Wednesday, October 15, 2008

The Truth about Cats and Dogs

And here the cat and dog--Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly--dance together, all the way to heaven.
What a heaven!
Note, Kelly leads.
From the Ziegfeld Follies (1946, dir. Vincente Minnelli).

From Wikipedia:
"The Babbitt And The Bromide": Astaire and Kelly team up in a comedy song and dance challenge in three sections, to music and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin. All choreography was by Astaire (third section) and Kelly (sections one and two). In spite of efforts by Freed and Minnelli, the two would not partner again on film until That's Entertainment, Part II in 1976.

5 comments:

momo said...

Thank you. I'd never seen that before!

Fresca said...

Gosh, I thought you'd seen every dance scene ever!
I've never seen this movie, actually, just remembered the clip from the "That's Entertainment" movies, which I loved when I was a kid.

Anonymous said...

That was great. I'm struck by how much, as the scene continued, I'm drawn to Astaire. Kelly has great footwork, and is obviously the handsomer of the two. But everything Astaire does is perfectly placed. Look at the angel scene and notice how Astaire deliberately places his hands and arms--those motions are as tightly choreographed as his footwork. In comparison Kelly's hands and arms are almost flailing about.

In this clip Astaire's not a cat at all...he's more of a wiry terrier to Kelly's big lab. Both were delightful dancers.

deanna said...

I so enjoyed watching this. Thanks for the view and related info.

Fresca said...

I truly can't decide which I like best, so I'm not going to--I love them both.
Glad you all liked them too.