Dancing Ladies, Part II - Ann Miller

The first time I saw Ann Miller, I was watching You Can't Take It with You. I thought she was cute in that movie, but I was mostly paying attention to Jimmy Stewart. When I saw her name in the credits for Easter Parade, I knew I had heard that name before. When she appeared on screen, I knew instantly she played the girl who was always dancing in You Can't Take It With You. I had no idea she was an actual dancer! The fantastic "Shakin' the Blues Away" tap number just blew me away. From that moment on I was a fan.

Ann Miller


Before I begin to praise her for her beyond exceptional dancing skills, I want to talk a little bit about what an amazing woman she was. She began taking tap lessons to strengthen her legs after suffering from rickets. One of the side effects of rickets is bow legs. Apparently the dancing did strengthen her because her legs don't look at all bowed to me.



In order to get a contract at RKO, she procured a fake birth certificate which stated that she was born in 1919, which would have made her eighteen years old. She was only fourteen, but she was already a talented dancer and a beauty. I'm not going to say that I condone her lie because I can't, but I do have to admit that the girl had spunk.

Watching her dance is a singular experience. She was a spectacular dancer (not to mention comedienne), and it's hard not to be spellbound when her tap shoes hit the floor. She was rumored to have been capable of 500 taps per minute. I don't know if this is true or if more taps were just looped in after filming, but I wouldn't be surprised if she had really been able to tap 500 times in one minute. With her tap shoes on, a flowing skirt, and her hair flying, she looked like a clicking whirlwind when she began to twirl.

Dancing Ladies, Part I - Ginger Rogers

The Hollywood Musical has always been one of my very favorite film genres. And I've always been fascinated by the dancing, in particular. For instance, Vera-Ellen's character in White Christmas has always been my favorite because I liked to watch her dance and twirl around in those lovely dresses on screen. While the singing is always marvelous and is obviously essential in musicals, the dancers always seem to attract my attention first.

Some of the greatest dancers in the classic musicals were often the women. So here's the first in a series of Dancing Ladies posts, and I will begin with Miss...

Ginger Rogers

After winning the Texas State Charleston Championship in 1925, Ginger went on to perform in Vaudeville acts around the country and also starred in the original Broadway production of Girl Crazy. Her career in musicals flourished in the mid-late 1930s.

My favorite actress of all-time and favorite female dancer. Ginger Rogers was truly a great dancer who, in my own opinoin, is not given enough credit for her talent in that department. She is often overshadowed by Fred Astaire, with whom she made 10 musical films. Sure, Fred worked on most of the choreography for their movies himself, but that was only because Ginger was busy making other non-musical films. If you need proof of what a marvelous dancer she really was, just see her perform the solo tap routine in Follow The Fleet, or watch her keep up with Astaire in the "Bouncin' The Blues" number from The Barkley's of Broadway. She also performed two fantastic dance numbers, "I've Got A New Lease On Life" and "Out of Sight, Out of Mind", in In Person (1935). She was dedicated to her craft, not only to dancing, but acting as well, and it clearly shows when watching her movies.

Though Ginger always wanted to be known for her acting rather than her dancing abilities, she clearly was, and still is, the tops when it comes to musicals!

How It All Started

It only seems fitting that I begin by explaining how I first became interested in classic films. So, here goes:


All classic film fans have that special, sentimental feeling toward the star that started their love affair with old movies. The star who they first became obssessed with; wanted to see all of their movies, collected every photo you could find, spent sometimes rediculous amounts on DVDs or books, or just one item that mentioned their name. For me, that star was Jimmy Stewart.

I still remember it like it was yesterday. I was 9 years old, it was around Christmas time, and we were watching It's A Wonderful Life at school. That is when I realized Jimmy Stewart was the most handsome man I had ever seen (who knew I had that much taste at 9?). I would always be looking forward to Christmas because I would get to watch It's A Wonderful Life again.

About three years ago, when my obsession with classic television and Alfred Hitchcock Presents was in full swing, I decided to find more movies directed by Alfred Hitchcock. I came upon Rear Window at the local video store and thought it looked interesting. At the time, I barely knew any of the people in it, except Jimmy Stewart, whom I recognized from It's A Wonderful Life, but I remember thinking 'maybe I should branch out and start watching some old movies. These people look interesting.' Then I became really interested in classic films, especially Jimmy Stewart's movies. By summer I started watching more movies, collecting pictures from the internet, and wham! JimmyLove. He started out a as childhood crush, but the more I read about him, the more I liked him and the more I respected him as an actor.

Jimmy is still my favorite actor of all time, and I'll admit I still will spend ridiculous amounts on DVDs (Warner Archive, anyone?) since I still haven't seen all of Jimmy's movies. I'm close though, really close.

I like to reflect on what has happened for me over the years. Discovering old films was one of the greatest things to happen in my life; it added a small piece to my personality that I am proud of. Finally I had found something that can make me forget about the overtly crude content in films today. With the old films I can experience movie-making in its glowing yet somehow humble past as opposed to its aloof and cliched manner now.

- Susan

Lit From Within - First Post!

Hello! Welcome to Lit from Within - a new classic film blog! I'm kind of scared to write in this. It looks so shiny and clean and new.

The purpose of this blog is the discussion of old Hollywood films, as well as the actors, directors, etc. who made them! I am very excited to begin talking about these films and actors, and I hope you will get as much enjoyment out of reading what I have to say as I'm sure I will out of writing it.

Comments and contributions are highly encouraged. I love hearing what you have to say and am ecstatic to read your thoughts on the subjects I will be writing about. So please, don't be shy and feel free to chime in! :)

Right now, I have no idea who or what to write about first. I may write a movie review of one of the films I've seen recently. But I'll advise you to come back at another time when I have more interesting things to say.

Thanks for stopping by! :D

- Susan Vance