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"I'm Old Fashioned" posted October 2, 2004 at 01:03 AM

One of the good things about having a cold is not letting anyone come over and staying home alone without speaking. My throat hurts, so I ate some soup.

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Further comfort tonight came from You Were Never Lovelier--the 1942 Fred Astaire / Rita Hayworth sugar drop that had me smiling despite the absolute corniness of its plot. Astaire is unmatched. The man walks like most people wish they could dance, and then he dances. His face wasn't picture-perfect, but then neither is mine--but my god how I long to be him whenever I see these movies.

What is picture-perfect, of course, is Rita Hayworth's hair. There's a scene in her bedroom when she's first falling in love with a secret admirer who's been sending flowers, and she's singing and dancing and falls in a twirl onto her bed. The camera shoots her so that the audience's view of her is that of a lover on top of her, her hair immaculately splayed on the pillow, and her bosom heaving sensually.

The songs are by Jerome Kern and Johnny Mercer, and include "I'm Old Fashioned." I have been meaning to see this movie for a long time, but it wasn't on DVD until this year. My introduction to it was at New York City Ballet, actually. Jerome Robbins has a 1983 ballet called I'm Old Fashioned which is a theme and variations on Astaire's choreography to this song in You Were Never Lovelier. The ballet begins with the the dance sequence in the film projected onto a screen, then proceeds through a number of variations danced by the company, and then ends with all the dancers on stage dancing in time with Astaire and Hayworth. It's romantic as hell and seriously beautiful.

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photo (c) Paul Kolnik

The movie is charming and warming. I recommend it as a cold remedy.


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