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Post by Doghouse6 on Sept 27, 2017 23:20:43 GMT
Gotta ask. HOW on earth did you notice the little dance step parallel in Way Out West and Swing Time ? I know that you are detail conscious but this one is downright spooky ! Both are just little bits in such busy wholes.
Those "making of images" are terrific ! The Boys are so real that it's odd seeing pictures that show them "just pretending! I've absolutely devoured each of the Fred and Ginger films, particularly the numbers, scrutinizing them countless times over the last 40-odd years - especially so during the few in the late-'70s when I was taking weekly tap classes at the Paul de Rolf or Roland Dupree studios (just for my own exercise and enjoyment) - and know them so well that watching those clips on the ancient laptop with the dead sound card I'm currently using (while my desktop's again on the fritz), I can "hear" the music as I see them only silently. It was around the time of those classes that I again saw Way Out West, that distinctive move caught my attention and I went, "Hmmmm." My dancer squeeze at the time taught me to develop a critical eye, and used to nudge me at revival house screenings, pointing out tiny flubs: "Kelly did a heel drop there that's missing from the sound track." Here's another "making of" image, of Stan and Babe before the rear-projection screen, just for you:
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Post by BATouttaheck on Sept 27, 2017 23:37:59 GMT
Doghouse6 Watching the Swing Time clip (again) I noticed a little stand-on-heel-tap-the-toe thingy that I had never noticed before. I suppose tho' that Fred did it all of the time. OH NO... I am getting "detail conscious"!
If "squeeze" had been doing that flub-nudge while watching a picture with me, said squeeze might have wound up lookin' like an old tube of Pepsodent. There is an imaginary sign in the tv room that says "thou shall not talk until the commercials and then only if totally necessary.
I should get some sort of points ... I did recognize that the boys were dancin' before a rear projection screen in WoW!
Trying to imagine you tap dancin' ! More Fred or Gene style ? Thanks again for the behind the scenes.
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Post by mikef6 on Sept 27, 2017 23:49:19 GMT
I recently attended a community theater production of "Dial 'M' For Murder." As an intro before the play began, since a telephone plays a key part in the plot, the theater's youth group performed The Telephone Hour from Bye Bye Birdie. It was a delight. For singin', dancin' and laughin', this number can't be beat. Here is the scene from the 1963 film with Ann-Margaret and Bobby Rydell featured. Enjoy.
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Post by Doghouse6 on Sept 28, 2017 0:09:10 GMT
Doghouse6 I was, under this name, but for a very short period just before it closed, and that mostly in the "INTK" board (for Sleuth singers and other ridiculous requests). I'd love to hear your Stan Laurel story. Oh, of course; the Sleuth thread. Forget my momentary brain fart first silly question. Bat, I thought you'd seen it, but for both of you, here's my admittedly second-hand Stan story. My father, Jim, was at the end of his wartime hitch and, back stateside and still in uniform in the mid-'40s, was at a Beverly Hills watering hole with a couple Army buddies before heading to a party in the Valley one evening. The waiter came to their table with a full tray and told them, "The gentleman over there has sent you a round." They looked in the direction of the lone man, who raised his glass in toast, and so Dad motioned him over. He was a soft-spoken, middle-aged Englishman who expressed his gratitude for their service, introduced himself simply as Stan and wanted to know their names and all about their experiences, pre-war lives and plans for the future. After much talk, the hour grew late and Dad, reminding his friends about the party, told Stan, "Hate to have to leave but, y'know what? I bet our hostess wouldn't mind if you came along." As Dad told me the story, he said he was momentarily mystified by his friends' looks of surprise. The gentleman told them he had his own car and asked for the address. As they walked out to theirs, one of the friends asked Dad, "You do know who that was, don't you?" "No, who?" "Stan Laurel." "Laurel? Y'mean Laurel and Hardy Laurel?" "Yeah. He was probably just being polite and won't show." But not long after Dad and his friends arrived, and before they'd had a chance to tell anyone of their experience, the hostess answered the door to a man who doffed his fedora and said, "Hello, I'm Stan. Jim invited me. Is that alright?" And Stan stayed the entire evening, delighting everyone with stories and jokes, and was the life of the party.
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Post by BATouttaheck on Sept 28, 2017 0:29:42 GMT
Doghouse6I think this was a new story and worth waiting for ! Would it not have been great to have been at that party ? It sounds so much like the Stan we know and love. I can just see and hear "Jim invited me. Is that alright ?"
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Post by Nalkarj on Sept 28, 2017 0:36:57 GMT
Doghouse6Wonderful, wonderful story. As Bat put it, "It sounds so much like the Stan we know and love." That's a treasure, Doghouse--that's a definite treasure. And no worries about the Sleuth thread!
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Post by Doghouse6 on Sept 28, 2017 0:54:42 GMT
BATouttaheckSee? You can dance too! Legend has it - and I once personally heard Gene Kelly say it - that Judy Garland could watch the choreographer run through a number's steps once, and then perform them perfectly. So keep those eyes peeled and, as Irving Berlin wrote, let the dance floor feel your leather!* In basic tap (so I was taught), the default position is on the balls of the feet. Unless you're using a heel for something like a scuff, stamp, or other step specifically involving it, they're to remain elevated from the floor. Ever the innovator, Astaire did a lot of heel work. In the "Slap That Bass" number in Shall We Dance, for instance, he does a rapid series of "heel stands" with arms extended and his toes never touching the floor. Me? More Fred or Gene? I guess I tried to emulate Fred, but it probably came out more like Edward Everett Horton. *Anecdote: Hubby's been having trouble lately with his legs, and last week we were at a physical therapist who was evaluating his strength and control. At one point, she said, "Down on your heels...up on your toes," and I burst forth with, "Stay after school, learn how it goes, ev'rybody do the Varsity Drag!" Hubby laughed and the (very young) therapist looked at me like I was insane.
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Post by Doghouse6 on Sept 28, 2017 1:41:11 GMT
BATouttaheck and Nalkarj I believe the story to be true, as Dad was unimpressed with celebrity to the point of obtuseness (as the story suggests), not given to name-dropping and I got it only in dribs and drabs over the years. The last time I prompted him for it was a couple years before his death, when he casually added as a postscript, "Yeah, and he went to the party we were goin' to." "Party? You never mentioned a party before." And I begged, "Pleeeeease, for once, tell me this entire story from start to finish."
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Post by BATouttaheck on Sept 28, 2017 2:18:59 GMT
My sister had the 78 rpm album of Good News and listened to it ... a lot ! I think that did see the movie once years and years later. Doghouse6 This clip is not the best visually but it's what I could find : Great ending to the dad story !, btw. By the Way, what does btw mean ?
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Post by BATouttaheck on Sept 28, 2017 2:37:19 GMT
Slap that Bass : Shall We Dance Another one I had never seen before. I shall be sending you the bill for repairing my over-used smiling muscles ! What fun these are ! Doghouse6
What movie was that clip with the Nicholas Brothers ? The one on the stairs where they nearly kick the horn player in the head ?
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Post by Doghouse6 on Sept 28, 2017 4:46:16 GMT
BATouttaheckHere's some home movie footage taken on the set during "Slap That Bass;" some sources say it was shot by either George or Ira Gershwin, but I can't remember which just now. That Nicholas Bros number is "Jumpin' Jive" from Stormy Weather (1943).
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Post by BATouttaheck on Sept 28, 2017 4:59:35 GMT
That's the one, thanks Doghouse6Those guys have GOT to be early CGI ! No human could possibly do that and survive ! Thanks too for the Gershwin clip ! My speaker seemed to suddenly go on the fritz but it was pretty cool anyway !
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