Oversized box has been cut down and mounted in a white, clamshell keepcase. The tagline at the top on the back has been partially cut-off the edges but the synopsis is fully intact. The cassette has a foil security sticker on the right endcap assuring you of first generation quality. The cassette's top label has a 'rewind' sticker across it's edge.
Pre-viewed for quality and plays fine on my JVC s-vhs deck, everything is nice and clean. Perfect for old school TVs as the image will fill your square screen. Out Of Print (OOP) and no longer being manufactured in any format.
There is a lot of good dancing clips in this movie, including rare silent footage of Isadora Duncan. We see Busby Berkeley's meticulously choreographed dance geometries, the infinite style of Fred Astaire, the brassy joy of Ginger Rogers, the pizazz of Cyd Charisse and Eleanor Powell, a charming duet between Bill "Bojangles" Robinson and Shirley Temple, and a dazzling display by the Nicholas Brothers, who were the inspiration for the dance team played by the Hines brothers in 'Cotton Club'.
The movie is up-to-date, with John Travolta from 'Saturday Night Fever' and footage from break-dance movies, 'Flashdance', and Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'. But perhaps its most pleasing single moment is a little soft-shoe by Jimmy Cagney, who was perhaps not the technical equal of Astaire, but was certainly on the same sublime plane when it came to communicating sheer joy.
What conclusions can be drawn from the movie's survey of sixty years of dancing on screen? One that is sort of obvious and depressing:
Style has gone out of style. New dancers in recent movies are in superb physical shape and do amazing things on the screen, but they do not have the magical personal style of an Astaire or a Kelly.
They're technicians, and they don't really dance together. A lot of them are soloists, or two soloists sharing the same floor. When Astaire and Rogers danced together, they danced TOGETHER. And that is maybe what dancing is finally all about.