10. "I'm Old Fashioned", You Were Never Lovelier (1942)
Rita Hayworth truly was never lovelier than she was opposite Astaire in this romantic comedy. I always felt the film itself to be a little skimpy on the musical numbers (and on Astaire himself), but what we do see of him and Hayworth together, especially this highlight, just sings.
9. "Girl Hunt Ballet", The Band Wagon (1953)
Vincent Minelli's answer to Gene Kelly's “Broadway Melody Ballet” from Singin' in the Rain the year prior (which also featured Cyd Charise and her lovely legs) is this stylish mini-noir which is still enthralling to this day by virtue of its imaginative staging.
Band Wagon - Girl Hunt Ballet Segment by wwevideo007
8. "Puttin' on the Ritz", Blue Skies (1946)
Who better to back Astaire up than a chorus line of himself? He was as polished a performer as they come, but like any performer he had to rehearse in order to get it right. The photographic trickery plied on this old favourite illustrates just how perfectly rehearsed he was.
7. "Sunday Jumps", Royal Wedding (1951)
They say Astaire had a knack for making his dancing partner look good, whoever it may be. He really made that point clear in this crafty sequence which has him animate an inanimate coat rack merely by dancing around it.
6. "Pick Yourself Up", Swing Time (1936)
Fred and Ginger had such perfect timing and synchronization when on the parquet together, epitomized, I feel, by this snappy routine from Swing Time, my personal favourite of there many co-starring collaborations.
5. "Dancing in the Dark", The Band Wagon (1953)
Isn't it romantic? The Band Wagon's more up-tempo song score takes a back seat to reserved elegance in this romantic interlude between Astaire and his professed favourite dance partner Cyd Charise. The relative simplicity of it is what makes it such a memorable moment.
4. "Drum Crazy", Easter Parade (1948)
Here's a sequence that exemplifies Astaire's sense of rhythm. His body was always his greatest instrument, as he demonstrates for us here in literal fashion. No percussionist, however talented, could match the rat-a-tat-tat of Astaire's own two feet.
3. "Cheek to Cheek", Top Hat (1935)
The staircase, the Irving Berlin, the feathers (which reportedly kept coming detached from Ginger's dress while shooting this number); it all speaks to vintage Hollywood iconography. It warms me with nostalgia every time I watch this classic segment... I'm in heaven!
2. "Let's Kiss and Make Up", Funny Face (1957)
If you can get past the slightly creepy age difference between Astaire and love interest Audrey Hepburn, you'll find Funny Face a delightful lite romance, at its most endearing in this beautifully shot scene. Astaire's cane-twirling aptitude is ever apparent.
1. "You're All the World to Me", Royal Wedding (1951)
Decades before Christopher Nolan bedazzled us with gravity-defying fisticuffs, Astaire was doing his own ceiling stunts that put Joseph Gordon-Levitt to shame. Just trying to maintain one's balance in a rotating set is difficult enough, let alone performing a complex tap routine.
