Eleanor Powell: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 06:28, 13 November 2004

Revision as of 04:46, 15 November 2004

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In [[1935]], the leggy, fresh-faced Powell made the move to [[Hollywood]] and did a specialty number in ''[[George White's 1935 Scandals]]''. Immediately thereafter, she was signed by [[MGM]], which groomed her for her future stardom without making many changes in her makeup and conduct. She was well-received in ''[[Broadway Melody of 1936]]'' (in which she was supported by [[Jack Benny]] and [[Frances Langford]]), and delighted [[1930s]] audiences with her endless energy and enthusiasm, not to mention her stunning dancing.

Powell would go on to star opposite many of the decade's top leading men such as [[Jimmy Stewart]], [[Robert Taylor]], [[Fred Astaire]], [[George Murphy]], [[Nelson Eddy]], and [[Robert Young (actor)|Robert Young]]. Films she made during the height of her career in the mid-to-late [[1930]]s co-starred these men and others and included ''[[Born to Dance]]'' ([[1936]]), ''[[Rosalie]]'' ([[1937]]), ''[[Broadway Melody of 1938]]'' ([[1937]]), ''[[Honolulu (movie)|Honolulu]]'' ([[1939]]), and ''[[Broadway Melody of 1940]]'' ([[1940]]). Most of these movies featured her amazing solo tapping, although her increasingly huge production numbers gotbegan to beattract a bit sillycriticism. ''Broadway Melody of 1940'', in which Powell starred opposite [[Fred Astaire]], featured a brilliant musical score by [[Cole Porter]]. Together, Astaire and Powell danced to Porter's "Begin The Beguine", which is considered by many to have been the greatest tap sequence in film history.

In the [[1940s]], things changed somewhat for the worse, at least as far as her career was concerned. [[1941]]'s ''[[Lady Be Good]]'' gave Powell top billing, but Robert Young and [[Ann Sothern]] carried the movie. The same happened with [[Red Skelton]] in ''[[Ship Ahoy]]'' ([[1942]]) and ''[[I Dood It]]'' ([[1943]]). She parted ways with [[MGM]] in [[1943]] after ''[[Thousands Cheer]]'', in which she did a specialty number, and the same year married classic [[Canada|Canadian]] lead actor [[Glenn Ford]]. She danced in a giant pinball machine in ''[[Sensations of 1945]]'' ([[1944]]), but this picture was a large disappointment, and Powell retired from the cinema to concentrate on raising her son, actor [[Peter Ford]], who was born that year.