Astaire

Astaire was a Yahoo group that had moderated membership with 401 members at its close. The group was active between 1998-2010 and received up to 500 messages a month. Activity decreased until after 2015 it was essentially dead. Although the list was for Fred Astaire, discussions often involved various other co-stars and films of his era. The final discussion in 2018 revolved around changes to public radio, spurred by a petition to save a local jazz music show. 
==Sample Posts==
June 16, 1998
Daddy Long Legs is a pretty good one, too.
Hey have any of you heard of WebRing (http://www.webring.org)? Where you
start a ring of websites all based on the same subject. There's a Cary
Grant webring and one for Audrey Hepburn, etc. I was reading up on how
to start one and the instructions say that the ringmaster should know a
lot about HTML. I thought having a Fred Astaire webring would be a great
idea, but since I just started learning about HTML stuff I wouldn't be a
good candidate for ringmaster. So are any of you really HTML literate
and be willing to put a webring together? The rings need at least 5
websites to become an official one. If anyone is interested in putting
together a Fred webring check out the WebRing site.
June 17, 1998
> I have to say, at the risk of upsetting some people (including Jay), that
> I totally disagree. I found the Pleasure of His Company to be painful
> and almost revolting to watch. First there is the not even veiled hint at
> incest that I found very troubling. Also, I have rarely come upon a more
> selfish character than the one Astaire plays in this movie, as he is
> willing to sacrifice (or manipulate) even his own daughter's happiness for
> his own aims. And that this selfish "playboy" who couldn't be bothered to keep
> up contact with his daughter over the years comes out somehow as a
> sympathetic character is almost laughable to me. We're supposed to feel
> sorry for him, he is all alone, blah, blah. Please. Much as I adore Astaire, I
> don't think I could ever stand to watch this movie again.
>
> I hope I haven't annoyed anyone with this input. This is what discussion
> lists are for, aren't they? I mean, they'd be boring if we all agreed
> about everything.
Patricia and I agree to disagree. The "incest" element might fall to scrutiny,
but it never occurred to me when watching "The Pleasure of His Company."
Depends upon how you define the term. Briefly put, I believe the thrust of the
story is that the daughter is literally swept off her feet by her - yes, selfish
- father, and eventually decides to postpone her marriage (to her
unsophisticated fiance) in order to trot the globe with the father. From my
perspective, it's the story of a man trying to recapture his youth, as well as
reclaim his paternalship, long after he had re-directed it towards, shall we
say, "self-indulgence." I regard Astaire's portrayal as an intriguing character
study. However, let's not overlook the fact that "Pogo Poole" has a turn of
heart and "beneficently" decides to become a human being again and disuade the
daughter from leaving with him. As far as Fred playing disagreeable characters
goes, I find these portrayals rather intriguing (another great impudent
character is found in the delightful, offbeat "The Sky's The Limit," which has a
profoundly cynical edge to it) and, yes, against type. Proving, I guess that
Astaire truly was an actor worth noting. (And, if you really want to study the
dancer as actor, check out the grim but penetrating "On the Beach.")
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