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October 15, 2009

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Astaire's insistence that his dancing be filmed in full-body shots with minimal or no cutting

I remember hearing about that, in regards to Coppola's Finian's Rainbow, and in Lennon's Imagine. I enjoy his old pre-War movies, but I think I like his 1950s movies the best, especially The Band Wagon.

We watched Top Hat a few weeks back and I meant to say at the time that 1930s romance looked very like what today we'd call creepy stalker behaviour. Fortunately the plot diverted into mistaken identity farce before it weirded me out too much.

That's an interesting way of describing those old movies, Neil. I guess I never thought of it that way because I automatically made accomodation for the era in which the movies were made. I do notice that, in those old movies, if a man who isn't the leading man shows interest in the leading lady, and if he happens not to be Anglo-Saxon, he usually isn't to be trusted to be honorable toward the wimminfolk.

Ordering all the flowers in a flower shop delivered to a lady one has just met: Overenthusiastic 1930s romance.

Accosting said lady in public and declaring your feelings for her: Overenthusiastic 30s romance.

Replacing the driver of the horsedrawn cab and putting on a terrible Cockney accent: Creepy Stalker!

Waiting in the woods for the lady to ride by on her own: Creepy stalker!

Fred Astaire is very charming which is why he gets away with being a creepy stalker but he's still attempting to find a woman on her own when she doesn't want to be alone with him.

I enjoy these films, but I still think that his behaviour sometimes tips from outrageous to creepy.

Right on all counts, Neil. One thing I'm not sure about is whether it's more creepy than the 'courting' rites depicted in the other movies of the era. It's like the unthinking racism of the 1930s. Come the 1950s, racism was still there, but it was conscious racism because there were more and more people questioning the assumptions of the older era.

That being said, my favorite Fred musical probably remains 1953's The Band Wagon.

PUTTING ON THE RITZ there arent 8 images of fred -there are 9 but are they all him?..and i'm sure some are duplicates as if you zoom in there seem to be pairs...

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