Fred Astaire - Coffee Time - Yolanda and the Thief - Stereo

[MattTheSaiyan]

Fred Astaire is epic win.

[forrestknutson]

This must have taken some serious time to put together. Awesome job!

[lostvocals3]

@forrestknutson

It did - thanks for noticing!

[Baggs4299]

We should also investigate that concept that 4/4 and 5/4 time isn't being counted on screen. It's really more of 4/4 and 5/8 time relationship situation that is being counted.

[lostvocals3]

@Baggs4299

I think that's splitting hairs - the point of the clip was just to let people know about the mixing of time signatures. I added the beats that I thought would be easiest for non-musicians to grasp.

[GoodguyNYS]

Music/ lyrics Arthur Freed/ Harry Warren.Coffee time,my dreamy friend it's coffee time.Let's sing a silly little rhyme and have a cup of coffee. Java time,my happy chum let's have a time,we'll celebrate with just a dime,and have a cup of coffee. Greetin' time,the music box is beatin' time,it's good old fashioned meetin' time, we're in the pink,so come and clink and let's have another cup.It's coffee time,my dreamy friend it's coffee time.Let's sing a silly little rhyme and have a cup of coffee.

[80scouplerules]

Personally, I prefer Fred's b&w musicals at RKO. Never cared for those over-produced MGM musicals. But this number is just fabulous. The dance was innovative and the music, the MUSIC, is jazz heaven.

[wondermusic63]

Optical illusion floor is awesome. Great dance number! Stereophonic sound only comes at 3:18. One of the few MGM golden era musicals I didn't see.

[lostvocals3]

@wondermusic63

Stereo separation may become more noticeable at that point, but audio from the CD begins at 1:10.



[dormantone]

This is such a haunting and unforgettable number in an otherwise mostly forgettable movie, unfortunately. Minnelli's genius shines through in many scenes, but the plot and Lucille Bremer's character were just a bit too simple-minded. This song, and the song "Yolanda" are both gems!

[Mooregre52]

Fabulous!



[et7waage1]

Love Fred! Great sound! Thanks!

[OurGangFan]

There a psychedelic feeling about this

[pandorabangles]

Fantastic news!!! This unfairly forgotten gem is FINALLY available on legitimate DVD. The Warner vaults has this scheduled for release on 3/29. It's about time.

If ONLY there was a restoration involved; if ONLY the film would include the stereo

audio.

[lostvocals3]

@pandorabangles

From a friend: WOW!!! I have never seen this film looking as good as it does in the new release. For the first time you can fully appreciate Minnelli's use of color - vivid reds, electric blues, lime greens, and lemon yellows. It's like seeing this film for the first time after years of watching TCM's washed-out print. The soundtrack has also been cleaned up, sounding fresh and new. Short of an expensive full-scale restoration, I don't see how it could be any better.

[morningslider]

Really great to watch, cept the dance floor made me seasick!

[mdshullaw52]

The timing difference was an inteniional idea of Loring's. This is not a true 5-4 rhythm though, or the dance would be out of sync with the downbeat which they aren't. They are sharing 1 beats on the 4 and 5 bars respectively. As a studio musician, I have played to beat tracks sot he music could be added later. There is also a good chance that they danced to actual musicians playing in 5/4 so they could getting their phrasing correct. Then the music, claps, and taps were added later.

[lostvocals3]

@mdshullaw52

They're definitely dancing in 5/4 - they don't line up with each downbeat of the 4/4 rhythm. Yes, this was Loring's idea, as I stated in my notes underneath the clip. If there was music playback on set, I'm sure it was not the 4/4 tune, as that would be too confusing. It's possible they used 4/4 playback while having someone count the beats in 5/4. For an example of on-set counting, search for my other clip:

7 Faces of Dr. Lao - Rehearsal track - Pan's Dance - Stereo

[mdshullaw52]

@lostvocals3 I did not mean they were not dancing in 5/4, because they are. I meant the time difference between the music and the dancing has been written so the two share downbeats in the forth and fith bars which corrects the timing for the start of the next set of bars which was necessary. I know many people really like this number, but the timing differences just don't work for me and the movie bombed at the box office. .I still find their actual dance routine of the song excellent.

[lostvocals3]

@mdshullaw52

I like the fact that I never noticed they were using two different time signatures until someone pointed it out. I just knew that it was hard to clap with. Most analysis of this number stupidly focuses on the floor design, while ignoring Loring's groundbreaking choreography.

[mdshullaw52]

@lostvocals3 For me, noticing the time difference right away is an occupational hazard. The choreography really is amazing. The sad thing though is after the movie bombed at the box office, the studio blamed Fred and Lucy for the film s failure, and while it didn't hurt Fred's career, it did caused problem's for Lucy. Women had it pretty bad back then. For example, they rarely ever over dubbed a man's singing in a movie, but they did it to woman all the time, even in Singing in the Rain.

[OurGangFan]

@lostvocals3 I think that was Minnelli's idea. He was always into the look of the film.

[lostvocals3]

@mdshullaw52

And I've restored many of their voices (including Debbie's) in other clips at this channel and my other channel, lostvocals4.

[walt1896]

I believe that this juxtaposition of meter occurs in certain folk music/dances.

[multiph]

I've seen one performance where the music was 5/4 and the dance was 4/4 ... and this was totally unintentional, due to the lack of rythmical skills of the coreographer.

[OurGangFan]

This film is very cultly!

[shufflehop]

Many thanks for posting this! Really appreciate your hard work putting it together. That must have taken ages! :) This is the only Fred film I have never managed to watch :( From what I understand of the history of this film the choreography had no input from Fred unlike all his other musicals (either himself or in collaboration with another choreographer, mostly Hermes Pan). You can even tell just from the choreography it's not his routine. Very cool, Thanks for posting!

[horsters]

as you can see in the ziegfeld follies, fred and lucille are a great great team! :)

perfect dance

[SunnyDownSnuffRedux]

*Tips hat* nice patient work, my friend!! i admire the fade in / fade out presentation. very professional. saw this clip earlier today on TCM. it was in this piece entitled: "Minnelli on Minnelli: Liza Remembers Vincente".....and for what its worth, I sure would have loved to spend a little 'Coffee Time' with Ms. Lucille Bremer back in the day; whatta dish!

[OurGangFan]

The choreography is as surreal as the choreography in The Pirate staring Judy Garland and Gene Kelly

[ozboy39]

I still cant figure out that floor pattern..........

[OurGangFan]

Both Leon Ames and Lucille Bremer were in Meet Me In St. Louis before Yolanda & The Thief. Judy Garland originally wanted to play the Yolanda part but Arthur Freed convinced her to star in The Harvey Girls.

[pandorabangles]

Next to "The Band Wagon", this is my favorite Astaire musical. It's a whimsical

musical that didn't take off when first released, but I love it anyway. I find the

plot sort of storybook, and the fantasy elements work well also. A movie people

either love or hate and one of only a very of Astaire films not yet on DVD.

Quick question: WHERE did you get hold of a STEREO track on "Coffee Time?"

[lostvocals3]

@pandorabangles Look under the clip info (the arrows next to the view count).

[katandbaby]

is this film available on either vhs or dvd?

[lostvocals3]

@katandbaby

Used VHS copies are available at Amazon. No DVD.

[OurGangFan]

God bless Technicolor films!

[mca1218]

Although Fred Astaire and Lucille Bremer weren't the most familiar dance duo, they do just fine here with a positively surreal, zebra-esque dance floor and candy-box technicolor (courtesy of Vincente Minnelli), and create a fun, almost suspenseful piece of purely rhythmic dance (almost completely a'capella starting @ 2:18). You find yourself applauding right along with everyone else at he end.

[OurGangFan]

Someone should upload this classic here on Youtube!

[tommyrall3]

Ahuu,one of the greatest dances ever...

[youyong28]

This is one of the best dance sequences ever filmed. A piece of it is on "That's Entertainment 3". The dancers today are just as talented, the musicians and choreographers are too.  I don't know how many young people today would like this though as hip hop and heavy metal, and boring pop seem to rule the airwaves. This dance works because all the elements come together: Superior dancing, great music, beautiful orchestration, and a wonderful setting. "You won't see the likes of this again",

[OurGangFan]

I wish this film was on DVD. I gotten 8 Minnelli films on DVD for Christmas.

[elianbensoussan]

The dance and the beat are mesmerising ; the the men are en pointe ; the costumes reminiscent of Spanish folk styles scooped the New Look by 2 years — and the WPB were not happy about the full skirts and long hemlines — and all the inventiveness and fantasy are ruined by a very banal lyric.

[OurGangFan]

An underrated film by Vincente Minnelli.

[lostvocals3]

That's great. I believe that dances in those days were filmed to a sort of metronome (beats only) and the music added later. That is what I seem to recall from some making-of type footage on The Band Wagon. That would certainly make it easier to maintain that 5/4 rhythm. But it still is a great effect and way ahead of it's time - as was much of Yolanda and The Thief.

[walt1896]

@lostvocals3 That may have been the case at times. The main practice I believe was to pre-record the music and then play it back when filming. Of course the film would then be printed with the original audio not the playback. Looks like there was some slowing of the the film speed here in the middle segment changing the tempo which the chorus sings to in a portion probably later recorded to match the speed of the middle section. Pretty amazing stuff.

[lostvocals3]

@walt1896

That comment was actually copied from an earlier post, but I think he was probably right that this sequence was shot to a metronome. I know that was done for some numbers (like the Rumble in West Side Story) and I think it would have been necessary here.

[lostvocals3]

That was terrific. I have no training at all in music or dance so the concept of 4/4 and 5/4 time didn't mean anything to me. Just having those numbers appear on the screen in time with the music and dance was a clearer explanation than any words could do. Thank you for doing this!

That is really incredible. Maintaining that rhythm could not have been easy. Thanks!

[AtLastOnTheGround]

Thanks for getting these back up so fast! Really appreciate it!