1970's
recording
sessions. For "A Couple of Song and Dance Men" Burns asked Fred to do a tap
break to fill
in the spot in the song after the line "but she arose when I sounded taps." A
cantankerous
Fred told him to get somebody else to do it, but he reconsidered when Burns
pointed out
that it would give bragging rights for a lifetime to whoever got picked to be 
"Fred
Astaire's tap double" and Fred tossed down the quick taps that you hear on the
recording.
A perfectionist to the end!

Luann

--- In astaire@yahoogroups.com, "Gillian Mann" <gem@m...> wrote:
> Far from being "fake", I believe that adding the taps in later
> demomstrates even greater skill. I believe that in most of Fred's
> films they were added later but invariably by Fred himself - he
> wouldn't trust anyone else to be sufficiently accurate. I think Pan
> once said that Fred could tell if a film was half a sprocket out of
> synch. In some, however - notably the 'I'll be hard to handle' duet
> in Roberta - they were recorded 'live'.

Hi everybody!

Thanks for your replys!
I have to admit that the fact, that the taps were dubbed later,
takes alot from the fascination of the dance routintes.
I am a tap and ballroom dancer myself and I have always been amazed
about the skill shown in Freds solo dance routines.
But now, it leads to the question if Fred was able to do this stuff
live with taps or not.
I mean his moves are neckbreaking as they are and amazingly fluent.
It seems almost impossible to hit every sound right in addition to
that.

So, was he able to do the same routines live? Like Puttin on the
Ritz?

Best reagards
Dominik

I'm pretty sure he was able to do these routines live. I think many of his
dances were done from start to finish and then was edited afterwards to get
different angles of the dance that were shot all at once.

And he was a stage performer before he went into movies so he would have
done many live performances. When he went into movies he brought a sort of
stage technique with him (the full body dance scenes).


HIGH SOCIETY
=FANCY FREE=
      and free for anything fancy




>From: "dragon777racoon" <mails@...>
>Reply-To: astaire@yahoogroups.com
>To: astaire@yahoogroups.com
>Subject: [astaire] Re: Are the sounds fake?
>Date: Sun, 31 Oct 2004 13:35:17 -0000
>
>
>Hi everybody!
>
>Thanks for your replys!
>I have to admit that the fact, that the taps were dubbed later,
>takes alot from the fascination of the dance routintes.
>I am a tap and ballroom dancer myself and I have always been amazed
>about the skill shown in Freds solo dance routines.
>But now, it leads to the question if Fred was able to do this stuff
>live with taps or not.
>I mean his moves are neckbreaking as they are and amazingly fluent.
>It seems almost impossible to hit every sound right in addition to
>that.
>
>So, was he able to do the same routines live? Like Puttin on the
>Ritz?
>
>Best reagards
>Dominik
>
>
>

_________________________________________________________________
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Dominik - If you have not seen Roberta, please go and rent it immediately! "I
Won't Dance"
will put to rest any doubt in your mind about Fred's "realness." That the taps
were dubbed
in later should in no way reflect on the ability of the dancers. It was a to
ensure a good
consistent soundtrack, not because the dancers weren't able to actually perform
the
routines.

Fred performed hundreds of hours of radio shows, and he had a specially miked
small "tap
deck" that he would dance on. The radio audience at home heard the percussive
taps, but
the live audience at the broadcast saw a full dance, not just a guy stomping his
feet.

Luann

--- In astaire@yahoogroups.com, "dragon777racoon" <mails@s...> wrote:
>
> Hi everybody!
>
> Thanks for your replys!
> I have to admit that the fact, that the taps were dubbed later,
> takes alot from the fascination of the dance routintes.
> I am a tap and ballroom dancer myself and I have always been amazed
> about the skill shown in Freds solo dance routines.
> But now, it leads to the question if Fred was able to do this stuff
> live with taps or not.
> I mean his moves are neckbreaking as they are and amazingly fluent.
> It seems almost impossible to hit every sound right in addition to
> that.
>
> So, was he able to do the same routines live? Like Puttin on the
> Ritz?
>
> Best reagards
> Dominik

I have it on good authority that Fred Astaire was actually an overweight
fellow with curly black hair (real name: "Chico").  His taps were dubbed
by Joan Fontaine, and the closeups were actually of Trevor Howard.  The
singing was dubbed by Fred's brother, Frank, who also did Rita
Hayworth's songs in "Gilda'" and Marni Nixon's in "The King and I."  It
takes a village to create a Hollywood star.

Mike

Hi All,

On Saturday Night Live, Oct 30, the female host tap danced to
"Pick yourself, Dust yourself off, and Start all over again."

There was no mention of FA, but it was his music.

I was also watching "Haunted Hotels."  The Queen Mary was one of these
hotels. The
Director/Curator was naming famous people who had traveled on the QM.
Our FA was one of the guests.

Cecilia




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