What Made Fred Astaire Special

"There is no difference between the magic rhythms of Bill Shakespeare's immortal verse, and the magic rhythms of Bill Robinson's immortal feet."

- Jeffrey Cordova ("The Band Wagon", 1953)

Before computer-generated special effects became a norm, producers relied on good story and talented actors. Then there are films as a mean of escape. Hollywood is good at it, churning out musicals during the studio days.

It will be injustice to dismiss this genre, as many are remade again - and again. But their significance wasn't known back then, as movie moguls were perceptive of what viewers wanted. Reeling from the First World War, followed by the Great Depression, and then ominous events that were all prelude to the Second World War, the big bosses knew that the musical film, in which songs were interwoven into the narrative, would be the answer. Not one, but many. Most were accompanied by dancing, and in this regard, no one was better than Fred Astaire. Apart from Gene Kelly.

On the big screen, Astaire was a classy fellow, always lighting up the dance floor. Ginger Rogers was his on-screen partner, and both were good enough to guarantee box-office success. They starred in ten films, bringing the genre to a higher level. "Top Hat" (1935) was arguably their best collaboration, with songs written by Irving Berlin.

There were comparisons between Astaire and Kelly, on which one was the greatest (on-screen) dancer. It was simply a case of apple and orange, as Kelly had an effect on women. (When he started to make his move, it was like he was the only man in the room. Some would call it a greater display of masculinity, but Kelly was good at what he did.) Both were big stars at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), the biggest film studio during that time. However, they appeared in only one film - and it was a vignette. In "The Babbitt And The Bromide", one of the numerous episodes in "Ziegfeld Follies" (1946), two gentlemen met during their prime, their sunset years, and the after life. Astaire's dancing style was different than Kelly's, but it was a joy to see both of them performed side by side. It was probably the best thing about that movie, which led to numerous attempts to bring them together again. Perhaps Astaire sensed that the team-up won't be a hit for years, so they appeared three decades later in "That's Entertainment, Part II" (1976).

Not a few believed that the 1950s saw Astaire appeared in what would be his best musicals. Vincente Minnelli's "The Band Wagon" (1953) was a moderate success after its release, but time was a fair judge, as critics believed that this, along with Kelly's "Singin' in the Rain" (1952), were the best of the MGM musicals. Astaire was on his fifties by then, but there were no signs of him slowing down. In fact, he danced until his seventies.

Astaire passed away on June 22, 1987. He was 88.