Five Questions I Had Watching...Down to Earth
Welcome to a new series here at Box Office Poisons called 'Five Questions I Had Watching...'
In each post, I'm going to explore some of the themes, pop culture references and other burning questions I had watching that particular film. What was the inside story behind that sly reference? What lead to the lead actor's career choices? What was going on in the world at the time? These are all tidbits I'm looking to explore every time I feature a movie here.
So let's kick this off with a Rita Hayworth classic, Down to Earth, featuring Muses, mythology, Heaven and Broadway. Here are Five Questions I Had Watching...Down to Earth!
1. Who Were the Muses?
The Muses were important figures within Greek mythology as they represented the inspiration, knowledge, and implementation of the arts and sciences as they existed in that time. There are understood to be nine Muses and they include:
- Terpsichore, who is the Muse portrayed by Rita Hayworth in Down to Earth. She was the Muse of Dance.
- Clio, the Muse of History
- Thalia, the Muse of Comedy and Pastoral Poetry
- Calliope, the Muse of Epic Poetry
- Erato, the Muse of Love Poetry and Lyric Poetry
- Polyhymnia, the Muse of Sacred Poetry
- Melpomene, the Muse of Tragedy
- Euterpe, the Muse of Flutes and Music
- Urania, the Muse of Astronomy
Each Muse was also represented with an emblem. Terpsichore's emblem is a lyre or a plectrum; the rest of the Muses' emblems represent their art or science (like Clio's book; Calliope's writing tablet; or Urania's globe and compass).
The Muses have been portrayed in various art forms since the ancient times, but on film, Terpsichore has only been portrayed as a character three times: by Rita Hayworth in Down to Earth, by Olivia Newton-John in Xanadu; and as one of the cartoon Muses in Disney's Hercules.
2. Where did Rita Hayworth learn to dance?
Short answer: it was in her DNA to be a dancer. Both of her parents were professional dancers, and she was raised to follow in their footsteps. Her mother, Volga Hayworth, even performed with the Ziegfeld Follies. Her paternal grandfather, Antonio Cansino, popularized the bolero dance.
Rita started dance lessons at the age of four and quickly showed outstanding skill: enough that she and her father started performing in Tijuana, Mexico as a duo. She would later say, "I didn't like it very much...but I didn't have the courage to tell my father, so I began taking the lessons. Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse, that was my girlhood."
Dance was seen as her inroads to Hollywood and it became a family affair. Her father opened a dance studio there and taught actors like James Cagney; and finally, in the mid-'30s, she was spotted dancing at the Caliente Club by Winfield Sheehan, the head of Fox Films, and arranged for Rita (then known as Carmen Cansino) to have a screen test. She was signed to a six-month contract and her name was changed to Rita Cansino, and the rest is history.
Fred Astaire once said of Rita's dance skills: "She learned steps faster than anyone I’d ever known. I’d show her a routine before lunch. She’d be back right after lunch and have it down to perfection. She apparently figured it out in her mind while she was eating." The two starred together in You'll Never Get Rich and (one of my favourites) You Were Never Lovelier.
Just look at how graceful she is!
3. How long does it take to put together a Broadway show?
So there's no clear cut answer here: it can take years, it can take considerably less time. It's all about finding the financial backing (which The Producers shows to great effect) and getting the right cast in place; then doing the workshopping and off-Broadway/out-of-town run/previews before opening on the Great White Way.
Workshopping a play is the chance to work out the script, the musical numbers (if any), the pacing, the setting, and every other part of the show before it's ready to be transferred over into a professional production. Sometimes, the cast used here doesn't transfer over to the Broadway production; it's more about getting the work polished.
But once a show is confirmed Broadway-bound, according to Playbill.com, it's usually about a month or two from the first rehearsal to opening night.
All this talk of putting together a Broadway show reminds me of one of my favourite New Girl quotes:
Jess: Are you insane, Schmidt? I'm not ready. That's like taking a musical from rehearsal straight to Broadway. You gotta workshop it first!
Schmidt: If you are for one second suggesting that I don't know how to open a musical, how dare you!
4. What were the biggest hits on Broadway during the 1947 season?
Some of the more well-known shows that opened on Broadway in 1947, when this movie came out include A Streetcar Named Desire (which would later win Oscars for the original performers Kim Hunter and Karl Malden), Brigadoon, and Finian's Rainbow.
It's also worth noting that the first Tony Awards took place in April 1947 (Down to Earth came out in August that year). The winners included Jose Ferrer for Cyrano de Bergerac (a performance he'd later take to the big screen and win an Oscar for in 1950); Fredric March in Years Ago; Ingrid Bergman in Joan of Lorraine; and Helen Hayes in Happy Birthday.
5. Is Xanadu really a remake of Down to Earth?
Yes, sadly. I've never seen it but I've seen enough of it to know that it's not something I'd ever want to watch, but the basic gist is that Olivia Newton-John, fresh off the success of Grease, plays Terpsichore (or Kira, as she's called in this version), who comes to life after a sketch from an artist...hits the mural of the nine Muses and brings them to life...leading them to roller skate across the world, but not before Olivia Newton-John lays a kiss on the lead character and brings the story into motion.
She then encourages the main character to open the night club/roller disco Xanadu, but cannot stay despite falling in love with him, because she was only sent to inspire. Also, for some reason, Gene Kelly's in this.
Honestly, it just sounds terrible, but it is based on the story of Down to Earth. So there's that...
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