The Pope and the Producer
Thoughts on the first American pope, Robert Prevost, and Fred Astaire
The first American pope was elected this week by cardinals at the Vatican in Rome. Chicago priest Robert Prevost also became the world’s first pope born in Chicago. Pope Leo the 14th is 69 years old. Having recently written a short story (“Sesame Flanagan”) which debuted in Classic Chicago magazine in which the title character appeals to the pope for justice—and is ex-communicated—I appreciate the irony. The Catholic Church’s new Pope Leo, who reportedly once allowed a priest accused of abuse to be re-assigned near a school, regards being gay as a “lifestyle” which it is not.
I do not take the pope seriously in philosophy. What can one make of the pope? That’s up to the individual. This former Catholic, an atheist as an Objectivist, acknowledges the power of the papacy. The controversial church remains a powerful and influential institutional religion which affects hundreds of millions of people. I’ve visited Rome. I’ve toured Michelangelo’s stunning Sistine Chapel inside the Vatican. As a child, I received certain sacraments. But this week’s historic election is no reason to let the Vatican’s conclave interfere with a proper recognition of someone who’s superior.
Villanova or Vaudeville
Today is Fred Astaire‘s birthday. That this is unknown—that Mr. Astaire is forgotten, unrecognized, uncelebrated, dishonored and not revered—that his movies and TV shows are obscured represents the rot of American culture. As I’ve written in several articles in Autonomia’s series, Friday with Fred Astaire, this movie star, producer, choreographer, actor, singer and dancer is among the greatest artists in history.
Contrary to the priest who was Robert Prevost, who studied mathematics at Villanova University, Fred Astaire—born in Omaha on this date in 1899—danced and toured with his sister Adele in Vaudeville performance. Fred Astaire never attended college or university. He’s self-taught and self-made. While Prevost went to Peru and became a Peruvian citizen, Fred Astaire starred in Flying Down to Rio, danced the Carioca, combining samba and jazz with Ginger Rogers—romanticizing and popularizing Latin America’s essence—without ever filming in South America.
Fred Astaire eventually retired yet kept working, writing, acting—winning an Oscar for his outstanding performance in The Towering Inferno—showing dramatic range and singing and dancing on television shows, dancing until the age of 76, much older than the new pope’s age right now, and never let up. Fred Astaire died in Los Angeles on June 22, 1987 at the age of 88. The legacy Fred Astaire leaves is breathtaking.
My favorite aspect of Pope Leo’s election is how Chicago’s Catholics responded with humorous depictions of the new pope promoting Old Style beer, the Cubs or other Chicago institutions. The Sun-Times’ front page plays on Chicago‘s uniquely unpretentious subculture, too, and this affords a lightness the world needs right now. So it’s fine that someone’s math and physics teacher at St. Rita of Cascia High School in Chicago became pope.
This week, though, and particularly today, remember that going from teaching math’s logic and facts of physics to becoming an Augustinian priest and top Catholic mystic is not progress. And that achieving an air of lightness, marvel and joy in dance—in movies which can be watched, studied, judged, enjoyed and honored for centuries to come—is the better show of true valor, beauty and grace. Let there be no mistake about who’s pope and who’s the producer and know that wisdom lies in knowing the difference.
Pope Leo’s the 267th pope. There’s only one Fred Astaire. No doubt in my mind which one’s making the world what it can and ought to be.
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Movies: Conclave
This movie is a microcosm of civilized humanity. In fact, the word humanity is perfectly used in Conclave. The movie’s been adapted by Peter Straughan (who adapted John Le Carre’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy for film) from the 2016 novel of the same name by Robert Harris. It’s directed by Edward Berger, who’s known for directing a
Friday with Fred Astaire
Billed as Irving Berlin’s Easter Parade, this 1948 movie pairs Judy Garland with Fred Astaire for the first, last and only time on screen. It’s fabulous in every frame, whether watching on Easter Sunday, springtime or anytime. There’s not a whiff of religion. The plot—thin as ever, as in most Fred Astaire pictures—begins in earnest when Judy Garland’s ingenue character, a chorus girl, auditions for Fred Astaire‘s show-stopping act on Easter Sunday. The joie de vivre of a secular Easter ethos of joy, fertility and springtime comes through. It’s right there in the first line of dialogue. Fred Astaire’s character, Don (originally conceived for Gene Kelly, who injured an ankle during rehearsal), cheerfully walks along an avenue in New York City, greeting a stranger with: “Happy Easter.” Soon, everyone’s exchanging the simple greeting in the city.
Friday with Fred Astaire
Think back to years ago, before war for altruism became official U.S. foreign policy, before inflation and the Biden presidency—before pandemic panic and lockdown—before Trump, 2008’s financial crash, Obama and Black Tuesday. Royal Wedding with Jane Powell and Fred Astaire takes you to a lovelier time and place. Lightness makes the 1951 movie a treasure in time.
Friday with Fred Astaire
Ghost Story is gruesome. The all-star cast, especially Fred Astaire in his final film role as the closest the movie has to a hero or protagonist, enhances the horror movie’s mysterious, cautionary theme.
Friday with Fred Astaire
Stanley Kramer’s On the Beach co-starring Ava Gardner, Gregory Peck, pre-Norman Bates (in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho) Anthony Perkins and, of course, Fred Astaire in a rare, dramatic, non-dancing role, is based upon the haunting novel by Nevil Shute. It’s a novel I recommend reading, though it doesn’t rank high among Nevil Shute’s most devoted readers.
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Fred Astaire as an American Flying Tiger ace during World War 2 is the appeal of the underappreciated The Sky’s the Limit. The set-up is the point of the picture, which was apparently lost on critics including the New York Times’s critic Bosley Crowther, who dismissed this movie. That’s too bad because it’s delightful despite the challenge of an age difference between Fred Astaire and his leading lady, Joan Leslie, who was 17 years old during filming.
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Fred Astaire narrates a stop motion Easter movie in 1977’s The Easter Bunny is Comin’ to Town. The film for television is entertaining in spite of its flaws. Beginning with a mock news report, and borrowing characters and stop motion puppetry from the earlier 1970 TV hit
Friday with Fred Astaire
Later in his motion picture musical career, Fred Astaire made a movie with a young French actress and ballet dancer. I watched Daddy Long Legs for the first time. I find it perfectly charming. Apparently, the film has a mixed or bad reputation among predominant critics. Unsurprisingly, I reached the opposite conclusion.