Eleanor Powell trained this dog herself and this scene was shot in her own living room because it was where the dog was used to do all the tricks. Amazing tap dance and acrobatic routine. I want to have a dog like this one to tap with :)
Eleanor Powell was not only an amazing dancer, but I think that she probably could have had another job on the side as a dog trainer. She did a FANTASTIC job training this one!
There were a lot of great tap dancers: The Hines Brothers, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, and so many more. But none compares to Eleanore Powell. She had grace, style, athleticism, and she made even the most difficult dance moves look effortless. No wonder The Tap Dancing Guild named her The Best Tap Dancer, and even Fred Astaire said she was the best!
Eleanor Powell was my mother's favorite dancer, and my favorite too!! Well, I also have soft spots for the Nicholas brothers and Gregory Hines and Gene Kelly, but really Eleanor Powell owns my heart! 🎶🎭🎵
Best of the best. The one woman Fred Astaire felt was his match. Never saw anyone that could do spins like her, male or female. Four years ago I said this was the clip I keep coming back to, and here I am again.
@@patrickbattaille2979 Having watched some of Ann Miller's best routines, Eleanor looks better. Everything is cleaner, sharper; she has the same ease, grace and effortlessness that Astaire had. Ann often uses the dance intercut with singing and consciously relies a sexy image, which detracts from the dancing rather than adding to it. I can't find any footage of Ann putting somersaults in a routine. Some of the problem is the way the routines are recorded; Miller would often dance in ordinary shoes and then do the routine in tap shoes, with the sound track dubbed over the action and this can make it sound somewhat phoney. With Eleanor, there's no over dubbing - certainly not in this scene - so you know the taps you see are what your are hearing.
I am 16 years old and I dance tap dance. My dream is to be as her. Every time I see her dancing, I think it's impossible to become a good dancer!!!! She is the best!
The tap dancer, Eleanor Powell - also known as "The Queen of Tap" - was the dog trainer. As explained above she was supplied with different dogs by the studio and none would work well. She got one and trained it herself in her house. Once the time came to shoot the scene the dog would not repeat the same things with accuracy on the film set so this scene was finally filmed in Eleanor Powell's own living room, in her house.
Gilbert Adrian, MGM's costume designer, created the fancy bow collar Buttons wears in his opening close-up. Allegedly the pooch became so attached to Ellie that whenever John Carroll as her screen b.f. got smoochy, Buttons would attack him.
Buttons was the dog belonging to the daughter of a property man at MGM. They had hired one previously, but after about a week, he was let go. While it's true that Eleanor took Buttons home for six weeks and trained him herself, it is not true that they shot this number in her living room. For one thing, her living room (in her Tudor-style house) didn't even resemble this set, but practically speaking, it would have been impossible to get all the heavy lighting equipment and cameras of the time into a regular-sized living room and get the same angles used in this number. Buttons was clearly at ease on set, and he appeared throughout the movie. Eleanor described him as "a little ham who couldn't wait to get to work." He also went on to appear in The Emperor Waltz with Bing Crosby. You could say that Eleanor launched his career!
What a great number, and I think the dog liked it as well, it shows they trust each other, and had fun. I love to watch tap-dance, and she was one of the best dancers.
She was THE BEST--only Fred Astaire in her time came pretty close. He admitted himself that even he was intimidated by her tapping skills. Why he ever teamed up with Ginger Rogers will always be a mystery to me. It's not personal or anything about Ginger, but she wasn't near the dancer that Eleanor was. And boy, did Eleanor have a stage presence. Can you possibly tell that in my eyes she was and still is the best of the best--there'll never ever be another like her I swear.
She was indeed The Best. The Studios/Hollywood couldn't even provide her with a suitable dog, able to perform lots of tricks, so she gave back all the puppies suplied and got one herself, to train it personally.
The talent amazing. A true athlete. Plus her beautiful face. Eleanor and the pup worked hard. The joy can't be hidden in what she must have felt filming that day. And the joy I feel watching it.
I can watch this clip over and over and I have! The greatest. In an interview in her later years she said before she started tapping that she hated it. Never will be another Eleanor Powell! RIP dear lady. ❤
"One can hardly conceive of a world in which certain beings communicate without verbal language, restricting themselves to gestures, objects, unshaped sounds, tunes, or tap dancing; but it is equally hard to conceive of a world in which certain beings only utter words."[1] - Umberto Eco, A Theory of Semiotics Eleanor Powell had such a natural feminine charm and she made the dancing look so easy. I think the teamwork between herself and Buttons is absolutely amazing!
Eleanor, like many other earlier stars were mostly faded by time I really started noticing, in the 60's. They were just old names in old movies. It's so good to see them like this, in their prime. WOW - she can tap! I need to see more of her work.
I can,t belive it!!!!. I just added as a favorite !!. Eleanor is just amazing here...she seems to enjoy every second of the routine...And the dog!!...what a cute !!...It,s the BEST video I have ever seen of GREAT Miss Powell, and believe me, I saw them all. I will see it again now!!....LOVE THE DOG; LOVE ELEANOR; LOVE THE DECO LIVING ROOM; LOVE HER OUTFIT, LOVE THE MUSIC!!!!. A Real GEM!!. Carlos
OMG! I think I just in love with her! Really. She’s so graceful and talented. Hope she’s having a good time with Ginger, Fred, Gene and all the others wonderful stars.
Eleanor did re-hearse the number at her own home, but the studio built a matching set for the actual takes, which took several days and a lot of editing! Still a unique dance routine, marvellously done, top quality all round
Not to say that this portion wasn't released separately as a short -- it may have been. But this number is part of the 1941 feature film Lady Be Good, also starring Robert Young and Ann Sothern.
Holy Sh*t. Vivacious, charming, skill off the charts, and that gymnastics...whoa. She made those front walkovers look like nothin to her! Then to have that adorable pup in her routine...exquisite.
LOL! Damn! I am so fortunate to have seen this kind of stuff as a kid growing up....and let's throw in some Victor Borge,. and Carol Burnette,....and hey,....it just goes on and on......so when I see shows like AGT and Stern says America has never seen ANYTHING like this before....lol.....come on.....many of the acts you see on AGT have been around for years,.....but stuff like this.....gonna have to wait a long time before it comes around again,....
1974. That's Entertainment. Eleanor and Fred A. dancing begin the bequine from Brodway Melody of 1940 Scintillating and the movie audience clapped like crazy as if it were a live performance. Nothing better!!!
I have seen this clip in "That's entertainment" part one or part 2! Eleanor never ceased to amaze me: what a great tapdancer indeed! In my opinion, the very best of her time
This is sooo charming. Eleanor is such an effortless pro and my KUDOS to her training abilities. As a creator of stage routines performed with dogs I can say .......... I wish she worked for me!LOL! The Finale' is fantastic!
@dearmalika It's from the film 'Lady Be Good' like the title song of this music number, from 1941. Only two year before Eleanor Powell was a leading lady in her films, even overshadowing stars like Fred Astaire and Robert Taylor, but after filming Broadway Melody of 1940 she was ill for a while, when she returned back MGM behaved horribly and left her with no more leading roles, after all she did for them (her films with her own choreographed showstopping dances saved MGM from bankruptcy).
A super athlete, by any definition in sports, dance, or art. Famous for her gravity defying speed, physical strength and power, she layed down some of the most intricate rhythms in tap and dance history. Considered by many of the greatest dancers, to be the greatest of them all. Taught by one of the greatest tap dancers of all time, gifted with supernatural energy, natural beauty and charisma, is the all time great, who made it look easy, sexy, and happy. Eleanor Powell.
Don’t forget the dedication to her craft. Hours, days, weeks of practice even with blisters on her feet she danced. Oh don’t forget her ballet talent as well
Wow. She was amazing! Im so grateful for RU-vid. It helps so many see what real talent is. Also, she was so wholesome! I just found out that she was married to Glen Ford.
My tap teacher (a man) was actually jealous of Eleanor Powell. He was primarily a tapper/hoofer with no significant ballet or gymnastics training. One time Eleanor Powell numbers was being shown on a continuous loop on video in the waiting lobby just outside his dance studio, studio B. The dance students including me were waiting in the lobby watching the many Eleanor Powell numbers that were being run on a continuous loop on the video screen. We were very engaged and impressed with Eleanor Powell. My tap teacher came running out of the studio to see what we were watching on the screen. He got visibly annoyed and agitated especially when Eleanor started doing her famous tap turns. Would you believe that he shut down the video and then in an arrogant tone told us all that Eleanor Powell was some kind of a freak and that we should not be using her as an example of professional tap dancing. He then grabbed the VHS video out of the machine and threw it on the table next to the machine. We were all in a state of shock. The management of the studio had a talk with him after he shut down the video. The management restored the video the next day. People like him gave this video 30 dislikes.
Wasn't her dog. It belonged to the daughter of one of her prop men. She did "adopt" it for a few months of training; it had just been a pet before this film. The dog went on to perform in several other movies.
I was just about to ask if anyone had this to post. I love it, Ellie and that very talented doggie. What a great team doing a great turn. Many thanks for the posting.
I think that the scene was shot in the studio on a set made to resemble EP's living room. It would have been very difficult to get the necessary lights and cameras into even a large residential room. Corroborating evidence comes from a promotional still photo currently offered at ebay, which clearly shows the open top of the walls of this set. Check out item #370105373007 ending Nov 6.
