If you are of a certain age your parents and grandparents grew up watching this....and now we understand why they shook their head at our music and performances... tell anyone who has not seen Eleanor Powell to watch her dance...her fluidity leave still leaves me speechless.
She did a great job too - although I wonder how Bill felt seeing her imitate him in blackface...must have been a bit awkward, although I guess it was the norm at the time.
@@curlytopjazz9817 He actually had to give his permission for her to do this. I came across the correspondence in the MGM legal files while doing research for a biography of Eleanor Powell that I have been working on with my co-author, Paula Broussard (to be published by University Press of Kentucky in 2023). She was the only one other than Shirley Temple to whom he taught his stair dance. They were very good friends and she meant to honor him with this number and I believe he took it as such.
This number must be taken for what it was-an affectionate tribute to Bojangles Robinson whom Miss Powell & indeed all dancers black & white admired greatly.
Not only a talented and hard working professional, but also a socially aware member of society - rare at the time and possibly now also. She ended her career as a pastor in a small church (in case you didn't know ). May we all live our lives with the determination and the grace with which she lived hers. Let's hear it for that great combination of talent, intelligence, resilience and grace. Sorry, that's a lot to ask of anyone.
Seeing the "blackface" makeup and the wig was a bit shocking, but after hearing an interview in which she said Mr. Robinson had taught her the dance routine, and seeing her precision and control, I could see the respect behind it. The costume, and the impersonation of such a famous male dancer, made it very clear that she did really dance like a man! That's the quote everyone repeats from Fred Astaire: "She put her feet down like a man." Ballet dancers tend to look like they are about to fly away. Tap dancing is down to earth, using gravity for the musical effect. Amazing video.
She also did a little ballet and ballroom dancing in her musicals. A great dancer, probably the best dancer in the Golden days of the Hollywood musicals.
@@daveerhardt1879 Eleanor began ballet at six, but only learned to tap when she was 16 or 17. She became a pupil of the Fokine school. Had there been a professional career path for Americans before the late 1930s, she might have become the Pavlova of the New World instead of Hollywood's Queen of Taps. In 1939 she told an interviewer 'I was a ballet dancer. I am a ballet dancer. Tap dancing was an expedient to make money.' It had become so dominant a style on Broadway in the 1920s that a hoofer had to be able to do it to get a gig. Bojangles urged her to get into it.
I don't like your comment that Ms Powell danced like a man. She was a woman so don't discredit her dancing by saying if Robinson taught her to dance, then she danced like a man. It's a put down to her !!! A very negative comment. And Bill Robinson didn't teach her to dance but she was influenced by him as he was by her
Her "blackface" is so evenly applied and bright. I'll let you and others continue to ignore the 2 ton gorilla in the middle of the room and just comment on the lovely flowers on the table.
This is 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.
But Kate was from a southern, predominantly racist state. And what she did as a "pickininny" was nowhere as talented as what Ms. Powel was taught to do by Mr. Robinson.
In it's day, before blackface was seen as racist by whites, this number was seen as a loving tribute to Robinson by many. He taught her the dance. I think Powell saw it that way, and she made a point of dancing in Robinson's style and sound. Stylistically it is more of a Robinson tribute than Astaire's otherwise wonderful earlier "Bojangles of Harlem" number, in which he danced very much in his own style (and also wore a light blackface). In spite of Powell's use of blackface, this is a wonderful dance, and today's hoofers can learn a lot from it.
Whites in black face are now seen racist by blacks or to be PC African-American and two politicians are surfing for it. Out of everything said about doing it no one has brought up the actor and singer Al Jolson who was best known for singing " Mammy" performing it in blackface.
I have a hunch that Ellie was prompted to do this by Fred's *ostensible* tribute to Bojangles, in which he moved and used his hands much more like John Bubbles-- who had recently made a hit in the original Broadway production of 'Porgy and Bess'. As his only pupil, she knew better than anyone how Bill Robinson did the step dance. If so, this might be another source of the initial prickliness between Astaire and Powell the following year, when they co-starred.
Although black face is not acceptable today, I'm glad you could share that opinion in the context of the times and circumstances. More people need to be able to do that. Otherwise, we won't be able to appreciate most things from the past.
More the other way round. Her contract gave her complete autonomy in creating her numbers, and her producer Jack Cummings- Louis B Mayer's favorite nephew- backed her all the way. No star dancer ever held more control of her work.
She was friends with Bill Robinson and of course he taught her his famous dance. She was (in my opinion) the greatest all around dancing talent to ever grace Hollywood, even Fred Astaire admitted that in private.
The way the steps pop up from the floor is probably an intentional reminder of the furniture in 'I've Got a Feeling You're Fooling' from 'Broadway Melody of 1936', Eleanor's first MGM film- though she is not in that particular number.
This number is a shortened version of Robinson's stair dance and not quite the same. Powell's step off of the top level for the finish is quite a drop and she executes it perfectly. You don't see any sort of "recovery" after she lands with feet together and knees slightly bent. She did not do Robinson's pony trot to exit the scene, either. Also, the "Old Kentucky Home" segment of the Southern medley in the Robiinson version is not in the Powell version.. Robinson did some small wings with windmilling arms on the top step in his version. Powell never did wings (no trenches, either) and I don't think we know exactly why. My guess is both wings and trenches are inelegant moves and not her style. As for the blackface, it is an unfortunate part of our entertainment history. ( See the TCM feature on blackface. It is very good) It does do one thing in this number: the makeup obliterates her face, she is unrecognizable. The dancing persona of Eleanor Powell is centered in the spotlight on the light colored trousers - her legs. Her face blends in with the backround. Quite a good idea to focus on the dance and not the dancer in this tribute.
In 'Thousands Cheer' Mickey Rooney introduces Ellie's spot as 'buck and... boogie-woogie', pointedly omitting 'wing'. She never flapped her arms. My guess is that her ballet training put her off it.
Powell was an ardent supporter of civil rights in her life after dancing. If she were alive today I know she would regret decisions she made performing this number. At the time she had no sense of history
Bill Robinson taught her this dance so she could do it after he was gone, she wasn't being disrespectful, she worked with Bill Robinson and they were friends, she witness the way Black stars were treated in those days , and she talks about in in one of her interviews. He had to use the service elevators and she used them to because it was unfair to black entertainers
@@pebrogan Ellie was also friends with the Nicholas Brothers. In the year 'Honolulu' was made she got Willie Covan of the Four Covans the job of running MGM's dance academy- the first African-American to coach whites. And her assistants in choreography included a young Cholly Atkins, who went on to teach Motown singers their moves. She was from New England and harbored no prejudices.
This gives me mixed feelings just like when Judy Garland in blackface, but I appreciate and understand that it's meant to be a homage to Bill Robinson, Eleanor Powell's friend. The only problem that I have is the blackface, everything else is wonderful :)
Eleanor Powell and Bill Robinson remained best friends through life. He was instrumental in teaching her the unique style that was Miss Powell’s. Sad they didn’t get the adulation they deserved.
The fact that Mr. Robinson who was at the time the best tap dancer on the planet but didn't get to perform his own signature number on film speaks volumes on how racist the U.S. was and still is. If Mrs Powell had done the tribute without the black face then maybe I could have enjoyed her performance. Saying that she respected him and then making fun of him with blackface just dosen't sit right with me. Change comes when you do what is right even if it is uncomfortable, especially if it's someone you love and respect. Saying" That's just the way it was" is just a cop out! Eleanor Powell was just as bad as everyone else that condoned this total disrespect. The only difference between her and her friends is that she had a black friend.
(Written on Facebook a moment ago. I gave this video a thumbs-up for its historical importance. I've seen dozens of clips featuring Ms. Powell, I am in awe of her talents and elegance and beauty, but I'm wrestling over whether her awareness of the America she lived was equally elevated.) "Does the discovery of this video change my perception of Eleanor Powell? It's something I'm digesting, I just found the clip five minutes ago. I'll admit, it changed my views of Shirley Temple when I saw her do it. I personally can't just chalk something like this up as being a mere sign of the times, because I have to assume, with Powell's expertise in dance, she had to have had some understanding of American culture and history, and she couldn't have been blind to the knowledge that, in many places around America during her prime, the black dancers she unwittingly mocked couldn't sleep in the hotels she slept at."
She wasn't mocking him. She and Ms. Temple were the only two people to whom Mr. Robinson taught that dance. They danced together at private parties but were not permitted to do so on screen. Don't just read one side of history and stick to it. She also used service elevators along with Mr. Robinson.
@@l.a.gothro3999 You are absolutely right. He was her friend and she abhorred the way he was treated. She always respected him and she meant to honor Bill Robinson with what she considered a tribute to him. She also did this number in her nightclub act in the 60s. If they ever remove this number because of the blackface it will be a sad day.
You must not know that Eleanor Powell and Bill Robinson were dance partners and danced together at public places of entertainment. Robinson was also the Godfather to her son.
It's my understanding that Mr. Robinson gave his permission for her to do blackface and approved of her performance. If he was okay with it, no one else should object. ❤
i hate all and any of the post here . it is a sick time .you don't need to defend anything here . she though bill was the best . she was wrong though ,she was
