Second Chorus

The spectacular cast of this musical extravaganza includes Fred Astaire, Paulette Godard, Artie Shaw (and the Artie Orchestra to boot!), Charles Butterworth, and Burgess Meredith. The plot isn’t much, but with that cast, it doesn’t have to be: “In this 1941 Paramount film Fred Astaire has a new dancing partner in Paulette Goddard. They actually dance a number together. The ads read, “Fred’s Best Yet! ‘Cause He’s Got Paulette!” Mostly Astaire dances solo in this story about two musicians, Astaire and Burgess Meredith, who try vainly to get jobs in Artie Shaw’s band. With the help of Paulette, they get hired. This is a trendy “swing” musical with Shaw’s band and Astaire’s dancing taking the spotlight. The Astaire-Goddard production number was called, “I Ain’t Hep to That Step but I’ll Dig It.” Astaire had to teach Goddard to dance. He worked “like a dog” from the beginning saying, “She’s a lovely girl, with a breathtaking figure, who couldn’t dance and