Eleanor Powell on All Star Revue 1952 1

[@alwaysjinxed]

Thanks for posting this!! Always great to see new Eleanor routines!

[@RoadtoBroadway]

One my favorite dancers!! Thanks!

[@sschimel]

She does pretty well here, considering that she was 40 (an age when many dancers have stopped dancing due to injuries). Also, she had been dancing professionally since 1928. And she was the most amazingly limber dancer. She did highkicks where she could touch her forehead, and she did some pretty amazing backbends. That has to take a physical toll eventually. I adore her.

[@tapnerd]

A couple years ago. Her son did a presentation for the Vancouver Tap Dance Society workshop about his mother. He was really nice and entertaining, and they did a silent auction of a pair of her shoes. it was really fascinating to see how the shoes were made in those days; they had to reinforce Ellie's heels with steel for her acrobatics in her younger days.

[@opelske]

She was and is still the best! Love watching her dance at any age. So graceful - a female Astaire. Always looks like she enjoys it and is having so much fun. Too bad she wasn't in more movies. A great talent. Thank God for film!

[@luckdog909]

She is such a beautiful and talented woman!!!

[@SatchmoSings]

A great moment; no "cuts" and no overdubbing the tap; a great moment.

[@bon1042]

Begin the Beguine no. w/Fred Astaire, fabulous. When Sinatra introduces it in That's Entertainment, Part I, He says, "You know... you can wait around forever... but you'll never see the likes of this again.. I get a lump in my throat whenever I watch it, and goosebumps. that statement nails it.

[@olafdavila]

She is the best, undoubtedly. She does everything so easily! As if dancing like that was very easy. Only gifted people are able to give us that impression.

[@seppojustnow]

This lady, Eleanor Powell, has tap techniqe that gives me goose bumps under any circumstances--it's her talent, not the production, that is important. The costume, however, doesn't do the number justice. But gawd i lover her.

[@dahliafully]

THANK YOU! (He wasn't entirely inaccurate in his declaration.) Wondering who was in the band and at the piano. The best part of you tube is easy access to clips such as these which help to fill certain gaps of understanding. Do still love to go to screenings but I very much appreciate the access to early television clips. Thank you for correcting my guess.

[@bon1042]

Hi, I agree w/you on dance routine between FA & EP. My favorite big production number is Lullaby of Broadway in Broadway Melody of 1935, Buzby Berkeley, even he evidently was a bit of a sadist (abused J. Garland) and a voyeur per interesting PBS documentary on how he would put scenes together w/individual starlets. My personal favorite is Rita Hayworth, Astaire said she was his favorite partner, watch her w/him in anything, ethereal, luminous, fluid, graceful.

[@netwitt1]

In watching this clip yet again, I am amazed at how light Ellie is on her feet. It's all too easy to be clumping around when tapping and she always seems to be floating an millimeter above the floor - those feet moving so easily and so quickly. She just doesn't look as though she could be carrying any weight she moves so smoothly. She NEVER fails to delight!

[@fromthesidelines]

This is from his stint as a rotating host of "ALL STAR REVUE" ("FOUR STAR REVUE" in the 1950-'51 season). He left the show after the 1951-'52 season, dissatisfied with the way he was presented on the show {he went so far as to declare at the time, "TV is for idiots!"}.

[@netwitt1]

If you watch part 2 of this clip, she has a much bigger stage and cuts loose more.This stage is definitely way too small for her and the camera placement was too static - she always interacted so well with the camera and here she obviously had no control over placement. She always makes it look as though she's having the best time and you just want to join her! Not sad at all, just graceful aging - something we are forgetting in our plastic culture.

[@tapnerd]

Yeah, it is kinda sad that she didn't wind up continuing in the big films. you can just tell from the way she moves that she'd like to travel more than the tiny stage allows. Still, a stellar performance the likes of which will probably never be seen again. Oh, and anyone else notice how tiny her feet are? They must be a 4 or 5 in modern street sizes (I once got to hold her shoes, what an honour!)

[@shrimprapjibjab]

Okay Eleanor Powell is my idol. I am a tapper (in the making). She most def looks like the stage is WAY to small. Plus she is a size 5 (lol i would know) And she seems older here like she can't do what she used to do when she was younger. Sad i know :(

[@kiles]

It's not stupid. You don't appreciate good tap.

[@nismans]

u commented my tap video likewise, so I liked to do the same for u

[@dannybex]

Kind of sad in a way... Poor Ellie was reduced to appearing on a tv show (with cheap sets and poor, poor lighting) while her contemporaries were still making big films at MGM, Fox, even Warners. The number probably would have come off better if it were shorter as well. Must've been frustrating for her...

[@saysold1]

I doubt that analysis. 1952 was the birth of the golden age of Television. An exciting new medium that was the opposite of what you described. Powell pivoted like the graceful & classy dancer that she was - and never lost a beat. My grandfather Dave Barry also appeared on this episode in a comedy bit. Shows like this helped the push the medium towards bigger things.