On the Fact that Fred Astaire Was 23 Years Older than Judy Garland, 24 Years Older than Ann Miller, and Not Particularly Handsome and Yet We Are Led to Think that He Was Capable of Snaring Both of These Young Ladies (as He Apparently Did In "Easter Parade")

   This of course isn't a new thing. Older actors from the studio era frequently got matched up with younger women (Gene Kelly with Debbie Reynolds, Bob Hope with Hedy Lamarr, Louie Nye with Jill St. John, Cary Grant with Eva Marie Saint, Van Heflin with Arlene Dahl, Gary Cooper with Grace Kelly, etc.). I just got a bit of a chuckle with ole Freddy getting a double shot of cradle-robbing that's all.

    Right before sending this missive to press I remembered an even radder example of this type of casting. In 1957 a 58 year-old James Cagney got to star with Jane Greer AND Dorothy Malone (both of whom were radiant and just 33) in the film, "Man of a Thousand Faces", a motion-picture that I've yet to indulge in but will in the not too distant future. I guarantee.