And remember Fred would do it in one take in all his later films.
In other words, the camera would remain on him from beginning to end. Considering the complexity of some of his dances, the mind boggles.
Also, you were staggering out of Depression. We were busy lifting 300,000 soldiers from a defeated army of the shores of Dunkirk. Later, the bombs were crashing down and London's horizon was on fire. In fact at times it was dangerous.
To hell with Kafka - bring on Fred and Ginger. There is nothing quite like being in a large cinema with perhaps a dozen in the seats and the sound of bombers overhead. It was the worst of times - but films were a break.
Harry -----------------------------------------------------
Stephen wrote:
>> I have long wondered how the symbolic "world" of >> 1940s American popular culture was metabolized by >> 1940s American people. > >> ... puzzlement that adults could >> relate to such stuff as meaningful. Were they >> as "ditz-headed" as this imagery? What effects did >> this imagery have on their self-understanding in >> their own middle to lower middle class and working >> class lives? >> >> Does my puzzlement make sense? What are the conditions for >> the possibility of adults seeking out this kind of >> symbolic material to bring into their inner life?
It's not clear to me what you're asking. A very big question about the relations of popular culture to the people? Or a little question about the popularity of Fred Astair?
If the former, much has been written. Why is *The Sound of Music* and everything Disney so popular? Mickey Mouse?
If the latter, your stills don't do the man justice. Wow! could he dance! (And, as has been observed, Ginger did everything *he* did and backwards in heels!) Have you ever seen on of Fred Astaire's extended dance sequences? If you have I can even less understand your question. "Ditz-headed"?
Maybe it would help if you gave an example of what an *answer* would look like.
best wishes,
Stephen Straker
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