The Yam

I went digging through Google library today, searching for interesting imagery and ideas from the past. By accident I came across the 193x cover of Life and Fred and Ginger doing something called The Yam. A little research (trust me, very little) brought me to the 1938 Carefree, an Irving Berlin, Fred and Ginger collaboration of the usual sort.
IMDb gives the following plot summary:

Dr. Tony Flagg's friend, Steven, has problems in the relationship with his fiancee, Amanda, so he persuades her to visit Dr. Flagg. After some minor misunderstandings, she falls in love with Dr. Flagg. When he tries to use hypnosis to strengthen her feelings for Steven, things get complicated.

Yeah, complicated by the usual musical comedy fluff. Boy meets girl, boy has problems with girl, and boy and girl work their differences out through a series of improbably song and dance sequences. Something strikes me, though. I’ve seen another Astaire movie, Daddy Longlegs and there’s a common thread – older guy stalking young girl. As a friend once said to me regarding a severely Spring-Autumn relationship, it kinda’ makes you go ewww.

Anyway, here's your dose of dance-related film for the day. Happy Friday!

 

 

A Day at the Races

You might have guessed from my previous entries that I’m a little bit of an old movie buff. There’s something more romantic about a movie without color…not that there aren’t romantic color movies; it’s just that something magic comes out when you remove the eye dazzle of Technicolor. Today I got a chance to watch a NetFlix rental, a movie I thought I’d seen before but apparently hadn’t – the Marx Brothers, ‘A Day at the Races’.

The thing that made me realize that I hadn’t watched the movie before was the great dance scene that takes place about two-thirds of the way through it. It’s very concocted (what musical comedy isn’t) and involves some really bad stereotypes, but the scene involves a troupe of dancers that looked really familiar. I did a little checking online and confirmed they are none other than Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers. In fact, A Day at the Races was their first appearance in a major motion picture and they definately refined their style as they gained more experience on camera. The moves these men and women are able to perform are amazing – truly something to aspire to as a fan o f the Lindy Hop. Now if NetFlix only would get their famous movie ‘Hellzapoppin’ I’d be a happy man.