Tommy Rall was a man who defied gravity. Whether executing impossibly fast twirls, nimbly leaping through the air, or doing a series of stunningly intricate tap steps, Rall proved to be one of the best dancers Hollywood would ever see. And yet he never became the star he deserved to be. On October 6, at… Read more »
The first time I met Fred Astaire, I hated him. Except I didn’t know him as Fred Astaire, I knew him as Ted Hanover, the conceited hoofer in Holiday Inn who kept stealing the girlfriends of the man who was supposedly his best friend, Jim Hardy (Bing Crosby). My poor, six-year-old heart felt so sad… Read more »
“Show business isn’t just scenery, lights, greasepaint and glitter, it’s heart. Because if your show hasn’t got a heart, you haven’t got a show. That’s what I tried to convey when I wrote the song ‘There’s No Business Like Show Business.’” — Irving Berlin If it weren’t for the presence of Marilyn Monroe, what would… Read more »
Guest post by Rebecca Dirksen, Assistant Professor, Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology. In New Orleans, there are jazz funerals to dance someone into the next realm after they pass away. Hearty brass bands with trumpets, trombones, and sousaphones accompany mourners as they process from the church down the street alongside the coffin of a deceased… Read more »
An underappreciated pioneer with a knack for crafting wonderfully feminist fare, Dorothy Arzner is a filmmaker all cinephiles should know. A successful woman director and openly gay, Arzner was, in many ways, a rarity in classic Hollywood. She became the first woman to direct a sound film, as well as the first to be in… Read more »
When it comes to the movie musical, there are two giants whose presences are inescapable: Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. The impact of these legendary men cannot be overestimated — from movies to TV shows to music videos to commercials, Astaire and Kelly are still influencing pop culture and reaching new audiences every day. However,… Read more »