After their first picture together, Fred said of his partner, "Ginger never danced with a partner before. She faked an awful lot. She couldn't tap or do this or that...But Ginger had style and talent and improved as she went along." (source)

Supposedly, Rita Hayworth was Fred's favorite partner. I remember seeing a couple of clips of them dancing together and they really did look better than Fred did with Ginger.



jj

I have a complete set of the Fred & Ginger films on DVD, and I hate to say it, but apart from his obvious talent as a tap dancer, I have never been able to see what all the fuss was about. I'm sure it's my loss, but I don't see what others seem to rave about.

Of course you don't.



jj

jj, you are quite good with the computer downloads and attaching them to your files. I'll have to learn that stuff one of these days. Thanks for the interesting info on Fred and Ginger. Also, Telemark, you are probably in a minority on your views on Astaire and his partners, but I would imagine he had all sorts of detractors in his time -- much like any other American super star who was made bigger than life through the Hollywood lense. And yes, he did enjoy throwing in his tap-dance sequences.

jofjonesboro. I wonder why the film Bandwagon 1986 never got a mention. I have always thought that film had the best dancing ever. That was Fred and Cyde Charisse. Dancing in the Dark was one of the big numbers. I found a book in my local library which has a picture of Fred Astair on the stage in Vaudeville age seven.