Choreography to Hitler!


If you've ever wanted to see someone dance accompanied by the audio from one of Adolph Hitler's speeches, this is the movie for you!

True fact, one guy does a brief "Hitler" routine.

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That was amazing! :D The entire dance sequence was amazing!
I had to come into Imdb to see just who that guy was

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Shalmayan-1, if you haven't, you should check out the wonderful documentary, BALLETS RUSSES, from 2005. Mr. Platt is one of the many larger-than-life entertainers featured, and the whole thing is fascinating, even for those with no particular interest in ballet. If you're a TCM fan, it's hard to imagine you not loving this movie. Also, having been fortunate enough to meet him briefly in 2000, and hear a bit about his life and career, I can say Marc Platt seemed to be one of the most charming, down to earth, nice guys one could ever hope to meet. A toast to him, and all the other hard-working hoofers!

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Well, I guess by the time this film was released the war was over in Europe. I never saw anything that was in such bad taste (Mel Brooks must have been inspired to make 'The Producers' from this scene). Then again, the anti-Semitic Hays office must have loved it!

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I don't find that moment anti-Semitic, although it's played off-handedly enough that I can understand why some might take it that way. To me, when Tommy (Marc Platt) tells Tolly to leave the broadcast on, saying 'I often dance to that guy' (not sure exact line), he is giving his own little insult to Hitler, belittling him as 'that guy' (not even worth mentioning his name) and turning his impassioned, insane rantings into just something to tap over (or step on, if you will). Similarly to Mel Brooks, Spike Jones and many others, he's deflating some of Hitler's power with humor (or an attempt at it) and 'lowly' dance, something he knows would infuriate der Führer. It's in that genre of satiric, often very 'black' humor that is a common coping mechanism for people living through and trying to fight evil. Mel Brooks has spoken about how he and other soldiers (particularly Jewish ones) used that kind of stuff to keep going during WW II.

I would agree that this moment is odd to the point of being uncomfortable (which may well have been intended); for me it kind of muddies the delight and brilliance of the whole dance sequence, as it teeters into and ends with this very odd section. Tommy's performance isn't clearly humorous (as, for instance, Chaplin's in THE GREAT DICTATOR), and (if I'm recalling correctly) he wears a look of serious concentration as he moves through jagged military poses. Strange, indeed, but I think intended as an expression of Tommy's disdain and disgust for Hitler, with some anger beginning to color his dance, which had been so joyful only moments before. I need to watch it again and think further. I certainly understand why Geller and Goldfine chose to cut before the Hitler section, when excerpting this in the documentary BALLET RUSSES--it really changes the feeling (again, probably intentional).

Besides all that, there is the fact that the two main writers on this movie, Abem Finkel and Lesser Samuels, were both of Jewish heritage. Let's face it, any reference to Hitler is likely to be loaded in all kinds of ways, and this odd movie, with its unaccustomed darkness in a light musical of its time, presents a weird example of that in this dance section.

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After seeing that stellar dance sequence, I couldn't help but be amazed by how great he was, especially for being the only person to ever dance to Hitler's voice.


"Why do you find it so hard to believe?"
"Why do you find it so easy?"
"It's never BEEN easy!"

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