On 04.18.11 , In International News , by Arthur Murray
* In the film The Sky’s the Limit (1943), when Fred Astaire and Joan Leslie finish a dance number, Joan asks him “Where did you learn to dance like that?” and Astaire answers “Arthur Murray”.
* The Murray name and franchise were featured in the 1942 hit song “Arthur Murray Taught Me Dancing in a Hurry”, written by Johnny Mercer and Victor Schertzinger.
* Hal Borne and His Orchestra recorded the Mercer-Schertzing song in a Soundie released May 25, 1942 with the Three Murtah Sisters.[5] “The tallest” of the sisters satirizes the tune by doing the rumba as crudely as possible, first in her room, then on the floor with a male partner.[6]
* In 1946, Desi Arnaz starred in the film Cuban Pete, and recorded a song of the same name, featuring the lyric, “Cuban Pete doesn’t teach you in a hurry like Arthur Murray/You’re now in Havana, and there’s always mañana”.
* In the I Love Lucy episode “Little Ricky Gets a Dog”, (1957) Lucy tells Ricky that she is receiving Mexican hat dancing lessons from Arthur Murray.
* Arthur Murray is mentioned in the 1953 Frank Loesser song “Just Another Polka”: “She’s got me dancing like I never thought I could,/Oh Arthur Murray never had it so good.”
* In the 1954 Mark Robson directed film, Phffft! starring Jack Lemmon, Judy Holliday, and Kim Novak, Jack Lemmon’s character (Robert Tracey) is seen walking into an Arthur Murray Dance Studio in New York to work on his Rumba with teacher Merry Anders. A classic dance scene in the movie follows when both Lemmon and Holliday (Nina Tracey) do a rumba and mambo at a nightclub. Later in the film, Lemmon reviews some cancelled checks that Holliday wrote including: “…thirty-nine dollars and forty cents to Arthur Murray Dance Studio?”
* In 1957 Buddy Holly and The Crickets performed a live show at the Arthur Murray Dance Party consisting of “That’ll Be the Day” and “Peggy Sue” this is the only known live footage of Buddy Holly in his short lifetime.
* In the 1960 Billy Wilder film The Apartment starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley Maclaine, Jack Lemmon’s character (C.C.”Bud” Baxter) makes two references to Arthur Murray. Bud tells Fran (Shirley Maclaine) that he’s been taking lessons at Arthur Murray and later on he introduces himself to Margie (Hope Holiday) by replying to her query that she doesn’t know him at all by stating: “Permit me—C.C. Baxter—junior executive, Arthur Murray graduate, lover”.
* In a dream sequence, “Arthur Murrayrock” seeks help learning Fred’s “Frantic” dance in the Flintstones episode “Shinrock-a-Go-Go.”
* Arthur Murray is mentioned in the song “Tear-stained Letter” by Richard Thompson. The song appears on Thompson’s 1983 album Hand of Kindness.
* In an episode of Sanford and Son, when asked to dance, Fred says “I’ve been told I can’t dance.” The young lady says, “Aww, arthritis?”, to which Fred responds, “No, Arthur Murray.”
* In the 1987 film Dirty Dancing, Johnny tells Baby that he received his training at the Arthur Murray studios.
* A song entitled Arthur Murray appears on the 1988 Vic Chesnutt album The Salesman and Bernadette.
* In the 1995 film The American President, when Sydney Ellen Wade remarks to the President while dancing “I don’t know how you do it”, the President replies, “It’s Arthur Murray. Six lessons.”
* Arthur Murray is mentioned in the song “Would You Like to Learn to Dance?” by Steve Goodman in 1978. “We can draw the Arthur Murray patterns right here on the floor.”
* Arthur Murray is mentioned in the song “Whadda Ya Know, We’ve Got a Show” from the 1961 British movie The Young Ones starring Cliff Richard….Mr. Arthur Murray we can use you in a hurry.”
* Arthur Murray is mentioned in The West Wing episode “He Shall, from Time to Time…” in a conversation between a congressman and Toby Ziegler. The Congressman says, “Personally, I don’t know what to say to people who argue that the N.E.A. is there to support art that nobody wants to pay for in the first place… Arthur Murray didn’t need the N.E.A. to write Death of a Salesman.” Toby corrects him by saying, “Arthur Murray taught ballroom dance, and Arthur Miller wrote Death of a Salesman.”
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