In the 1951 Stanley Donen-directed musical Royal Wedding, Fred Astaire and Jane Powell are a brother/sister dance team who travel to England to perform during the nuptials of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip and manage to each find love along…
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As we mentioned earlier, today is Easter Sunday. So naturally we wanted to bring you the greatest song ever written about celebrating the holiday, Irving Berlin‘s timeless “Easter Parade.” With its origins dating back to 1917, and previously featured in…
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This Sunday is Easter! If you celebrate the holiday, by now you probably have your Easter bonnet (with all the frills upon it, natch) ready for the day’s festivities. But we’re also guessing that you’ll find some time over the…
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Sometimes even a die-hard movie fan’s interests wander, until some film revives them. Guest writer The Lady Eve shares how the 1934 Astaire-Rogers classic The Gay Divorcee reintroduced her to the world of classic cinema.
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Pizzazz! The very word came into being with Funny Face in 1957. Stylish and energetic, Funny Face is a collaboration extraordinaire involving some of the great talents of the era: Producer Roger Edens and director Stanley Donen, screenwriter Leonard Gershe,…
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At times his on-screen dancing seemed to enable him to defy gravity. MovieFanFare founder Jerry Frebowitz offers a special birthday salute to Fred Astaire, whose dapper presence set the tone for Hollywood musical from the 1930s to the ’60s.
Read more →June 19, 1905: The first “nickelodeon” opens its doors, on Smithfield Street in Pittsburgh, charging a five-cent fee. First attraction: The Great Train Robbery. June 24, 1916: Mary Pickford signs Hollywood’s first “million-dollar contract,” guaranteeing her at least $10,000 a…
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The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939) The nine films Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers made together at RKO between 1933 and 1939 are some of the most magical and sublime movies ever made. They’re also among the wittiest….
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The same year Warner Brothers released 42nd Street (1933), MGM came out with Dancing Lady, a backstage musical complete with a Busby Berkeley style finale. If you had to compare the two, the win would certainly go to 42nd Street,…
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Ginger Rogers is a triple threat. She can sing, act and dance. She even won an Oscar for her 1941 performance in Kitty Foyle. I taped several of her films that I haven’t seen (I’m trying to see all of…
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