From The Fighting Seabees (1944). I love this scene so much. When does John Wayne ever dance, let alone jitterbug? I love it, too, because he is not the “leader” of the dance. She is. In jitterbug, the male has to “lead” – that’s the whole point – because the job of the man in jitterbug is to throw the woman around, provide resistance in his arms so that she can snap back to him, and be there when she comes down from flipping over his back or whatever. You can’t do it any other way, it’s part of the job of the dance-form. The equal balance of men and women, both with jobs to do in order to make it come across. A woman dancing with a man who doesn’t know how to lead looks awkward, even if she’s a good dancer. But a man who knows how to lead? Even if the woman dancing with him CAN’T dance, she ends up looking like a million bucks. It’s amazing how it works. It’s up to the man in jitterbug. Nothing happens without the strong lead. So here: He doesn’t know what to do, she gets him to do what she needs him to do (“Pull!!”) so that she can then be thrown around. He has no idea what’s happening. He’s just trying to do what she wants. It’s hilarious.
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Sheila Oh how sweet he is and hilarious yes! His awkwardness and stiffness is so endearing you just want to hug him. I watched it with a big grin and laughing out loud. I didn’t really notice the girl too much, had to watch it again to see she’s very good, but really I just watched Wayne again. Love what you say about dancing the Jitterbug, which I know nothing about, Wayne certainly did the job here and just kills it. I obviously adore him!
Isn’t it great! He has no idea what he’s doing but he obeys her commands. I love it! It’s fun to see him let loose and have fun!
I loved this! My favorite part is when she says “Pull!” and he swings her almost halfway across the dance floor. I can imagine how strong he must have been…yes, I am getting a bit swoony!
I know I must have seen this movie, but it has been a while. Thanks for sharing this!
I love it when she tells him to “Pull” and he does. So funny!!