Movie Depictions of Boys Clothes: Tap Dancing Movies


Figure 1.--

There are numerous movies in which tap dancers have appeared. In contrasrt to ballet, we know of few films that are about tap dancing, only films in which there are tap dancing roureins. In addition, most of these films present the talents of adult tap dancers. The films of Fred Astraire and Ginger Rogers diring the 1930s are some of the best examples. The ome child that was primarily showcased performiong tap dancing routeins was of course Shirly Temple. We recall many films with Shiley Temple tap dancing and several film come to mind. There are virtually no films with boys tap dancing that come to mind at the moment. HBC knows of almost no films dealing with boys tap dancing. The only boys wgich come to mind are the Nicholas brothers. They did some black films while still children, but by the time they reached mainstream Hollywood films they were adults. The number of boys who did tap dancing, especially in America during the 1920s-40s, were larger than other dance forms. Thus one would think there must be some films with boys doing tap dance numbers. The one film we can think of is the ground braeking film Pennies from Heaven.

Movies About Tap Dancing

There are numerous movies in which tap dancers have appeared. In contrasrt to ballet, however, know of few films that were actually about tap dancing and bresented the discipline asa recognized art form. The primary films we can think of are Tap (1989) and Bootmen (??).

Movies with Tap Dancing

We do know quite a few films in which there are tap dancing routeins. These are films with tap dancing, not about it. Some of these routeins are in fact spectacular. dancers. The films of Fred Astraire and Ginger Rogers during the 1930s are some of the best examples. Gene Kelly was another fine damcer. Who can forget Bill "Bohangles" Robinson's dancing, but because of his color, he never got the billing of Astaire and Kelly. Some of the best loved films with tap dancing include: (An) American In Paris (1951), Bamboozled (2000), (The) Band Wagon (1953), Bootmen (19??), Broadway Melody (1936 and 1938), (The) Cotton Club (1984), Footlight Parade (1933), (The) Gay Divorcee (1934), Holiday Inn (1942), Night and Day (1946), Pardon My Sarong (1942), Singin' In The Rain (1952), Stage Door (1937), Stepping Out (1991), Stormy Weather (1943), Tap (1989), (Tap Dogs, Australia), White Christmas (1954), and White Nights (1985). Some of the best Astaire movies included: (The) Barkleys of Broadway (1949), Broadway Melody (1940), Carefree (1938), Daddy Long Legs (1955), Follow the Fleet (1936), Flying Down to Rio (1933), Roberta (1935), Royal Wedding (1951), Shall We Dance (1937), and Swing Time (1935), and Top Hat (1935). Some of the best Kelly movies included: Brigadoon (rather a mix of Scottish step dancing and tap dancing) (1954), It's Always Fair Weather (1955), and On The Town (1949). Robinson's movies include Hooray for Love (1935), Just Around The Corner (1938), (The) Little Colonel (1935), The Littlest Rebel (1935), Rebecca Of Sunnybrook Farm (1938), and Stormy Weather (1943). There have been many others.

America is perhaps the least accepting country for male dancers. Even so, virtually all of the most popular daance movies have been Hollywood films, several of which were big budget productions.

Child Tap Dancers

Almost all of the films we know of present the talents of adult tappers. The one child that was primarily showcased performiong tap dancing routeins was of course Shirly Temple.

Girls

We recall many films with Shiley Temple tap dancing her little heart out and several films come to mind. It was wonderful that Bill "Bojangles" Robinson got the opportunity to strut his stiff--even though late in his career. And Shirley was quite competent little tpper herself. Shirley did tap routiens in: Captain January (1936), Just Around The Corner (1938), (The) Little Colonel (1935), The Littlest Rebel (1935), and Rebecca Of Sunnybrook Farm (1938). Actually her performances caused a wave of mothers to bring their children, biys and girls, to dance reachers around America during the 1930s.

Boys

There are virtually no films with boys tap dancing that come to mind at the moment. HBC knows of almost no films dealing with boys tap dancing. The only boys wgich come to mind are the Nicholas brothers. They did some black films while still children, but by the time they reached mainstream Hollywood films they were adults. Their films included: Pie Pie Blackbird (1932) and Stormy Weather (1943). Film star Buddy Ebsen was a member of the "Stetson Boy Dancers" who performed in Vaudevelle and Broadway musicals. I do not know of any films, although as an adult he had a tap rourien with Shirley Temple in Captain January (1936). A boy is involved in a wonderrful Astaire number in Easter Parade (1948), but he doesn't do any tap steps. Certainly some other boys must have had tap dancing routiens in movies, but we can not recall any of this time. Hopefully our readers will provide some suggestions here.

Tap Dancing

The number of boys who did tap dancing, especially in America during the 1920s-40s, were larger than other dance forms. Thus one would think there must be some films with boys doing tap dance numbers. Many boys who may have objected to studying ballet seemed willing in contrast to study ballet. I'm not sure why this was. In part, I think it may have been due to the interest of children and their parents in getting into the Hollywood film indistry. The less formal costumes may also have been a factor.

Specific Films

The two most notable male tap dancers in the movies were Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. Astair was noted for his effortless elegance. Kelly madehis atleticism more apparent. Both performed in films only a adults. Some of the few films we can think of that have children tapping or are about tapping include:

Bootmen (??)

Bootmen deals with two brothers, Sean (Garcia) and Mitchell (Sam Worthington), both Aussies. They work in Newcastle's BHP Steelworks. They both have been tap dancing since they were kids, Mitchell wants to open a business of his own. Sean is, however, still enfatuated with dancing. He would like a career in the dance. There is of course a girl friend in the mix to keep the film moving. She is played by Sophie Lee, also an Aussie. There seem to be a lot of Aussies in Newcastle for some reason.

Pennies from Heaven (1981)

One film we can think of is the ground breking film Pennies from Heaven (1981). Here there were no child prodigies, but instead a substantial number of competent child tap dancers. The film recounts the story of how Steve Martin triumphs as Arthur Parker, a Depression-era salesman. He is depressed feeling that he is condemned to selling sheet music, but believing in the lyrics of the songs he sells. The situation steadily declines for him and and his girl friend (Bernadette Peters), a school reacher. He persists in believing that life is still just a bowl of cherries even when he has only the pits. The film got rave reviews, but was panned by the movie going public. The choreography is by Danny Daniels and includes a full scale ptoduction number by the school teachers students.

Rubber Legs? (193?)

I saw the last half of this early 1930s film on Turner Classic Films, but unfortunately did not catch the title. For some reason, Rubber Legs sticks in my mind. The film is not about tap dancing exactly, but it is almost a constant series of tap dancing seqences. The story line is a producer trying to sell a Broadway musical about a love affair between the driver of a horse-drawn street car (who can't stop dancing) and one of his pasangers. One odf the songs goes "... and she loved the way he drove the horse". I didn't recognize the main actor, but he was very tall and had a huge smile. The final sequence is an acrobatic tap routien. One of the background dancers is a boy dressed in short pants and a fancy blouse. He does not do, however, a routien by himself. Hopefully one of our readers will know the actual title of the film.

Tap (1989)

The movie Tap is about an ex-convict who is also a great tap dancer. He is forced to choose between a life of crime or his love of dance and pursuing a show business career. Not a very realistis fiom about tap dancing, but it is about tap dancing. Savion Glover does some great routiens.







HBC






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Created: August 13, 2002
Last updated: February 17, 2003