When I saw this month’s topic, I instantly thought of on-screen partnerships in film. My favourite by far is the dancing duo of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, who appeared together in ten films. I watch their movies whenever they come on TV because I know exactly what I’ll be seeing - seemingly effortless dancing and witty dialogue (and gorgeous costumes). While I enjoy the dreamy ballroom-style dancing, it’s the tap numbers that I find most thrilling, as seen here in this clip from the movie Swing Time.
A favourite film partnership of mine off the dance floor is William Powell and Myrna Loy as they appear in the The Thin Man series. Based on the novel by Dashiell Hammet, the retired detective and his young wife have lots of fun, and drink lots of cocktails, as they investigate a crime. Six films form the series of sophisticated cosy murder mysteries, with a smidgeon of film noir thrown in. And, lest we forget, their dog, Asta, makes frequent appearances.
A non-romantic film partnership (evidently fraught with hostility off-screen) is the pairing of Bud Abbot and Lou Costello in over forty films. My enjoyment of raucous slap-stick humour has a time limit and a frequency limit, but their classic routine, “Who’s on First”, makes me laugh every time.
And finally, we head back to the dance floor for the sibling partnership of the Nicholas Brothers - Fayard and Harold. This astonishingly talented dance pair began their rise to fame in jazz nightclubs before moving on to stardom in vaudeville and on Broadway. They appeared in over twenty-five films. I can watch these guys dance all day, though I feel worn out after a couple of minutes. Here they are in an excerpt from the film, Stormy Weather.
Do you have a favourite movie partnership that you’ll happily watch over and over again?
Luanna Stewart has been creating adventures for her imaginary friends since childhood. She spends her days writing spicy romance ranging from contemporary to paranormal. When not torturing her heroes and heroines, she’s in her kitchen baking something delicious. She lives in Nova Scotia with her patient husband, two spoiled cats, and five hens.
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3 comments:
Luanna, I love the Aurora Teagarden cozy mysteries on the Hallmark Channel. Aurora is a librarian and True Crime fan, and she partners with with her psychology professor boyfriend (then fiance, then husband) and the members of the Real Murder Club to solve murders in her small town.
Also the Will Smith/Tommy Lee Jones partnership in the first and second Men In Black films.
Luanna, You are singing/dancing my tune. I can watch dancing, singing, broadway, any dance movie anytime. It just makes me smile. I can watch Fred Astaire dance with anybody. In addition to Ginger Rodgers, I loved him with Cyd Charisse and also with Gene Kelly. IMO Gene Kelly has more pizzaz where as Fred has more smooth.
More recently, the partnership of Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in Dirty Dancing will never be forgotten for me. Even more recent is the JLo and Richard Gere remake of Shall We Dance somewhere in the early 2000s. It makes ballroom actually look like fun.
Fave of all time is not so much a partnership movie except as dancers helping each other survive. White Knights with Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines. In my youth I did a lot of tap dancing and seeing Gregory Hines tap gave me an entirely new love of the form.
Thanks for taking me down memory lane.
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