Astaire Therapy

Fred Astaire and Leroy Daniels in MGM's The Band Wagon
(1953). Image ganked from IMDB and I'm claiming Fair Use.

Been feeling a bit depressed, lately, for reasons there's no point in going into. After several days of this with no improvement in sight, I decided last night that what I needed was a solid dose of Astaire Therapy.

There are few instances of the Dismals, in my experience, that can resist the onslaught of a Fred Astaire dance routine. Sometimes all I need is a little something from The Gay Divorcee or Top Hat, but if things are looking especially grim I pull out the big guns: the opening ten minutes or so of my favourite musical film, bar none, The Band Wagon.

The first song, "By Myself," has always been a sentimental favourite, and I like having it kick off the movie (which is about a fictional Hollywood singing-dancing star bearing a strong resemblance to Astaire, trying to rebuild his career after flaming out in LA). But it's the second number in the film that never fails to cheer me up. (Which is what it's supposed to do, of course.)

The number takes place in a penny arcade that has taken over the space formerly devoted to a Broadway theatre. Fred's more than a little bummed out over what has happened to 42nd Street, but when he encounters a shoeshine man in the middle of the arcade he launches into a dance routine built around the song "Shine on Your Shoes" and the movie launches into the stratosphere of uplifting movie magic*.

What makes this number work so well is Astaire's dance partner. Leroy Daniels was in fact a shoeshine man in downtown LA who had made a name for himself by incorporating a lot of syncopation into his work. He was well enough known to have inspired a minor hit record a few years earlier, and when he was suggested to Astaire the latter, knowing a good thing when he heard about it, said let's do this.

I'm not going to say anything more about the routine, just urge you to watch it for yourself. There's a video embedded in an article about Leroy Daniels on the site Reel Rundown. Go there, and get happy.

*For me, anyway. As always, Your Mileage May Vary