Ann Miller at 15

[jaesedin]

You're spot on Handiman544. The studio floors were really slippery so they danced in rubber soled shoes. They then danced in a dance studio and recorded the steps which were then over-dubbed onto the sound track.

[ScriptWorker]

@jaesedin - good point

[Handiman544]

One thing always interested me. With those shiny, waxed floors and those "steel" taps, what kept them from sliding and slipping all over the place???? Makes you wonder if the tap sound was dubbed in and they had buffers on those shoes.

[bettydaw1970]

id do ann miller every day of the week and twice on sundays!!!

[jezebel324]

When I was fifteen I couldn't even do the box step.

[LoquaciousByNature]

Awesome talent!

[KriBlackRoson]

Bravisimaaa

[ScriptWorker]

@KriBlackRoson - thank you, she is good isn't she

[KriBlackRoson]

yes, she is *.*

[Smalltowngal29]

Thanks for posting, ScriptWorker! I love watching Ann Miller's dance routines. You wouldn't happen to know what year this was, would you?

[ScriptWorker]

@Smalltowngal29 - Off the top of my head it seems to be 1938. Don't quote me on that though.

[b2shoe]

ScriptWorker has already posted the comment I was going to make

[b2shoe]

Most of the time they did a dub of the taps in a sound booth after the scene was shot without taps

[TheAyrman]

There's something about her legs that makes her very beautiful

[bettygoodbody]

wonderful, isn't it? the dresses are all so long to tap with in that period. why did they do that,i can never figure out because even when watching rita hayworth and fred astaire you can't see her feet. ginger , all of them ,and a heel going through the back of the gown,, probably happened more often than we could think it did.she came out of the womb tapping . it is so fast it is like a nervous twitch,almost. all these people are so great. begin the beguine isn't too hard if you have the air.

[anothawhiteboy]

hey legs are amazing

[AngryDragon22]

My God,, what a gorgeous outfit!

[waynebrasler]

She was doing the tapping but it always had to be overdubbed in post production to be heard correct. Yes, indeed, she was 15 and by all accounts an incredibly professional, disciplined hard work totally focused on what she needed to do.

[GERANDKELL]

What an entrance. That's how to enter a room. Check out the puppy fat legs. Great stuff, thanks for posting. Ger.

[wntoply6]

ann miller was arguably the best tap dancer of her era. probably the best dancer of all time. however like lucille ball, the woman said to have discovered her, she was beautiful, but had a hard look about her. as a result she never successfully was able to play the ingenue or love interest/heroine in the movies.

none the less she was the best, something few attain.

she was simply THE BEST!!

[closedcircle1]

@wntoply6 Some would say Ellenor Powell was the best tap dancer of the era, at leat. One of those was Fred Astaire. Astaire and Powell danced to Porter's "Begin the Beguine", which is considered by many to be one of the greatest tap sequences in film history

[closedcircle1]

@wntoply6 Some would say Ellenor Powell was the best tap dancer of the era, at least. One of those was Fred Astaire. Astaire and Powell danced to Porter's "Begin the Beguine", which is considered by many to be one of the greatest tap sequences in film history

[wntoply6]

@closedcircle1 i won't disagree with you. cause you can possibly be right. i guess it really comes down to opinion. and ellenor powell certainly was right up there with miller.

i just wish the full movies were on youtube. i see jack oakie at the end of the clip and would like to see it in it's entirety. i wasn't born in that era, but growing up my parents watched these things on tv and i along with them. they were fun.

thanks for the information.

peace friend.

[tigerssuck62]

She was only 15 when she played the role of Jean Arthur's married sister in Frank Capra's "You Can't Take it With You" (Arthur was 23 years older than Miller). A funny/ironic part about her role was her dance teacher in the movie (Mischa Auer) said of her dancing "confidentially, she STEENKS!" Of course, this was well before Miller's own stardom as a dancer...

[VibrantScope]

What movie is this from?

[spagandtuna]

From her memoirs, was she fifteen here or younger? Or did she lie to 17 when actually 15?

[ScriptWorker]

@spagandtuna Hi. As far as I understand she made out that she was 17, though I dare say there was also a bit of "help" from dad!!!

[dsim200000]

@spagandtuna She lied to RKO in 1937. She was 14 but said she was 18 and Ann and her mother Clara proved it by forging her birth certificate.

[spagandtuna]

@dsim200000 Right, but as Scriptworker notes above, didn't her father also agree to play along?

[moroccansunshine]

Just goes to show your either born with it or not and the girl sure is!

[ScriptWorker]

@moroccansunshine Oh yes and then some. But at first I wondered if there was a bit of dubbing going on with her tap. She seemed not to move even though the tap could be heard! odd.

[moroccansunshine]

@ScriptWorker yes I agree. i think that was bad sound back then that traveled slower maybe. II remember watching my friend rehearse and there was a delay in her voice coming through.

[TigerLuver2k10]

@ScriptWorker they probably recorded the tap sound and then played it while she was dancing to make it sound better :). she looked way older than 15 here- she was fantastic you have to admit xxx

[dannybex]

@ScriptWorker Every single dancer in the history of film, including Astaire, Rogers, Kelly, etc., dubbed their taps in after filming the number. That's the way it was done all the time.

[tapdancegirl88]

sounds of her taps  makes my pecker quiver mmm

[swingbands1]

my nephew put me on to all this, i'm 67 years old and can now die a happy man it's all just too wonderfull.

Kim

[ScriptWorker]

@swingbands1 She is great. Thank your nephew for me. But don't go yet there are many more vids to discover of this era.

[swingbands1]

I don't plan ongoing just yet, there is so much more to see, again, thank you.

you are all so clever

[wheels8268]

She was even beautiful and extremely talented then! WOW!!!!

[fromthesidelines]

CORRECTION: "Radio City Revels" (1938), co-starring Jack Oakie [seen briefly at the end].

[fromthesidelines]

This is from "New Faces Of 1937" (1937), one of Ann's first appearances in a feature film.

[LanePlaya]

What movie is this from? It's interesting that even here you can see some of her signature movements coming out.

As for the whole EP/AM discussion... I don't think they can be compared. I love both as they're both amazing dancers, but while I can watch Eleanor and just be amazed and enthralled by her dance, Ann was one of my first big childhood crushes lol. I remember watching her in Kiss Me Kate, Easter Parade, On The Town, etc and just being madly in like with her and her dancing

[hippytreehugger4ever]

Does this remind anyone else of Eleanor Powells "Honolulu" routine?

[MrPtownmarc]

Yes. That dress must have been a bitch to dance in.

[marinello6]

@MrPtownmarc She was a great dancer but was a real BITCH!

[soapbxprod]

@marinello6 I knew her personally and you are dead wrong.

[marinello6]

@soapbxprod Good to hear. I heard her make anti-gay remarks once. Why? She had so many gay fans.

[soapbxprod]

@marinello6 Did you really? I'm very surprised! She and Janet Leigh were very close to Roddy McDowall. Would you know where that might be?

[marinello6]

@soapbxprod Yes and Yes!

[soapbxprod]

@marinello6 Tell us! Tell us!

[marinello6]

@soapbxprod It must have been 30 years ago on a mainstream talk show. Merv or Mike Douglas. I can not give you the exact words and gestures. I was shocked and disliked her since.

[soapbxprod]

@marinello6 It just seems so out of character for her... she was friends with Roddy, for Heaven's sake... and considering that she worked in musicals... maybe she just couldn't stand "Ragers", as they might say...

[soapbxprod]

@marinello6 PS- she was also good friends with Van Johnson...

[marinello6]

@soapbxprod Was Van J. gay? Whatever. I heard what I heard and saw what I saw. It may have been in the late 60s or early seventies when people shunned gays...you know...Johnny Mathis, Tab Hunter. What is a Rager? Maybe she was scared of a Fag Hag label...I really do not know why she did what she did. Remember...gays were routinely arrested in the sixties and early seventies, often beaten and killed. I was a teen then who basically passed but heard people's hatred of gays.

[soapbxprod]

@marinello6 Yes and no! Van was married to Evie and had a daughter Schuyler. Met both of them and shot an interview with Evie for our bio on Lana for TCM.

[barbarellagb]

can't argue w/buzby berkley...lavish was his middle name and practical was not in his vocabulary ! jejeje

[cactusbound]

Hard to beleive she was ONLY 15!

[booperkitty]

Well...She shure rocked my world!

[4MaryAnna]

They should of given her a close-up at the end of her routine,she earned it!

[Hounsfield]

she's hot.

[ScriptWorker]

Yep, there was a lot going for her...

[ConfusedSponge]

enough with this eleanor and ann feud. i can't take it anymore. it's on every video. both have advantages and disadvantages. okay!!

[ScriptWorker]

Sure thing. They were entertainers and did a good job of it.

[twdeck]

Ann was/is a classic! What a gal!

[ScriptWorker]

Thanks everyone for your comments. Keep it going. I think I have some AM clips in my page and in storage, try to find.

Sorry not much time for psting clips at the moment.

[moonlightorchid99]

to continue on the subject, Eleanor was pure tap and musicals and was in an earlier eras of movies where, i'm not saying she could or could not act, musicals most would say were still undeveloped, where, in Ann's case, she was in a later era where it brings flare, amazement, and charm, like Kiss Me Kate, and then Eleanor's Born To Dance.

[moonlightorchid99]

i can't believe how everyone doesn't like Eleanor Powell that much, i love her, i think its a shame that Eleanor always did the same or similar routines, that's what makes people bored of her, but you could see she could much different and many different styles based her ability, but i guess that's why Ann is loved so much more. Its not i don't like her, i love Ann, she's got so much charisma, its just, i think her and Eleanor are just in different categories, so its hard to judge

[anonymusum]

She already looks like a real lady! And how do today´s 14 year old girls look like?

[staceyholley077]

****LOVE**** her!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[poppyseed0054]

Ann Miller's style here is strongly influenced by Eleanor Powell - with very similar moves, but later on she developed her own flashy, sexy style.... EP didn't do sexy. :) I wouldn't say one was better than the other. Both were amazing!!

[gjford1951]

I love the way you put that "EP didn't do sexy." You can see it all of her movies. Her refusal to "do sexy" in the face of her incomparable technique was almost like a dare. She (like Marlene) wore pants flawlessly.

[taptuber]

Although EP was Amazing AM was a better tapper

[pontcarmel]

I have the A&E Biorgraphy video. She said she ask her father a Lawyer to get her a birth certificate so she could work. Her Mom couldn't support them she was partially deaf. Ann had to work so her Dad added 3 yrs to an altered Birtth certfifcate.

Her book was interesting!!. she was something else. My neighbor knew her well.

[LADYDAEE]

What did you mean by "she was something else --- my neighbor knew her well?"

[pontcarmel]

was ann miller really 15.? I knew she lied about her age to work.

[dannybex]

Yeah, I've never understood that story, although it's apparently backed up by her Texas birth certificate. But who knows if that could've been altered or 'doctored'? Why would she need to lie about her age? Garland didn't, Shirley Temple didn't.

I just doesn't make any sense.

[blowtorchacurlyfry1]

probably to get more adult roles. Garland and Temple were both billed as children, they were cute little girls with talent. She probably didn't want to be labeled as such.

[followthefleet]

FYI: The star that gave the 16 year old AM a big break was Ginger Rogers. You can see them doing a routine together in "Stage Door" in 1937. At first, Ginger demurred...because AM was taller, as Ginger was only 5-4 1/2 and 105 lbs. Then when AM offered not to wear heels, she said O.K. They remained friendly their entire lives.

[ConfusedSponge]

what's wrong if you're shorter than the others. just except it and no need to ask someone to not wear heels. just like gene kelly who hated esther williams being taller than him and all that. although she wore flats she still taller than him. 5' 10" and kelly only 5'7"

[prudence999]

In real life there's nothing wrong at all. But in Hollywood, the land of make-believe, with profits the in the balance...the expectation is that leading men should be taller than leading women. In dance , there are advantages of men being taller, and bigger than women. Lifts for example, are nearly impossible for men, unless the woman is of the right weight. Then there's the "line" of a couple, their visual compatibility....It's a big factor. Fred said that Ginger and he looked......cont'd.

[prudence999]

Cont'd....so well together, that every other partner he ever danced with "just looked wrong." In film..the visual impact of a couple is crucial. That's what makes cinema different from real life!

[violetcloud]

because her fist job, her first big break was at a club... they wouldn't have an underaged girl dancing there so she lied.

she said herself that she'd get dolled up with huge lashes and high heels trying to look older, lol. so when she got to mgm, she kept with the lie.

[violetcloud]

oh pardon! i meant rko, not mgm!

[MJJslilgrl]

@dannybex I don't know about Judy Garland, but Shirley Temple's birth certificate was altered. Her mother and her studio said she was four when she was really five to "make their new discovery seem even more miraculous."

Great vid, btw, I love Ann's dress!

[ScriptWorker]

@MJJslilgrl yes great dress.

[Yehudi]

Are there any feminine tappers of her caliber today? I think probably not. Or else they just don't get the exposure. Great tap dancing is not on TV anymore; it's "underground" in dance studios.

[ScriptWorker]

Hi

I agree to a point that the great era of tap has had its time. But it will return. Yes its mainly in studios but there are some shows that still need it. UK productions.

Times move on but talent never dies.