LET'S DANCE

US, 1950, 112 minutes, Colour.
Fred Astaire, Betty Hutton, Ruth Warrick, Roland Young, Lucille Watson, Shepherd Strudwick.
Directed by Norman Z. Mc Leod.

A standard Fred Astaire musical comedy of the late forties and early fifties, a prolific period when Astaire was around 50 - Blue Skies, Easter Parade, Three Little Words, Royal Wedding. Usually he was at MGM at this time. He now moved to Paramount where he had made such films as Holiday Inn with Bing Crosby.

His unlikely teaming is with the lively Betty Hutton. The film starts raucously but eventually the two blend together quite well and Betty Hutton has a chance for comic turns which were her forte and Astaire joins in. She also has a chance at some ballroom dancing. The film is the usual story of show business, marriages, break-ups and reconciliations. It is an enjoyable example of Astaire's skill and Betty Hutton's verve.


1. The appeal of the American musical comedy? A Fred Astaire vehicle, Betty Hutton vehicle? Their combining their talents and styles? Songs, dances, comic routines? Sentimental American story?

2. Colour photography, British setting, transition to New York and Boston? The contrast between the atmospheres of the two cities? Sets and decor? Special effects?

3. The presentation of the songs: on stage, within the plot? Fred Astaire and his particular styles - ballroom dancing, tap dancing, comic turns? Betty Hutton and her talking songs, raucous style? How well did the two blend ? for instance in the Talking About song, They're Stealing Our Dance?

4. The plausibility of the plot - sufficient for the purposes of the film? The war situation? Elwood and his love for Kitty? Her falling in love and marrying? The clash and the parting of the ways? The re-meeting later? The mutual help? The misunderstandings and misinterpretations? Elwood and his being in business, love for show business, desire to put on a show? Kitty and her work as waitress, need for singing? Their returning to show business? The build-up to the marriage, their clashing again? The possibility of Kitty marrying and Elwood's jealousy? The happy ending? The basic material of romantic comedy? Sentimental touches, ironic touches?

5. Fred Astaire as hero? suave dancer, the war, the yen for big business, the comic scenes and his failure at business? The encounters with Kitty? The sequences with her son and the telling of stories to him and singing? The clashes with Serena? The persuasion to buy the racehorse - and its winning? The courtship of Kitty, their work together, the clash before the marriage? His engineering the break-up of her engagement? The police? The resolution?

6. Betty Hutton and her lively style - her marriage, being widowed, her love for her son? Her being confined and the family expectations in Boston? Her friendship with Carol, clashes with Serena? The encounters with the men sent to spy on her? Her love for her son, providing for him in the city? His being looked after at the restaurant? Her career? Her dependence on Elwood? The marriage, the clashes? The possibility of her marrying the wealthy suitor? The final resolution?

7. The family - Serena and her dominance, her place in the family, her liking of Elwood, the racehorse's win, her change of heart? Carola and her support of Kitty, the money? Her romance and the happy ending for her?

8. The men sent to spy on Kitty? The build-up of their evidence, the women at the night club? The importance of the court case and their testimony? The judge and his estimation of Kitty and her capacity to look after her son?

9. The atmosphere of New York. the characters around the city - in the restaurants, show business, the business world, the courts?

10. The blend of comedy and sentiment, romance and music? The perennial popularity of these basic American ingredients?