Cheap Life Achievement:Fred Astaire (Video) Price

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About as good as these things get.
Though unavailable for some time (rumored to be tied up over a rights dispute), this American Film Institute salute to Fred Astaire is about as good an awards show as they come. This video release (perhaps a used version can be found on the internet by determined souls) also has footage which was not seen on the original broadcast. The list of guest speakers who pay homage to Mr. Astaire is impressive. Among them is Eleanor Powell, Hermes Pan, Leslie Caron, Mikhail Barishnikov (sp?), Gene Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, and David Niven (m.c.). One party that couldn't make it, unfortunately, was Ginger Rogers (she was appearing in a road tour). When Fred finally addresses the stellar audience, he pulls a letter from "Ginge" from his pocket and says, "It's written in her fancy handwriting. I'm going to take it back home and try to analyze it..." The most startling announcement that ol' Freddie makes is that, after watching a variety of clips from his career (which he generally avoided like the plague), he admits that "some of it was pretty good." Pretty good? Damn near the finest dancing put to film, I say. All Astaire enthusiasts are encourage to find this wonderful tape.