Would you consider "Cheek to Cheek" and "Night and Day" to be Swing music? I
wouldn't.

More appropriate choices would be the two songs Fred recorded with Benny
Goodman.

Mark in Minneapolis

You may be interested in this article, which has lots of pictures of GR, and
many are with FA.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a15/tistj/GRarticle.jpg

Isn't this nice?  A radio station that is presenting the songs from the beloved
FA/GR movies of the 1930's.

Sunday, November 22, 2009
A Little Bit of Broadway
It's a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers Afternoon

There's something about a snowy winter evening that just begs for something warm
to drink while you are cuddled under an afghan watching a classic dance movie.
And nothing more classic than the movies Ginger Rogers made with Fred Astaire at
RKO. So, get yourself something warm to drink, snuggle down under the comforter
and let you imagine soar while listening to Fred and Ginger.

Flying down to Rio (1933)
-- Flying down to Rio (Youmans, Kahn, Eliscu)

The Gay Divorcee (1934)
-- Night and Day (Porter)
-- The Continental (Conrad, Magidson)


Top Hat (1935) (Berlin)
-- Isn't this a lovely day (to be caught in the rain)
-- Top hat, White Tie and Tails (Astaire)
-- Cheek to Cheek

Roberta (1935) (Kern)
-- I'll be hard to handle
-- I won't dance

Follow the Fleet (1936) (Berlin)
-- I'm putting eggs in one basket
-- Let face the music and dance
-- Let yourself go

Swing Time (1936) (Kern, Fields)
-- Pick yourself up
-- The way you look tonight

Shall we Dance (1937) (Gershwin)
-- They all laughed
-- Let's call the whole thing off
-- They can't take that away from me

Carefree (1938) (Berlin)
-- Change Partners

Posted by Lena Simmons at 6:19 PM
Labels: Broadway, Hollywood

http://krnnradio.blogspot.com/2009/11/little-bit-of-broadway_22.html

How wonderful.  Nice holiday present.

--- In astaire@yahoogroups.com, Pat <wardicus2002@...> wrote:
>
> TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES will be showing several of Mr. Astaire's films starting
at 1:30 am (EST) on the morning of the 26th and running until 6 pm (EST) in the
evening. The films start with the BELLE OF NEW YORK, followed by THE SKY'S THE
LIMIT, and then several Fred and Ginger films ending with TOP HAT.
>
> Pat
> I need to use one of my most important investigative tools--my library
card.Det. Robert Goren
>

I guess no one got my email when I mentioned this several weeks ago. But then I
get responses on this list from emails I never received.

Patty




________________________________
From: Pat <wardicus2002@...>
To: astaire@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Mon, November 23, 2009 11:13:28 AM
Subject: [astaire] Astaire on TCM Thanksgiving Eve and Thanksgiving

 
TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES will be showing several of Mr. Astaire's films starting at
1:30 am (EST) on the morning of the 26th and running until 6 pm (EST) in the
evening. The films start with the BELLE OF NEW YORK, followed by THE SKY'S THE
LIMIT, and then several Fred and Ginger films ending with TOP HAT.

Pat
I need to use one of my most important investigative tools--my library card.Det.
Robert Goren







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

TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES will be showing several of Mr. Astaire's films starting at
1:30 am (EST) on the morning of the 26th and running until 6 pm (EST) in the
evening. The films start with the BELLE OF NEW YORK, followed by THE SKY'S THE
LIMIT, and then several Fred and Ginger films ending with TOP HAT.

Pat
I need to use one of my most important investigative tools--my library card.Det.
Robert Goren

I just came accross an article about this 5 CD set, called 100% Swing.  It has
an amazing line of up artists and songs, presumably considered by some as the
definitive interpretation of the song, and there are two by FA.  One is "Cheek
to Cheek" and the other is "Night and Day".  Pretty good company for a guy who
"was never a fan of his voice" and "did not think of himself as a vocalist". 
Others obviously thought better.

Sounds like a CD set I need to get. However, I am puzzled that Sinatra and
Crosby are not included in the line up (and maybe others).  Maybe they couldn't
get the rights????


ARTiST: VA
TiTLE: 100% Swing
GENRE: Oldies / Jazz / Swing
SiZE: 364 Mb
QUALITY: 320kbps avg / 44.1KHz / Joint Stereo
RELEASE DATE: 2008-11-17

Read more: http://www.krazzy7.com/100-swing/#ixzz0XdkRpqoA


http://www.krazzy7.com/100-swing/

I also love "The Sky's the Limit". It is  a relaxed, intimate, romantic comedy
with delightful musical numbers. Fred Astaire and Joan Leslie were a perfect
match! Joan was strong and independant, yet, conveyed great warmth and a 
girl-next-door-like innocence and astonishment. She saw the love and need in
Fred's heart, that his cynical wit was covering up.  There was a natural
tenderness between them.  The wonderful musical score moved the plot along. And
Robert Benchly was superb in his supporting role.

As much as I enjoy watching Fred and Ginger Rogers together in "The Gay
Divocee", and Fred and Cyd Charisse together in "Silk Stockings"--Fred and Joan
Leslie's performance in "The Sky's the Limit" will always hold a special place
in my heart. (Just as Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron's performance in "An American
in Paris" will always hold a special place in my heart.)

--- In astaire@yahoogroups.com, "axelrodh" <axelrodh@...> wrote:
>
> I'm with you, Julie.  I love the film and especially FA's acting.  It's
commercial disappointment may have been at least partly due to it being
publicized as a romantic comedy, while it was really much more than that. 
Reviewers just did not see the ending coming, and the "One for My Baby.." number
was considered shockingly wasteful and too dark.
>
> Also, let's face it, typecasting was the rule in those days.  When people came
to see FA they expected a funny, light, uplifting movie-not something with any
substance or darker undertones. Also, there was a minimum of musical numbers and
only 3 dance numbers in this. People paid for, and wanted, to see FA dance and
romance. Don't we all?  But, we at least know that we can expect a lot more.
>
> --- In astaire@yahoogroups.com, "grdndms" <grdndms@> wrote:
> >
> >
> >  This FA film is one of my all-time favourites.
> >  To be honest, I do not really consider it as a musical. OK, it does
obviously has fantastic "interludes" and THE solo number is simply to die
for.....however, it the FA's acting that is superb; he can be funny, he can be
cheeky, he can be sad, he can be romantic and he can dance and sing !
> >  It still surprises me that the film was a flop. It is obvious to me that
his fans expected him to dance and sing and always be merry, but how on earth
did they miss his superb acting ability ? Maybe they did not notice his acting
ability in his previous musicals and concentrated on his dancing and singing and
then he appears in a "serious" movie where his acting takes over and the result
is disappointment. That is so harsh and so unfair.
> >  To think that THE singing/dancing brilliance could also take a role that
demands compassion and is so well expressed in all the scenes he is in leaves me
breathless.
> >  This is a great film that any actor could have fallen flat on his face
trying to perform, but Mr.Astaire pulled another magical string and made his
mark as a genuine brilliant actor.
> >  Actually, I watch TStL for the acting; the dancing and singing take second
place ...that says a lot !
> >
> >   Kind regards,
> >   Julie.
> >
>

Hi Preston!

Please tell me again which two CDs, in combination, contain
everything that was on the NOW vinyl LP.  Thanks alot!

Judith

I'm with you, Julie.  I love the film and especially FA's acting.  It's
commercial disappointment may have been at least partly due to it being
publicized as a romantic comedy, while it was really much more than that. 
Reviewers just did not see the ending coming, and the "One for My Baby.." number
was considered shockingly wasteful and too dark.

Also, let's face it, typecasting was the rule in those days.  When people came
to see FA they expected a funny, light, uplifting movie-not something with any
substance or darker undertones. Also, there was a minimum of musical numbers and
only 3 dance numbers in this. People paid for, and wanted, to see FA dance and
romance. Don't we all?  But, we at least know that we can expect a lot more.

--- In astaire@yahoogroups.com, "grdndms" <grdndms@...> wrote:
>
>
>  This FA film is one of my all-time favourites.
>  To be honest, I do not really consider it as a musical. OK, it does obviously
has fantastic "interludes" and THE solo number is simply to die for.....however,
it the FA's acting that is superb; he can be funny, he can be cheeky, he can be
sad, he can be romantic and he can dance and sing !
>  It still surprises me that the film was a flop. It is obvious to me that his
fans expected him to dance and sing and always be merry, but how on earth did
they miss his superb acting ability ? Maybe they did not notice his acting
ability in his previous musicals and concentrated on his dancing and singing and
then he appears in a "serious" movie where his acting takes over and the result
is disappointment. That is so harsh and so unfair.
>  To think that THE singing/dancing brilliance could also take a role that
demands compassion and is so well expressed in all the scenes he is in leaves me
breathless.
>  This is a great film that any actor could have fallen flat on his face trying
to perform, but Mr.Astaire pulled another magical string and made his mark as a
genuine brilliant actor.
>  Actually, I watch TStL for the acting; the dancing and singing take second
place ...that says a lot !
>
>   Kind regards,
>   Julie.
>

Thanks for all the links and the schedule of upcoming events.

--- In astaire@yahoogroups.com, "Chris B" <cnb@...> wrote:
>
> Some news from Philip Davey, who gave an excellent presentation at the Astaire
Conference about ON THE BEACH:
>
> Dear Friends,
>
> It seems so long since we were all together at Oxford for that wonderful Fred
Astaire conference - 18 months actually - my how time flies!
>
> Anyhow, thought some of you might be interested in what's been happened as
regards the 50th anniversary commemorations of Stanley Kramer's film "On the
Beach" - filmed down under in Melbourne of course - which I discussed at the
conference in the context of Fred Astaire's first serious role.
>
> Back in May two special screenings were held here in the bayside suburb of
Frankston where I live at which the railway station scenes were filmed. I had
the pleasure of addressing the gatherings and putting together a display of
memorabilia. The local newspapers also interviewed me for a feature article.
>
> Over the course of the year people in Melbourne started to realise the
significance of 2009 which in turn has resulted in numerous radio talk back
discussions, a number of interviews and a couple of truly wonderful feature
articles. Seems that people from that era still with us fondly remember the time
"When Hollywood Came To Melbourne."
>
> You may be interested in 2 events that will nicely round off the OTB saga.
>
> When I was in London last year I met with BBC4 producer Paula McGinley about
the possibility of putting together a documentary about both the impact and
making of OTB.
>
> That has been completed and a 30-minute program called FALLOUT FROM THE SHORE
(rather clever I think!) will be on the internet on 24 Nov, @ 11.30 am London
time. Interviewees include Ava Astaire, Karen Kramer, Donna Anderson, Dr Helen
Caldicott, Heather Mayfield (Nevil Shute's daughter) and myself. If you are
interested please visit
>
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/programmes/schedules/fm/2009/11/24
>
> The second and last event will be a screening at Melbourne's Australian Centre
for the Moving Image on 5th December as follows:
>
> http://www.acmi.net.au/oz_on_the_beach.aspx
>
> After the screening there will be a discussion panel comprising a film critic,
film historian and myself. I'm pleased to say that I've been published at
last!!! If you are interested, you will find an essay they asked me to write at
>
> http://www.acmi.net.au/on_the_beach_essay.htm
>
> Both are holistic examinations of the film, and not specifically about Fred,
but thought you might be interested anyhow.
>
> Hope this puts OTB to bed now and lets me concentrate on my other research! I
don't expect to contribute much to the 100th anniversary!!
>
> Hope you are all doing well.
>
> Warmest regards,
>
> Philip Davey
>

This FA film is one of my all-time favourites.
  To be honest, I do not really consider it as a musical. OK, it does obviously
has fantastic "interludes" and THE solo number is simply to die for.....however,
it the FA's acting that is superb; he can be funny, he can be cheeky, he can be
sad, he can be romantic and he can dance and sing !
  It still surprises me that the film was a flop. It is obvious to me that his
fans expected him to dance and sing and always be merry, but how on earth did
they miss his superb acting ability ? Maybe they did not notice his acting
ability in his previous musicals and concentrated on his dancing and singing and
then he appears in a "serious" movie where his acting takes over and the result
is disappointment. That is so harsh and so unfair.
  To think that THE singing/dancing brilliance could also take a role that
demands compassion and is so well expressed in all the scenes he is in leaves me
breathless.
  This is a great film that any actor could have fallen flat on his face trying
to perform, but Mr.Astaire pulled another magical string and made his mark as a
genuine brilliant actor.
  Actually, I watch TStL for the acting; the dancing and singing take second
place ...that says a lot !

   Kind regards,
   Julie.

Some news from Philip Davey, who gave an excellent presentation at the Astaire
Conference about ON THE BEACH:

Dear Friends,

It seems so long since we were all together at Oxford for that wonderful Fred
Astaire conference - 18 months actually - my how time flies!

Anyhow, thought some of you might be interested in what's been happened as
regards the 50th anniversary commemorations of Stanley Kramer's film "On the
Beach" - filmed down under in Melbourne of course - which I discussed at the
conference in the context of Fred Astaire's first serious role.

Back in May two special screenings were held here in the bayside suburb of
Frankston where I live at which the railway station scenes were filmed. I had
the pleasure of addressing the gatherings and putting together a display of
memorabilia. The local newspapers also interviewed me for a feature article.

Over the course of the year people in Melbourne started to realise the
significance of 2009 which in turn has resulted in numerous radio talk back
discussions, a number of interviews and a couple of truly wonderful feature
articles. Seems that people from that era still with us fondly remember the time
"When Hollywood Came To Melbourne."

You may be interested in 2 events that will nicely round off the OTB saga.

When I was in London last year I met with BBC4 producer Paula McGinley about the
possibility of putting together a documentary about both the impact and making
of OTB.

That has been completed and a 30-minute program called FALLOUT FROM THE SHORE
(rather clever I think!) will be on the internet on 24 Nov, @ 11.30 am London
time. Interviewees include Ava Astaire, Karen Kramer, Donna Anderson, Dr Helen
Caldicott, Heather Mayfield (Nevil Shute's daughter) and myself. If you are
interested please visit

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/programmes/schedules/fm/2009/11/24

The second and last event will be a screening at Melbourne's Australian Centre
for the Moving Image on 5th December as follows:

http://www.acmi.net.au/oz_on_the_beach.aspx

After the screening there will be a discussion panel comprising a film critic,
film historian and myself. I'm pleased to say that I've been published at
last!!! If you are interested, you will find an essay they asked me to write at

http://www.acmi.net.au/on_the_beach_essay.htm

Both are holistic examinations of the film, and not specifically about Fred, but
thought you might be interested anyhow.

Hope this puts OTB to bed now and lets me concentrate on my other research! I
don't expect to contribute much to the 100th anniversary!!

Hope you are all doing well.

Warmest regards,

Philip Davey

Helena, re Shellbelle's Tiki Hut Blog: as Ginger would have said: "Oh,
that's cuuuuute!!!

Judith

--- On Thu, 11/19/09, axelrodh <axelrodh@...> wrote:

> From: axelrodh <axelrodh@...>
> Subject: [astaire] FA in the News. Nov. 18,2009
> To: astaire@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Thursday, November 19, 2009, 8:04 AM
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>  
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> 1)Deborah Grace Winer will host Fred & Ginger In So
> Many Words: The Astaire-Rogers Songbook, running March
> 20-22, 2010 at the 92nd St. Y in NY, NY. Tony winners Karen
> Ziemba and James Naughton will perform alongside Billy
> Stritch and Debbie Boone.
>
>
>
> "Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Dorothy
> Fields, George Gershwin and many others wrote songs for the
> movies of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, making Fred and
> Ginger responsible for a sizable chunk of the American
> Songbook," according to press notes.
>
>
>
> http://www.playbill
> .com/news/ article/134681- Esparza-Ziemba- Jenkins-and-
> Sperling- Join-92nd- Street-Ys- Lyrics-&- Lyricists-
> Season
>
>
>
> 2) Recommendation of HOLIDAY INN, with an emphasis on
> Irving Berlin's "White Christmas".
>
>
>
> http://rochestercit
> ynewspaper. com/entertainmen t/guides/ 2009/11/HOLIDAY-
> GUIDE-09- Behind-White- Christmas/
>
>
>
> 3) New play in Rochester, NY that has an ardent FA fan as
> one of it's characters.
>
> http://rochestercit
> ynewspaper. com/entertainmen t/stage/2009/ 11/THEATER-
> REVIEW-According -to-Goldman/
>
>
>
> THEATER REVIEW: "According to Goldman"
>
> Nobody knows anything
>
> By Eric Rezsnyak on November 18, 2009
>
>
>
> Quote by the character (Jeremiah): Jeremiah offers up a
> line about the difference between Fred Astaire and Gene
> Kelly, saying that with Kelly, you could always see the
> rehearsal in everything he did; with Astaire, it was like he
> was born to move that way.
>
>
>
> 4) Another review of the TCM's Johnny Mercer
> documentary, which includes this quote:
>
>
>
> "you see Astaire's hard-driving movie performance
> of One for My Baby and doubt that anybody could do the song
> better, then you see a youngish Sinatra sinking deep into
> its melancholy bravado and realize that somebody
> could."
>
>
>
> Read more: http://network.
> nationalpost. com/np/blogs/ fullcomment/ archive/2009/
> 11/18/robert- cushman-johnny- mercer-and- the-golden-
> age-of-american- popular-song. aspx#ixzz0XJv7u0 aK
>
>
>
> 5) FA and GR are out there in the blogosphere.  Here's
> a sample from a knowledgeable fan:
>
>
>
> http://www.shellbel
> lestikihut. com/2009/ 11/pick-yourself -up.html
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

1)Deborah Grace Winer will host Fred & Ginger In So Many Words: The
Astaire-Rogers Songbook, running March 20-22, 2010 at the 92nd St. Y in NY, NY.
Tony winners Karen Ziemba and James Naughton will perform alongside Billy
Stritch and Debbie Boone.

"Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Dorothy Fields, George Gershwin and
many others wrote songs for the movies of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, making
Fred and Ginger responsible for a sizable chunk of the American Songbook,"
according to press notes.

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/134681-Esparza-Ziemba-Jenkins-and-Sperling-\
Join-92nd-Street-Ys-Lyrics-&-Lyricists-Season

2) Recommendation of HOLIDAY INN, with an emphasis on Irving Berlin's "White
Christmas".

http://rochestercitynewspaper.com/entertainment/guides/2009/11/HOLIDAY-GUIDE-09-\
Behind-White-Christmas/

3) New play in Rochester, NY that has an ardent FA fan as one of it's
characters.
http://rochestercitynewspaper.com/entertainment/stage/2009/11/THEATER-REVIEW-Acc\
ording-to-Goldman/

THEATER REVIEW: "According to Goldman"
Nobody knows anything
By Eric Rezsnyak on November 18, 2009

Quote by the character (Jeremiah): Jeremiah offers up a line about the
difference between Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, saying that with Kelly, you
could always see the rehearsal in everything he did; with Astaire, it was like
he was born to move that way.

4) Another review of the TCM's Johnny Mercer documentary, which includes this
quote:

"you see Astaire's hard-driving movie performance of One for My Baby and doubt
that anybody could do the song better, then you see a youngish Sinatra sinking
deep into its melancholy bravado and realize that somebody could."

Read more:
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2009/11/18/robert-c\
ushman-johnny-mercer-and-the-golden-age-of-american-popular-song.aspx#ixzz0XJv7u\
0aK

5) FA and GR are out there in the blogosphere.  Here's a sample from a
knowledgeable fan:

http://www.shellbellestikihut.com/2009/11/pick-yourself-up.html

I had to laugh when I saw the "Two Heads Together" dance from GOLD DIGGERS OF
1937.  Busby Berkley used exactly the same moves to illustrate two heads
together as the Pan/Astaire dance choreography to "Carioca": two foreheads
together that are then rolled front to back. Well, imitation is the sincerest
form of flattery.  He also let the quite good tap dancer ( Lee Dixon) be seen
dancing for all of 30 sec at time in full figure without cuts. Another influence
perhaps?  Of course, Busby and a passive camera are just incompatible, so there
are multiple cuts in the dance to the feet and various views of the body.  Not
all are bad, but many are somewhat distracting to me.

I can't say that I see any influence of Busby's film choreography on FA/Pan. 
But, although FA/Pan greatly influenced (shall I say revolutionized?) the
filming of dance, it seems that past the 1950's the dance choreography on film
owes more to the active directorial style of BB than to the more passive style
of "our heros".  Poor Mamoulian really got nailed by some critics for not doing
his directorial duty since he did not actively intrude on the dancing in
"STOCKINGS".

Thank you!  Chris to the rescue once again.

--- In astaire@yahoogroups.com, cnb@... wrote:
>
> Try this:
>
> http://tinyurl.com/yafccus
>
>
>
>
>
> Quoting axelrodh <axelrodh@...>:
>
> > WNYC-the National Public Radio station broadcast a  live performace
> > of the songs of Johnny Mercer.  I heard a beautiful rendition of
> > "I'm Old Fashioned", with the appropriate reference to the film and
> > the actors, FA and Hayworth. But, I missed most of it.  I found this
> >  description on their website (see below) but I would love to hear
> > the whole performance.  I sometimes have trouble finding the
> > streamed material.  Please help me (and the post list) find the link!
> >
> > Here's what I found:
> >
> > http://www.onthemedia.org./shows/freshair/latest
> > Celebrating The Johnny Mercer Centennial
> > November 18, 2009 12:04 pm
> >
> > Lyricist and composer Johnny Mercer — born Nov. 18, 1909 — wrote or
> > co-wrote more than 1,000 songs, including American Songbook
> > standards like "Skylark," "That Old Black Magic" and "Come Rain or
> > Come Shine." His Academy Awards tally includes a statue for what's
> > possibly his most famous tune, "Moon River." Fresh Air marks the
> > anniversary of his birth with an in-studio concert starring Rebecca
> > Kilgore and Dave Frishberg.
> >
> >
>

Try this:

http://tinyurl.com/yafccus





Quoting axelrodh <axelrodh@...>:

> WNYC-the National Public Radio station broadcast a  live performace
> of the songs of Johnny Mercer.  I heard a beautiful rendition of
> "I'm Old Fashioned", with the appropriate reference to the film and
> the actors, FA and Hayworth. But, I missed most of it.  I found this
>  description on their website (see below) but I would love to hear
> the whole performance.  I sometimes have trouble finding the
> streamed material.  Please help me (and the post list) find the link!
>
> Here's what I found:
>
> http://www.onthemedia.org./shows/freshair/latest
> Celebrating The Johnny Mercer Centennial
> November 18, 2009 12:04 pm
>
> Lyricist and composer Johnny Mercer — born Nov. 18, 1909 — wrote or
> co-wrote more than 1,000 songs, including American Songbook
> standards like "Skylark," "That Old Black Magic" and "Come Rain or
> Come Shine." His Academy Awards tally includes a statue for what's
> possibly his most famous tune, "Moon River." Fresh Air marks the
> anniversary of his birth with an in-studio concert starring Rebecca
> Kilgore and Dave Frishberg.
>
>

WNYC-the National Public Radio station broadcast a  live performace of the songs
of Johnny Mercer.  I heard a beautiful rendition of "I'm Old Fashioned", with
the appropriate reference to the film and the actors, FA and Hayworth. But, I
missed most of it.  I found this description on their website (see below) but I
would love to hear the whole performance.  I sometimes have trouble finding the
streamed material.  Please help me (and the post list) find the link!

Here's what I found:

http://www.onthemedia.org./shows/freshair/latest
Celebrating The Johnny Mercer Centennial
November 18, 2009 12:04 pm

Lyricist and composer Johnny Mercer — born Nov. 18, 1909 — wrote or co-wrote
more than 1,000 songs, including American Songbook standards like "Skylark,"
"That Old Black Magic" and "Come Rain or Come Shine." His Academy Awards tally
includes a statue for what's possibly his most famous tune, "Moon River." Fresh
Air marks the anniversary of his birth with an in-studio concert starring
Rebecca Kilgore and Dave Frishberg.

Thanks from me, too, Helena.   I really enjoyed reading this. 
 
Judith

--- On Wed, 11/18/09, cnb@... <cnb@...> wrote:


From: cnb@... <cnb@...>
Subject: Re: [astaire] FA in the News Nov. 17, 2009
To: astaire@yahoogroups.com
Date: Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 6:34 AM


 



Thanks--the comments on the Chic It Up! event are fun reading, too.

Quoting axelrodh <axelrodh@yahoo. com>:

>
> 1)Look what was shown at Winterthur's "Chic It Up!" design
> conference. Here's an excerpt from a blog :
>
> Oh, I want to leave you with a very fun clip that Albrecht showed to
> the audience. It's a dance number from the 1940s Fred Astaire movie
> "Yolanda and The Thief". (And I thought that I knew my Fred Astaire
> movies! This was a new one to me.) The movie was a box office bomb,
> but the sets and dance numbers are so evocative of 1930s/40s high
> style. And Albrecht was right- the dance floor is so very Dorothy
> Draper!
>
> http://thepeakofchi c.blogspot. com/2009/ 11/winterthur- part-two. html
>
> 2) A nice discussion of "Holiday Inn", but the author did not have
> the best memory regarding some details. Still, it's a quite long and
> detailed article. I hope people read it.
>
> http://cinemaroll. com/musical/ irving-berlins- holiday-inn- 1942/
>
>











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

Thanks--the comments on the Chic It Up! event are fun reading, too.


Quoting axelrodh <axelrodh@...>:

>
> 1)Look what was shown at Winterthur's "Chic It Up!" design
> conference. Here's an excerpt from a blog :
>
> Oh, I want to leave you with a very fun clip that Albrecht showed to
>  the audience. It's a dance number from the 1940s Fred Astaire movie
>  "Yolanda and The Thief". (And I thought that I knew my Fred Astaire
>  movies! This was a new one to me.) The movie was a box office bomb,
>  but the sets and dance numbers are so evocative of 1930s/40s high
> style. And Albrecht was right- the dance floor is so very Dorothy
> Draper!
>
> http://thepeakofchic.blogspot.com/2009/11/winterthur-part-two.html
>
> 2) A nice discussion of "Holiday Inn", but the author did not have
> the best memory regarding some details. Still, it's a quite long and
>  detailed article.  I hope people read it.
>
> http://cinemaroll.com/musical/irving-berlins-holiday-inn-1942/
>
>

1)Look what was shown at Winterthur's "Chic It Up!" design conference. Here's an
excerpt from a blog :

Oh, I want to leave you with a very fun clip that Albrecht showed to the
audience. It's a dance number from the 1940s Fred Astaire movie "Yolanda and The
Thief". (And I thought that I knew my Fred Astaire movies! This was a new one to
me.) The movie was a box office bomb, but the sets and dance numbers are so
evocative of 1930s/40s high style. And Albrecht was right- the dance floor is so
very Dorothy Draper!

http://thepeakofchic.blogspot.com/2009/11/winterthur-part-two.html

2) A nice discussion of "Holiday Inn", but the author did not have the best
memory regarding some details. Still, it's a quite long and detailed article.  I
hope people read it.

http://cinemaroll.com/musical/irving-berlins-holiday-inn-1942/

Thanks for the heads-up on the book.  Any idea on when it may be published?  It
sounds fascinating, and you sure are the right person to fact check.  I'll bet
it will be one of the most accurate books published.

--- In astaire@yahoogroups.com, "Chris B" <cnb@...> wrote:
>
> Saturday one of the Astaire Conference presenters, Dr. Todd Decker, gave a
presentation at the conference, POPULAR MUSIC IN THE MERCER ERA, 1910-1970,
given by Georgia State University. His talk was called "'I'm Hep To That Step
And I Dig it':  Johnny Mercer Writes For (And With) Fred Astaire."
>
> http://tinyurl.com/ykojhed
>
> Todd is also finishing up a book about Fred's musicality, called "Music Makes
Me: Fred Astaire and Jazz," which I have the honor to be fact-checking.
>

Saturday one of the Astaire Conference presenters, Dr. Todd Decker, gave a
presentation at the conference, POPULAR MUSIC IN THE MERCER ERA, 1910-1970,
given by Georgia State University. His talk was called "'I'm Hep To That Step
And I Dig it':  Johnny Mercer Writes For (And With) Fred Astaire."

http://tinyurl.com/ykojhed

Todd is also finishing up a book about Fred's musicality, called "Music Makes
Me: Fred Astaire and Jazz," which I have the honor to be fact-checking.

For folks in the DC area, the Weinberg Center, a restored 1926 theatre
(originally the Tivoli) in Frederick, MD, will be showing "Funny Face"
on Sun., Jan. 24, 2010 -- see http://www.weinbergcenter.org/index.asp --
look under "Performances" for the movie listings.  (They showed "Holiday
Inn" as one of their holiday offerings last year, which I missed, darn
it!)

The Weinberg Center Box Office is located at
20 W. Patrick Street Frederick, MD 21701

Box Office Hours:
Tuesday - Wednesday 10am-4pm
Thursday - Friday 10am-6pm
Saturday 10am-2pm (except Saturday's with performances, box office will
open at 10am and remain open until performance time)
Also open 1 hour before every show
Call our Box Office at 301-600-2828



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

You may be interested in reading this interview with one of the original cast
members of Girl Crazy.  She does not mention FA, but you of course know that
this is the Gershwin musical where FA first met GR. He helped with her dance
number, and so this is the 1st time they danced together.  Too bad that there is
no new information about that meeting.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704576204574531641359628228.html?m\
od=googlenews_wsj

I while back someone posted a comment, saying that SKY was the 1st film noir
musical.  I was thinking about that.  It's true that some parts of SKY were
filmed in the film noir style (very dark, with sharp highlights of light,
somewhat threatening) and "One for my baby.." was destructive, violent and very
angry. But as far as musical numbers, I would say that "Top Hat" was much more
psychologically threatening and Busby Berkely's "Lullaby of Broadway" was even
more macabre.

I just recently say "Lullaby", which you may remember beat out "Cheek to Cheek"
for an Oscar as best song. That is one dark number: huge shadows, stark black
and white, rows of "marching" dancing figures, strange angles. To top it all off
the "baby" gets pushed off a building ledge and there's a blood curdling scream!
"Top Hat" is another nightmarish number, that proceeds from a promising, joyful
beginning, to a deserted, spooky, shadowy landscape with hidden threats, and
followed by visible threats in a marching line.  It also uses some shadow play
and strange angles (in FA's dancing). Again the number ends in death.

So, for all it's anger and frustration, and lots of broken glass, nobody is
physically threatened in SKY (except maybe from glass cuts).  Of course, the
threat of death is there in the line of planes going off to war at the end. 
But, that is mostly left to the imagination and in the future.

But, I find it interesting that there is at least this one very visible
commonality of FA's nightmares with Busby's.  They may share more than they
show. But, FA rarely vented his demons in his choreography, while Busby let them
hang out.

can be listened to for the next 7 days here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/

One short mentioning of Fred as one of few Hollywood starts never to appear in
it...

Bernd

I just uploaded more scans from other old postcards that I got. You can find
them here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/astaire/photos/album/1570030394/pic/list?mode=tn&o\
rder=ordinal&start=1&dir=asc

As always, do not forget to click on: View 'original' to see the real resolution
I upload them with.

Ok, and here the question. In a few days I'll go to Paris and I would like to
visit a few movie memorabillia/collectors shops? Anyone living there that could
recommend me any?

Many thanks in advance and best,

Maria.-

Anyone watch "Monk" on USA network Friday evening?  Monk's friend, Detective
Stottolemeyer, proposed to his girlfriend and went around singing "Heaven, I'm
in heaven" and was clicking his heels.  Fred was not mentioned but.....

Spread Fred,

Cecilia