That might be because Cyd Charisse is unique. That barroom dance is just about the sexiest thing in cinema.
Yeah, she’s my favourite of his partners, and i already had a crush on her in The Band Wagon, Singin in the Rain and It’s Always Fair Weather, when in my teens.
In 1932 when he went to Hollywood, after his sister Adele got married to a Lord, hopes weren’t high, since she was considered the better dancer in their double act! When you see what he was quite soon coming up with on screen, the mind boggles about Adele, who called him a moaning minnie for his perfectionism. The hard work paid off.
Jazzy, at first I couldn’t believe the question. But then I realized maybe we should ask ourselves why the icons are at that status and do they deserve the honor. All I can say is Astaire is one of the easiest to say (yell, scream …) an affirmative yes. I know we’re never going to see anything of the likes of him again, which is sad.
There is a clip from That’s Entertainment, Part III that is shown in splitscreen of Astaire rehearsing a routine for a film, and the finished product, and there is virtually no deviation. That perfection, matched with his inimitable grace and sophistication, is wherein the magic lies. (If somebody could find and post that clip … I don’t know how).
And never forget the written results from his first screen test for MGM -“Can’t act. Can’t sing. Can dance a little.”
Yes. A brilliant dancer. Just look at this…
If that isn’t art in movement, I just don’t know what is.
He was about 50 in that film, and still going strong several years later for Funny Face and Silk Stockings. But Manoel de Oliveira was still dancing quite niftily aged 99.
Kenji
I was very interested in a recent TV programme in Britain, with ballerina Darcey Bussell doing some famous routines in just a few weeks- Fred’s in Puttin on the Ritz, Debbie Reynolds’ Good Mornin in Singin in the Rain, Ginger’s in Cheek to Cheek, and a modern version based on The Band Wagon’s Girl Hunt section. Not a bad effort, as the movements were very different for her, the weakest, surprisingly, was as a Cyd Charisse vamp in which she lacked the sexy charisma and presence.