AKT

Powell's tap style is more graceful and reminiscent of ballroom dance with her sway-back posture and arm positions whereas Keeler has a more traditional tap style with slightly ungainly elbows and knees. I prefer Keeler's style personally; it feels more exuberant to me.

What do you notice about the Lubitsch touch? How do the props, the dialogue, and the staging help you understand the character of Alfred (Maurice Chevalier)? The use of the garter as a through line for the scene is brilliant. The garter presents the challenge at the very beginning and is used a the punch line at the end.

What do you notice about the interaction between the characters in these two scenes? Please give specific examples. The power differential seems to flip. In the canoe scene, MacDonald is barely tolerating Eddy, though his singing opens a **** in her armor. By the end of the scene, she shakes it off and essentially writes him off again. In the saloon scene, MacDonald is the one who is seeking attention/validation and is embarrassed when she notices Eddy. Clearly she cares more about him than she's letting on.

In regard to question #3: Since this is a musical that was made after the motion picture code was enforced, how might you imagine it might have been filmed or scripted differently if it had been pre-code? Give specific examples. The musical number is coy and mildly flirtatious but with definite sexual undertones. Pre-code, I think that would have been played up much more than what we see. On another note, I found it interesting that the maid, while she had a french accent, was confident with the English language and was asked to read the card aloud. It's not often that a character in a subservient position is shown to be more fluent/better educated than the lead.