A Damsel in Distress (RKO) is a 1937 English-themed Hollywood musical comedy film starring Fred Astaire, Joan Fontaine, George Burns and Gracie Allen, with a screenplay by P.G. "Plum" Wodehouse based on his novel, music and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin, and directed by George Stevens. The classic logo of RKO Radio Pictures. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1937 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... The art of singing and dancing in a prepared fictional play has been a time-honored tradition ranging to the early days of civilization. ... Jump to: navigation, search Film refers to the celluloid media on which movies are printed Film is a term that encompasses motion pictures as individual projects, as well as the field in general. ... Jump to: navigation, search Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987), born Frederick Austerlitz in Omaha, Nebraska, was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. ... Joan Fontaine circa 1942 Joan Fontaine, an American actress, was born Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland in Tokyo, Japan, on October 22, 1917, the younger daughter of Walter de Havilland, a British patent attorney with a practice in Japan, and Lilian (Ruse) de Havilland. ... Burns in the 1950s. ... Jump to: navigation, search Grace Allen, wife of comic legend George Burns, who started show business in vaudeville, became famous when teamed with him. ... Jump to: navigation, search Called English literatures performing flea, P. G. Wodehouse, pictured in 1904, became famous for his complex plots, ingenious wordplay, and prolific output. ... Jump to: navigation, search George Gershwin photograph by Edward Steichen in 1927. ... George (left) and Ira Gershwin Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershowitz) (December 6, 1896 - August 17, 1983) American lyricist, collaborator with, and brother of George Gershwin He is interred in the Westchester Hills Cemetery, Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. ... George Stevens examining film from A Place in the Sun. ...

The film was made at George Gershwin's instigation, an enthusiasm that Wodehouse mischievously attributed to the fact that his novel was about a successful American songwriter named George Bevan. George Gershwin died of a brain tumour while the film was in production. Jump to: navigation, search George Gershwin photograph by Edward Steichen in 1927. ... A brain tumor is any mass created by an abnormal and uncontrolled growth of cells either found in the brain (neurons, glial cells, epithelial cells, myelin producing cells, etc. ...

The first Astaire RKO film not to feature Ginger Rogers, the nineteen year-old Fontaine was chosen, with Burns and Allen drafted in to provide the comedy. It soon emerged that Fontaine couldn't dance, but Stevens persuaded Astaire not to replace her with Ruby Keeler. The film, now considered a masterpiece of popular song and dance, was the first Astaire picture to lose money. The Stiff Upper Lip routine garnered co-choreographer Hermes Pan the 1937 Academy Award for Best Dance Direction. Ginger Rogers (1911–1995) Ginger Rogers, (July 16, 1911 - April 25, 1995), was a legendary American actress and dancer. ... Burns and Allen were an American comedy duo consisting of George Burns and his wife, Gracie Allen. ... Ruby Keeler, born Ethel Hilda Keeler, (August 25, 1910 - February 28, 1993), was an actress, singer, and dancer. ... Choreography (also known as dance composition) is the art of making structures in which movement occurs, the term composition may also refer to the navigation or connection of these movement structures. ... Fred Astaire and Hermes Pan working out a dance routine Hermes Pan (December 10, 1910 as Hermes Pangiotopolous in Nashville, Tennessee – September 19, 1990) was an American dancer and choreographer. ... Although he never won an Oscar for any of his movie performances, the comedian Bob Hope received two honorary Oscars for his contributions to cinema. ...

Key songs/dance routines:

The choreography explores dancing around/past/through obstacles and in confined spaces.

• I Can't Be Bothered Now: Sung by Astaire while executing a tap solo with cane in the middle of a London street and escaping on a bus.
• Put Me To The Test: Astaire, Burns and Allen comic tap dance with whisk brooms, a routine inspired by vaudeville duo Evans and Evans and introduced to Astaire by Burns, who quipped: "Gracie and I ended up teaching Astaire how to dance".
• Stiff Upper Lip: Sung by Gracie Allen and followed by an innovative extended comic dance by Astaire, Burns and Allen through a fairground obstacle course.
• Things Are Looking Up: Astaire sings one of Gershwin's finest and most neglected melodies, followed by a romantic dance through the woods with Fontaine, where George Stevens artfully uses trees to hide Fontaine's terpsichorean shortcomings.
• A Foggy Day In London Town: Astaire introduces what has become a standard in the Great American Songbook, sung while alternately walking and dancing solo through a wooded landscape.
• Nice Work If You Can Get It: The film's second Gershwin standard is introduced by Astaire and chorus, followed by a stupendous Astaire tap solo, executed while confined by and playing a set of drums. It was shot in one continuous take and makes use of a very early version of the zoom lens.

London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. ... The Great American Songbook is an informal term referring to a period of American popular music songwriting that took place between the 1930s and 1950s. ... Jump to: navigation, search A Canon Inc. ...

External Links:

• A Damsel in Distress at the Internet Movie Database
• Illustrated review (1999) by Michael Skupin.
• Online version of Wodehouse's novel: A Damsel in Distress

Jump to: navigation, search The Internet Movie Database (IMDb), owned by Amazon. ...

References

Fred Astaire: Steps in Time, 1959, multiple reprints.

John Mueller: Astaire Dancing - The Musical Films of Fred Astaire, Knopf 1985, ISBN 0394516540

George Burns: Gracie: A Love Story, G.P Putnam and Sons, 1988.