Editing Fred Astaire (section)

===1940–1947: ''Holiday Inn'', early retirement ===
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[[File:BroadwayMelody1940.JPG|thumb|With [[Eleanor Powell]] in ''Broadway Melody of 1940'']]
Astaire left RKO in 1939 to freelance and pursue new film opportunities, with mixed though generally successful outcomes. Throughout this period, Astaire continued to value the input of choreographic collaborators. Unlike the 1930s when he worked almost exclusively with Hermes Pan, he tapped the talents of other choreographers to innovate continually. His first post-Ginger dance partner was the redoubtable [[Eleanor Powell]], considered the most exceptional female tap-dancer of her generation. They starred in ''[[Broadway Melody of 1940]]'', in which they performed a celebrated extended dance routine to Cole Porter's "[[Begin the Beguine]]". In his autobiography ''Steps in Time'', Astaire remarked, "She 'put 'em down' like a man, no ricky-ticky-sissy stuff with Ellie. She really knocked out a tap dance in a class by herself."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Astaire|first=Fred|title=Steps in Time|publisher=Harper & Brothers|year=1959|isbn=9780306801419|location=New York|pages=242}}</ref>

He played alongside [[Bing Crosby]] in ''[[Holiday Inn (film)|Holiday Inn]]'' (1942) and later ''[[Blue Skies (1946 film)|Blue Skies]]'' (1946). But, in spite of the enormous financial success of both, he was reportedly dissatisfied with roles where he lost the girl to Crosby. The former film is memorable for his virtuoso solo dance to "Let's Say it with Firecrackers". The latter film featured "[[Puttin' On the Ritz]]", an innovative song-and-dance routine indelibly associated with him. Other partners during this period included [[Paulette Goddard]] in ''[[Second Chorus]]'' (1940), in which he dance-conducted the [[Artie Shaw]] orchestra.{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}}

[[File:Astaire-Hayworth-dancing.JPG|thumb|left|With [[Rita Hayworth]] in ''You Were Never Lovelier'' (1942)]]
He made two pictures with [[Rita Hayworth]]. The first film, ''[[You'll Never Get Rich]]'' (1941), catapulted Hayworth to stardom. In the movie, Astaire integrated for the third time Latin American dance idioms into his style (the first being with Ginger Rogers in "The Carioca" number from ''Flying Down to Rio'' (1933) and the second, again with Rogers, was the "Dengozo" dance from ''The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle'' (1939). His second film with Hayworth, ''[[You Were Never Lovelier]]'' (1942), was equally successful. It featured a duet to Kern's "[[I'm Old Fashioned]]", which became the centerpiece of [[Jerome Robbins]]'s 1983 [[New York City Ballet]] tribute to Astaire.

He next appeared opposite the seventeen-year-old [[Joan Leslie]] in the wartime comedy ''[[The Sky's the Limit (1943 film)|The Sky's the Limit]]'' (1943). In it, he introduced [[Harold Arlen|Arlen]] and [[Johnny Mercer|Mercer]]'s "[[One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)|One for My Baby]]" while dancing on a bar counter in a dark and troubled routine. Astaire choreographed this film alone and achieved modest box office success. It represented a notable departure for Astaire from his usual charming, happy-go-lucky screen persona, and confused contemporary critics.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Tick |first1=Judith |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GzGQSt2L_osC&dq=The+Sky's+the+Limit+(1943)+astaire+critics&pg=PA525 |title=Music in the USA: A Documentary Companion |last2=Beaudoin |first2=Paul |date=2008-09-26 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-803203-8 |language=en}}</ref>

His next partner, [[Lucille Bremer]], was featured in two lavish vehicles, both directed by [[Vincente Minnelli]]. The fantasy ''[[Yolanda and the Thief]]'' (1945) featured an avant-garde surrealistic ballet. In the musical revue ''[[Ziegfeld Follies (film)|Ziegfeld Follies]]'' (1945), Astaire danced with [[Gene Kelly]] to the Gershwin song "The Babbit and the Bromide", a song Astaire had introduced with his sister Adele back in 1927. While ''Follies'' was a hit, ''Yolanda'' bombed at the box office.<ref>{{cite web |title=Yolanda and the Thief |url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/24667 |website=AFI Catalog |access-date=22 November 2024}}</ref>

Always insecure and believing his career was beginning to falter, Astaire surprised his audiences by announcing his retirement during the production of his next film, ''Blue Skies'' (1946). He nominated "Puttin' on the Ritz" as his farewell dance. He then concentrated on his horse-racing interests and in 1947 founded the [[Fred Astaire Dance Studios]], which he subsequently sold in 1966.{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}}