Who's Almost Who In Knickerbocker Village History: Artie Shaw

This is a reach and mostly an excuse just to use this great clip. Artie Shaw was born in 1910 somewhere on the LES, but I don't know where. There is no listing for an Arshawsky (his real name). I found him New Haven in 1920 and he was listed with the name Arthur Arskhawsky and he was 7 not 10 (perhaps the 1910 date is wrong)

from brightlights film

Cole Porter wrote "Begin the Beguine" for the 1935 Broadway show Jubilee. It holds the curious distinction of being the longest popular song ever written. The tune was not really a hit until 1938, when clarinetist Artie Shaw recorded a swing version that swept the nation and can still be heard today.
The number begins in an ultra-languorous manner, with the sensuous and sultry Carmen D'Antonio undulating in harem garb as she sings (actually, she's being dubbed by Lois Hardnett). The camera backs away to reveal a chorus of harem girls, clad in silver costumes and dancing on a set that's all-black except for the occasional silver palm tree.
As D'Antonio/Hardnett works her way through the tempestuous lyrics ("What rapture divine, what passion serene", Powell makes her entrance, also wearing a harem outfit, including a bikini top that shows us just how small her bust was, something we really didn't need to know.
Powell does a number of high kicks to demonstrate her technique and then dances away from the chorus until she's alone on a bare stage made entirely of black glass, including the floor. A curious white shape appears behind her, the shrunken figure of a man. All of a sudden Fred enters stage left. It was his reflection that we were seeing.
Like Eleanor, Fred is seriously costume-challenged, wearing a Spanish outfit that features both sequins and tight pants, two things he definitely did not need. It's frustrating that they're both poorly dressed, because the number is excellent, essentially a near-endless series of turns snapped off with perfect precision. There's no real development or story, just the pleasure of watching two great performers executing an impossibly demanding routine without the slightest hesitation or error.
As they finally click off stage we think Broadway Melody has shot its bolt, but in fact things are just getting started. The Music Maids, four bouncing babes clad in Scottish plaid, come strutting out to usher in the swing version of the Beguine.
The music here is amazingly good, a clarinet and vibraphone lead that draws its inspiration from Benny Goodman rather than Artie Shaw. The girls get our motor running, and then out come Fred and Eleanor once more. They're changed costumes, fortunately (white on white to go with the all-black stage), and they're ready to push tap as far as it can go, including a cutting contest that is, as we say, smokin'.