Let Yourself Go ... To Old Hollywood

Silk Stockings (1957)

From my Facebook archives, March 30, 2015:

Silk Stockings. MGM, 1957.

This was Fred Astaire's last "classic" Hollywood musical, at the age of 58. He did a number of films after this, but all non-singing and non-dancing, except for one -- 11 years later. His dancing shifted to television.

The dancing here, except for the first group routine, is really superb. Fred is still great, although no longer in his prime. Cyd Charisse is excellent.

Yet I did not warm up to the film. The Soviet stereotypes are overdone. The characters of the three commissars are more tiresome than funny (except for Peter Lorre). Fred's character is a bit of a sleaze. Cyd Charisse's character is flat. The romance isn't believable.

And worst of all was the demeaning attitude towards women, verbalized most egregiously in this lyric that Cyd Charisse sings (dubbed) to Fred while kneeling on the floor in front of him: "A woman to a man is just a woman. But a man to a woman is her life."

So the two romantic duets between Fred and Cyd, while excellent routines, suffer from the context they are put in. That is a critical difference from his earlier films.

The most enjoyable bits were the Cyd-plus-chorus number 'Red Blues' and Fred's very funny 'sock solo' (as he called it) "The Ritz Roll and Rock". Both of these are in the last part of the film so it does end on a strong note.

Daddy Long Legs (1955)

From my Facebook archives, March 8, 2015:

Daddy Long Legs. 20th Century Fox, 1955. This film will always hold a special distinction for us, since it was where we first discovered the magic of Fred Astaire back in September 2013. We watched it for the second time a couple weeks ago. In the interim, I've gone from completely unknowledgeable about Fred's life and career to a sort of "expert", having seen all his musical films except the final two, and having read numerous books about him. It was interesting seeing Daddy Long Legs with this new perspective.

For example, I now know the Fred's wife had died from lung cancer very shortly before the filming was to begin, and that Fred has tried to get out of making the picture, but had been talked into continuing by his friends and colleagues. The producers arranged the schedule to accommodate Fred's grief, and in the final product his pain is undetectable. It is a fun, upbeat film and his performance on screen fits that mood perfectly.

On a more technical note, this was the first widescreen ("CinemaScope") film that Fred had done. This wasn't noticeable on our first viewing, as widescreen films are so prevalent to modern eyes. But after watching all his earlier films in approximate chronological order, the sudden jump to widescreen is now quite apparent to me.

Also it's clear that Daddy Long Legs is one of the best of Fred's later musicals.I'm glad this was the first film of his we saw rather than either of the two that came immediately before and after, The Band Wagon and Funny Face. Those are good, but don't show off Fred's magic anywhere near its best. We would not have gotten the right impression of Fred from watching those.

For that fortunate occurrence, we can thank Netflix's streaming service. We had just decided to start watching some old classic musicals. After seeing Gene Kelly in An American in Paris, we wanted to see another dance movie. But we wanted to see a different star. Fred Astaire was the logical choice. Netflix's only streaming option for us that night was Daddy Long Legs. (Now they also have Funny Face available.)

We were novices, but still knew enough to realize this was late-career Fred and probably not his prime work. Still, he won us over immediately with his drumming and dance solo five minutes into the film. Drums are a quick way to both of our hearts. Discovering Fred was a drummer as well as a dancer was a revelation.

As for the plot of the film, with the protagonists (Fred and Leslie Caron) so far apart in age, it could easily have become creepy. But fortunately, due to the approach taken by the writers, it never did. It's an entertaining film with lots of great dancing--though the film-makers could have cut the long "dream ballet" by Caron near the end without losing anything memorable.

Funny Face (1957)

From my Facebook archives, January 31, 2015:

Funny Face, Paramount 1957. Fred Astaire. Audrey Hepburn. Well, Audrey Hepburn. Fred Astaire. That's the starring order.

Audrey asked for Fred to be her co-star in this, her first musical--and she got him. There were apparently some contractual difficulties putting it all together, but, as Fred put it in his autobiography: "I was not missing it. Period."

The film certainly has a compelling visual style to it. It immediately looks different than the previous Fred films we've been watching--the 60s appear to have arrived even though it's 1957.

Overall the film was enjoyable--more so than The Band Wagon for me--though it is well down the list of my favorite Fred films. Several of the dance numbers are fun, particularly Fred's solo and the comic duet with Kay Thompson. But the romantic duets between the two stars are relatively weak by Fred's standards.

Kay Thompson, who amongst other things was a vocal coach for Judy Garland, was great to watch. I have no clue why she stayed mostly behind the scenes and didn't perform in more movies.

The Band Wagon (1953)

From my Facebook archives: January 3, 2015:

The Band Wagon. MGM 1953. On New Years Day we finished up this film. It was our 27th Fred Astaire film, leaving only three of his musicals that we have not yet seen.

I have mixed feelings about this one. I really want to like it a lot, and it was mostly fun. But it just isn't as good as most of Fred's other films, though Fred himself is in fine form.

The best parts: the Dancing in the Dark romantic duet with Cyd Charisse, Fred's 'shoeshine' dance with LeRoy Daniels, Jack Buchanan's outrageous storytelling while pitching his character's show. The worst parts: Oscar Levant (mostly horrible here, and I normally like him!) and the staging for the 'That's Entertainment' song (embarrassingly boring for a 'dance' number that includes Fred). Overall, too much MGM, not enough Fred.

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Let's Dance (1950)

From my Facebook archives, December 9, 2014:

We're down to our last few Fred Astaire musicals. 'Let's Dance' from 1950 is our 26th to see, leaving just four more.

This one has Betty Hutton as Fred's partner. She is her own thing, that's for sure, and is fascinating to watch. The music is good, if not exceptional. The story is serviceable for a musical (certainly better than Royal Wedding and especially Belle of New York, the last two of Fred's films we've seen). The acting is a bit weaker than usual, but not in any way that seriously hurts. The dancing routines were, of course, fabulous (except for the finale, which wasn't quite so memorable). Not Royal Wedding fabulous, but that's a very high standard.

From reading the book 'Music Makes Me: Fred Astaire and Jazz' earlier this year, I had been under the impression that, in one of his dance solos, Fred destroys a piano. And while Fred did indeed dance under, in, and on top of a piano, then played a tune on another one, he left them both intact in the end. I shouldn't have taken that author's phrase "smashing up the tools of his trade" quite so literally.

Anyway this was very fun to watch and hardly deserves to be "forgotten", as that same author describes it. This is the only one of Fred's films that doesn't appear to be available on DVD. Fortunately it is on Amazon Prime streaming and watchable by taking their 30-day free trial.

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Belle of New York (1952)

From my Facebook archives, October 30, 2014:

We're slowly working our way through watching all of Fred Astaire's musical films. The latest, from 1952, The Belle of New York...

As for Belle of New York... It was not one of Fred's best films. The dancing is superb of course. The music, though, did not resonate with me. The comedy also did not work for me. And the plot makes Royal Wedding look like an epic novel. 

Fred does have a solo near the end that makes up for everything!