December 20: On This Day in World History … briefly
Fred Astaire was turned down many times before he managed to get a part opposite Joan Crawford in ‘Dancing Ladies’. He was then paired with newcomer Ginger Rogers for ‘Flying Down to Rio’ - with undeniably fantastic results.
1933: New dancer who ‘Can’t act, is slightly bald, can dance a bit’ causes a stir
The smash hit film ‘Flying Down to Rio’ was instrumental in making stars of its leading man and lady Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
A former vaudeville song and dance man who teamed up with his sister Adele on stage, Astaire didn’t look to have the stuff stars are made of – the verdict of his Hollywood screen test included ‘Can’t act, slightly bald, can dance a bit’.
In any case, the test was clearly disappointing, and David O Selznick, who had signed Astaire to RKO and commissioned the test, stated in a memo
“I am uncertain about the man, but I feel, in spite of his enormous ears and bad chin line, that his charm is so tremendous that it comes through even on this wretched test.”
However, this did not affect RKO’s plans for Astaire, first lending him for a few days to MGM in 1933 for his significant Hollywood debut, where he appeared as himself dancing with Joan Crawford in the successful musical film Dancing Lady. On his return to RKO, he got fifth billing after fourth billed Ginger Rogers in the 1933 Dolores del Río vehicle Flying Down to Rio. In a review, Variety magazine attributed its massive success to Astaire’s presence:
The main point of Flying Down to Rio is the screen promise of Fred Astaire … He’s assuredly a bet after this one, for he’s distinctly likable on the screen, the mike is kind to his voice and as a dancer he remains in a class by himself. The latter observation will be no news to the profession, which has long admitted that Astaire starts dancing where the others stop hoofing.
Most notable historic snippets or facts extracted from the book ‘On This Day’ first published in 1992 by Octopus Publishing Group Ltd, London, as well as additional supplementary information extracted from Wikipedia.
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