The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Now for something completely different:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mz3CPzdCDws

The editing in that video is utterly brilliant! That must have taken a lot of work. Thanks for the link.

I think I understand why she was the most popular pin-up girl among WWII soliders. Wow.

An extraordinary star. Orson knew exactly what he was doing when he snagged her!

She led a tragic life.

Great video, thanks for posting!

Brilliant and very cleverly done. Extremely enjoyable---many thanks.

The score was a bit of a shock at first, but it turned out to be a brilliant idea in the end. I agree that selecting the scenes and putting everything in sync must have taken forever!

For some reason - possibly because they re-run always the same few movies over and over again - I didn't recall that Rita Hayworth was also such a good dancer!

In my opinion Fred Astaire is the most elegant man who ever walked on earth. Not only he possessed a dancing technique that would humiliate even most (if not all) classic dancers, but he could wear a tail-coat or a tuxedo with the same indifference with which an average man would wear a pair of shorts. A gentleman would never learn enough from him.

Marco Gilardetti wrote:The score was a bit of a shock at first, but it turned out to be a brilliant idea in the end. I agree that selecting the scenes and putting everything in sync must have taken forever!

For some reason - possibly because they re-run always the same few movies over and over again - I didn't recall that Rita Hayworth was also such a good dancer!

In my opinion Fred Astaire is the most elegant man who ever walked on earth. Not only he possessed a dancing technique that would humiliate even most (if not all) classic dancers, but he could wear a tail-coat or a tuxedo with the same indifference with which an average man would wear a pair of shorts. A gentleman would never learn enough from him.

I just saw (again) Swing Time on the Turner Classic Movie channel. The way Astaire cast those dice in the dice game was sheer artistry: the gestures, the hands, the body language---all grace and perfection. It's ironic that Astaire was always self-conscious about his hands, or so he has been quoted. It doesn't look to me like he has any problem there!

Rita Hayworth was a dancer by training. That Hollywood chose to emphasize her other assets as well seems understandable in view of her acting ability. Her performance in the title role of the movie Gilda is a case in point.

Words don't exist for how skilled Fred Astaire was. I can never get enough of him. Every move he does is perfectly elegant, and chalk-full of refinement.

Rita Hayworth is amazing as well, though I don't care much for her noir films such as Gilda. I definetely prefer her two films with Astaire.This scene from Gilda, though, is just classic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUQvITehr34

Years ago a couple of phono collector pals and I drove to Long Beach, and boarded the Queen Mary. When no one was looking we sneakily slipped past some "access forbidden" barriers, through some "do not enter" doors, and found ourselves in the grand ballroom. Our senior friend, an extremely mild-mannered sort of guy, walked out into the middle of the dance floor and with great enthusiasm loudly whispered "FRED ASTAIRE DANCED HERE!"

benjaminh wrote:Words don't exist for how skilled Fred Astaire was. I can never get enough of him. Every move he does is perfectly elegant, and chalk-full of refinement.

Ditto. Every time for one reason or another I am requested to wear a white tie or a tuxedo (an event that is unfortunately getting rarer and rarer in common life) I always watch one or two of his movies first, just to try to leap a bit into the role.

It is also remarkable how Ginger Rogers, who in turn was undoubtably a great great dancer, looks a bit rigid in her movements while Astaire is doing the same dance "in synch" with her. The naturalness of Astaire's movements is outstanding indeed.