Talking about Fred Astaire

[Empyrium]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j02k9t4rP50&mode=related&search=

can someone tell me how the cane backs to his hands?[huh]

 

[BJBAmerica]

Did a little research on Wikipedia, and they say that ther was hidden "trigger mechanism" in the floor.....Here is an excerpt:

"Puttin' on the Ritz": Although Berlin's 1930 song was originally written for vaudevillian Harry Richman, it has become indelibly associated with Astaire, who also recorded it for Columbia in 1930. In this tap solo with cane, which was widely billed as "Astaire's last dance", the lyrics are updated, replacing racist references to ritzy Harlemites with wealthy whites strutting their stuff up and down Park Avenue. The routine was produced after the rest of the film had been completed, and according to Astaire, it took "five weeks of back-breaking physical work" to prepare. It is constructed in three sections, beginning in a dull book-lined office with a tired-looking Astaire showing his years and dressed in his trademark top hat, white tie and tails. Here Astaire delivers the song while executing a gentle tap and cane solo in mock slow-motion, in an amusing parody of his impending retirement. The song finished, he returns to normal speed and proceeds to dance around the office while executing an ingenious jumping cane routine which relied on a concealed floor trigger mechanism. Thus rejuvenated, Astaire sweeps aside a pair of drab curtains to reveal a chorus of nine Fred Astaires - achieved by filming two separate versions of Astaire, repeating them four times and interleaving them. The final section is a greatly speeded up repeat of the tune which accompanies a routine of spell-binding virtuosity for Astaire and chorus. In "Top Hat, White Tie and Tails" from Top Hat (1935), Astaire proceeded to machine-gun his chorus dancers with his cane. This time, Astaire joins his chorus in adopting a confrontational, at times almost menacing posture towards his audience. In 1957, on the brink of yet another temporary retirement, Astaire wittily refers back to this routine in the self-parodying "The Ritz, Roll And Rock" number from Silk Stockings."

 

[CharlieH.]

Amazing! Only Fred Astaire could perform the same dance over and over again with such precision.
Although for multiple-Fred numbers I still prefer Bojangles Of Harlem (Thanks to Mel Brooks, Puttin' On The Ritz has an entirely different connotation...)