In Royal Wedding (1951), Fred Astaire plays Tom Bowen, a Broadway dancer who, with his sister Ellen, played by Jane Powell, takes a show to London during the time of the royal wedding. Directed by Stanley Donen, the musical follows Tom as he falls for Anne Ashmond, played by Sarah Churchill, a dancer with her own ambitions.
Royal Wedding is famous for Astaire’s dance on the ceiling, in which he dances up the walls and across the ceiling of a hotel room, a trick achieved with a rotating set. It is a perfect example of Astaire’s inventiveness, and the film remains a favourite for its lightness and its dancing.
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