Fred's next movie was M-G-M's Broadway Melody of 1940. It flanked Astaire with fellow-dancers Eleanor Powell and George Murphy. As a partner, Powell was too much of a soloist and the London Daily Express critic voiced what many felt, "There's no Ginger. Eleanor Powell is his dance partner. She's a nice, good-tempered girl from out of town who keeps superb time. But she looks so strong and confident on her own, you just don't care whether Fred gets her or not." 

Cole Porter wrote the film's original score but it was an old song, "Begin the Beguine," that received the most attention and captured all of the praise. In it, Astaire and Powell performed a show-stopping challenge tap dance that still thrills when viewed today.

Knowing Rita's father, Eduardo Cansino, since their days together in vaudeville, made Fred's upcoming Film with her. You'll Never Get Rich, something to anticipate. Although basically trained in classic Spanish dance, her fresh, sensuous beauty was complimented by Astaire's elegance and maturity. Cole Porter supplied the score and the Armed Forces background made the film especially timely for World War II audiences. The critics raved about his new partner, and audiences formed the old familiar lines around the block. Fred's post-Ginger slump was over.

As he began Holiday Inn with Bing Crosby, Phyllis announced that she was expecting a second baby the following March. Fred hoped for a girl.

Holiday Inn turned out to be another triumph. With a story line suggested by lrving Berlin to frame fourteen of his songs, the movie introduced the unique chemistry between Astaire and Crosby, gave Astaire the impetus to create a sensational dance with firecrackers "White Christmas." Dancing with two newcomers, Marjorie Reynolds and Virginia Dale, Astaire's "Partner" in this film was truly Crosby. Comparisons to Ginger Rogers were impossible.

Fred had wanted to make a tour of Europe to entertain the troops stationed there, but with only a month before rehearsals would start at Columbia for his next Rita Hayworth co-starrer, he instead made military camp appearances within the United States. Holiday Inn was released and was a box office and critical success and on March 28, 1942, Phyllis Ava (simply called "Ah-va"), the daughter he had hoped for, was born. The only negative aspects of his life were now mentions by critics of his age in generally glowing reviews.

Joining Hungarian actress-singer Ilona Massey and comedian Hugh Herbert on a War Bond tour of Ohio, Astaire put his patriotic efforts into raising money by selling bonds. Making twenty to thirty appearances each day within the two-week tour, the film stars raised much-needed funds.

The camp shows and War Bond appearances continued and he began filming The Sky's the Limit, with another young but extremely promising actress, Joan Leslie. About to reach eighteen, Leslie had to attend school on the set, which made Astaire a bit uncomfortable. "Gosh, the older I get, the younger they get," he said. It was becoming more difficult for the screenwriters to fashion a love story which would be acceptable to audiences. Passionately physical love scenes had never been an issue with Astaire, but now his on-screen persona was moving more toward "Mentor" and away from desirable man-about-town. Despite an excellent score from Johnny Mercer and Harold Arlen, and one classic routine to "One for My Baby," The Sky's the Limit was burdened with unrealistic expectations. The public wanted Astaire in a light hearted musical comedy, not a serious, thought-provoking wartime drama with musical numbers. 

At this juncture, Arthur Freed, the M-G-M producer who was responsible for some of the best musical films of the 1940s and 1950s, contacted Astaire and asked him to sign a term contract. Fred's first assignment was to be Ziegfeld Follies but, as it was postponed, he joined the Hollywood Bond Cavalcade, a coast-to-coast train tour featuring almost twenty major stars (among them Judy Garland, James Cagney, Mickey Rooney and Greer Garson) who performed in large auditoriums and stadiums to raise more money for War Bonds. As Phyllis was handling all of their business affairs, Fred talked with her about fulfilling a dream and buying some thoroughbred horses. They purchased two horses. Triplicate and Fag, and a ranch in Escondido, California, and the Astaires were in the racing business. The much-delayed Ziegfeld Follies finally went into production on March 1, 1944 (but not released until 1946), and Astaire was delighted to be on the M-G-M lot and Finally making his first movie in colour.

Rehearsals began and Fred met Lucille Bremer, an accomplished dancer from Broadway, who would dance with him in two spectacular narrative sequences, "This Heart of Mine" and "Limehouse Blues." With Vincente Minnelli directing the sequences and Robert Alton doing the dance direction, the innovative dance dramas were swathed in rich colors and elegantly staged. Fred composed, choreographed and shot "If Swing Goes, I Go Too" with a male chorus (which would eventually be deleted from the film) and also got the opportunity to sing and dance with Gene Kelly to "The Babbitt and the Bromide," a number he and Adele had done in Funny Face. As Kelly's career began to rise, the Hollywood Gossip factory tried to start a rivalry between the two men, but privately they admired each other and realized that their styles were so completely different that comparisons were fruitless. When the film was finally released in 1946, one critic wrote, "But the dance act for the archives is The Babbitt and the Bromide,' the George and Ira Gershwin song to which Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly trade taps and double-takes to a photo finish. It will be a long time before the screen sees its likes again."

Upon arrival in London, Fred's reunion with Delly was an emotional one. He then moved across Europe for six weeks from August to September, 1944: England, France and the Netherlands, performing for the personnel in the First Army Division. At times, he would join up with other celebrities such as Bing Crosby, Dinah Shore, Broderick Crawford and the English "Fred Astaire," Jack Buchanan, for major shows. He entertained the homesick and wounded men in camps, hospitals, kitchens and vacant theaters. The experiences he had drove him even harder to bring a touch of home to the troops. When he returned home to his family, he and Phyllis decided to sell the ranch in Escondido and buy a larger one for their horses, adding brood mares and enlarging their stock. Horses were now a major part of their lives and energies. The new Blue Valley Ranch in Chatsworth was only an hour's drive from their home so they could visit on weekends and Holidays with the children sharing the (then) open land.

For his next film, he was re-teamed again with Lucille Bremer in Yolanda and the Thief, a fanciful tale directed by Vincente Minnelli and incorporating inventive dance sequences co- created and staged by Eugene Loring, a promising new choreographer from contemporary ballet. As Agnes DeMille had recently created a sensation with her dream ballet in the revolutionary stage musical Oklahoma!, Astaire and Loring were encouraged to stretch the Film musical with a haunting psycho-drama in dance. Unfortunately, most audiences and critics did not appreciate the efforts and the film was a financial loss.

Paramount suddenly called with an offer for Astaire to re-team with Bing Crosby in another lrving Berlin tune-laden film. Blue Skies. The movie had begun filming with Paul Draper, an interpretive tap-dancer who had gained popularity in nightclubs and was being given a chance to get a film career. Unfortunately, Draper allowed his contempt for the female lead, Joan Caulfield, to show. He complained about her dance ability and his anxiety caused him to stutter, a speech impediment which proved to be the "last straw" for Crosbv. Draper was fired and Fred was offered the job on a Friday and arrived for work the following Monday.

Letters of protest arrived by the thousands. The press and the public could not believe that they would be deprived of seeing the debonair star on the silver screen again. Agent Leiand Hayward managed to get Astaire out of his M-G-M contract, with the stipulation that should he return to films, M-G-M would get first call. Astaire agreed, since he believed that would never happen. He looked forward to the challenges of this new "retirement" life. The filming of Blue Skies went smoothly. He danced with two new female co-stars, Caulfield and Olga San Juan, and the on-screen chemistry with Crosby worked again. For his solo, "Puttin' on the Ritz," Astaire created a show-stopping number dancing with a chorus of eight duplications of himself. The number was filmed the final week of October, 1946, and dubbed as "Astaire's Last Dance" by the press in attendance.

The idea for a chain of Fred Astaire Dance Studios had been in his head for awhile and now seemed the time to inaugurate them. With business partner Charles Casanave, he began to plan for a new career running his Dance Studios.

But fortunately, Astaire's retirement was not long-lasting. Dancing around the house to a Lionel Hampton record, he realized that he had not lost the urge to express himself. He allowed himself to imagine going back to work and the energy must have helped the chain of events which would bring him back to the screen.

On to The Return...