Fred Astaire - "Puttin On The Ritz"

[johnnymccrowe]

2:12 - 2:15, helll yeah!!



[FATWalkthroughs]

sod norris, its astaire who kick ass

[STATMANSHIPBLAST]

amazing

[Bananenbauer123]

Whoot? o.O 2:46 is it magic?

[Dlaemmerhirt999]

Frankenstein's monster did it better. . . okay maybe not!

[IJailBreakK]

Fiora..

[bentotheclarke]

TALENT



[wooby101]

2:51 he like levitates the cane to his hand!



[7tosha9]

I've watched this clip many times and the only word that comes to mind each time is..."Dang!" Can you believe this was supposed to be his last movie before he retired? So glad he changed his mind.

[KarlRummel]

mariel martin brought me here

[CrystalChord2010]

Now this is the kind of dancing that needs to come back. Classic.

[4shoify]

What happened to this style of dance? Now its all booty shaking and funny things. Bring it back!! One Word SUAVE. Not SWAG....SUAVE!!

[magicdice1000]

i disliked this cuz i couldn't figure out how a walk could have so much swag...

[MugsM8]

If I ever end up as a super hero, I mean it's bound to happen.

I'm going to use a fancy cane to beat robbers with. It just looks so perfect.

Imagine him coming right at you at 2:28...

[goer965]

unico

[aguyfromrs]

We all know the reason people disliked this is because they couldn't use the force to move their canes =p

p.s. If you really wanna know how its done watch the cane very closely, his hands/feet are a distraction =D

[djjaseuk]

3 dislikes... shame on them! :)

[projectbaum]

Boys have swag. Men have class.

[Jiefyang]

how the hell did that cane fly up onto his hand??

[7tosha9]

@Jiefyang There was a mechanism in the floor that when he stepped on it, it would shoot the cane back up. Quite innovative for 1946 isn't it? Hey, if you've never seen Royal Wedding, check that movie out, Fred dances up the walls and on top of the ceiling.

[Jiefyang]

@7tosha9 thanks... i donno if that was innovative or not.. not much a show or entertainment person... more of a book worm tbh.

[7tosha9]

@Jiefyang That's cool. So am I. I love to read. I also love to sing, dance, draw, write and act on occasion. I guess that's why I like Fred Astaire so much; for his artistry.

[chelobones]

3:03 super tap poweeeeers!

[VLUQ915]

he's genius

[shibby1998]

ON 2:51?????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!

[MrGermanZombie]

@shibby1998 you mean 2:49?

[Famorth]

This is way more entertaining than what's in TV/cinemas today

[hughuggies]

WHAT. A. BOSS.

[CautionLlama]

2:51  O_O ...

[Famorth]

@CautionLlama That was my first thought as well oO

[weloyouforever77]

I like to thank you for this video

[drmorb]

WTF happened with that cane?

[Chickidydow]

thats some pretty goddamn impressive tapping

[Lugsus]

2:49 What kind of sorcery is this ?

[MaskedMenace830]

Now THAT'S entertainment!

[yeshuachail]

super duper

[imissslickey]

Super Duper!



[GabrielKnightz]

I cant stop imagining House (hugh laurie) doing this for some reason!

[Appleheartedmoon]

@GabrielKnightz Would that be the reason? :D /watch?v=9VGItt9cCgc

[GabrielKnightz]

@Appleheartedmoon More probably because of this :) /watch?v=7iXfwBlXFv4

[RUout2GETme]

@GabrielKnightz Laurie sang this while playing Bertie Wooster in "Jeeves & Wooster". If u haven't seen then weird coincidence.

[tidq]

I'm sorry a young man like me never got to see stuff like this growing up. This guy is freaking amazing.

[GeneralFantastic]

the three dislikes are from background dancers that couldn't keep up and got fired

[AUWarEagle122]

At 2:54 you can see the cane has been dropped with the point more downstage. Then at 3:00, Astaire dances to stage left putting the cane out of camera shot. When Astaire comes back to the cane at center stage at 3.04, the point is no longer pointing downstage. An off-camera stage crew person has aligned the cane with the floor jets and the action remains unbroken. Good directing and blocking in this scene to pull it off continuously.

[TikiSnakes]

@AUWarEagle122 Wait, so, there really isn't any camera trickery there? That's incredible.

[gcuneo2]

I'll have Chuck Norris Roundhouse kick the 3 dislikes....

[xXDeAtHkNiGhTkAoRuXx]

@gcuneo2 not even Chuck Norris can dance like that....

[JoeTheMeatbag]

How on earth was that cane still alive?

[docturlough]

Jesus, that man is graceful.

[oweng4evr]

Fucking love Bing Crosby!

[mrsmac878]

some of the women he dances with remind me of that CANE....HA!

[Potatochucker6]

Original Swag!!!

[BFBCFTW]

@Potatochucker6 Swag is for boys. Class is for men.

[cooljoe494]

@Potatochucker6 Original "Swag" was called Moxie.

[vadegdadeg]

Путин огурец!

[zharnotczar]

I wish I had that kind of style.

[GinaSkinner]

how the heck does he flip that cane back up????????

[Metritutus]

@GinaSkinner He blatantly has telekinetic powers to go alongside his skill at tap dancing.

[catherinesteph]

He moves so effortlessly- He's "super-duper" ;D

[swirlcrop]

Good job Freddie. R.I.P

[nyckillaheat]

I love this a million time over and will never ever get tired of it ever!!

[CelineElla123]

4:04

[shadowdemons117]

LIKE A SIR!!!!

[thearchitect1998]

i love his shoes, someday i'm going to have one...

[sandyjackuon]

the greatest dancer ever ! Michael jackson got inspired by him

[kayleighcolfer]

@sandyjackuon I didn't know that! But I love Astaire!!!

[11100justinbieberfan]

That is my dream to tap like him! (:

[novakralph]

Amen to Aimpoint. Peter Boyle as the Monster starting to tap dance is as funny a moment as there is in movies.

[amenic1894]

FANTASTIC Tap dancing.



[phoenix2749]

like a boss.

[iai3n]

you just don't see morris dancing like this any more...sigh..

[ZeldaMarshall]

Sure, Fred Astaire is sauve & debonair, but I MUCH prefer the more upbeat & pure fun version with Clark Gable in the MGM 1939 pic, Idiot`s Delight!

[MariAnKenobi]

This man is AMAZING! If you've ever seen rehearsal shots side by side with the actual film clips of his routines, you'll know what I mean. He is always perfect, and rehearsed until he could do it identically every time. I don't just admire his talent - I admire his dedication and professionalism.

[UrMomsFavoritePerson]

Layin down the hurt on that damn cane hahah completely necessary though



[EnDZYm3]

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

[MetalDJHonkie]

He looks like a skinny penguin....

[MetalDJHonkie]

That poor skuffed floor. haha

[soap770]

better than taco

[labralex]

This is a hundred times better than any music video from these days

[terezian]

Speechless!!!

[1969atam]

Maybe it's reversed film for a split second so he's actually dropping the cane and in reverse it appears to fly up. His dancing makes Michael Jackson look like an amateur!

[31emxof]

@1969atam Funny how everyone tries to come up with complicated "mechanisms" they must have used to make the cane come up to him. It's clear they were playing with a lot of camera and editing tricks in this film. It would be difficult, but clearly not impossible to seamlessly splice the reverse in.

[kyzersoze74]

who says white men cant dance? :P

[djcodyx]

Here ladies and gents, is the definition of having swag

[zalupa1000]

he was a real gentleman.one can see it in his every move.

[justkevy]

Fred Astaire is a good dancer. I prefer the symbolism of the Taco video. The rich or to be p.c, the wealthy are nothing if they are not slumming! That is why you are here. To make the rich feel better about themselves. Won't you agree that they are better than you are? Occupy G.E!

[deideikunblueeyez]

Man that is one sturdy cane!

[sandyfire11]

Classic 5+*

[Serai3]

1 person has no class.

[2002TapDancer]

@Serai3

I agree.. :)

[Crumphorn]

Timeless masterpiece.

[FEBRAX89]

GOD THISWAS REALLY TALENT AND NOT JUST LIKE JUSTIN BEIBER!!

[themonger42]

yeah i like this version a bit better then taco's.....

thanks for putting this lovely thing up~!

[ChristopherJStorey]

Man, Fred was a pimp.

[aimpointvw]

"Young Frankenstein" has a great parody of this classic routine.

With the monster doing a terrific impression of Fred! (ha ha)

[vTHExUNKNOWENv]

Thos were the golden days indeed... Wish i was there

[BeastOfDreams13]

dude is a legend

[FRAGIORGIO1]

Forget about the cane ! This is amazing talent and class! Thanks for posting this classic.

[shufflehop]

@FRAGIORGIO1 LOL! Amen! :)

[MasterTenblades]

@FRAGIORGIO1 very talented :) i miss the old days... when you didnt need to go rape or kill some guy and rap about it...

[pimpernelsmith1949]

What a class act in every respect!

[xTheLameOhx]

its strings



[EmoPrincex89]

MITO!!!!

[DjSocelite]

NAILED IT!



[Melissadhija]

For some reason he reminds me of Jimminy Crickets? Lol

[jsf5146]

oh, mattmurdock already answered that... nvm then

[wwwlegozone]

my fav version of this song would have to be the one form the movie young frankenstein XD but this is my second fav

[mhoopisblues]

I think he was crazy ... but i love him. Thanks for posting.

[MsCavalia]

That was so awsome when he did that dance number with the back up dancers

[awake323]

How did they do the move where the stick flies back into their hands?

[iajoe]

@awake323 I would like to know also.

[shufflehop]

@awake323 My understanding is that there was a mechanism in the floor under the cane that propelled the cane upwards into Astaire's hand. How exactly this worked I have no idea, but if anyone knows please post here :)

[jsf5146]

@shufflehop okay, so after watching for it, i realized there were only three times where this trick occured. Astaire only created the illusion of throwing the cane down in random places. in reality, the camera work took the focus off the cane and, when turned away, the cane was put in the exact place of this mechanism. watch how the second time, astaire drops it, moves off to the right. The can is in a different position when he comes back to it. someone placed it in the specific place

[carterfrvr]

@shufflehop It has something to do with compressed air holes in the floor. I've heard that if you watch the film in slow motion you can see the air shoot up the cane.

[MrGoblinX]

@shufflehop Hum.. at 2:50 he kicks the cane, the cane he goes to is clearly not the same one. An easy thread mechanism made with a type of tie that breaks when pulling down could explain it quite easily. For the other cut at 3:00 if you see, he moves away from the line of sith of the cane and we can't see it. If you look closely you can tell the cane has moved abit, so it could have been replaced with an other cane folowing the same mechanism as the first one. And for 4:00, same logic as 3:00

[shufflehop]

@MrGoblinX Yeah, I'm pretty sure multiple canes and prop guys were used. What I find amazing is that will all this going on the cut looks so seamless. Maybe we need to ask Penn & Teller how this was done :)

[Phantomsbreath]

@shufflehop Jets of air. It was literally blown into his hands. You'll notice that it's from the same place each time. It's because that's where the holes in the set are.

[johnnymccrowe]

@MrGoblinX no way, its done in reverse, hes flimed droping the cane and then that clip is spliced into the scene in reverse so it appears to be floating up, the cane is placed in certain spots before the trick so he can be on mark when the camera stops and starts so it looks seamless.........Occam's razor

[shadow00746]

@shufflehop The floor mechanism was a large magnet, like in some old magic shows.

The cane was also a magnet with the same polarity. By turning the magnet on the cane it tossed up in the air. it also shows why his feet are planted each time he gets the cane - the metal on his shoe soles were attracted to the electromagnet.

[facegotstupid]

they put a magnet in the cane and a electromagnet in the stage so the canes magnet would push away from the stage

[terminater112]

@shufflehop They played the film in reverse for a few frames. Same as luke using the force to get lighsabers

[DevilTakeMe]

@terminater112 Nope. No reverse footage here. It's revealed to have been air jets in Astaire's book. The switch to the prop cane is very subtle. At 3:00, the cane is moved back one square over the correct air holes in order to pull off the effect.

You'll also notice that Fred flinches and turns his head away when the jet is activated.

[MattMurdockCZ]

@awake323 A think it's just bounded to a silon fibre. That's why he dances away at 3:00 so the people can prepare it..

[patmcclung]

@awake323

Pretty simple, actually. Just played the footage backwards.

[justkevy]

@awake323 It bounces! Dah!!!

[justkevy]

@awake323 English!! Dah!!!

[SladenKing]

@awake323 It was to my understanding that Mr. Astaire had Force Powers.

[Rileyman2rr]

@awake323 I know this is a quite a while after you asked, but i think there was some stop editing involved, if you pause and un-pause rapidly during the cane's movement you can see distortion and blurring, the distortion may be from the editors cutting and splicing several frames of film together to make the cane look like it is moving, The blurring is probably intentional for the eye tricking to occur.

[Roms396]

@awake323 its because Fred Astaire was a Jedi...

[THESUPERCAT64]

@awake323 the force is strong with this guy o.o

[kunkelponi]

That was so awesome to watch:)

[beastess100]

entertainment at its finest