That's Entertainment! Page #4

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even though the plots

were suspiciously alike.

Only our names seemed to change.

How do you do?

Good morning. I'm Betsy Booth.

- I sing, you know.

- I know, I heard you.

You're Andy Hardy, aren't you?

This is Barbara Jo. This is Mr. Williams.

Pleased to meet you, Mr. Williams.

Danny, this is my grandchild,

Ms. Ginger Gray.

- Yes, we've met.

- This is my cousin, Ms. Polly Williams.

Mr. Daniel Churchill, a junior.

Ms. Barton, this is Ms. Essex,

the once famous "Baby Rosalie."

How do you do? This is Mickey Moran.

How do you do?

My name's Williams, Tommy Williams.

What's yours?

- I don't think I like you.

- Thank you.

You're welcome.

- I want success.

- And you'll have it.

I know you will, Mickey. Just think

when our names are up in electric lights.

You the big composer and producer,

and me the singing star.

We can have our own great

modern dance orchestra.

We've got everything we need here.

We've got the brass...

the piano, and the reeds.

We can make our own

arrangements, specialties...

and play for all the dances.

We've got to have a great show,

with a million laughs.

And color, lot of lights to make it sparkle.

And songs, wonderful songs

with you out there selling them.

It'll be wonderful.

Say, that's not a bad idea.

We could put on our own show.

That'd be different.

Why, it looks as if you'll need

a whole city block.

Yeah. Sure. That's it.

Right in the neighborhood,

and everybody'll come to it.

A Western rodeo once a year

will bring back the West.

- Daniel Boone.

- Jesse James, Buffalo Bill.

- A hundred beautiful girls.

- On horseback.

Glorious costumes, happy, carefree.

I'm gonna write a show for us

and put it on right here in Seaport.

It'd be the most up-to-date thing

these hicks around here have seen.

Opening night, we'll have

Max Gordon and Sam Harris...

down to give us the once-over.

How about it?

They call us babes in arms

They think they must direct us

But if we're babes in arms

We'll make them all respect us

Why have we got our arms

What have we got our sight for?

Play day is done,

We have a place in the sun

We must fight for

When our movies took off

at the box office...

we found our budgets taking off, too.

So they moved Judy and I

out of the backyard and into the barn...

then to the high school gym...

and later to a Broadway stage

that would never have fit in a real theater.

Where we got all that energy,

I'll never know.

But a lot of it was inspired

by our director, a genius. ;

Busby Berkeley.

Small town

Living in a small town

When you're in a small town

You gotta make friends

- One, two, three, four

- One, two, three, four

One, two, three, four

Watch them shuffling along

See them shuffling along

Go take your best gal, your real pal

Go down to the levee,

I said to the levee

And we'll join that shuffling throng

Hear that music and song

It's simply great, mate

Waitin' on the levee

Waitin' for the Robert E. Lee

We're babes on Broadway

We're goin'places

When our new faces appear

It's a wonderful street

for babes like us to be on

We're here because

we want our names in neon

We left Topeka

We left Eureka

And came to seek a career

Oh, we're milkin'applause

instead of milkin'a cow

'Cause we're babes on Broadway now!

With the flag unfurled

We can face the world

Hey, leader

strike up the band!

There's another fellow

who worked on this lot with Judy...

and some of MGM's best musicals...

are a direct result

of his considerable talents.

Gene Kelly.

This is MGM's New York street.

And for as long as I can remember...

this has been the busiest standing set

on the whole backlot.

Any actor or actress...

who made more than one or two films

at this studio...

sooner or later probably would find

himself shooting a sequence here.

Which reminds me,

if you are a song-and-dance man...

and you've spent some time in pictures...

inevitably, some interviewer will ask:

"Who was your favorite dancing partner?

"Was it Rita Hayworth, or Vera Ellen,

or Leslie Caron?"

But if you're smart,

you'll never give them a straight answer.

I'm gonna break that rule right now.

It might not be gallant...

but I'd like to show you

the greatest partner I've ever danced with.

When you dance with Fred Astaire,

you really have to be on your toes.

This number from Ziegfeld Follies...

was the only time we've had a chance

to work together.

But I'd change my name to Ginger

if we could do it again.

Fred Astaire has been the tops...

in every field of show business

he ever entered.

And the motion picture musical

owes him a great deal.

The way you wear your hat

The way you sip your tea

The memory of all that

No, no

They can't take that away from me

The way your smile just beams

The way you sing off-key

The way you haunt my dreams

No, no

They can't take that away from me

When he starred in the series of musicals

with Ginger Rogers...

they quickly became

the most popular dance team...

in the history of motion pictures.

But for Fred, as an individual...

it was only the beginning

of a screen career...

that would delight

several generations of moviegoers.

And the band sings

We've got the gang together

We always sang together

And the band sings

Over the years,

Fred Astaire's trademark would become...

the top hat and tails.

He wore the outfit

in his very first film appearance. ;

Dancing Lady with Joan Crawford.

I guess I'll have to change my plan

I should have realized

there'd be another man

Jack Buchanan,

the debonair British musical star...

joined Fred in The Band Wagon.

Until the big affair began

Before I knew where I was at

I found myself upon the shelf

and that was that

I tried to reach the moon

But when I got there

All that I could get was the air

My feet are back upon the ground

I lost the one girl I'd found

But besides elegance,

there's a lot more to the Astaire style.

Fred was constantly striving

for perfection.

Rehearsing hour after hour...

searching for a new step or a new device...

that would bring something fresh

to each of his numbers.

Because of his ingenuity and precision...

audiences never realized

how much incredible effort...

Fred poured into his work.

He made it all appear so easy.

In Royal Wedding,

Fred danced with a hat rack.

And, as usual,

he made his partner look good.

In The Barkleys of Broadway...

Fred and choreographer Hermes Pan...

conceived the brilliant

Shoes With Wings On number.

Fred and director Stanley Donen...

collaborated on this mind-boggling routine

from Royal Wedding.

Movie buffs are still arguing

about how it was done.

The gimmicks Fred used

were exciting and fun.

But his talents were so extraordinary...

that he could easily get along

without them.

This is the Astaire I love to watch.

With a lovely partner like Cyd Charisse...

a simple setting...

a marvelous song by Howard Dietz

and Arthur Schwartz...

these are the only ingredients

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