March 20 movie: Royal Wedding. I love this movie! It's a later Fred Astaire movie, in some slight way inspired by real life: Fred plays half of a brother-sister dancing team (with Jane Powell) in London for the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip. Fred and Adele Astaire did get their start in London, and I think they might have been there for the wedding of Elizabeth's father, George VI (then the Duke of York).
The plot is totally forgettable, but this movie includes some of my all-time favorite Astaire dance numbers, including the one with exercise equipment/coat rack, and the dancing on the ceiling number. I'm also very fond of the songs "You Know You've Been a Liar" and "I Left My Hat in Haiti," although in both cases Powell's weakness as a dance partner holds Astaire back. But the songs are both fantastic.
Leave a comment