Though Vincente Minnelli's 1945 musical Yolanda and the Thief was and is one of Minnelli's, not to mention Fred Astaire's, least popular films, it contains a gem of a musical number that has garnered raves from day one...Coffee Time...
In 1945 no less than Bosley Crowther of The New York Times was impressed: "...a rhythm dance, done to the melody of Mr. Freed's Coffee-Time, puts movement and color to such uses as you seldom behold on screen." More recently, Stuart Klawans, film critic for The Nation, was equally enthusiastic: "Minnelli puts Astaire and Lucille Bremer into the midst of a mad pulsation of dancers in mocha and cafe au lait costumes, accented in yellow and periwinkle blue. The chorus swirls; the camera swirls; the gringo-Latin rhythms shift giddily, as Astaire and Bremer swing in and out of one of the most eccentric visions ever put on screen...Coffee Time is heaven itself, and a warm-up for the 18-minute ballet that Minnelli and Gene Kelly would create in An American in Paris."
The song Coffee Time was a reworking of an earlier tune by composer Harry Warren called Java Junction. His collaborator, producer/songwriter Arthur Freed, then created new lyrics for the updated melody. In the film, the routine begins as a fascinating contrast in rhythms with the orchestra playing in 4/4 time while the dancers dance in 5/4, and evolves into a spellbinding dance number featuring Astaire and Bremer.
The Coffee Time sequence is a visual carnival. Costumer Irene Sharaff developed its stylized combination of costumes and decor. She created coffee-colored outfits for the extras and, to set off the costumes, devised a pattern of rolling black and white lines on the dance floor that formed an optical illusion. With Fred Astaire, choreographer Eugene Loring devised a dance based on slow jazz rhythms. Minnelli's lighting and camera work added the finishing touches. The number goes through various incarnations and ends up a full-blown swing routine.
Watch Coffee Time here:
