Marie Phillips

And so begins my tour of great dancing in the street movie moments. We’re kicking off with Ferris because some of you may have been unlucky enough to see the unspeakably awful Superbowl advert featuring an adult Ferris Bueller taking a day off work. A more cynical, dead-behind-the-eyes, triumph of cash over soul stunt you have never witnessed, and I implore you not to look it up, even out of morbid curiosity, because once seen, it can never be forgotten. And quite aside from anything, it squanders an idea which might have made a beautifully judged, painfully nostalgic full-length feature film. Which I would have written if anybody had let me. Too late now.

Here is the original Ferris, taking time during his famous Day Off to join in a parade for, if I recall (central park in fall), German culture. This is wonderful for many reasons: the lovely double whammy of segueing Danke Schoen into Twist and Shout; the construction worker boogieing on the scaffolding; the window cleaner swinging his arse in mid air; the group of people formation dancing on the steps, and the way they first come in so smoothly that they look like they’re on rails; the women on the float shimmying backwards, arms out; and a great piece of dialogue between Cameron and Sloane about college, which reminds me so much of that awful time at the end of school when you knew you were going to have to get on with life, but what life?

Here is it. Enjoy.