[on modern movies] They tend to overdo the vulgarity. I`m not embarrassed by the language itself, but it`s embarrassing to be listening to it, sitting next to perfect strangers.

[on tap dancer Eleanor Powell] Eleanor was an out-and-out dancer. She danced like a man. She slammed the floor and did it great and that`s fine and suddenly she`s on her toes in the ballet sequence -- it did look kinda funny.

Dancing is a sweat job.

[on his screen partnership with Ginger Rogers] Ginger was brilliantly effective. She made everything work for her. Actually, she made things very fine for the both of us and she deserves most of the credit for our success.

I have no desire to prove anything by dancing. I have never used it as an outlet or a means of expressing myself. I just dance. I just put my feet in the air and move them around.

Of course, [Ginger Rogers] was able to accomplish sex through dance. We told more through our movements instead of the big clinch. We did it all in the dance.

The higher up you go, the more mistakes you are allowed. Right at the top, if you make enough of them, it`s considered to be your style.

This search for what you want is like tracking something that doesn`t want to be tracked. It takes time to get a dance right, to create something memorable.

Disco is just jitterbug.

I don`t want to be the oldest performer in captivity . . . I don`t want to look like a little old man dancing out there.

I just put my feet in the air and move them around.

I have no desire to prove anything by it [dancing]. I never used it as an outlet or as a means of expressing myself. I just dance.

[on John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever (1977)] He`s not a dancer. What he did in those dance scenes was very attractive but he is basically not a dancer. I was dancing like that years ago, you know. Disco is just jitterbug.

[To Jack Lemmon] "You`re at a level where you can only afford one mistake. The higher up you go, the more mistakes you`re allowed. Right at the top, if you make enough of them, it`s considered to be your style".

[on Gene Kelly] You know, that Kelly, he`s just terrific. That`s all there is to it. He dances like crazy, he directs like crazy. I adore this guy. I really am crazy about his work.

[on actress/dancer Leslie Caron] A ballet dancer really, but technically good. I called her the sergeant major.

[on Judy Garland] She was just simply wonderful. She danced beautifully, learned beautifully. She was very adept at whatever she did. Really in fine form. We were all set to do another picture together, but she got sick and that was the end of that.

[on Rita Hayworth] A great dancer but a different style to me.

[on tap dancer Eleanor Powell] Eleanor was an out and out dancer. She danced like a man. She slammed the floor and did it great and that`s fine and suddenly she`s on her toes in the ballet sequence -- it did look kinda funny.

[on Ginger Rogers] She may have faked a little, but we knew we had a good thing going.

[on John Travolta in "Saturday Night Fever"] He`s not a dancer. What he did in those dance scenes was very attractive but he is basically not a dancer. I was dancing like that years ago, you know. Disco is just jitterbug.

"I don`t want to be the oldest performer in captivity... I don`t want to look like a little old man dancing out there."

"I suppose I made it look easy, but gee whiz, did I work and worry."

"It`s nice that all the composers have said that nobody interprets a lyric like Fred Astaire. But when it comes to selling records I was never worth anything particularly except as a collector`s item."

"The hardest job kids face today is learning good manners without seeing any."

"People think I was born in top hat and tails."

"I had some ballet training but didn`t like it. It was like a game to me."

"Of course, Ginger was able to accomplish sex through dance. We told more through our movements instead of the big clinch. We did it all in the dance."

On modern movies: "They tend to overdo the vulgarity. I`m not embarrassed by the language itself, but it`s embarrassing to be listening to it, sitting next to perfect strangers."

"I have never had anything that I can remember in the business - and that includes all the movies and the stage shows and everything - that I didn`t enjoy. I didn`t like some of the small-time vaudeville, because we weren`t going on and getting better. Aside from that, I didn`t dislike anything."