Expert: Barbara L. Baker - 7/8/2006

Question
When I was small I saw an old black and white movie with a character actress who was a rather large woman dancing ballroom type dancing with a smaller man. They started out normally and it began to be a comedy dance routine that wound up with her leg down his pants leg. I laughed until I was crying it was so funny. Cannot remember which movie it was in but it was black and white in the 1950s and she was a regular comedy character actress in movies during that time. It might have even been in a Fred Astaire movie but I'm not sure. Please help me find this movie.

Answer
Dear Crystal:  I'm sorry I haven't been back in touch earlier, but I've been attempting to find an answer for you (fitting it around teaching my summer classes).  I've spent a lot of time trying to find out if this is a particular Astaire film with no real luck.  There are several possibilities, but they are all from the 1930s.  There are some 1950s Astaire films, but they are not black and white.  There also is another film from 1943, "The More the Merrier," which is not an Astaire film, but does have some other elements of your description (e.g. ballroom dancing, trousers).

Unfortunately, nothing comes up with this exact description, at least not yet.  This could very well be a comedy routine from a number of 1930s or 1940s comedy films, but nothing comes back to me from my memory. It seems less likely it would be in a 1950s film, if black and white.  

How certain are you that this is a film made in the 1950s?  Could it be earlier?  Did you see it on a black & white TV, so maybe it was in color?  Do you have any other information related to the main plot?  Or anything else at all?  

I ask because it is very difficult to find film titles based on just incidental plot events, even one as memorable as this, esp. if you can't recall any other actors, or a character name.

If you send me any new information, I'll keep looking, but otherwise I've come up with nothing certain.