Blue Skies (1946)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Stuart Heisler

Writers:

Irving Berlin (story)
Allan Scott (adaptation)

Release Date:

16 October 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Musical | Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

32 BERLIN HITS Old and New

Plot:

Jed Potter looks back on a love triangle conducted over the course of years and between musical numbers...

Plot Keywords:

Love Triangle | WWII | Frankenstein's Monster | Show | Radio Program

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

Cast

Bing Crosby	...	Johnny Adams
Fred Astaire	...	Jed Potter
Joan Caulfield	...	Mary O'Hara
Billy De Wolfe	...	Tony
Olga San Juan	...	Nita Nova
Mikhail Rasumny	...	François
Frank Faylen	...	Mack
Victoria Horne	...	Martha (nurse)
Karolyn Grimes	...	Mary Elizabeth Adams

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

UK:U | Finland:K-16 | USA:Unrated

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Fred Astaire, then 47 years old, planned to retire as a leading man with this film. He was planning to only work with his dance studios and breed racehorses. The film Easter Parade (1948), having recently lost Gene Kelly to a broken ankle, brought Astaire out of retirement. He danced on film and on television until he was nearly 70.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the opening tilt pan shot of Rockefeller Center, the waterfalls are clearly in reverse.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Art of Amália (2000)

Soundtrack:

All by Myself

Bit of History

Blue Skies was to be Fred's "swan song" as he had announced he would retire from dancing. He had been on the stage since being a child, and at age 46 thought he was danced out. The very last dance number filmed (as in all Astaire musicals) were his solos. The last number, he thought, ever to be filmed in his life was Puttin' On The Ritz. After the last take, he pulled off his mini-rug and stomped on it saying he was glad he didn't have to wear that thing ever again.

His retirement didn't last too long (he spent time with his race horses)as Gene Kelly called saying he had broken his foot playing football, and Fred came back to film work in Easter Parade.

There was to be a third paring of Crosby and Astaire in White Christmas, but Fred had other commitments, that's when Danny Kaye was brought in. Both Astaire and Crosby made their last recording together in the early 1970's called, "A Couple of Song and Dance Men". When they started to record the album, one of them remarked this was the first time they had worked together since Blue Skies. It was their last recording date as Crosby died shortly after, and Astaire never made other recordings.