Roberta Astaire, Fred performer Rogers, Ginger performer Film 1935-02-26 RKO Radio RKO musical film considered the greatest collection of tap dance duets by Astaire and Rogers including "I'll Be Hard to Handle" in which verbal bantering segues into an equally playful tap dance exchange with extensive use of steps in which one leg crosses over the other and several eight-measure phrases ending with an unaccompanied tap fusillade. Marking his emergence as a self-conscious filmer of dance, Astaire plays a young bandleader who encounters his former high school sweetheart (Rogers) while on tour in Paris. This musical film continues the Astaire-Rogers phenomenon and is highlighted by such musical numbers as "I'll Be Hard to Handle," a tap number in which they talk with their feet; "I Won't Dance" which combines elegant legomania (limb slinging legs wrapping around each other) with a fluttering taps; "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" a soft-shoe ballroom with rapid partnered turns and dips; and "I Won't Dance" which shifts between two speeds: fast and faster, ending with the couple scampering up a flight of stairs with rhythmic ebullience into a final embrace. 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). Mueller, John: Astaire Dancing: The Musical Films. New York: Knopf (1985). Tap Dance America http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/tda/tda-home.html Fred Astaire (biography) loc.music.tdabio.16 tda IHAS 151216 loc.music.tda.96