An Evening with Fred Astaire | |
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Directed by | Bud Yorkin |
Presented by | Fred Astaire |
Starring |
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Narrated by | Art Gilmore |
Theme music composer | David Rose |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Executive producer | Fred Astaire |
Producer | Bud Yorkin |
Production locations | Color City, Burbank, California |
Camera setup | Multiple |
Running time | 58 minutes |
Production companies | Ava Productions, Inc. |
Original release | |
Network | NBC |
Release | October 17, 1958 |
An Evening with Fred Astaire is a one-hour live television special starring Fred Astaire, broadcast on NBC on October 17, 1958. It was highly successful, winning nine Emmy awards and spawning three further specials, and technically innovative, as it was the first major television show to be recorded on videotape in color. [a] It was produced at NBC's Color City studios in Burbank, California.
Considered something of a comeback for the then 59-year-old Astaire, the special was his first starring role on television. It was directed and co-produced by Bud Yorkin and introduced Astaire's new partner Barrie Chase, whom he would later describe in Interview magazine in 1973 as perhaps his favorite dance partner. [1] The Jonah Jones Quartet and David Rose and his Orchestra provided the music, and the Hermes Pan Dancers appeared in the ensemble dance numbers. The announcer was Art Gilmore, who at the time was the voice of the Chrysler Corporation, the show's sponsor. Typical for advertising of the era, Chrysler's 1959 model year Forward Look cars featured prominently in the show; Astaire's final words were "I only hope the show is as good as the cars."
The program was highly innovative in its use of a color-capable VTR, a technology then in its infancy. [2]
As with the first major television program to be recorded on videotape— The Edsel Show in 1957—this was a straight recording of a live performance with no editing. Early videotape use was confined largely to rebroadcasting programs from the east coast three hours later in the west, and was a cheaper, better-quality alternative to the film-based kinescopes. The experimental low-band quadruplex recording system in use was troublesome and hard to copy. Furthermore, early video editing was a highly complicated matter that required the engineer to cover the two-inch tape with iron oxide solution to locate the magnetic tracks and then splice it with a razor blade.
Although it was recorded live, An Evening with Fred Astaire used a number of innovative production techniques that are now commonplace, such as chroma key, and dissolves between scenes.
In 1988, the show earned a further technical Emmy Award for Ed Reitan, Don Kent, and Dan Einstein, who restored the original videotape, transferring its contents to a modern format. The machines used for recording the program were modified RCA B/W recorders, so it required tracking down the engineers who had been instrumental in the conversion. [3] (The three had also restored the oldest color videotape known to exist, the dedication of WRC-TV's new studio in Washington, DC on May 21, 1958.) [4]
The show was rebroadcast twice, on NBC on January 26, 1959, and on CBS on December 20, 1964. It was thus one of the earliest shows to be rerun using color videotape recording. The 1964 rebroadcast used a different beginning and ending that eliminated the advertising for Chrysler; instead, the opening and closing dances were shown, uninterrupted.
Until 2024, An Evening with Fred Astaire was the oldest-known surviving color videotape of an entertainment program; 2024 saw the discovery and restoration of a videotape of the premiere of Kraft Music Hall , aired 9 days prior to the Astaire program. [5]
The Chrysler Corporation record label, mastered and pressed by NBC partner RCA Victor Records produced a rare giveaway promotional soundtrack album direct from the monaural audio track of the master videotape.
Astaire produced another three similar specials, each featuring Barrie Chase:
Astaire's first foray into television dance, and the introduction of his new dance partner, Barrie Chase, drew significant media coverage, the most prominent being a feature on the cover of TV Guide for October 11–17, 1958 and an inside article: "Now for the Dance Bash", [6] formally announcing the new partnership to the American public. The show went on to win the Trendex rating race for its time slot and the week. [6] TV Guide followed up with an in-depth feature article on December 13, 1958: "How Fred Astaire discovered Barrie Chase" and again featured Astaire and Chase on its cover on October 31, 1959, promoting Another Evening with Fred Astaire. [6]
Not all media coverage was so positive, however. After the show won an unprecedented nine Emmy awards, Ed Sullivan queried whether Astaire should have been awarded the Best Actor Award. [7] Astaire promptly offered to return the award, protesting: "I'm an actor, and this Emmy is for a performance by an actor, isn't it? When I do a difficult pantomime in a dance which tells a story, what do they think it is? Tiddlywinks?". [7] He kept the award, but when Variety reported that MCA had lost $75,000 on the show, he retorted angrily: "Kindly retract erroneous article in last week's Variety. Here are the facts: The entire package is mine, via Ava Productions Corp. MCA merely acted as my agent with the sponsor. Nobody had any cut. All the expenses were paid for by me and the show definitely turned in a sizeable profit. Though I was not interested in that phase, I would like to make it clear that I am not completely nuts. I particularly directed that no expense be spared in carrying out my plans, ideas and designs for the show which I had been working on for some time." [7]
Fred Astaire was an American dancer, actor, singer, musician, choreographer, and presenter, whose career in stage, film, and television spanned 76 years. He is widely regarded as the "greatest popular-music dancer of all time" and received numerous accolades, including an Honorary Academy Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, a BAFTA Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Grammy Award.
Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videocassette recorders (VCRs) and camcorders. Videotapes have also been used for storing scientific or medical data, such as the data produced by an electrocardiogram.
The year 1958 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events during 1958.
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre is an American anthology series, sponsored by Chrysler Corporation, which ran on NBC from 1963 through 1967. The show was hosted by Bob Hope, but it had a variety of formats, including musical, dramatic, and comedy.
Hermes Pan was an American dancer and choreographer, principally remembered as Fred Astaire's choreographic collaborator on the famous 1930s movie musicals starring Astaire and Ginger Rogers. He worked on nearly two dozen films and TV shows with Astaire. He won both an Oscar and an Emmy for his dance direction.
A Damsel in Distress is a 1937 American English-themed Hollywood musical comedy film starring Fred Astaire, George Burns, Gracie Allen and Joan Fontaine. Loosely based upon P.G. Wodehouse's 1919 novel of the same name and the 1928 stage play written by Wodehouse and Ian Hay, it has music and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin. The film was directed by George Stevens, who had also directed Astaire in Swing Time (1936).
The Camel News Caravan or Camel Caravan of News is an American television program broadcast by NBC. Anchored by John Cameron Swayze, it aired from February 16, 1949, to October 26, 1956, and was replaced by The Huntley–Brinkley Report. Sponsored by the Camel cigarette brand, it was the first NBC news program to use NBC filmed news stories rather than movie newsreels. On February 16, 1954, the Camel News Caravan became the first news program broadcast in color, making use of 16mm color film. In early 1955, the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, maker of Camel cigarettes, cut back its sponsorship to three days a week. Chrysler's Plymouth division sponsored the other days, and on those days, the program was labelled the Plymouth News Caravan. The program featured a young Washington correspondent named David Brinkley, and competed against Douglas Edwards with the News on rival CBS. With greater resources, the News Caravan attracted a larger audience than its CBS competition until 1955.
This is a comprehensive guide to over one hundred and fifty of Fred Astaire's solo and partnered dances compiled from his thirty-one Hollywood musical comedy films produced between 1933 and 1968, his four television specials and his television appearances on The Hollywood Palace and Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre which cover the period from 1958 to 1968. Further information on the dance routines may be obtained, where available, by clicking on the film links.
Second Chorus is a 1940 Hollywood musical comedy film starring Paulette Goddard and Fred Astaire and featuring Artie Shaw, Burgess Meredith and Charles Butterworth, with music by Artie Shaw, Bernie Hanighen and Hal Borne, and lyrics by Johnny Mercer. The film was directed by H. C. Potter and produced independently for Paramount Pictures by Boris Morros, with associate producers Robert Stillman and (uncredited) Fred Astaire. The film's copyright expired in 1968 and it is now in the public domain.
Carefree is a 1938 American musical comedy film directed by Mark Sandrich and starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers and Ralph Bellamy. With a plot similar to screwball comedies of the period, Carefree is the shortest of the Astaire-Rogers films, featuring only four musical numbers. Carefree is often remembered as the film in which Astaire and Rogers shared a long on-screen kiss at the conclusion of their dance to "I Used to Be Color Blind," all previous kisses having been either quick pecks or simply implied.
The Edsel Show was an hour-long television special broadcast live on CBS in the United States on October 13, 1957, intended to promote Ford Motor Company's new Edsel cars. It was a milestone in the long career of entertainer Bing Crosby and is notable as the first CBS entertainment program to be recorded on videotape for rebroadcast in the western part of the country following a live performance for the east coast.
The 42nd Academy Awards were presented April 7, 1970, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California. For the second year in a row, there was no official host. This was the first Academy Awards ceremony to be broadcast via satellite to an international audience, though outside North America, Mexico and Brazil were the only countries to broadcast the event live.
Barrie Chase is an American actress and dancer.
Peter Pan is a 1954 musical based on J. M. Barrie's 1904 play Peter Pan and his 1911 novelization of it, Peter and Wendy. The music is mostly by Moose Charlap, with additional music by Jule Styne, and most of the lyrics were written by Carolyn Leigh, with additional lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green.
Producers' Showcase is an American anthology television series that was telecast live during the 1950s in compatible color by NBC. With top talent, the 90-minute episodes, covering a wide variety of genres, aired under the title every fourth Monday at 8 pm ET for three seasons, beginning October 18, 1954. The final episode, the last of 37, was broadcast May 27, 1957.
Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music is a one-hour television special in color, first broadcast by NBC on November 24, 1965, to mark the occasion of Frank Sinatra's 50th birthday. It was directed by the multi-Emmy-winning Dwight Hemion. Frank Peppiatt and John Aylesworth were the head writers. Telecast at a time when television had just switched to full-time color programming, the show was an enormous success, so much so that it spawned two follow-ups: A Man and His Music – Part II (1966), featuring Nancy Sinatra, and A Man and His Music + Ella + Jobim (1967), starring Ella Fitzgerald and Antônio Carlos Jobim. An album by Sinatra, also titled A Man and His Music, was released at around the same time as the special.
The 12th Emmy Awards, later referred to as the 12th Primetime Emmy Awards, were held on June 20, 1960, to honor the best in television of the year. The ceremony was held at the NBC Studios, in Burbank, California. It was hosted by Fred Astaire. All nominations are listed, with winners in bold and series' networks are in parentheses.
James Trittipo was an American television art director and stage set designer in New York and Hollywood, known for his designs of television variety shows including The Bing Crosby Show, The Frank Sinatra Show (CBS), The Frank Sinatra Timex Show: Welcome Home Elvis, and An Evening with Fred Astaire. Trittipo won Art Direction Emmy Awards for the ABC Television variety series The Hollywood Palace and An Evening with Fred Astaire. He was the art director on behalf of both ABC Television and the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences for the 41st Academy Awards on April 14, 1969 and he designed a set "evocative of waterfront pilings" for Rod McKuen's May 10, 1969 television special on NBC. He died of a heart attack at age 43.
The 1958 Sylvania Television Awards were presented on January 22, 1959, at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. The Sylvania Awards were established by Sylvania Electric Products.
"Peter Pan" is a 1955 American television play that aired as an episode of Producers' Showcase. It was an adaptation of the 1954 stage musical Peter Pan and was the first full-length Broadway production on color TV.