Broadway Melodie 1940

This is one of Fred Astaire's best works, and probably Eleanor Powell's most memorable. For whatever reason she has not reached the iconic status Fred Astaire's other parter Ginger Rogers. I am not sure why, i personally think Eleanor Powell is a better dancer than Ginger Rogers. Maybe she got sick of show business, and that is the reason why she did not make more movies. But for whatever reason i think she definitely deserves more recognition than she gets. I would recommend this film to anyone. Even for people who don't typically like musicals i believe will be memorized by the talents of these two legends. When Astaire and Powell, dance both these great talents leave the viewer in aw.

Even though the story was corny, I loved this movie. It was dancing at its greatest. I have always known that Fred Astaire was the best but only recently did I discover Eleanor Powell, even though she was a star when I was a kid but kids don't enjoy musicals. Powell is the greatest and the best partner Astaire ever had. It is too bad they didn't make more movies together.

This is a movie I would recommend to anyone. It is one I can watch over and over again because the dancing is so fantastic. Even my grandchildren enjoyed this one. I would have given it a 10 but for the story but then every Astaire movie is a fantasy in dance but Powell makes this one a super fantasy.

The fabulous Begin the Begiuine number deserves all the raves and superlatives it receives and is worth the price of the movie. Interest in it was revived by its appearance in That's Entertainment. However, seldom mentioned, and I forgot about it myself until I watched the dvd is the dazzling tap they do called the juke box number. Smaller in scale but as remarkable in its own way as the Beguine. Thanks the powers that be for DVDs...as one can watch and listen to these great song and dances over and over....their equal will never be seen again.

The greatest thing in all the "That Entertainment" films is the "Begin the Beguine" number from Broadway Melody of 1940". After years of carrying Ginger Rogers, (and her mother), Fred Astaire finally has a partner who can really DANCE! On Ice, it was Sonja Heine. In the water, it was Esther Williams. But on the dance floor, it was Eleanor Powell, the only female dancer ever to become an above the title movie star in her own right. In Broadway Melody of 1936, there is a male dancer, (not prestigious enough to get a turn with Eleanor), who seems to have the same general look and physique of Fred Astaire, who was working for RKO at the time. I think MGM wanted to prove they could find a "Fred Astaire", too. I call this guy "Faux Fred". In Broadway Melody of 1940, Eleanor gets to dance with the real thing, and the result is marvelous.

There is no big production, even thought the set is sumptuous, with a floor that is a flawless mirror. But other than that, it's the two of them, giving it all they had. Their dancing is flawless. It's what makes them different that is really interesting. Fred Astaire danced with his whole body. Most dancers look like puppets, (see James Cagney). It's all they can do to hold their arms out at the side. But Fred used beautiful hand movements, (his hands were as long and lithe as his legs), to frame everything he did. Eleanor Powell is a master of projection. You will notice most famous movie dancers have "big mouths". It enables their smile to light up the screen. Nobody did this more than Eleanor Powell, who made love to the camera while she danced. You can see them reacting to each other during their big number. At one point, Astaire is painting a picture with his fingers and you can see Powell spotting this and getting her hands out there, too. She doesn't want all the eyes to be on Fred. Then Fred notices her huge smile and breaks into a broad grin himself, feeling, no doubt that he doesn't want to be in Eleanor's shade. It just doesn't get better than this.

When ELEANOR POWELL and FRED ASTAIRE do their glittering "Begin the Beguine" number on a polished black-mirror floor wearing white outfits and tapping their way through a jazzed up version of the song, they can do no wrong. It's clearly the highlight of the whole musical and well worth waiting for. In fact, it's more than that--it's an iconic musical moment.

The story involves a slight case of mistaken identity that has to be straightened out before Powell can see that FRED ASTAIRE is the man she loves, not GEORGE MURPHY. Poor George always had the secondary role in these things--even with all that talent. It's reminiscent of the treatment he got in FOR ME AND MY GAL with Judy Garland being won by Gene Kelly instead of Murphy.

The reason for the high rating is simply this--FRED ASTAIRE and ELEANOR POWELL are without a doubt two of the greatest talents in the musical genre and their "Begin the Beguine" is the show stopper of show stoppers. Unforgettable.

Nothing else really matters, except to mention that their "Juke Box Dance" is also a treat to watch. Powell really excelled as a solo performer but when she and Astaire do manage to do a duo together it's well worth watching.

The genial supporting cast includes FRANK MORGAN at his blustery best and the lovely FLORENCE RICE, who appeared in quite a few of MGM's "A" films before disappearing from the screen.