Eleanor Powell, the Queen of tap (talk)
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- čas přidán 4. 07. 2024
- Join film expert Miles Eady as he shines a spotlight on the incredible talent of Eleanor Powell, the Queen of Tap. Though often overlooked in Hollywood's history of musicals, Powell was an extraordinary force in the industry of the late 1930s and early 1940s. She was one of the few women in senior creative positions, and her stunning dance performances were unparalleled in Hollywood's Golden Era. Through insightful analysis, Miles showcases Powell's unique style and incredible prowess, highlighting the technical mastery and infectious joy she brought to every performance. From her iconic tapping in "Broadway Melody of 1940" to her unforgettable solo in "Lady Be Good", Miles takes us on a journey through the remarkable career of this trailblazing talent.
- Krátké a kreslené filmy
Finally someone sees and speaks the truth about how Eleanor Powell was the BEST DANCER PERIOD,EVER!!!!
Amazing! Yes, couldn't agree more. Her new biography is to be released soon - keep an eye out for it!
An amazing dancer! Ii wish she would have continued her film career. Love her. ❤
Absolutely my favorite dancer of all times.
Yay! Me too!
Observing Eleanor Powell sends chills all over my body. This is what happens when you are watching Perfection. She was beyond amazing, one of a kind and a talent only others could dream of emulating.
I love this comment, that's a really really good way of putting it. And all these years later that uncompromising perfection still shines through the celluloid.
Miraculous talent. Jaw dropping.
So in short, she was bigger than the system that contained her, and ahead of her time, and there hasn't been a match.
That's a great succinct summary. Agreed with 100%. Although Jenni Le Gon is certainly a matching talent.
Eleanor Powell was decades ahead of her time, both as a phenomenal dancer without equal and in her personal life, partly evidenced by her friendship with Bill "Bojangles" Robinson and by including all African American children in a television broadcast, following critique by a television exec for her multicultural dance troupe, in the 1960s. Had I known about your lecture, I would love to have seen it at the BFI in London, being here in the UK and originating from California. As a child seeing "That's Entertainment!", I took a breath upon seeing her extraordinary dance routines and always wondered what happened to her. Why she wasn't a participant in this docufilm, its follow up, or in "That's Dancing" is beyond ridiculous. My reverence for her dancing grew further in 1994 upon seeing the extraordinary footage from "Lady Be Good" in "That's Entertainment III" and the behind-the-scenes footage. As Ann Miller shared in the featurette for "Broadway Melody of 1940," she could tap, do gymnastics and ballet dance on point. I always felt a sense of loss and bewilderment about why her career was cut so short and why other dancers like Ginger Rogers, Cyd Charisse, Ann Miller and Vera-Ellen got more attention, which your presentation touches on. In hindsight, it's sheer stupidity and a wasted opportunity by Louis B Mayer and other studio execs not to have invested more in her. As much as I love Fred Astaire, I'm extremely annoyed by his disparaging comments about Eleanor Powell being "too mannish", which undoubtedly damaged her career and kept her from being partnered again with another male star to dance. She exudes femininity equally with her athleticism and would have been heralded in the world of today. Since Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Ann Miller and Cyd Charisse all danced well into their 60s and even 70s in films, television, commercials and even music videos (see Cyd Charisse in the music videos for "Always" by Janet Jackson and "I Want to be Your Property" by Blue Mercedes), Eleanor Powell had plenty of fire left in her to have done the same. Ellie was stymied by the times she lived in and it's such a shame her former husband's desperate insecurity forced her to stay largely in the shadows, much like Esther Williams with Fernando Lamas and many other actresses of the day. I applaud any efforts to raise and rehabilitate her profile for new generations on social media, similar to Hedy Lamarr and Alan Turpin. This will help promote the biography you mentioned, which I would love to read. If you can share the original 17,000-word narrative on Eleanor Powell, many of us would eagerly read it. In closing, I'll mention a fitting footnote. In San Francisco, a famous seaside restaurant named "The Cliff House" was a landmark that was open for over 150 years. Between each of its 20-foot-high Pacific Ocean facing windows were 16 8x10 autographed photos of stars from Hollywood's Golden Age, mostly signed in the late 1930s and early 40s. Due to the new tech industry-dominated population that's moved in and changed the social fabric of the city, the pandemic, and National Park Service mismanagement, The Cliff House" sadly shut its doors on 31 December 2020. They auctioned off all the fittings, historical wall hangings and all 232 autographed photos. I managed to acquire eight of them and one is from Eleanor Powell, dedicated "To the Cliff House," which I absolutely had to get. Her legacy is very much one I would love to see broadcast and celebrated by future generations, and I hope this book gives her the recognition long overdue. Thank you for sharing this wonderful tribute.
What an incredible story, thanks so much for sharing. I'm so thrilled that Powell touches so many people and fascinating to hear your experience. I'm beyond impressed by your signed photo of Powell! Completely brilliant.
Btw I am at the BFI again in March introducing Singin' in the Rain. I'd love to see you there! If you love golden age of Hollywood Musicals I have a couple of other videos on 42nd Street and An American in Paris you might enjoy!
Also I meant to say that a biography of Powell is coming out later in the year written by the incredible Lisa Royare and Paula Broussard who both knew Powell. I can't wait to read it.
@@readbydaddy945 Thank you very much for both your considerate response and for sharing these updates. “Singin’ in the Rain” and “An American in Paris” are in my Top 10 film musicals, along with “The Bandwagon,” “Till the Clouds Roll By,” and “Footlight Parade.” The Broadway and West End run of “An American in Paris” with Robbie Fairchild and Leanne Cope was outstanding and brought such emotion. I was quite overwhelmed by the end at The Dominion to see that such elegance and artistry is still possible. I would love to see your presentation on “Singin’ in the Rain” and thoroughly appreciate the shout out on Powell’s biography. Many thanks again and please keep up the fantastic work.
@@TheTransatlanticExchange You have excellent taste! I agree with your comments on the stage show of An American in Paris. A friend of mine was in the show and said that sadly by the end of the run that were giving away £5 tickets. I felt that the Dominion was the wrong place for such a beautiful show. And Footlight Parade is an incredible film!
Bless her heart! After 3 SLOW spins I would have fallen off of the stage. Eleanor Powell is AMAZING! It's a shame that we don't really have talented dancers like herself anymore.
Thank you for uploading this talk on the under appreciated talent of Eleanor Powell. I am so happy that someone with expertise and access to a public forum took time to contextualize her rightful legacy. I think you are spot on in your analysis about why her career ended and why she is not as well remembered today as her equals Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. Of the three reasons you sight as possible causes for this neglect of probably the most talented female dancer in film history, I believe studio mismanagement was the key culprit, with male insecurity/sexism running a close second.
In your well-focused, time-limited presentation you could not drum home the details of the studio mismanagement of her career, of which you are obviously well-versed. I’d like to amplify your point about plot repetition/lack of chemistry/romantic interests with statistics, if I may: Of the ten complete pictures Powell starred in at MGM, she played either an aspiring dancer or an established dancing star in nine of them; in close to 75% of the musical numbers she performed, the set up of the scene has her either performing a solo tap routine in front of an audience or rehearsing a solo tap dance number for a future performance; of the remaining 25% of the plot-integrated numbers, there is not one instance where she dances a romantic partnered duet with her leading man. Not one. Criticism of any perceived lack of chemistry with a partner should, therefore, be a non-starter in light of these statistics. The audience ennui you mention was inevitable with this staggering lack of plot variety and total absence of romantic duets, especially when combined with the cutting of numbers (Lady Be Good) and the recycling of prior numbers in her final film (the wretchedly titled “I Dood It”). It is a testament to her dancing ability and personal charisma that none of her films lost money, unlike Astaire and Kelly, who both had several flops in their careers. How right you are to say that she is less remembered today because of the sameness of the plots in her films and the lack of musical integration, which could have easily been addressed by MGM script writers and producers. What later viewing generation wants to spend two hours watching an inferior film when we can watch gems like “Top Hat” or “Singing in the Rain?” I love the idea you propose that social media outlets like CZcams enable isolated viewing of Powell’s brilliance and will increase appreciation of her.
Your positing male insecurity as a cause for her relatively short film career makes sense in light of the fact that Hermès Pan said that Astaire thought he looked second best when tap dancing with Powell, so he declined to work with her again. This refusal by the esteemed Astaire, along with his repeated comments about the “masculine” nature of her dancing (in a sexist era much worse than our own) and his statement that he thought she should remain a solo dancer, no doubt robbed her of potential dancing partners and, thus, creative opportunities. In fact, after working with Astaire in “Broadway Melody of 1940,” she never again danced with any costar in an MGM film, unless you count Buttons, whom you flippantly (?) called her best partner. (I can hang with you if you want to give him serious consideration.) The “masculine” label also influenced a generation of film critics and historians and denigrates her legacy to this day. It is to your credit that you realize this mischaracterization and are attempting to rehabilitate her position in the history of filmed dance.
The above occurrences no doubt stifled her creativity and led to an early retirement from film. The fact that she frequently performed in night clubs in the U.S. and even at the Palladium in London in the late 1940s leads me to believe that she had no problem being a working mother. She apparently worked out for several hours a day during this time, and a viewing of the “Western Rope Dance” number from “I Dood It” in 1942 shows her spinning had lost none of its speed and her dancing none of its athleticism at the time of her retirement. You mention during the Q&A portion of your lecture that she was able to tap for nine minutes on a TV special when she was aged 50, so I think we can eliminate physical exhaustion as a reason for her leaving MGM.
The third reason you mention for Powell’s early departure from film was her traditional beliefs. Were you suggesting that Glenn Ford requested that she retire from film and that she acquiesced to fulfill the role of a traditional wife in the 1940s? She continued to work as a professional dancer in nightclubs (and had the one cameo in “Duchess of Idaho” that you referenced) until around 1950, but retired from film in 1944 after he returned from his WWII service. Did he consider film his domain? I have read snippets that he was jealous of attention paid to her. Shirley MacLaine mentioned in one of her books that Ford got irrationally upset with her when she told him during filming of “The Sheepman” that Eleanor Powell was her father’s favorite dancer. She stated that Ford was very competitive with Powell. If this is what you mean by “traditional beliefs,” it is sad that Powell’s film potential was also shortened because of an unhappy marriage that eventually ended up in divorce. I noticed your disdain that her son wrote a biography of his father, a good, but not great actor, instead of his mother, the greatest dancer in film history.
Many thanks for watching and the careful attention you paid to the content. I agree with everything you say. You mention time restrictions - I actually had about 17,000 words prepared on the subject and used only about 3,000! There was so much more to say. I gather that Ellie was well aware of the shortcomings in the plot repetitions in the movies. They called her the Janet Gaynor of musicals - always playing the poor girl who made it big. One day she went to Louis B Mayer and said “Can’t I start off rich and end up poor?” Just that one incident shows me that she knew more about the business than the creatives working for her.
Your statistics are fabulous, many thanks. I don’t have the exact stats to hand, but something I would like to add is that not only was the quality of what Powell produced for the screen of exceptional standards, but that it is so extensive. A typical Gene Kelly film sees him dancing for far fewer minutes of running time than a typical Powell film.
My best guess is that the creative team at the relatively conservative MGM simply didn’t know how best to frame a female of Powell’s strong, extraordinary talent. On paper, her 7 year contract had come to an end and Louis B Mayer had lost interest in her. It’s well documented how he took special interest in Judy Garland during this period.
That’s fascinating re Hermes Pan, I didn’t know he’d said that. Did he say this in a filmed interview or in writing?
Re Powell’s traditional beliefs, she was on record several times as saying that, once she had married Ford that she was concentrating on being a wife and mother. Whether that was giving the press what they wanted to hear is to be discussed. Her “retirement” certainly could be made to fit into that narrative. From what I’ve read about Ford, it would seem to accord that he was pretty jealous of his wife, with Ellie stating at their divorce hearing “I sued for mental cruelty, because that’s exactly what he gave me.” There’s a fascinating story of Ford filming in South America in the late 1940s, and Elli and Peter, their son, accompanying Ford on the trip. When they landed and travelled to the hotel there were cross of well-wishers and admirers lining the streets… to greet Ellie rather than Ford. Peter Ford describes how this greatly irritated Ford. And as I say, Ford’s body language in the photo on set of Ellie’s (final) comeback appearance for MGM in the Duchess of Idaho is tellingly stiff. He does not look like someone who is happy that his wife is getting the attention. The other aspect to support Ellie’s claim to want to devote herself to being a wife and mother is that this mind set would seem to go along with her religious faith, which was always important to her and may be born out by the fact she was a virgin until her 30s - although Clark Gable tried his best.
That is a wonderful quote from Shirley McClean - good find! I’ll seek that one out. That story would certainly accord with what I’ve read.
And yes, Ellie managed to reach the absolute peak of her profession whereas the same can’t be said for Ford. Peter Ford’s book about his mother would be a wonderful thing.
@@readbydaddy945 Hermes Pan confided his own opinion about why Astaire said no to a second film with Powell to Robert Osborne, film historian, Hollywood Reporter columnist, and host of Turner Classic Movies television network. Here is the link where he mentions it in an introduction to a showing of “Broadway Melody of 1940.”
czcams.com/video/KUKxcEV573E/video.html
Osborne elaborates on the point in the intro of a different showing here -
czcams.com/video/JKUEB7dZe2k/video.html
@@partycentralsales Wonderful! Many thanks.
I have never seen anyone dance that good!..
Thank you so very much for paying excellent tribute to the greatest dancer to be captured on film, imho. I think greatness is a combination of several qualities, but the most powerful one comes from a simple, natural love of performing and communicating one’s God-given talent with the world. Eleanor had this love to accompany her massive gift, as did Sister Rosetta Tharpe (the godmother of Rock and Roll) and Elvis Presley. As you mention here in your wonderful talk, Ellie is a an excellent fit for the digital age. She is finally beginning to receive the recognition she was denied whilst living in a time that wasn’t ready for her, thanks to fine human beings like you educating and de-doctrinating (is that a word lol) dance fans from the belief that Astaire and Kelly were the end-all be-all. I don’t think she was the best Female dancer. I think she was the best dancer. Thank you so much again. Cheers from Oregon! I just learned recently that Clark Gable lived in Astoria, Oregon while taking acting instruction- he bought Eleanor Powell a Packard Roadster in 1935
(as she described it in an interview in 1980, it was like a Mercedes) in an effort to woo her, to no avail, though she kept the car haha.
Many thanks for your comments Ryan. I couldn't agree more. I'm sure you'll be thrilled to know that the first biography of Powell is being published later this year. It's going to be a fabulous book writen by two people who knew her well and full of a wealth of information that all Ellie fans will love to know. PS - you might be interested to see my talk on the magic of Ginger and Fred which I recently uploaded which aims to tell the Rogers and Astaire story from Ginger's perspective!
Thank you for the quick reply! Yes actually I had heard about the upcoming book and I am very excited about it, and the fact that the two authors knew her makes it all the more stellar. I will most definitely check out your talk on Ginger and Fred! I am a fan of them both as well (though you might have guessed my favorite dancer :)). Thank you again and keep up the great work!
When those that's Entertainment films came out I was shocked at how little she was giving credit for anything. They never gave her a chance to expand and become even more of an actress she did not. She did not have a bad singing voice, and to see her in color what a waste she was so lovely with those blue eyes. Thank you so much for doing this show I just enjoyed it so much seeing somebody standing up for that great lady. I saw her on Ed Sullivan once recently you know on the reruns I guess it's about the time she was doing Las Vegas and she was magnificent I suppose she was in her 40 somewhere I don't know she looked a wonderful so again thank you very much.
Amazing, that's a wonderful memory of a fabulous talent. Her long overdue biography is due out next year. I can't wait.
Thank you for this very interesting video. I am so glad that I came upon it as I am a real fan of Eleanors ,I agree that she was the greatest tap dancer ever.
My pleasure!
I can thoroughly recommend the excellent new biography about Powell called Eleanor Powell Born to Dance.
If you liked what you saw check out my other videos on the history of the film musical, I'm sure you'll love them too!
@@readbydaddy945 Thank you! I will do that.
The world would remember her contribution towards entertainment fields
There is one other thing that should be mentioned about Powell's artistry. She was superbly musical. She didn't simply have technique, flexibility, and so on; she always danced in an intensely musical way. While other dancers may have virtuosity, they don't necessarily have the beautiful subtlety that establishes an intimate relationship to the music they are dancing to. This, for me, is part of her magic and charm. She had both the honest dazzle and a real artistic sensibility.
Tap dancers would compliment one another by saying 'you're a musician'. Eleanor had a huge record collection and a wide appreciation of music. She and Glenn Ford bought their mansion in Beverly Hills from Max Steiner, and of course Toscanini admired her rhythmic abilities.
Thank you so much for this program. Alas, too short, though. Growing up (I’m 70 years old) I loved watching all the tap dancers I could find on tv which were mostly black & white reruns. Afterwards, I’d put on my tap shoes and tried to imitate steps. I took tap lessons for years and danced for more years for my own enjoyment. That enjoyment is attributed to many dancers, especially Eleanor. Again. Thanks again. I hope you produce another segment.
Many thanks Jane, what a lovely memory. You were inspired by the best. Let's hope you get to put your dance shoes on again. I was restricted to just 25 minutes for the talk, which isn't as long as Ellie deserves. If you enjoyed my talk on Powell you might enjoy my intros to 42nd Street and An American in Paris, also on CZcams. Thanks for watching!
Her son was a classmate of mine in the early '50's, To me she was just Mrs. Ford, a lovely, gracious woman.
No way, is that so? That's incredible. I imagine she was humble and gracious and not the big ego star. Incredible that you knew her
@@readbydaddy945 Actually, I grew up in Beverly Hills and many of my schoolmates had parents in the biz, but that didn't mean anything to us kids . Beverly Hills then was nothing like now; it was kind of a small town.
@@willyummiest Wow! I can only imagine. What amazing memories of that time you must have
@@willyummiest By 1960 Bev Hills was stated by the Census Bureau to be the richest community in the US in terms of average household income.
This is a fascinating and most welcome revisit to the late Eleanor Powell. There is a book called "Eleanor Powell: First Lady of Dance" by Alice B Levin published in 1997. I am very proud to own a copy. It was a limited printing regarding a star generally forgotten by the public at large at that time. My copy was donated by Eleanor Powell's dear friend and business manager, Eleanor Debus, to an auction with a hand written note on her stationary tucked inside. The note includes the comment "As you can see, we are still trying to keep Ellie's name alive". Thank God for film and thank you keeping Ellie's name alive.
No way! This is fascinating - thanks for your message. I have read Levin's book and you will be thrilled to hear that there is a new biography coming out of Powell's life written by two friends of hers Lisa Royare and Paula Brossard. It's an absolutely wonderful book - I think it'll be out in a month or two. You can preorder from Amazon. Wonderful that they are keeping Powell's name and extraordinary talent fresh in the cultural landscape.
@@readbydaddy945 Oh wow, I will definitely be ordering that book. Thanks for the heads up!
I first noticed Eleanor Powell on youtube in the dance collage to untown funk and was blown away by her talent. I wonderered why people talked so much more about Ginger Rogers, when Eleanor Powell was obviously better.
That's probably because she lived under Rogers's shadow, but if someone watches The Broadway Melody of 1940, he or she will see that she was better than Rogers!
And the music she danced to then was of better quality than today's music!
Hey Jeffrey. I would say that an over simplified answer is that whilst Ellie was a phenomenal dance talent, her screen persona was a bit cold and the actual films she made weren't great. Rogers had such a lovable screen presence. Maybe Rogers was less of a threat. Her dance talent was more "hey, I could do that too" whereas Powell was "I could never do that in a million years."
@@arthurgearheard4701 Absolutely!
Ginger Rodgers was not really a tap dancer. She was a ballroom dancer so there is no comparison.
I always thought that Eleanor Powell career was mismanaged by her studio , they never seem let her progress into more challenging roles. They spent a great deal of money the sets of her movies but the scripts and story lacked imagination
Absolutely. My guess is that MGM just didn't know how best to frame strong female talent. Powell was so far ahead of her time, I wonder whether she would still get similar treatment today.
@@readbydaddy945 Busby "Burk-lee", not "Bark-lee" was how Mr. Berkeley pronounced his name. That's respectful of the artist. "Vincent" Minnelli was how Mr. Vincente Minelli pronounced his name. Once again, a seemingly minor item is not minor. I'm sure Mr. Eady would want his name pronounced correctly. This is an excellent presentation on the life and career of Eleanor Powell.
@@readbydaddy945 MGM could "frame" strong dramatic and comedic female talent (Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Greta Garbo, Myrna Loy, Jean Harlow, Ann Sothern, Lana Turner) and Jeanette MacDonald and Judy Garland as singers but, strangely, you're right about the studio being unable to develop vehicles for any female dancer as it did for Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly.
@@caraqueno Absolutely! When I did my introduction to 42nd Street at the BFI a month later, I had learned this by then and made that very point! I said to the audience that I had been pronouncing the name incorrectly all my life and I was going to tryt hard to get it right this time! I was unaware of the Vincente/ Vincent pronounciation and thanks so much for pointing this out.
@@readbydaddy945 You're welcome. Thank you for your kindness and graciousness.
There is a CZcams video about the filming of Fascinatin' Rhythm, showing the camera movements and the stage sections being separated and reassembled to allow for a continuous take. It's absolutely mind-boggling.
It's too bad the clip shown here was in the wrong aspect ratio. It cut off the top and bottom - including Eleanor's feet.
Yes, absolutely. It is incredible. In the movie Hail Caesar the Coen Brothers were inspired by that sequence and used Berkeley's ideas in the setting of the dance number performed by Channing Tatum!
People on CZcams are constantly debating the ability of Eleanor Powell and the Nicholas Brothers!
Both are great.
Her body never moves but her feet are flying.
I have one negative comment about this show it wasn't long enough it just stopped oh I'm laughing but I wish it had gone on for another half an hour just a little PS I knew someone when I lived in California in the 1960s and he told me that Eleanor Powell still danced and and kept you know kept her dancing off she didn't just stop and eat pasta like I won't mention any name some dancers did so that was probably it was very good stead for her when she wanted to come out and do something on TV or whatever again thank you
Many thanks for your comments. I'm so glad you enjoyed the presentation. There's a fabulous new book coming out about Powell next year which I'm sure you will love. That's a fascinating story about your contact in the 1960s!
It is too bad Eleanor was never teamed with Tommy Rall....
Both had comic sensibility to go along with their incredible dance talents.
Terrible clip of Fascinatin' Rhythm--we can't see her feet!!! And Busby is Berkeley, not Barkly. I saw Eleanor perform at the Latin Quarter in Manhattan in 1962. Beyond praise! (The Latin Quarter on West 48th Street had previously been the downtown Cotton Club and is now a hotel.) And another misuse of the phrase "begs the question." It may RAISE the question, but BEG the question has a special meaning that does no apply.