A bit of joy. Go there, stay there.

November 22, 2024 7:21 AM

Robert Lindsay showing how they do the Lambeth Walk. Performing the song at a Tony awards show, sometimes in the mid 80's.

Quite skillful with that derby hat! There's a glimpse of a young Emma Thompson in here also.

posted by Czjewel (13 comments total)

Lambeth Gardens was closed when i walked over [archbishopofcanterbury]. so, i didn't stay there; i went to Mayfair [wiki]
posted by HearHere at 7:44 AM on November 22

I saw this (though not with Lindsay) in its Broadway run! Fun show, if shamelessly and consciously derivative.

For my money, though, Lambeth Walk isn't its best number. "Song of Hareford," if properly staged, is fall-down funny.
posted by humbug at 7:48 AM on November 22 [1 favorite]

I first heard the Lambeth Walk in a WWII movie - no, not the incredibly lame video of Hitler 'dancing' to it, but about 50 minutes in to 'The Longest Day' when the troops inside a glider are singing it.
posted by Rash at 8:29 AM on November 22

I saw this show as a kid on vacation in NYC. The actors came into the audience in this number, and Bill lay across my lap—along with two other chairs, of course. Equally embarrassing and delightful. I’d never seen it since, so thank you for this …
posted by Countess Elena at 8:48 AM on November 22 [1 favorite]

The provenance of this mood-lifting clip explains why one gentleman on the aisle in the audience bears a striking resemblance to James Earl Jones.
posted by Citizen Cane Juice at 9:53 AM on November 22 [3 favorites]

This production was such a huge success in 1986 (And these are the 1987 'Tony awards). The Playbill gives you a snippet, Frank Rich's NYT review sang Lindsay's praises to the heavens: 'The extraordinary Mr. Lindsay, who makes a nonstop charade of intricate vocal and physical details look relaxed, compels us to cherish his every syllable, wink and step. His subversive timing snares the laugh on each hoary pun, double entendre and malapropism. (Asked if he likes Kipling, Bill typically replies, ''I don't know - I've never kippled.'')' It remains a great classic of Broadway performances.
posted by Augenblick at 9:54 AM on November 22 [1 favorite]

(And here's Robert Lindsay winning the Tony!)
posted by Augenblick at 10:01 AM on November 22

There's a Lambeth Walk neighborhood right by me (in the US). I had no idea of the reference!
posted by Flight Hardware, do not touch at 10:02 AM on November 22

Here's a number done at the Royal Variety show in '84. A duet between Lindsay and Emma Thompson, who I wish had done more musical work on this side of the pond.
posted by the sobsister at 10:13 AM on November 22 [2 favorites]

Y'all who haven't yet seen Lindsay do Moonface Martin in Anything Goes -- see it. Lindsay's a treat. I do warn that there's an entire number in the second act of this show that needs to be cut or replaced because it's based on a slur against the Roma. I recommend skipping it -- or, really, just watch the first act; that's got most of the best Lindsay stuff.
posted by humbug at 10:33 AM on November 22

One of the best spoofs of Adolf Hitler was this 1940s British propaganda film that used sped up and reversed film footage in a herky-jerky way to make Nazi stormtroopers look like they were dancing the Lambeth walk.
posted by jonp72 at 10:36 AM on November 22 [2 favorites]

⬆ Now that's how you fight the fascists! ⬆
posted by chavenet at 11:50 AM on November 22 [2 favorites]

I too saw Lindsay do this on Broadway as a kid. And now I live in London, a stone's throw from Lambeth Walk itself (the street for which the song & dance were named). I walked along it to get my first and second COVID vaccines, admiring the Charlie Chaplin mosaics as I went.
posted by Pallas Athena at 11:55 AM on November 22 [2 favorites]