Miss Vera-Ellen was the most versatile dancer that I have ever had the pleasure of seeing onscreen. She could get up on her toes for the ballet sequences and hold her own splendidly. Just look at the "Slaughter On 10th Avenue Ballet" from Words & Music (1948) or the "A Day In New York Ballet" from On The Town (1949). As for jazz and tap, well, what else I can I say but this: she was sensational. When she tapped her feet moved at lightning speed, but the rest of her body was steady and balanced. Graceful, lithe, and always sparkling in any scene, Vera-Ellen brought something to her movies that is hard to find in any others.
I don't know why she's posing with a shovel.
Sadly, her career was just taking off when musicals began to fade out of style. Maybe she would have continued acting if her life hadn't been so tragic. Her only child died while still an infant, both of her marriages ended in divorce, and Vera-Ellen herself suffered from anorexia and severe arthritis (in later life). All these things may have contributed to her early retirement and reclusive lifestyle in later years.
Whatever happened to bring about the end of her career, the fact still remains that she danced in a class all her own.
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