Donald O'Connor tap dancing on roller skates

[evelau]

I think I find the It's Always Fair Weather roller skates routine a bit more impressive, but this is still awesome. Thanks for posting. O'Connor was a great dancer for sure.

[elbalajazz]

no rollers at the end of video????

[NiKoLaJoULeSxX]

is it weird that i absolutely LOVE this man, and im 16 ???

[faith4094]

@NiKoLaJoULeSxX No!!! LOADS of us absolutely LOVE Donald:)))) He's the best and the most adorable!!! You have great taste!!!!!

[NiKoLaJoULeSxX]

@faith4094 OKay then! aweosme! and thankyou :D!!!

i agree with your statement, is is definetly the best and adorable!!!! :)

[faith4094]

@NiKoLaJoULeSxX You are so welcome...check out my channel for a great picture...it's something... and great videos, montages, and tributes to Donald by my friends..you can go to these channels: LoveTheOConnor, TheSorrowfulFlower, wasittoyou, catwomanpl1 (this is her upload here) DonaldOConnorFan, rungirlmgg, etc.:)))))))))) Quite a few of us have all of his many movies and many are uploaded here on YouTube...Check out his fabulous romantic dances in Call Me Madam, Anything Goes, etc.

[lovetheoldies100]

Great find -thanks for posting!!

[grabthars]

Obviously the wheels were locked. I could tell even when I saw this movie as a kid. Kelly's routine was done totally on rolling roller skates.

[wasittoyou]

This is quite possibly the sweetest and "bestest" number. Thankyou so much for posting it !!!

[RiverrattProductions]

youdonthavetovisit.blogspot.co­m/2007_02_01_archive.html

This is still available to download. You get two soundtracks! And this precious song!

[RiverrattProductions]

I read the arguments on here as to who started dancing with roller skates, frankly the argument is a moot one. What I admire (and I'm sure we all do) people who can actually DO this. Certainly I couldn't tap dance in roller skates. (I'd try, bit I'd look like a fool). Donald, Gene and Fred are probably all the best "hoofers" (well, Fred takes the Graceful Hoof cake in my opinion). Gene and Donald are tops in hard style tap.

[sisapka]

Thanks for the tip about whole movies uploaded!!! :)))

[sisapka]

Well, those who doesn't admire O'Connor are idiots anyway. Or maybe they just don't know him. Which is not a big surprise, since his movies are impossible to get from anywhere. I only have 3 or 4 of them, the rest of them are unavailable. Big shame. I'm a hoofer myself, so if anyone can admire this guy's dancing and acrobatic skills, it must be me. But it's very frustrating to see only a few cut-out bits and pieces on Youtube instead of the whole movies... :(

[catwomanpl1]

@sisapka You're not the only one who admires Donald - there are quite a few of us on yt :))) If you want to watch some more of his movies check sorrowfullflower's and donaldoconnorfan's channels. They uploaded the whole movies!

[faith4094]

@sisapka Loads of us absolutely love Donald!!!! Yes, check out the channels mentioned for uploads of the movies... I, and others, own practically all of his movies, including the ones when he was a teen idol. I can tell you where to get many of them. He's the BEST!!

[wasittoyou]

@sisapka I'm a "hoofer" and a percussionist (almost the same thing to me)

Donald O'Connor is my idol. His boyish charm notwithstanding, he could REALLY hoof

He had the voice of a "crooner" and his athletic exuberance just bounces off the screen

Those who don't "know" Donald quite simply just don't know what they are missing !!!

[hadamday64]

@sisapka my opinion he was more talented than Gene Kelly but Kelly had a but agent and publicist

[sisapka]

With all due respect, guys; "Two years before Gene Kelly"? So what? Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers have already invented the thing in 1937. Check the roller skating tap dance routine in "Swing Time". Nothing new about it. Nevertheless it's always amazing to see someone do it especially this good. Donald was a terrific hoofer no question about that! Thanks for sharing this video, since I don't have this movie.

[catwomanpl1]

@sisapka 'Two years before Gene Kelly'... You're absolutely right - it's nothing but.... everybody remembers and admires Astaire/Rogers and Kelly, and nobody seemed to remember and admire Donald O'Connor, up to now. That's why I wrote this :)

[PondPratchettShort]

dance lessons should be compulsory for everyone in the world! Wouldn't it be great!

[mcleigh66]

Delightful - haven't had the pleasure of seeing this movie! Because of the info text, I feel compelled to mention that while this was 2 years before Gene Kelly danced on roller skates, it was 15 years *after* Astaire & Rogers did.

[mazay83]

Isn't he just a marvel !

[JulesCoxie]

so cute. so so cute.

[faith4094]

@JulesCoxie So true!!! There was no one more talented or adorable than Donald!!!:)))))

[hotwheely]

From a professional skater....no, his wheels were rolling. This guy had trained at some point in roller skating, I can tell from his technique. He was very good in this, actually skated quite well. The stay in one place tap dancing is actually the easiest thing to do on skates if you know how to really skate!

[2004dale]

i really like this guy!

[faith4094]

@2004dale We LOVE Donald!!!! Check out my channel:))))

[danthemank24]

They did look strangely stationary when he tapped, though all the other stuff was pretty crazy! I don't see why he'd need something "safer" for the tapping bit, haha

[04evrzone]

3:40 amazes me. how could he POSSIBLY do that without falling flat on his face?!

[faith4094]

A fantastic number by fantastic Donald!!!!!

[claynadian]

This is one of my favourite songs! I sing it often. :) I love when Donald Runs down the stairs at 3:40.

[04evrzone]

@claynadian idk how he can do that without fallin flat on his face.. i know i would if i even so much as ATTEMPTED to do that.. even without rollerblades on. >.>

[FallenStar57]

As a skater I know that precision skate wheels don't roll unless you push them. Donald was awesome here one of his best performances ever.

[catwomanpl1]

@FallenStar57 Do you think this was the case that the wheels didn't move? What about the different colour of the wheels? Many people claim he had them changed....

[JojoBond93]

I don't know if I'm right, but it looks like the wheels doesn't move at all when he taps

[catwomanpl1]

@JojoBond93 Unfortunately for Mr O'Connor and me, because I'm his devoted admirer, you're right. Probably MGM didn't let Donald tap dance on moving wheels for the safety reasons? I hope so...

[JojoBond93]

@catwomanpl1 That's a real shame! I would have loved to see if he could have done something similar to the routine Kelly did!

[catwomanpl1]

@JojoBond93 I'm sure he could! But MGM had a special talent for depriving their stars of the credit they deserved by not letting them do the things they could do well, as was the case with Debbie Reynolds and her singing ability. The same happened at WB to Audrey Hepburn when her voice was dubbed and she didn't get the Oscar she deserved for My Fair Lady.

[dannybex]

@catwomanpl1 With all due respect, your arguments don't really hold water. MGM clearly didn't stop O'Connor from doing all the speed-skating, swinging around the gazebo, etc. -- the tap sequence is really the least 'dangerous' part. Also, if the wheels didn't move (which they do if you watch it full-screen), he wouldn't have been able to spin around on them. As for Reynolds voice, it wasn't very good during her early years, as can be heard in outtakes, but improved a lot, in later years.

[sorrowfulflower]

Thank you so much!!! I had been wishing for a good quality upload of this scene! I love this movie, and this scene in particular!