Rita Hayworth's dancing
I think her dancing is laughably, embarrassingly bad here, in both numbers.
shareShe came from a famous dancing family on her father's side, was trained to dance from age three, was dancing professionally by age 12, and was supporting her family with her dancing by the time she left adolescence. I don't know what your criteria are for good dancing, since you make no effort to explain them, but I'm guessing they're not very good.
Are her numbers in this one as complex as some others (such as her Dance of the Seven Veils in Salome)? No. But they are appropriate to the story and her grace is evident in every scene. I had no difficulty believing Gilda was a professional dancer since the woman playing her was one.
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I'm used to CLASSICAL DANCING and BALLET - not the kind of cheap Latina dancing that you're used to.
You found her Dance of the Seven Veils in Salome 'complex'? I'll bet you've never seen a European ballerina, or an Indian Barata Natyam dancer. You're a proponent of 'low art', while I seek High Art.
I'm used to CLASSICAL DANCING and BALLET - not the kind of cheap Latina dancing that you're used to. You found her Dance of the Seven Veils in Salome 'complex'? I'll bet you've never seen a European ballerina, or an Indian Barata Natyam dancer. You're a proponent of 'low art', while I seek High Art.
The fact remains that Rita Hayworth began dancing when she could still barely walk, was performing professionally by her teen years, was able to gain solid employment in Hollywood as an expert Classical Spanish Dancer before age 20, and had a career in onscreen dance that lasted decades. These are facts. To claim that the granddaughter of Antonio Cansino couldn't dance is like saying Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly had two left feet.
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Um, Fred Astaire called her his favorite partner of all time. I'd say he was a pretty good judge of classical dancing versus "cheap moves."
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I keep thinking I'm a grownup, but I'm not.
paramitch, I wonder if you're getting your information from Peter Levinson's awful book "Puttin' on the Ritz: Fred Astaire and the Fine Art of Panache". Peter Levinson was a dreadful author. He made a multitude of mistakes in his book. He thought the famous feather "Cheek to Cheek" dress Ginger Rogers wore in "Top Hat" was pink when, in fact, it was ice blue. He also mixed up Astaire and Rogers' directors George Stevens and Mark Sandrich twice. He then added some hearsay where Fred was supposedly asked who his favorite dancing partner was and allegedly said it was Rita, but he'd swear he'd lied if the person ever told on him. (Yeah, right!) Meanwhile, there was no camera rolling nor a tape recording made. So, like so much of Levinson's information... it's dubious.
What I find very interesting is the clip that is currently on YouTube called "Fred Astaire interview - Parkinson 1976". British TV interviewer Michael Parkinson asks Fred Astaire who his favorite dancing partner was. At first Fred was hesitant to choose one, but ultimately says:
"I must say Ginger was certainly the one. You know, the most effective partner I had. Everyone knows. That was a whole other thing what we did...I just want to pay a tribute to Ginger because we did so many pictures together and believe me it was a value to have that girl...she had it. She was just great!"
Now then, this isn't he said/she said hearsay. It's Fred Astaire, himself, saying this on television. I guess Fred Astaire knew which one was his favorite dancing partner. Some people go as far as to claim Fred said in his autobiography "Steps in Time" that Rita Hayworth was his favorite dancing partner. Well, I have Fred Astaire's autobiography "Steps in Time" in front of me. Rita is mentioned on pages 48, 245-248, 250 and 252-255. Nowhere did Fred say Rita was his favorite dancing partner in his book.
Within the last few days I've watched "You'll Never Get Rich" and "You Were Never Lovlier" on DVD. I must say, I was somewhat disappointed. Rita looked lovely in these films and had a nice speaking voice. I was already aware that she didn't do her own singing in her films so that didn't bother me. What did bother me was her dancing in these two films (which is good) is distressingly brief. I thought I was going to see something fantastic. Astaire and Hayworth were doing the same spins, twirls and back bends that Astaire and Rogers were doing in the 1930s. The difference was Astaire and Hayworth danced to the Boogie Woogie music of the 1940s instead of the atmospheric Depression Era music.
I was disenchanted that in these two films I didn't hear one familiar or memorable (or catchy) song. The Astaire and Rogers films had songs that became instant classics and have had many cover versions over the years. While I did enjoy the two Astaire and Hayworth films, I don't think they are classics like the 10 magical Astaire and Rogers films. I will be seeing "Cover Girl" again, after many, many years when the DVD I ordered arrives. From what I remember, there aren't any memorable songs in that film either and the dance eveyone remembers is the one where Gene Kelly dances with himself. Although, it will be a treat to see Rita in color.