Kisses in Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers films
Happy 114th Birthday, Fred Astaire
(May 10, 1899 - June 22, 1987)“Fred knew the value of a song and his heart was in it before his feet took over.”
- Irving Berlin
”Of course,Ginger was able to accomplish sex through dance. We told more through our movements instead of the big clinch. We did it all in the dance.” - Fred Astaire
Songs Introduced By Fred Astaire
Change Partners - Irving Berlin (1938)
Written for Carefree (1938), Irving Berlin’s love song was the most popular song to come out of the film, hitting number one on Billboard’s Record Buying Guide. The song became a popular standard and was nominated for an academy award.
The number itself has Astaire indirectly singing it to Ginger Rogers as he begs her to leave her dance partner and dance with him instead. The initial song is quite playful and tender, while the following dance between Astaire and Rogers is dark and filled with a deep and sorrowful passion that is both heartbreaking and, as with all Astaire/Rogers dances, compelling.
In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it,
You’ll be the grandest lady in the Easter parade.
I’ll be all in clover and when they look you over,
I’ll be the proudest fellow in the Easter parade.
On the avenue, fifth avenue, the photographers will snap us,
And you’ll find that you’re in the rotogravure.
Oh, I could write a sonnet about your Easter bonnet,
And of the girl I’m taking to the Easter parade.Easter Parade (1948)
