fred astaire

[genadromov2009]

Ну прямо прекрасно танцуют вот это да-молодцы.

[starrynight0419gmail]

Maybe her moves weren't technically perfect. The need for perfection depends upon the venue. Perfection can be boring.

Eleanor was techically flawless. But Rita looked so natural and unrehearsed. They were both amazing!

[amysita77]

Rita was beautiful but a very sloppy dancer. For a woman who could out-dance Astaire see Eleanor Powell.

[cherish4eva1]

Sing, dance and act, awesome triple threat. Back then most actresses had to be able to do all three, even the singers and dancers were triple threats. Look at Josephine Baker, she was dancer, but she could act and sing.

[BilsonIslington]

Rita Hayworth... The Muse of Dance.

Oh yes of course...

She played that role... beautifully... as well.

[GBthe1AndOnlyMuchLuv]

and away they go

beautiful

[mrsmiths1970]

that has got to be one of the best dance/swing routines of any film with fred ..be it with ginger or ellenor powell or vera ellen... even dancing with gene kelly in cover girl>>>all good fun thank god weve still got these great films still>>>

[migueldaleu]

wow, qué grandes bailarines!!! Dioses de la danza.No importa decir si Rita o Ginger fueron las mejores parejas de baile de Fred, ambas fueron fabulosas y sería injusto para ambas decir si una fue mejor que la otra.Quizá Rita Hayworth tenga un legado más ostensible .

[SergeantPaenzer]

Best Dancer ever!!!!

[fosbury68]

Is there a single actress in Hollywood today that could do that?

I doubt it.

[bestoffrank]

How can anyone dislike this?

[HunterstonB]

Rita (Casino) Hayward was trained in Flamenco dance from the age of 3 by her grandfather who was at that time Spains leading exponent and teacher.

She was brought up with dance (as was Astaire)

Rita was very fine dancer, but I think Ginger Rogers was the better actress

[HunterstonB]

Rita (Casino) Hayward was trained in Flamenco dance from the age of 3 by her grandfather who was at that time Spains leading exponent and teacher.

She was brought up with dance (as was Astaire)

[vizdi14]

Rita Hayworth was a talented dancing artist, she was a pin up girl but not a tipical beauty she was really talented, if you compare with Marilyn Monroe for example, Marilyn doesn´t dance like her.

[gustafus21]

He said in his bio that she was his favorite partner... she was the best dancer.

Supposedly Ginger Rogers wore long gowns to cover her 'sloppy feet'....

He was a tyrant I guess... 30- 40 takes... bloody feet .... but this gal kept up with him.

[CaseyLovesBrightEyes]

Rita Hayworth was Fred Astaire's favorite dance partner, which is really saying something! This is one of my favorite Astaire routines of all time.

[rubytuesdaygypsy]

This is such a fun routine!

[gabcarol8]

in love with this number!!!

[JM4EDR]

One of my favourite dance routines.

He & Hayward seemed like they had great fun.

[pyrohoboy]

I have the fred astaire and ginger rogers boxset and in it Freds daughter introduces each film. She said the main problem Fred and Ginger had with eachother was that he was a perfectionist and she was a lot more laid back with learning and picked it up slower. Fred worked hard and would get frustrated with that. What he liked about Rita was their similar background (he knew her father) and that she was a perfectionist too and worked hard till she got the dance.

[Susana1027]

@pyrohoboy Too bad all those Fred Astair and Ginger Rogers films weren't Fred Astair and Rita Hayward. I think Rita was better than Ginger - and she had better posture!

[Susana1027]

@Susana1027 Excuse me - it's Rita Hayworth - not Hayward.

[cinerama62]

Happy Birthday Fred, May 10 1899.

[horsters]

fred never looked sexier than in this routine!!! :)

[sirleucelot]

Oh soooo sexy! Men were men, and women were women then.

[stans945]

You were never lovelier and she never was lovelier than this

[Drblooter99]

I just read on Wikipedia what a terrible time she had with men and booze. You'd never believe from her in this dance how shitty her life was.

[TheViewFromSugarHill]

Are any of you people really simple minded enough to believe Rita would have "won" a Charleston contest in Texas if African American dancers had not been banned from the contest? These people are like the white boxing "champions" who refused to compete against blacks. There were endless black dance acts who would have run these stiffs off the floor!!!

[fritzjazz]

Great!

[ragmaniac01]

This is my very favorite Astaire routine. For Fred/Rita fans, I recommend that great 40s film You Were Never Lovelier. Rita and, of course, Fred at their very very best!

[followthefleet1]

Fred had 20 dance partners, and Rita ranks near the top in tap....Elinor was tops there. Fred was amazed how quickly Rita could pick up a step. Ginger's strength was ballroom. In the great ballroom dances she had so peer....and Fred did his greatest choreography and dances with Ginger....when they danced it was 1 + 1 = 2,002! They became A-level stars together and remained loyal friends all their lives...in spite of all the calumnies said about them.

[barlin07]

great dance. I wish these two had been paired together more often. oh well. For those who may not be aware, Shorty George is a real person. He was one of the original swing dancers in harlem. I highly recommend looking up "shorty george and Big Bea"

[FAfan06]

this is so good you can say what you want Fred outclassed all his partners except Ellie Powell

[ant18]

who says OAP's can't dance 0.28

[hornybodhisattva]

the REAL DANCING AND REAL STARS!

[Gemini730]

Such a fun dance number performed brilliantly by Fred and Rita. Thanks for sharing with Us.  Lorraine

[DARKnDODGY]

deffinate "beaver shot" at 1:52......

[ant18]

0.28 hahahahahahahahah

[SherriesBrother]

The main difference between Rita Hayworth and Ginger Rogers is that Rita Hayworth is way HOTTER! :0)

[JudithIN410]

The main difference is that Ginger was an actress who learned to dance. Rita was a dancer who learned to act.

[patcauch]

luckiest man ever

fred astaire

[Doggie1066]

Why argue about who is the better dancer, Rita or Ginger?. They are both a joy to watch. Rita is sexier though. Ay caramba, every time her skirt flares up in this clip, my heads blows off.

[JillLovesJer]

Although I'm not saying a word about her skirt flaring up, I agree with you on everything else ;o)

[ant18]

As it looks like my comment will be removed again et me say that in my humble opinion, Rita dances Fred off the floor here. He looks a bit flat (watches his feet too much) and she's definitely in rhythm. By way of illustration watch 0:28 the worst dance move i've ever seen....just tragic

[20ApplePie02]

Who do you guys think you are?

They are some of the BEST dancers that have walked this earth, I would definitely love to see you try to even touch what they did.

God bless the souls of dancers like Rita & Fred.

[ant18]

Clearly no criticism of Fred Astaire can be made here.....

[ant18]

My comment was mysteriously removed so let me say again that in my humble opinion, Rita dances Fred off the floor here. He looks a bit flat (watches his feet too much) and she's definately in rhythm. Please tell me where I might have got this wrong.....

[ant18]

As my comment was mysteriously removed - let me say again that in my humble opinion, Rita dances Fred off the floor here. He looks a bit flat (watches his feet too much) and she's definately in rhythm. Please tell me where I might have got this wrong.....

[ant18]

by way of illustration - look at 0.28

[ant18]

Rita's the natural dancer here..... her whole body is in rhythm. At times make's Fred look a bit stiff.

[wonderingstar1936]

Ah, Ah, these old time never will come back. isn't a delicious, faboulous dancers Fred&Rita, Rita&Fred, they are the parfait couple. Margarita estas graciosisima, estas adorable, que Dios te tenga en su gloria, y a ti Fred por regalarnos tantas horas de placer en la pantalla.

[walt1896]

No other female dancer could have done Hayworth's dances with Astaire better. And, she is the sexiest. Yet, for cinematic and intangible reasons, Astaire/Rogers remain the iconic partnership. If judgements must be made regarding the overall prowess of female cinematic dancers: It merely takes watching the end of the Currier and Ives ballroom/tap dance ( Astaire/Ellen) and then the Slaughter on Tenth Ave. ballet (Kelly/ Ellen) to place the laurels on Vera-Ellen.

[gwtwcarlos]

ALL I know is that Astaire says that Rita was his best partner. I read it in many books. And..SURELY his sexiest partner!!..PD. my father dances a tango with Rita, in a ship, in 1953. He was MGM lawyer for Latin America, and she asked Arthur Freed,who was with my father in that trip, if my father wanted to dance a tango with her!!,,my father,s commentary?..(to me)..she was like a butterfly dancing.OOOHHHH. Carlos.

[sweenus]

there's a better quality version of this clip by

SophyaFromBrazil.

[fasssbinder]

hola lo que yo veo entre rita y fred es una gran fluides,como si fueran una sola persona,ella parece que no esta pensamdo tanto en lucirse ella si no tratando de estar a la altura de el por eso pienso que para fred era tan efectiva ,ella con el se superaba asi misma,no obstante con un gran esfuerzo yocreo,Roman de Buenos aires

[elvisnutkid]

Happy 110th birthday Fred

u rock

[marblehamburger]

WING TIPS!!!!

[bumcakes]

People don't wear those shoes anymore.

Shame.

[walt1896]

You can get them but they are hard to find. Penn Gillette of Penn and Teller wears them. Now they have white leather but back then the inner part was suede and the tips leather. And, the inner suede was sometimes colored: Hence, blue suede shoes.

[cinerama62]

Amazing! Two people born, just so they could dance with each other. Thanks for uploading this engagedesigncom

[carolmichellef]

I want to dance The Shorty George!!!

I love this movie! :)

[Enerjiii]

I've watched this video about 92384632876 times!

They make it look so easy.

[edslittleworld]

I couldn't even follow his legs at 3:00. WOW!!

[astaire8]

Watching Fred is mesmerising!

The dancing AND his superb body movements are simply MAGIC!

You guessed - I LOVE FRED!

[Theoz69]

She was a trained dnacer and BOY does it show!

[JudithIN410]

Her parents were professional dancers, and she had been dancing on stage from the age of six.

[Theoz69]

Oddly enough, Fred Astaire knew her father. And, he brought her in to replace her mother whowas at home with the other children. She was Margarita Cansino before she was turned into Rita Hayworth

[Madrcaze26]

Amazing film!!! Amazing dancing!!! Thanks so much for posting this!!!

[vahotito]

Xavier Cugat dirige la orquesta. Él nació en Cataluña (España), pero creció en Cuba, donde aprendió música: se nota su tremendo gusto por el ritmo.

[amazing763]

It's so much fun to watch the old dance clips! thanks.

Thanks also to vahotito for mentioning Xavier Cugat. He's more than just background, but it's easy to overlook him with all that fine dancing going on in front of him!

For those who didn't quite get what vahotito said, Cugat was born in Spain, but raised in Cuba, where he learned music.

[danceliker]

Rita Hayworth said later in her life (before her Alzheimer's set in) that the only films of hers she could stand to watch were the two she made with Fred: "You'll Never Get Rich", and "You Were Never Lovelier" which this number comes from.

[fatdanios]

Ha Ha! I just watched this with the volume off while listening to Led Zeppelin's "Boogie With Stu". You'ld be surprised how well that worked with this dance! (I know, I know...sacrilege!)

[Tigerlily21]

This is awesome. I see why Rita was Fred's favorite dancing partner. My favorite partners with Fred were Cyd Charisse, Rita and Ginger in that order. Eleanor Powell is probably the best dancer but I prefer her solo. Rita, Ginger and Cyd had that magic with Fred.

[leesterg]

Hmm! Historically, Ginger was his favorite--not at first--but he even admitted that after awhile he realized that they meshed so well together--that all who followed their teaming was viewed by the public as not magical. Rita certainly was one of his favorites because she brought that fiery latin style to Astair that had not been included in his dances previously, except of course, the Flying Down to Rio movie.

[Mooseman327]

No, Rita was his favorite dance partner. And you can see why. Rita is a good a dancer as Fred is. According to Fred, he taught Rita this routine in the morning ad they filmed it in the afternoon. Ginger's strength was being a comedic actress which worked well in all their movies together. But Ginger wasn't much of a dancer. Fred taught her pretty much everything she knew. And that sometimes was excruciating ...for both of them.

[razjk]

That's not true. Ginger danced before they met. She started her career by winning the Texas State Charleston Championship and went on to star in dancing acts on Vaudeville. Then she was featured in movies later on.

[nyssatrakken]

No, Rita was nowhere near as good a dancer as Fred was. It's pretty clear in this clip. Her movements and footwork are not as precise, as fast, or as complex. She was wonderful, though, and they worked so well together. This is one of my all-time favorite dance numbers!

And razjk is right, Ginger had dance experience before she met Fred.

[Mooseman327]

Well, I'll listen to Fred before I'll listen to you guys. Fred said that Rita knew what she was doing and that working with Ginger was excruciating for both of them because Ginger was so limited as a dancer. They would have to go over sequences over and over again until they both were dead. With Rita, all Fred had to do was show her the steps and then come back a few hours later and do it on the first take. Ginger could NEVER do this dance, not in a million years.

[Mooseman327]

Wow. You do realize that they're doing EXACTLY the same steps here in mirror image, don't you?  You're being thrown off by the fact that his cuffs make it seem he's doing more but he isn't. They're exactly the same steps except for the few times when he tosses her or they have to set up a clinch or a move. BTW, there is no way in a million years that Ginger Rogers could do this dance,

[nyssatrakken]

I have no idea what you mean by Fred's cuffs. I'm not criticizing Rita Hayworth. She was awesome. They are doing the same steps much of the time but Fred's movements were crisper and more precise. And Ginger could have done this dance just as well as Rita did.

Like I said, I'm not criticizing Rita. Far from it. I think she was a wonderful dancer, an absolutely beautiful woman, and a great presence on screen, and she's my second favorite Astaire partner after Ginger.

[6sixxx]

just old goodies like we like it!

[FanOfJanis]

Fred Astaire: The Dance Master. Rita Hayworth: Lithe, lean, lissome. Chemistry! Magic! Synergy! It just doesn't get any better than this, folks! Peace.

[ClassicFilmFan]

I was looking for this dance number - I love it; they really own the dancefloor! [and Fred with a hat!cute(:] Thanks for posting!

[hakeva]

I think this is probably one of Rita's finest dance moments on screen. She was the most beautiful of all Fred's partners, and Fred himself said she was his favourite! I think because of Rita's "Love Goddess" tag, it's often forgotten what a proficient dancer she was. Thanks for the great post!

[FanOfJanis]

You are SO right! My wife and I have often said that Rita Hayworth (Margarita Cancino) was Fred's very best dance partner ... even more so than the legendary Eleanor Powell in "Broadway Melody of 1940." Rita came from a family of dancers. She dances with: verve, vivacity, grace, elegance and fluidity. She and Fred together are "The Total Package" as far as dancing goes ... IMHO. Love your comment. Agree completely. Thanks, and ... Peace.

[DejaVuSu]

Thanks G! Yes, this is worth a second & even third look~see. So wonderful! Thanks!~Suze

[rickram1961]

Fred Astaire had mentioned that Rita Hayworth was his favorite dance partner and I can see why. Ms. Hayworth was such a beautiful dancer.

[Soul0125]

True. I like him better with Rita than with any other dancer. Not only for her technical skill but for her radiance, beauty and charm and the chemistry they have together.

[fancytaps]

I think eleanor powell and fred danced really well. Shes my favorite of his partners. Then rita hayworth. She's my 2nd fav.

[ro141]

Superb routine. Personally, I would put Cyd first among Astaire's dancing partners, then Rita. But, as has been written so often over the years, Ginger might not have been in the same class as a dancer but there was an elusive, magical chemistry when they danced together that none of the others could quite match.

[suremate]

This is my favourite Rita/Fred dance. And maybe my favourite of all of Fred's "the ..." dances. Well this and 'the yam'.

[FanOfJanis]

... meant to say "exudes" The Joy of Dancing ... Oops! Peace.

[FanOfJanis]

Everybody's tastes are different.  My wife and I have long maintained that Rita Hayworth (Margarita Carmen Cansino) was Fred's best dance partner. She is just as precise as he is (few dancers where except for Cyd Charisse), and she exuces The Joy of Dancing. What a team! Notice Xavier Cougat leading the band. Doesn't get any better than this, folks. Enjoy. Peace.

[DejaVuSu]

My God, but she was BEAUTIFUL!! And a pretty good dancer. ty G

[StaceeStaxxx]

Fred's such a camera whore - he didn't allow Rita to dance until 01:34 - worn out schlong!

[ytillage]

The reason she doesn't dance at first is that his character is demonstrating American dances to her character. It's called story and character, 'cause it's a movie, and... well, I don't think you understand such concepts.

[RubyTuesday717]

With all due respect to Ginger Rogers, there's something so magical about what happened to Fred Astaire when he danced with Rita; he looked like a little kid in love, and it's just the sweetest thing.

[et7waage]

I totally agree with you!

[paigecole]

loveee this film!

[SherriesBrother]

Great video, Rita Hayworth is smoking HOT in this number and Fred is well...freakin' Fred Astaire!!

[Xeresa18]

I always loved this number from You were never lovelier. Shows two magnificant dancers at their best!

[GlamSwingKitty]

Indeed, perhaps two of the best dancers ever.

[grimmjava]

Wow! jackpot thanks so much for uploading