Broadway Melody of 1936 Powell, Eleanor performer Ebsen, Buddy performer Ebsen, Vilma performer Film 1935-09-16 MGM Choreography: Dave Gould and Albertina Rasch ("Lucky Star" ballet). Music and lyrics: Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed. Screenplay: Jack McGowan and Sid Silvers, based on an original story by Moss Hart. Cast: Eleanor Powell (Irene Foster), Robert Taylor (Robert Gordon), Jack Benny (Bert Keeler), June Knight (Lillian Brent), Una Merkel (Kitty Corbett), Vilma Ebsen (Sally Burke), Buddy Ebsen (Ted Burke), Kick Long Jr (Basil)., Sid Silvers (Snoop), Frances Langford, Harry Stockwell and others. Summary: An aspiring dancer arrives in New York in hopes that her childhood sweetheart will help her achieve stardom on Broadway. Dance Contents: "Foolin' With Me" perf. by Knight, Long, and ensemble --- "You Gotta Sing Before Breakfast" (song and tap dance), perf. by Vilma Ebsen and Buddy Ebsen; reprised with the Ebsens and Powell. Set on the roof of a rooming house, "Sing" begins with real-life brother and sister dance team Vilma and Buddy Ebsen performing the joyous tap number. The duet uses much of the loose-limb style for which they were famous. With Powell they reprise the number; Powell's solo turn gives her a good opportunity to show off her style without the theatrics and spectacle of later MGM numbers. And while she wears sexless, tuxedo-like pajamas in her George White's Scandals number, MGM introduces her in a simple dress with a large, white collar. The costume, and a loose, curly-hair style, establish her character as a demure, small-town girl whose rapid-fire tapping belies her looks. It was an image MGM would continue to perpetuate through "Rosalie." "You Are My Lucky Star" (song and ballet number), perf. by Powell and ensemble is a dream ballet, one of her few screen attempts in the form of dance she first studied. "On Sunday Afternoon" (song and tap dance), perf. by Buddy Ebsen, Vilma Ebsen, and ensemble ---- Tap dance by Powell (masquerading as Mademoiselle Arlette) -- "Broadway Rhythm" a five-sectioned number building up to Powell's turn, in which she appears in the climactic finish in a jeweled top hat and tails, tapping before an Art Deco piano, twirling and showing off her early acrobatic training with bending backwards to the floor: this marked the first in a long line of spectacular numbers at MGM. perf. by Powell. Performing Arts Encyclopedia http://www.loc.gov/performingarts Frank, Rusty E.: Tap! The Greatest Tap Dance Stars and their Stories 1900-1955. New York, William Morrow. (1990). Tap Dance America http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/tda/tda-home.html Vilma Ebsen (biography) loc.music.tdabio.82 Buddy Ebsen (biography) loc.music.tdabio.82 Eleanor Powell (biography) loc.music.tdabio.152 tda IHAS 151216 loc.music.tda.83