Fred Astaire wartime drama "The Sky's the Limit" (1943), in which he introduced Arlen and Mercer's "One for My Baby" while dancing on a bar counter in a dark and troubled routine. This film, which was choreographed by Astaire alone and achieved modest box office success, represented an important departure for Astaire from his usual charming happy-go-lucky screen persona, and confused contemporary critics. His next partner, Lucille Bremer, was featured in two lavish vehicles, both directed by Vincente Minnelli: the fantasy "Yolanda and the Thief", which featured an avant-garde surrealistic ballet, and the musical revue "Ziegfeld Follies" (1946), which featured a memorable
Fred Astaire 1960, and 1968, each featuring Barrie Chase, with whom Astaire enjoyed a renewed period of dance creativity. The first of these programs, 1958's "An Evening with Fred Astaire", won nine Emmy Awards, including "Best Single Performance by an Actor" and "Most Outstanding Single Program of the Year." It was also noteworthy for being the first major broadcast to be prerecorded on color videotape and has recently been restored. The restoration won a technical Emmy in 1988 for Ed Reitan, Don Kent, and Dan Einstein, who restored the original videotape, transferring its contents to a modern format and filling in gaps