Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz;^[1] May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American actor, dancer, singer, choreographer, and television presenter. He is widely considered the most influential dancer in the history of film.^[2]

His stage and subsequent film and television careers spanned a total of 76 years. He starred in more than 10 Broadway and West End musicals, made 31 musical films, four television specials, and issued numerous recordings. As a dancer, his most outstanding traits were his uncanny sense of rhythm, perfectionism, and innovation. His most memorable dancing partnership was with Ginger Rogers, with whom he co-starred in a series of ten Hollywood musicals, including Top Hat (1935), Swing Time (1936), and Shall We Dance (1937).^[3] Among his other most notable films where Astaire gained popularity and took the genre of tap dancing to a new level include Holiday Inn (1944), Easter Parade (1948), The Band Wagon (1953), Funny Face (1957), and Silk Stockings (1957). The American Film Institute named Astaire the fifth-greatest male star of Classic Hollywood cinema.

Silk Stockings is a 1957 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical film adaptation, filmed in CinemaScope, of the 1955 stage musical of the same name,^[2] which itself was an adaptation of the film Ninotchka (1939).^[3] Silk Stockings was directed by Rouben Mamoulian, produced by Arthur Freed, and starred Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse. The supporting cast includes Janis Paige, Peter Lorre, Jules Munshin, and George Tobias repeating his Broadway role.^[4][5] It was choreographed by Eugene Loring and Hermes Pan.

It received Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Film and Best Actress (Charisse) in the Comedy/Musical category.^[6]

The score was embellished with the new song "The Ritz Roll and Rock", a parody of then-emerging rock and roll. The number ends with Astaire symbolically smashing his top hat, considered one of his trademarks, signaling his retirement from movie musicals, which he announced following the film's release.