This is the second part of a six part documentary about RKO Studio. Unfortunately, it's not available on video or DVD but fortunately it is posted on YouTube.
The show picks up exactly where the first part ended...talking about Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and their first appearance together, in FLYING DOWN TO RIO. In fact, the last minute of part one is repeated at the beginning of part two and the entirety of the second episode was on this beloved pair. The show spends much of the second episode talking about Fred Astaire and his contributions to the studio. There was a bit of a mistake here, however, as the narration made it sound like RKO hired Astaire from Broadway. However, Astaire actually was working (briefly) for rival studio MGM at that time, where he'd made DANCING LADY....and, interestingly, he played himself! There also was a mistake because it said that Astaire danced alone in DAMSEL IN DISTRESS because his co-star, Joan Fontaine, didn't dance. He did, however, dance with Burns & Allen in this film and their scenes together were delightful!
One portion I appreciated was that both Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers said, categorically, that they cared very much for each other and the stories about their disliking each other was created by the studio itself! Another I appreciated was learning how difficult and time-consuming their dance numbers were (in one case leaving Rogers' feet bloody)...yet they made it all appear so effortless!
By the way, a consequence of this being posted on YouTube is that occasionally the film briefly stopped and a message popped onto the screen indicating portions of the documentary were removed for copyright reasons.
The show picks up exactly where the first part ended...talking about Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and their first appearance together, in FLYING DOWN TO RIO. In fact, the last minute of part one is repeated at the beginning of part two and the entirety of the second episode was on this beloved pair. The show spends much of the second episode talking about Fred Astaire and his contributions to the studio. There was a bit of a mistake here, however, as the narration made it sound like RKO hired Astaire from Broadway. However, Astaire actually was working (briefly) for rival studio MGM at that time, where he'd made DANCING LADY....and, interestingly, he played himself! There also was a mistake because it said that Astaire danced alone in DAMSEL IN DISTRESS because his co-star, Joan Fontaine, didn't dance. He did, however, dance with Burns & Allen in this film and their scenes together were delightful!
One portion I appreciated was that both Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers said, categorically, that they cared very much for each other and the stories about their disliking each other was created by the studio itself! Another I appreciated was learning how difficult and time-consuming their dance numbers were (in one case leaving Rogers' feet bloody)...yet they made it all appear so effortless!
By the way, a consequence of this being posted on YouTube is that occasionally the film briefly stopped and a message popped onto the screen indicating portions of the documentary were removed for copyright reasons.