Fred and Eleanor–Jukebox Dance Broadway Melody of 1940

Back on April 16, 2017, we highlighted a minor Jerome Kern dance tune, called “The Shorty George.” Xavier Cugat was the orchestra leader, and Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth were the dancers. It made a big hit with visitors to the page, probably because it combined a swinging arrangement with two great dancers who “clicked” on the stage.

A few days ago, we had our biggest response yet from the swing arrangement of Cole Porter’s “Begin the Beguine,” this time starring Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell. However, both dancers were capable of a wide range of dancing forms, from ballet to ballroom to tap. Eleanor’s first picture was the Broadway Melody of 1936, in which she starts one number in high heel tap shoes and then re-appears in toe shoes in the next part of the dance sequence. She danced a credible ballet to the Nacio Herb Brown tune, “You Are My Lucky Star.” If the tune sounds familiar to you it is because it was re-used in the 1952 movie musical, Singing in the Rain, with Gene Kelly and a young Debbie Reynolds.

Today, we want to go back to the Broadway Melody of 1940 to watch Fred and Eleanor dance to what we would again call a minor composition, named “Jukebox Dance.” It was written by Walter Ruick; however, it employs a masterful use of swing arrangements (thanks to music director, Alfred Newman) to turn it into one excellent dance routine. In fact, Powell remarked (according to TCM) that this number was her favorite out of all her filmed dances.