'Putting On The Ritz' Fred Astaire 'Blue Skies' (1946)

One of Fred Astaire's finest dances, my personal absolute favorite from him, and what I consider one of the finest movie dance scenes ever. Regretfully because of copyright restrictions I had to cut it up and just show the highlights.

[frederickwise]

Took me back to 1946. The war was over and people were beginning to relax . Good times were comin round the corner. Had my order in for a new Ford convertible.

[ms.annthrope]

From dancing with a coatrack to a cane, to Rita Hayworth and Ginger Rogers, Fed Astaire was amazing and incomparable.

[barbaraleary]

Fred Astaire was the classiest man in Hollywood. He was the world's best dancer. May he RIP.

[patricemoran]

Fred is really considered the best by most of the greats in the world of dance...his immaculate sense of rhythm...his style...his inventiveness...not to mention his lovely way with a dance partner and a song. There will never be another like him. He had it all.

[eldalopez]

What can be better than one Fred Astaire? Ten Fred Astaires ❤

[ebardog]

Mikhail Baryshnikov, opening the tribute on the occasion of the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award in 1981:

"I have been invited to say something about how dancers feel about Fred Astaire. It's no secret. We hate him. He gives us complexes, because he's too perfect. His perfection is an absurdity that's hard to face. Classical dancers could deal with legendary rivals from the past, such as Nijinsky, because their accomplishments were known from books and from photographs that don't move, Baryshnikov said. With Astaire it was another story: The problem with Astaire is that he's everywhere -- moving. You know, you give your own performance and receive applause and you think maybe, just maybe, it was successful, and you go home ... and turn on the television to relax and there he is. Making you feel nervous all over again. You remember the remark by Ilie Nastase about Bjorn Borg: 'We are playing tennis, he is playing something else.' It's the same with Fred Astaire -- we are dancing, but he is doing something else."

[teijaflink]

Possibly one of the best dance scenes in a film.

[barbaraleary]

Fred Astaire was the best dancer ever. I loved him in many movies and Putting On The Ritz is an awesome number
Never tire of watching this graceful and classy man.

[merlinjones]

Fred doesn't need to look like Gary Cooper...he's classy enough on his own!

[annarodriguez]

Fred Astaire was a class act on and off the stage.
I was 6 or 7 the first time I saw him on tv back in the 50s. My dad had fallen asleep watching tv and I heard popping sounds and I wanted to see what was on the tv. I saw this skinny guy in a strange suit dancing 🕺and was fascinated! I tried to make my feet move like his 😂 Impossible!
Thanks for showing this edited version! Now I need to see the whole movie again! 😊

[Francis-md]

One of the many reasons I have for appreciating Astaire is that he was virtually alone among dancers of his era that liked that 'new music' rock n' roll. rhythm as his thing.

[julesb]

Omg! That was impressive, his timing is impeccable.

[amsj]

Thanks for this. I love seeing his cane fly back to him! 🙂

[richard]

I have NEVER seen this before! Thank you so much!

[tyejabs]

I absolutely adore Fred Astaire . I watched all of his movies with Ginger Rogers.

[l.e.]

Sad that over 80 yrs have passed since BlueSkies release & younger generations cannot enjoy a true wondrous complete clip of groundbreaking artistry, No cgi, No green screen or faking. This art ALL still can enjoy & be inspired. Fred was stickler for perfection, likely influenced by his ballet yrs, practicing for hours daily until he danced with ease- nothing is easy about his dancing nor his original choreography. MJ clearly got Smooth Criminal ideas, lyrics & costumes from Fred’s ballet short with Cyd.

[laurensrulkens]

Heard this song when I was young... searching long for it now I found it!

[flyingdutchmanindustries]

Now the kind of drama people have over their shoes is on some whole different level!

[truthseeker-tu]

Love this! Love tap dancing, also enjoy Taco performance of this song, ❤ Fred

[ldcraig]

That fascinating sequence towards the end (about 2:57 or so to the end) where Fred is dancing with multiple versions of himself. I'm awed at how they might have achieved that; how could they have split-screened that many duplicates, all of them in exact timing with the original. Amazing!