Fred Astaire Movies-Best to Worst-With Adjusted Box Office Results/Grosses
85Dancing legend Fred Astaire was voted as the 5th greatest actor of all time by the American Film Institute.
About a week ago I got the idea that I needed to have a hub for the Top 25 Classic Actors and the Top 25 Classic Actresses according to the American Film Institute. A quick check of my existing hubs found I had already done hubs on 14 of the actors and 4 of the actresses. So now that I have 32 hubs to write, I figure I should get started with the 5th highest rated actor, Fred Astaire.
Fred Astaire(1899-1987) was born Frederick Austerlitz in Omaha, Nebraska. Fred Astaire's first dance partner was his older sister Adele. They became a very popular vaudeville dance act when Fred Astaire was only 7 years old. By 1917 the brother and sister dancing act was already appearing on Broadway. In 1932 Adele retired from dancing and Fred moved to Hollywood to appear in movies. In 1933 he would appear in his first film Flying Down To Rio. Astaire got 5th billing in the movie and his dance partner in the movie, Ginger Rogers got 4th billing. Reviewers singled out their dancing and the pair would be matched up 9 more times in their career. The Rogers/Astaire team owned the box office for the rest of the 1930s. The pinnacle of their collarboration was 1935's Top Hat which has some of the best dancing ever filmed for motion pictures. Fred Astaire had many successes without Ginger Rogers, as he appeared in the box office hits, Holiday Inn, Blue Skies, Easter Parade, and The Towering Inferno. His last movie was 1981's Ghost Story which was almost 50 years after his screen debut.
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in 1936's Swing Time......Astaire's 8th biggest box office hit with 107.30 million in 2011 dollars.
Fred Astaire's Top Ten Box Office Movies in 2011 Inflated Dollars.
Rank Movie Year
| 2011 Adjusted Box Office (mil)
| Co-Stars
|
|---|---|---|
#1 The Towering Inferno (1974)
| 454.70 million
| Paul Newman/Steve McQueen
|
#2 Blue Skies (1946)
| 284.60 million
| Bing Crosby
|
#3 Holiday Inn (1942)
| 229.00 million
| Bing Crosby
|
#4 Easter Parade (1948)
| 197.20 million
| Judy Garland
|
#5 On the Beach (1959)
| 139.10 million
| Gregory Peck
|
#6 The Barkleys of Broadway (1949)
| 130.40 million
| Ginger Rogers
|
#7 Top Hat (1935)
| 129.60 million
| Ginger Rogers
|
#8 Swing Time (1936)
| 113.70 million
| Ginger Rogers
|
#9 Follow the Fleet (1936)
| 107.30 million
| Ginger Rogers
|
#10 Roberta (1935)
| 106.50 million
| Ginger Rogers
|
Kay Thompson, Astaire and Audrey Hepburn in 1957's Funny Face...which is ranked as Astaire's 9th best movie according to critics and audiences.
Fred Astaire's Top Ten Movies based on critics and audience voting.
Rank Movie Year
| Critics Audience Rating
| Co-Stars
|
|---|---|---|
#1 Holiday Inn (1942)
| 87%
| Bing Crosby
|
#2 Top Hat (1935)
| 86%
| Ginger Rogers
|
#3 Swing Time (1936)
| 85%
| Ginger Rogers
|
#4 The Gay Divorcee (1934)
| 84%
| Ginger Rogers
|
#5 The Band Wagon (1953)
| 83%
| Cyd Charisse
|
#6 Easter Parade (1948)
| 82%
| Judy Garland
|
#7 You Were Never Lovelier (1942)
| 81%
| Rita Hayworth
|
#8 Shall We Dance (1937)
| 81%
| Ginger Rogers
|
#9 Funny Face (1957)
| 79%
| Audrey Hepburn
|
#10 Royal Wedding (1951)
| 77%
| Jane Powell
|
Fred Astaire in 1974's The Towering Inferno....ranked as Astaire's number one movie according to Movie Score.
Fred Astaire's 37 Movies ranked by Movie Score. Movie Score is box office results + critical reception + award recognition. Perfect score would be 100.
Rank
| Movie Year
| 2011 Inflated Box Office (Millions)
| Cogerson Movie Score
| Critic Audience Rating
| Oscar®Noms / Oscar® Wins
| Box Office Rank for Year
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st
| The Towering Inferno (1974)
| 454.70
| 81.59
| 74%
| 08 / 03
| #2 of 1975
|
2nd
| Holiday Inn (1942)
| 229.00
| 73.25
| 87%
| 03 / 01
| #6 of 1942
|
3rd
| Easter Parade (1948)
| 197.20
| 68.55
| 82%
| 01 / 00
| #2 of 1948
|
4th
| Blue Skies (1946)
| 284.60
| 66.40
| 72%
| 02 / 00
| #3 of 1946
|
5th
| Top Hat (1935)
| 129.60
| 61.41
| 86%
| 04 / 00
| #4 of 1935
|
6th
| On the Beach (1959)
| 139.10
| 55.97
| 72%
| 02 / 00
| #8 of 1960
|
7th
| Swing Time (1936)
| 113.70
| 54.69
| 85%
| 02 / 01
| #4 of 1936
|
8th
| The Gay Divorcee (1934)
| 81.90
| 52.59
| 84%
| 05 / 01
| #13 of 1934
|
9th
| The Barkleys of Broadway (1949)
| 130.40
| 48.38
| 62%
| 01 / 00
| #15 of 1949
|
10th
| The Band Wagon (1953)
| 87.40
| 48.33
| 83%
| 03 / 00
| #28 of 1953
|
Rank
| Movie Year
| 2011 Inflated Box Office (Millions)
| Cogerson Movie Score
| Critic Audience Rating
| Oscar®Noms / Oscar® Wins
| Box Office Rank for Year
|
11th
| Roberta (1935)
| 106.50
| 48.15
| 75%
| 01 / 00
| #8 of 1935
|
12th
| Follow the Fleet (1936)
| 107.30
| 47.36
| 74%
| 00 / 00
| #7 of 1936
|
13th
| Three Little Words (1950)
| 98.60
| 47.14
| 73%
| 00 / 00
| #16 of 1950
|
14th
| You Were Never Lovelier (1942)
| 84.30
| 46.83
| 81%
| 03 / 00
| Not in Top 92 of 1943
|
15th
| Shall We Dance (1937)
| 85.90
| 45.95
| 81%
| 01 / 00
| #24 of 1937
|
16th
| Royal Wedding (1951)
| 90.60
| 45.67
| 77%
| 01 / 00
| #18 of 1951
|
17th
| Funny Face (1957)
| 77.90
| 45.45
| 79%
| 04 / 00
| #36 of 1957
|
18th
| Carefree (1938)
| 72.30
| 42.86
| 76%
| 03 / 00
| Unknown
|
19th
| Daddy Long Legs (1955)
| 84.30
| 42.11
| 67%
| 03 / 00
| #41 of 1955
|
20th
| The Sky's The Limit (1943)
| 87.40
| 41.08
| 64%
| 02 / 00
| #58 of 1943
|
Rank
| Movie Year
| 2011 Inflated Box Office (Millions)
| Cogerson Movie Score
| Critic Audience Rating
| Oscar®Noms / Oscar® Wins
| Box Office Rank for Year
|
21st
| The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939)
| 70.00
| 40.08
| 75%
| 00 / 00
| Unknown
|
22nd
| Flying Down to Rio (1933)
| 70.00
| 39.97
| 73%
| 01 / 00
| #15 of 1933
|
23rd
| Let's Dance (1950)
| 87.40
| 39.69
| 64%
| 00 / 00
| #26 of 1950
|
24th
| Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940)
| 62.00
| 38.81
| 76%
| 00 / 00
| Unknown
|
25th
| Silk Stockings (1957)
| 70.00
| 38.41
| 68%
| 00 / 00
| #41 of 1957
|
26th
| Finian's Rainbow (1968)
| 73.10
| 37.65
| 57%
| 02 / 00
| #18 of 1969
|
27th
| A Damsel in Distress (1937)
| 62.80
| 37.51
| 65%
| 02 / 01
| Not in Top 50 of 1937
|
28th
| You'll Never Get Rich (1941)
| 62.80
| 36.34
| 65%
| 02 / 00
| #41 of 1941
|
29th
| Yolanda and the Thief (1945)
| 57.20
| 35.93
| 70%
| 00 / 00
| Not in Top 50 of 1945
|
30th
| The Notorious Landlady (1962)
| 61.20
| 35.52
| 67%
| 00 / 00
| #33 of 1962
|
Rank
| Movie Year
| 2011 Inflated Box Office (Millions)
| Cogerson Movie Score
| Critic Audience Rating
| Oscar®Noms / Oscar® Wins
| Box Office Rank for Year
|
31st
| Ghost Story (1981)
| 66.80
| 30.15
| 48%
| 00 / 00
| #38 of 1981
|
32nd
| The Pleasure of His Company (1961)
| 16.70
| 28.14
| 66%
| 00 / 00
| Not in Top 77 of 1961
|
33rd
| The Belle of New York (1952)
| 42.90
| 27.65
| 55%
| 00 / 00
| #85 of 1952
|
34th
| Second Chorus (1940)
| 34.20
| 26.24
| 52%
| 02 / 00
| Unknown
|
35th
| Midas Run (1969)
| 9.50
| 22.02
| 58%
| 00 / 00
| Not in Top 90 of 1969
|
36th
| The Purple Taxi (1977)
| 2.40
| 21.12
| 59%
| 00 / 00
| Not in Top 200 of 1980
|
37th
| The Amazing Dobermans (1976)
| 4.80
| 17.40
| 47%
| 00 / 00
| Not in Top 150 of 1976
|
Possibly Interesting Facts About Fred Astaire.
1. Fred Astaire survived a disastrous screen test. According to Astaire the result of the screen test was "He can't act...his is going bald...also dances". Others claim it said "Can't act, can't sing, going bald, can dance a little"....either way not a good screen test.
2. Between 1933 and 1939 Fred Astaire starred with Ginger Rogers in 9 movies. They would appear in their 10th and final film in 1949's The Barkleys of Broadway. Their screen partnership is one of the greatest of all-time.
3. Fred Astaire was married twice in his life. He married Phyllis Potter in 1933 and they were married until 1954 when she passed away after a battle with cancer. Fred Astaire had three kids with Potter: step son Peter, son Fred Jr. and daughter Ava Astaire McKenzie. In 1980 he married Robyn Smith.
4. Fred Astaire received one Oscar® nomination for acting in his career. He was nominated but did not win Best Supporting Actor for 1974's The Towering Inferno. He was given an Honorary Oscar® in 1950 "For unique artistry and his contributions to the technique of musical pictures".
5. Fred Astaire received more love from the Golden Globe® voters as he received 5 Golden Globe® nominations. Those five movie were: The Towering Inferno, Finian's Rainbow, The Pleasure of His Company, On The Beach and Three Little Words.
6. Fred Astaire became good friends with legendary music composer George Gershwin back in 1916 many years before they both would become famous.
7. Fred Astaire retired from movies after making 1946's Blue Skies. He unretired as his fan support talked him back into making more movies....he returned in 1948 to replace an injured Gene Kelly in Easter Parade.
8. Fred Astaire insisted on a stationary camera rather than a moving camera to film dance numbers..it was a rule he stuck to over the years...always saying....."Either I dance or the camera dances".
9. Two famous roles Fred Astaire turned down.....the lead role in Yankee Doodle Dandy and the part of Bert on Mary Poppins.
10. Fred Astaire is the 75th actors/actresses to receive a Cogerson career review hub page. My Greatest Actors/Actress Table has two separate tables....the first table ranks the 75 actors using all of their movies. Fred Astaire comes in at #21 on that table one spot behind of #20 Katharine Hepburn. The second table only looks at the actor's Top Ten Movie Score Movies. On that table Fred Astaire comes in at #48....just behind #47 Barbara Stanwyck.
Alphabetical Index: Classic Actors/Actresses (28 Hubs)
Ingrid Bergman ; Humphrey Bogart; Marlon Brando; James Cagney;Gary Cooper; Bing Crosby; Kirk Douglas; Clark Gable; Cary Grant; Audrey Hepburn ; Katharine Hepburn; Charlton Heston; William Holden ; Danny Kaye ; Grace Kelly ; Rock Hudson; Burt Lancaster; Jack Lemmon ; Myrna Loy; Steve McQueen; Marilyn Monroe; Paul Newman; Gregory Peck; Barbara Stanwyck ; James Stewart; Spencer Tracy : John Wayne; Richard Widmark
Academy Award® and Oscar® are the registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences.
Golden Globes® are the registered trademark and service mark of the Hollywood Foreign Press.
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Cogerson, Flora is waving a red flag methinks, check your mail pronto. I think I can guess what it is. :)
So, the great Fred Astaire, the king of the movie dancers, or was that Gene Kelly? They are both fantastic in their own way. Was it Kelly who once said Fred is the Cary Grant of dancing and he was the Brando of dance. :)
I've seen 25 of the 37 films you've listed on the chart, not bad I suppose. All ten from the box office chart and all ten from critics chart. Nice.
My favourite musical of his is The Band Wagon, great film watched it many times. Of his RKO classics it probably has to be Top Hat. Non musicals, The Towering Inferno is one of my 100 favourite films.
Didn't know he turned down the role in Mary Poppins, I'm glad he was too old by then and I liked Dick Van Dyke in the film even if his cock-er-ney accent is cringeworthy and has been mocked here in the UK for decades.
Another fine useful interesting hub Bruce, now looking forward to a hub on that other dancing great who likes to sing in the rain with a smile on his face. :)
Voted Up and Useful!
Hey Flora...thanks for the heads up as I have corrected the error. As predicted I am last in the tally count...Flora 29 Steve 25 me 1....but I am about to go to my awesome library and check out Carefree and On The Beach.
So using your vast Astaire movie knowledge...how does my Movie Score system do in picking out the best of his movies?. Towering Inferno is ranked #1 because it was a blockbuster and his only Oscar nomination....but I can easily see that it should not be on the top of the list but numbers and award recognition they tower(get the pun?) over the competition. I am sure the four movies you have not mentioned are not worth seeing...The Purple Taxi and took almost three years to be seen in North America.
As for your missing Rogers/Astaire movie...it is the only one that they spend huge chunks of the movie apart doing their own storylines which is not what their fans wanted to see.....A Damsel in Distress was his first and only solo movie without Ginger during that first timeframe of his career. As always thanks for the comments.
Steve - it's funny, because Finian's Rainbow was made *after* mary Poppins. granted, he was playing the father of the female lead, but there he was dancing at 69 years old...
Cogerson...I think you should check out SWING TIME before any other Astaire/Rogers movies :0
Hey Steve....Flora takes the crown again....but it was close....27 to 25...both of your totals put me to shame...my one and only Astaire movie I have seen is The Towering Inferno. Gene Kelly gave Astaire lots of great compliments over the years. Which Gene Kelly will be getting a hub soon.
So you would recommend The Band Wagon? I am sure this hub will motivate me to watch more of his movies..the last time I wrote a hub with so little personal movie watching experience was Barbara Stanwyck....which at the time my movie tally was 2...it now stands at 8...so I am sure Fred's numbers will go up soon.
So I will ask the same question of you that I asked Flora...how do my Movie Score numbers look to you? As always your contributions are greatly appreciated.
Flora I'm not saying Fred was too old to dance in Mary Poppins but in the film there is a friendship between Bert and Mary, borderline romantic which gives the impression they may have been more than just friends in the past or is that just the romantic in me? :)
While Fred would have seemed more like a father figure to Julie Andrews who was still in her 20's at the time.
Btw I thought you were flagging Bruce over a different error. I sent him mail too.
I've noticed some awesomely charming quotes from some of Fred's Movies:
Quote Fro Top Hat:
Dale Tremont: "What is this strange power you have over horses?"
Jerry Travers: [thinks] "Horsepower?"
I've seen his movies throughout my childhood with the impression "so that's how you get a girl,I'm in trouble".
Headliner In The Entertainment Section Of The "New Yorker" For Sure Cogerson!;)
Steve - I sent him two messages. One after another. He's only read the first one SO FAR...
Re: Movie Score ranking - while I am surprised that a non-musical is number one, I'm not surprised that The Towering Inferno is rated high. It is one of the few disaster movies that weren't done to death in sequels etc. When there is real fire, there is real danger. (Check out The Last Voyage starring Robert stack. That really was the last voyage of that ship and everything was done in one take...)
Beyond that, I think the movie scores are accurate as to long lasting classics that people still watch often. The lower films are not the first ones people mention when they talk about favourites.
Bruce, your moviescore is fine except for the fact The Band Wagon isn't even in the top 10. It's generally considered one of the greatest musicals of all time, some people rate it 2nd after Singin in the Rain (in the MGM catalogue). Well worth a look btw and it's in glorious technicolor! :)
STEVE- Okay, but I have noted that dancers get arthritis earlier than non-dancers and I am still surprised he was able to dance at 69. Re: further info on The Band Wagon for Cogerson . While singing in the Rain is considered the best movie ever made about how movies are made, the Band Wagon is considered the best movie ever made about back stage theatre productions.
I have noticed an annoying new google feature. Everything I look up on Google is now highlighted in blue for me with a link to websites on the topic if I click on it. It won't show up for other people, but as I am looking at titles/ names on this page I've searched they are highlighted in blue - and it's not my hub. If it were my own hub I'd understand...
Flora, I'm not sure what you mean about google being blue, all the google titles are in blue here in the UK.
Btw Cogerson might be happy to know if I search "hubpages" in google.co.uk his Cary Grant hub is on the very first page! woot!
That's awesome!
Re: my last comment: I do not mean the word Google. In the comments section on this hub as I am looking at it, Dick Van Dyke is highlighted in blue, and the word Damsel in Distress in the movie score list is highlighted in blue. I can click on the names and it will bring me to a list of websites about them. I think it is because I recently looked them up. It's odd, that is all.
Well I have to admit I have not seen many of his movies either, but I remember my grandparents always talking about Fred and Ginger and seeing them dancing in the kitchen of all places. Interesting hub with lots of great details. Voted up and useful.
Cogerson, I can't remember if you told us...I am guessing with the Oscar nomination The Towering Inferno is the only film you have seen, but had you already seen it before you went on your Oscar watching adventure?
Hey Flora...I will add Swing Time to my list...just got back from my library with DVD copies of Top Hat and Carefree...I imagine in 24 hours I will be up to 3 and closing the gap...lol. As for Finian's Rainbow...Copolla used a moving camera in that movie..thus breaking his stationary camera rule that he had kept since 1934.
Hey Steve....I agree I always thought Bert and Mary were more than friends ..but I think Astaire would have been pretty sweet in the role as well....so Dick Van Dyke's Britsh accent was not a good accent? The things you learn on hub pages.
Who doesn't love Fred? His dancing & musical talent in general was second to none....always wonderful movies, the dancing scenes the best, of course. "Fred & Ginger," those names go down in history with no explanation necessary...as THE couple of the Dance World. I always saw him as a sweet,happy,gentle man. As wonderful as he was, I confess I'm glad he turned down Yankee Doodle Dandy.....Can NOT imagine anyone in that role but James Cagney...seriously....No one.
Hey Mentalist acer...thanks for the quotes from Top Hat...I will be watching that movie in the next day or two...and I will be on the lookout for that quote. I have always been aware of Fred Astaire but it was not until I started researching this hub did I really become aware of his impressive career....thanks for stopping by and for the compliment.
Cogerson - at least Dyke's cockney accent was consistent, but not an accent that actually exists..anywhere in London.
Hey Flora...I got the first e-mail but not the second one....I tried to combine my hub writing hobby with my movie watching hobby today all the while making sure my number one job of keeping my little girls alive.... did not really work out well, although the kids had a blast tearing up the house...lol..as the hub took almost 8 hours to write...and then I made a ton of mistakes....I did however get to listen to the Psycho commentary....I am glad to see that my Movie Score system has done a decent job...normally I have a pretty good idea which movies make no sense when looking at the scores...but not on this hub....as I had no idea.
Hey Steve...well good to see you also agree with most of the Movie Score totals. As for The Band Wagon....it's box office did not help the cause....it finished 5th according to critics/audiences...but I double checked the box office gross...and yep no mistake was made there....lots of other mistakes in this hub but not there. But you have sold me on the merits of the film and I will track it down.
No criticism, Bruce. And I don't call two errors lots of mistakes. You know what I did on my Thin Man hub? I think Mom was the only one who read it before I changed it - I wrote down Maureen O'Hara as the actress playing Miss Wynatt. Um...no. As far as I can remember, she never even worked with Powell or Loy ever. I always write Maureen O'Hara automatically when I mean Maureen O Sullivan. sigh. It also took me awhile to avoid getting the names Margaret Sullivan (married once to Henry Fonda) and Maureen O'Sullivan mixed up as I am far more familiar with Margaret. I have a ton of chores I haven't done because of my rehearsals. I should be doing them now, and what am I doing instead? Not shutting up about Fred Astaire, that's what. so...
Swing Time and Top Hat are tied as my favourite Astaire/Rogers film and that is why I can't even tell you a favourite for those. I know Band Wagon should be my favourite non-Rogers musical he made because of its reputation and I love it, but what about Royal Wedding where he danced on a ceiling with no green screen like today? What about the dance with the shoes in Easter Parade? What about every musical he ever made?
Oh I love Easter Parade too Flora, classic movie. Fred and Judy in A Couple of Swells is fab. I always seem to watch Easter Parade at easter for some reason (Flora rolls her eyes). :)
Cogerson is in for a treat discovering these old Astaire classics.
Hey Flora with you and Steve saying The Band Wagon is a classic I will have to check it out. I actually just checked my library website and requested that they send Band Wagon to the closest library to my house so it should be here in 2 or 3 days...have I mentioned that I have the best library ever.
I am not seeing the blue highlight you mentioned....but it sounds like it could be helpful.
As for The Towering Inferno...I have been a huge Steve McQueen fan so I have seen Inferno many many times over the years...probably not as many as Steve....but many times.
Hey YankeesRule thanks for checking out my Astaire hub...glad that my hub brought back some nice memories...and thanks for sharing those memories...sounds like they were a cute couple.
Hey Steve thanks for sharing that information about my Cary Grant hub....that hub has exploded the last few days it has almost 900 hits in the last 4 days....and I am still trying to figure out where the traffic is coming from. But it makes me happy to know that my hub is near the top of the google searches overseas...makes all this work seem worthwhile.
Hey fpherj48....thanks for checking out my Astaire hub....all my life I have heard about Fred and Ginger...and it took this hub to finally get me motivated to actually watch some of their movies. I agree with you about Cagney being the only guy for Yankee Doodle Dandy. As always thanks for your contribution to the hub.
I wish there was someone around who still danced like he did. His class and elegance was timeless. Great job Cogerson!
Hey Flora...I never even thought about Dick Van Dyke's accent until Steve mentioned how much his fellow countrymen make fun of the accent...which I find amazing how people view movies differently.
I think all of his hubbers make mistakes and do not catch them....sometimes I can not believe the mistakes I made...I can live with the spelling mistakes...I think the biggest mistake I have made and it stayed out there in hubland was on the movie From the Terrace ...I did a hub on Myrna Loy and I put the wrong box office information down....when I did my Paul Newman hub months later I realized I had underestimated the box office by over 100 million dollars....and the movie went from the bottom of her rankings all the way to #15.
I am sure by the end of the month, I will be able to have a conversation about Fred Astaire movies and be able to mention scenes that I enjoyed as well....as soon as my rugrats go to sleep...my wife and I are going to watch Top Hat.
Hey Steve ...I will add Easter Parade to the list of ones to watch....I do know I wish they would have given him the Oscar for The Towering Inferno..but it is hard to argue against Robert DeNiro in The Godfather 2. Thanks for all the suggestions.
Hey Alecia...it would be nice if we had a modern day Fred Astaire...I do not think we even have a close option currently....thanks for the compliment and for the comment.
Well, interesting HUB. I have seen many of Fred Astaire movies but do not remember the name of the older ones. They have played on TV many times but not lately. The Towering Inferno was good with him playing a small role. He certainly knew how to dance along with Gene Kelly. Good Hub Cogerson - enjoyed reading it.
Regarding favourite quotes. I think my favourite line that fred has from his musicals is from Easter Parade. Judy is love with him from the beginning but Fred is still in love with Ann Miller, his old partner while Peter lawford loves Judy. When Fred and Judy have their first kiss, Fred asks her, "why didn't you tell me I was in love with you.?"
Hey BERN1960...Thanks for checking out my Fred Astaire hub. Without a doubt the man knew how to dance. Thanks for the compliment and comment.
Hey Flora...thanks for sharing your favorite quote. Well I have closed the gap on Fred Astaire movies as I have now watched #5 Top Hat and #18 Carefree. I really enjoyed Top Hat....Astaire reminded me of Cary Grant in those great screwball comedies in the 1930s. Carefree was not nearly as good as Top Hat...but I liked the fact that Ralph Bellamy actually put up a fight to keep the girl in this movie....did he ever get the girl?...lol. Anyway only 24 movies behind you now.
Hi Cogerson; Astaire is one of my favorites. I've seen all his collaborations with Ginger Rogers dozens of times. My favorites are "the Gay Divorcee" and "Top Hat". I didn't like "Carefree" as much as some of the others. I think it was because they messed around with the usual formula. It was the only one of their films that followed from Rogers perspective as the protagonist, rather than Astaire who was usually the one who set the plot in motion. That one and the Vernon and Irene Castle film were my least favorites.
I loved his dance along with Gene Kelly (His rival for the title of big screen dancing king) in "the Ziegfeld Follies". (I'd vote for astaire as the king.)
I personally wouldn't list Astaire as the 5th best actor of all time because I see him more as an entertainer/dancer than an actor. (Although he did give an excellent dramatic performance in "On the Beach".) He was more of a movie star than an actor.
I wonder how different "Yankee Doodle Dandy" would have been if Astaire had played the role. Would Fred have have gotten the oscar that Cagney got?
Another excellent, fun hub with another great superstar.
Nice work,
Rob
Rob- I think the list as AFI meant it referred to the top *Movie stars* of all time, with actors and actresses having separate lists, but it was a reference to star power, not acting ability. And Astaire was the number one musicals star for a long time. Although he was a solid actor when given a drama though as can be seen in On the Beach. (Same thing can be said of Kelly who did quite well in Inherit the Wind.) The scripts for boy meets girl musicals don't really have any meat to them. Think of the list not as actor/actress but male star, female star.
RE: my last comment: It was supposed to say regardng Rob saying he gave a strong performance in On the Beach... and then make the comment about Kelly in Inherit the wind. But I just repeated what he said and put Kelly's reference in brackets. Sigh. I need more tea!
Hey Cogerson you might enjoy Funny Face if you haven't seen it, one of your favourites Audrey Hepburn stars with Fred. It's a nice pleasant film, very good use of colour.
Hey Rob, glad that you liked my Astaire hub, I figured you might like him as well. I know that you like Bing and the two of them made some major blockbusters back in the day. I did not include his one scene with Kelly from Ziegfeld Follies on the hub as IMDB does not list him in the movie...and evidently he only has the one dance scene(although a great dance scene). Having now seen 3 Fred Astaire movies...Carefree is sitting last in my personal rankings...although I have picked up two more of the Rogers/Astaire movies to watch.
As for the AFI ranking of 5th it seem pretty high, but he was probably one of the most famous actors in the world for a very longtime....as always I greatly appreciate your comments and compliments.
Cogerson, you are the go to Hubber for all things movie related. It is fun to skim through the comment section and listen to the back and forth between you and Flora. I like Fred Astaire, but not as much as you guys. 14/4 ratio, you are going to have to lean toward the ladies.
Hey Flora....good points on Astaire and Kelly's dramatic efforts. On the Beach is high on my list of movies to watch....it is one of my mom's favorite movies. As for the AFI list, I think it is more of the ranking of the actor/actress legacy....James Dean also made the list and his career only has 3 films....but he has stood the test of time...just like Fred Astaire has.
Now that I am on a Fred Astaire movie watching kick...I secured copies of Swing Time(your recommendation) and Follow the Fleet. When I was watching Top Hat and the song/scene Cheek to cheek came on...I could not help but think about the movie The Green Mile...which has a clip of that scene in the movie....I never knew which Rogers/Astaire movie that was from before today.
Hey Steve...thanks for the suggestion...I will add Funny Face to the list of movies to watch.....checking out my awesome library I see they have lots of Fred Astaire DVD movies(only one on Blu-Ray so far)...just waiting for me to check them out. My count should reach 5 in the next 12 to 16 hours...I am on a roll.
Hey mckbirdbks....thanks for stopping by....I think the comments are sometimes much better than the hub I wrote...Flora and Steve have so much classic movie knowledge that they are nice enough to share...normally I feel I match their knowledge...but not on Fred Astaire...before yesterday I had seen one Astaire movie...and I that was The Towering Inferno....and he only has a supporting role.
The other day my mother-in-law and mother were complaining that I had too many actors and not enough actresses....after looking at the AFI list I would have to agree with them....and now the ratio is 15/4...lots of great actresses will be coming to HubPages soon...thanks for the compliment and the comment.
Regarding the 14:4 ratio, I think Mckbirdbks is right as to your order for these lists. Save the men for your current stars hubs while you start to catch up.. if you are still doing the current/classic/current switch....
Hey Flora....yep I am going to have to come up with a plan....especially since that only leaves 10 actors and 21 actresses....then when you think two of the actors James Dean(only three movies) and Charlie Chaplin(maybe I can find ten of his movies)...will be very short hubs. So I will start with Bette Davis next and do some current actors as well....but looking at my numbers the classic ones generate more traffic especially after the hubs have some age to them.
Thinking about people you cannot find like Chaplin, you can always spend a lot of time talking about their movies you can't find information on datawise. i.e. Have tables only on the films you can find. But talk about Chaplin's legacy etc. overall in a similar manner to the hub you did on your father's favourite movies. In other words, just accept that silent stars are going to have a different format to their hubs than the format you prefer.
Hey Flora....I think you are right I am going to have to come up with a different format for Charlie Chaplain, Mary Pickford, Lillian Gish, and probably for Greta Garbo and Mae West. It should be interesting when I get to those people....thanks for showing me a solution to a problem I thought I was going to face in the future.
A possible solution to James Dean's career being short: You could combine him with his Rebel Without a Cause costar Sal Mineo who also died young with a small number of films. Mineo isn't one of the top stars, but being in the same film give them a reason to go in the same hub. (Of course, Natalie Wood had a much longer career.)
Thanks for the suggestions on James Dean....I can see doing a Natalie Wood hub in the future. I am now up to 6 Fred Astaire movies...still well behind you and Steve....but at least it is no longer one movie. I watch Swing Time, Follow the Fleet and Daddy Long Legs.
So far I have found Top Hat and Swing Time as the better movies....Daddy Long Legs was pretty good as well...but then again I have always had a crush on Leslie Caron...I was not too impressed with Carefree and Follow the Fleet....Follow the Fleet seemed to have too many storylines in the movie....I wanted more Fred and Ginger and less of Randolph and Harriet.....So I know have seem 6 of the Top 20...And I now have a favorite Fred Astaire moment....there is a scene in Daddy Long Legs were he jumps on a food cart and flys down the hallway like a plane....done very smoothly.
well, then, you need a Leslie Caron hub.(psst! she's still alive)
Glad to gear you now have a favourite Fred Astaire moment. As you see more of his films, you will see it is harder to order any dance in preference even if you can pick out an ultimate favourite.
As for Follow the Fleet, I see you are not a fan of Ozzie and Harriet. :) I prefer her son's music career. I've seen a lot of Randolph Scott films (including westerns), so I've never minded Scott having a prominent part in the film. But I'd rather have had his love interest be Irene Dunne.
Yesterday night I watched one of those Rankin-Bass christmas specials from the 1970s, with the stop-animated wooden puppets. "Santa Claus is coming to Town". Fred Astaire voiced the character who did all the exposition. (The puppet even looked a little like him.) Mickey Rooney did the voice of Santa and Kennan Wynn did the Winter Warlock. It was one of my favorites as a kid.
Rob
this is interesting. while i was reading it i wondered if he ever danced with Gene Kelly? i saw where you said he replaced him in easter parade. how about Dick Van Dyke who did get the role of bert in "Mary Poppins".
mimic - he danced with Kelly in Zigfield Follies, as well as in their hosting duties for That's Entertainment! II and That's Entertainment! III films looking at famous clips from MGM films. Because he appears as a host in those movies, Cogerson hasn't included them in his table.
Hey Flora....yep Leslie Caron would count on the pulse side of my hubs...lol. The first movie that I noticed with her was Father Goose....since then I have watched many of her movies. I actually have gotten 4 more Fred Astaire movies that I can watch....Easter Parade, The Band Wagon, On The Beach and Funny Face...which will move my Astaire movie total to 10 after I watch them sometime this busy weekend.....speaking of this weekend...good luck with your performace this weekend.
Hey Rob....wow...I remember watching that Christmas show ever Christmas but until your comment I never knew that, Fred Astaire was providing the voice. I think as a child I thought it was Stan Laurel....although they do look alike...thanks for bringing back some nice memories for me.
Hey mimic, yep as Flora mentioned...he danced with Kelly in Ziegfeld Follies and That's Entertainment....both quality movies but he was not playing a movie role so they fall almost into the documentary category....the same thing with 1933's The Dancing Lady which also starred Joan Crawford and Clark Gable...Astaire was in the movie, but he played himself and his only scene was dancing with Crawford....so it did not make the list either...thanks for checking out my Astaire hub.
Hey Flora thanks for sharing the information about Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire with mimic.
Thanks for the good luck wishes. I'm getting excited.
You are welcome Flora hope everything went awesome.
The concert is tomorrow. We were supposed to have one tonight too, but the Powers That Be didn't realize that with the Santa Claus parade being the same night we would have roads closed downtown right where are venue is :( None of audience would have parking, so tonight was cancelled. None of this would have happened if we had our concert on the other side of town, but we have this brand new Cultural Centre and...
(Flora fumes over bad organizational decisions.)
We had the same issue here yesterday....one kid had an orchestra event the same night one kid had a Xmas parade. So my wife and I had to take one event each...I got the parade with the little ones. Well good luck tonight I am sure things will go great. As for Fred movies I am now up to 8 movies as I watched the band wagon and funny face this weekend.
Hi Cogerson, I can remember seeing the towering inferno a few times over the years, but the rest of his movies are just faded memories. Maybe i've just seen so many clips of him and Ginger that their dance routines have become etched into my brain. They say he was a very good actor too, but boy could he glide around the stage. He was impeccably well spoken too in an age when that mattered. He was a part of my childhood and I'm glad that you have rekindled those rose-tinted memories. Cheers
Hey attempted humour...I think you and I were in the exact boat together....I am had seen so many of his movie clips without seeing many of his movies except for The Towering Inferno....I have seen been on a Fred Astaire movie marathon....and have seen 12 of his movies in the last 7 days....pretty much stopped doing HubPages to watch Astaire movies. Glad that my hub brought back some of those rose-tinted memories.
My new Fred Astaire numbers....I have now seen 13 Fred Astaire movies. That includes 7 of his Top Ten Box Office hits....6 of his Top Ten Critical Hits....and 7 of the 10 Ginger Rogers/Astaire movies....I would say Top Hat is my favorite of the ones that I have seen.
Your hub has got me in the mood to watch some Astaire musicals this xmas Cogerson. Top Hat is one of the most famous so I'll start with that one. Bang Wagon of course, The Gay Divorcee and Silk Stockings with gorgeous Cyd Charisse. And my favourite Fred Astaire musical The Towering Inferno on boxing day as usual. :)
Hey Steve...I keep thinking that I am done watching Astaire movies for awhile...but I keep discovering more of his movies at my local library....I did a quick search on 25 of his movies...and the library had 20 of them available for rent. So I now have Roberta and Shall We Dance ready to be viewed.....that will only leave one Rogers/Astaire movie to view. I would say my Top 5 Astaire moments would be....riding the food cart in Daddy Long Legs, dancing on water in Funny Face, dancing on the moving floor in the Barkleys of Broadway....the triplet song in The Band Wagon....Astaire at the end of On the Beach when he decides to go out with the car.
Another thing I have found enjoyment is playing the find Eric Blore game when watching the Rogers/Astaire movies.
Eric Blore made me laugh in those old RKO films, the way he talks and his facial expressions just crease me up.
It's been ages since I last saw On the Beach, for anyone wondering it's not a musical but a grim end of the world movie with Charlton Heston as the last man on a planet of apes.. no wait got them mixed up. On the Beach is the one on the submarine after WWIII with Greg Peck, good film.
Hey Steve...it took me about 2 movies to notice Eric Blore...but when I did a IMDB search on him...I noticed all the Rogers/Astaire movies he was in....it sounds like he might have been their good luck charm.
I just watched On the Beach last night...I first I did not buy the Astaire character but he has a much stronger second half of the movie....I thought he gave an Oscar caliber performance in that one. Your comment confused me at first until I realized that you were joking....Heston could have been in the movie....now that I am a Astaire expert(lol)...I got a kick out of Ava Gardner playing his love interest...after she had done a cameo in The Band Wagon.
Oh yes thats right she plays herself in the Band Wagon.
The last film I saw Fred Astaire in was Ghost Story which is 31st on your moviescore, a horror movie about a female ghost or spectre seeking revenge on the men who killed her.
Glad to hear you have now seen enough Astaire films to have a list of favourites. I love Eric Blore. He is one of the people I'm talking about when I say that that I am such a big fan of classic movies I even know the names of character actors who are otherwise known as "famous nameless faces" to some people.
Roberta was originally a Broadway musical and has Irene Dunne singing the classic "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes."
I had noticed you hadn't updated or published a hub lately.
Steve - Would I enjoy Ghost story or would it be too bizarre for me knowing my preferences? I would like to watch it because it is his last film.
I ran out of time to edit my second last comment. I noticed you published another hub after I wrote my last sentence, but still I had indeed noticed you weren't making as many comments as usual and it was time for a new hub.
Flora, I think you might enjoy Ghost Story, it's a mystery too. It's classily made with John Houseman, Melvyn Douglas and Douglas Fairbanks jr as Fred Astaires friends. All pretty old by then. But there are some scary shots of a rotting corpse that might put you off.
Hey Steve....yep my Astaire knowledge is expanding at a very rapid pace....I love little pieces of trivia like that...I think I have seen three of Ava Gardner's movies in the last couple of weeks. As for Ghost Story....I think I saw Ghost Story when it first came out...but I can barely remember the story...so I have not counted it in my tally count.
Hey Flora....I was watching Flying Down To Rio this morning....when I noticed Eric Blore in the first scene...and I was hoping he would be around awhile...but the band left him in Miami when they moved on. The other character actor I liked was Edward Everett Horton in Top Hat and The Gay Divorcee. And then I got a kick out of seeing Lucille Ball and Betty Grable show up in Follow the Fleet. It has been fun exploring the career of Fred Astaire.
steve - They are all favourites of mine. Thanks for the info.
Hey Flora...between Christmas shopping, watching Fred Astaire movies, and researching my next classic hub(Bette Davis)...HubPages got knocked to the back burner. When I realized over a week had gone by since my last hub I figured I would do my son's request on Michael Keaton. As the current actors generally do not take as long as the classic actors.
I'm sure your current actors only fans were happy that you decided to do your son's request. There are a bunch of names on Keaton's hub comments that went nowhere near this hub.
Hey Flora....I think the mixture of current and classic hubs makes a trip to my profile page and all my links worth the time for anybody that likes movies. I think this Fred Astaire hub is one I have gotten a huge amount of myself as I have been checking my Movie Scores ever time I see a new Astaire movie. So far I like how the Movie Scores rank the movies. Meanwhile a hub like Michael Keaton seems to bring in a nice response as well.... I think both types provide lots of feedback....I am sure my online writing hobby would have ended months ago without this awesome feedback.
Whether you create a pulse or no-pulse hub you cease to amaze your fans with your creations cogerson! Granted pulse hubs are more exciting to the ones of us who have a pulse! :))
Fred & Ginger rocked the dance floor! I would have liked to have seen them guest star on Dancing With The Stars!
Hey Sunshine625...thanks for stopping in and thanks for such a nice compliment. I imagine Fred and Ginger would have their own dance show if they were still around today. Hard to believe but their peak was almost 80 years ago. Your contributions via you comments are always appreciated.
Lets see. Astaire died when I was 4. No, I can't say people with a pulse are more exciting. Just the opposite. Today's stars are famous for being famous.
Re: my 100th hub. Much as I love Gene Kelly (died the day after I turned 20, by the way), I acknowledge that Astaire was a better dancer in technique. He is the best of all time, though I prefer Gene.
Just want to let you know that after I'm finished with my opera,I plan to publish a tribute to Harry Morgan who just died at 96. I wanted to publish one right away, but then that would have been hub #100. And that wouldn't do!
Hey Flora....let's see I just watched The Royal Wedding and The Belle Of New York so my Fred Astaire count is up to 18 now. I found You Were Never Lovelier and Roberta so I will soon be up to 20 Fred Astaire movies that I have watched. During this Fred Astaire movie marathon I have gained a new respect for the man and his talents.
Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire are considered the best dancers ever...and if Kelly himself gave the edge to Astaire I think I will go along with Kelly's opinion as well.
I think a Harry Morgan hub would be very interesting...as I do not think many people realize much about his career prior to MASH, which is amazing considering the amount of projects he did prior to becoming famous as Colonel Potter. My wife and I watched Support Your Local Sheriff the same day he passed away....it was strange that after the movie was over we found out he had passed away. I look forward to the new hub. And good luck with the opera.
I notice I put down I was 4 when Fred died. I meant to say I was four when his final film was released. sigh. I was 11 when he died.
I see support Your local sheriff several times a year along with Support Your Local Gunfighter. It's not common for me to watch comedy westerns multiple times. Just these and Bob Hope's mostly.
Hey Flora...my wife just watched Support Your Local Sheriff for the first time the other night and she really enjoyed it....her favorite part was the jail with no bars. Just watched You Were Never Lovelier last night...I think it will end up being ranked pretty high on my Fred Astaire personal rankings....I thought Adolphe Menjou was very good in the movie. That gets me up to 19 of his movies watched.
You are definitely catching up to me and Steve. As for your wife's favourite part of Support Your Local Sheriff - that scene is classic. I love the look on Bruce Dern's face when he sees the "blood"
I think after I have gotten all the Fred Astaire movies my library has my number will be at 20 for awhile. Roberta is the last one I am waiting for....I am actually on a waiting list to watch Roberta...3rd in line...who would have thought there would be a line to watch Roberta. I am also starting to watch some Charlie Chaplin movies in advance of the hub I am going to eventually write as I have only seen City Lights....I do not want to be in the same boat with Charlie that I was with Fred.
The blood paint is very funny in SYLS...every time I watch the movie I always wonder what happened to the Bruce Dern character....did he hang....get loose....become a farmer?
I love Fred Asatire's films and I think I have seen them all. Ginger Rogers is a favorite of mine as well. I enjoyed your excellent Hub. Thank you!
Hey James....well when I wrote this hub...I had only seen The Towering Inferno...over the last couple of weeks I have watched a ton of Astaire movies...including 9 of the 10 Astaire/Rogers movies. A Ginger Rogers hubs is scheduled as well....thanks for the compliment and the comment.
off topic - I don't suppose you found out about TCM airing Sim's A Christmas carol last night in time to see it?
Hey Flora...I was unable to watch it last night....my house is pretty chaotic between 8 and 9:30 as we get the kids ready for bed. I am hoping my awesome library will be able to come through for me again. One day I am going to have to do a hub on my library. They have thousands of DVDs for checkout...hundreds of Blu-Rays....my older kids say it is not special until the start having video games...lol.
Too bad. But I think it is fairly easy to find a copy as it recently was re-released on DVD. As I told Steve, even if you can only find a color version, the person who did the colorization process was so skilled at his or her job, that I am able to turn the colour off on my TV when the colour version airs on tv and watch it as it was intended. I forget that I've done this until black and white commercials come on. I have the DVD now, though - in black and white.
Hey Flora...I am sure I will be able to locate the movie before Christmas gets here....I have been trying to figure out all the versions I have seen of A Christmas Carol...it might not be 10 yet but it is pretty close.
A Christmas Carol-Jim Carrey
A Muppet Christmas Carol-Michael Caine
Scrooged- Bill Murray
A Christmas Carol- George C. Scott
Scrooge- Albert Finey
A Christmas Carol-Patrick Stewart....at least 75% of that one
And two college versions on stage of the play over the years....for a grand total of 8 so far.
So I take it that you were not excited when Ted Turner started to colorize classic movies...it did draw attention to many fantastic films at least.
Funny thing. The person in charge of Astaire/Rodgers tweets and I are following each other on Twitter, so I thought to celebrate by tweeting this Astaire hub.
Thank you doing that Flora...it is greatly appreciated...this hub has been surprisingly popular....as it is my 12th most visited hub with almost 1700 views so far.
FloraBreenRobison 5 months ago
Top ten:
I have seen all ten of his top ten box office hits.
I have seen all ten of his top ten critics list.
I have seen all top ten of his movie score list.
I have seen some movies he hosted that are not included on your list - all three That's Entertainment! movies that look back at the best of MGM movies.
Overall Of the movies you listed:
I have seen 29 of them. That is 78%.
The highest rated film I have NOT seen is #21, the only Astaire/Rogers film I have not seen.
The lowest rated film that I HAVE seen is #34 - Second Chorus.
The earliest made film I've seen is his very first movie,Flying Down to Rio.
The youngest film I've seen is The Towering Inferno.
As I expected, the films of his I haven't seen are harder to find/later in his career. However, there was more than one musical that I am missing. I have not seen Damsel in Distress either. I wasn't aware of that title and looked it up.
Regarding the films made during the studio system (that officially ended in 1965, though the first studio - Astaire's first studio RKO actually folded in the 1940s and they were taken over by MGM but the last studio to hold iron clad contracts stopped in 1965
Movies made before 1965:
There are 31 titles here that were made before 1965. I have seen 27 of them. That is 87% of the bulk of his career.
Movies at the top of my to see list that are not musicals:
The Notorious Landlady (mystery)
Ghost story (since it was his last)
I cannot possibly list my top ten favourites of Fred Astaire. I can't even tell you my favourite Astaire/Ginger Rodgers film. I can tell you my favourite of his non-musicals I have seen so far is On The Beach. But that is as far as I can go.