The Continental (song) as a duet with Graham Preskett on "The Steve Howe Album" in 1979. The Continental (song) "The Continental" is a song written by Con Conrad with lyrics by Herb Magidson, and was introduced by Ginger Rogers in the 1934 film, "The Gay Divorcee". "The Continental" was the first song to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Major record hits at the time of introduction included Jolly Coburn and Leo Reisman. In 1952 Harry James released a recording on the album "Hollywood's Best" (Columbia B-319 and CL-6224) with Rosemary Clooney on vocals. A later version by Maureen McGovern reached
Fred Astaire mid 1970s. In the second compilation, aged seventy-six, he performed brief dance linking sequences with Kelly, his last dance performances in a musical film. In the summer of 1975, he made three albums in London, "Attitude Dancing", "They Can't Take These Away from Me", and "A Couple of Song and Dance Men", the last an album of duets with Bing Crosby. In 1976, Astaire played a supporting role, as a dog owner, in the cult movie "The Amazing Dobermans", co-starring Barbara Eden and James Franciscus. Fred Astaire played Dr. Seamus Scully in the French film "The Purple Taxi" (1977). In