Now Playing: Fred Astaire – “Cheek to Cheek”

This morning, I was prepared to go into a long-winded speech about Fred Astaire and how he was my favorite actor from the golden age of Hollywood. I thought I’d tell you how he got his start in vaudeville as a young child, dancing with his sister, Adele. I thought I’d talk about Astaire’s transition to film when he was in his early thirties, going on and on about his illustrious movie career and his various roles in films like The Gay Divorcee and Easter Parade. I would have said, “Fred revolutionized movie musicals.” He danced with coat racks and danced on ceilings. Fred Astaire was the epitome of charm, class, grace, and skill.

I thought about telling you all this, but once I watched this clip from Top Hat, I thought, “No.” There’s no need. You’d get it. You’d understand. There was no way I could accurately describe this brilliant bit of film-making or this blissfully romantic song. It speaks for itself. I won’t even try.