Fred and Ginger - in order

[intothenitrate]

Follow the Fleet is one I haven't seen, CCF, although I have seen the number Let's Face the Music and Dance excerpted. Thanks for the write-up. And you're right--I've seen Fred "quote" Stan Laurel somewhere else too, but thought maybe it was my imagination.

[CineMaven]

What a wonderful task you've given yourself...to watch Astaire and Rogers in the order folks of their time experienced them. To me, I'd liken it to how I would watch James Bond; watching his latest adventure and then wait for the end credits where they'd reveal what the next Bond film'd be.

You're writing a lovely post on their plots...charms and magic, I like how you've described the seductability of "their dance" and how Astaire really gently wields it's power. I've enjoyed their films...wise cracks, mistaken identity. Is it "Swing Time" that has Helen Broderick chastising that little man for eating her sandwich? Fred alone is wonderful to watch. No doubt he's a wiry genius. But with Ginger, pure magic. Art deco sets are a dream. The floor...black lacquered pools. Together, their elegance, precision and artistry are breathtaking to watch...resistance, capitulation and then togetherness. They're a joy to watch. Watching them in one fell swoop, do they seem to grow as a creative force? Do they seem repetitive? From 1933 to 1939 ("The Barkleys..." notwithstanding) they owned the movies...the musical. I find them timeless. But it is about eighty years later. Are you finding that (the dancing) dated at all?

I think it's a grand idea you're watching them in order. Keep us posted on your thoughts.

[charliechaplinfan]

They don't seem at all repetitive, I wish there were more, they all feel very fresh and I've watched 5 now and am amazed that nothing is wearing off, the seduction through dance never bores me and although the things that happen that keep them apart might feel stretched in a Astaire Rogers film it doesn't feel it because it's punctuated by either sublime dancing, the timeless songs and the qualities of the performers. I feel really cross with the thirties audience that they got bored with the pairing and they split up.

The sandwich scene is in Swing Time which until now has been my favourite one of the series but will it remain so?

I haven't appreciated fully just how much is in those dances in terms of emotions and storytelling, they impart so much and often change the direction, however subtley, of the film.. Fred didn't like doing clinches and they don't suffer from the lack of them, they are as seductive as the most romantic movies. The comic dances are delightfully amusing.

[intothenitrate]

I think of the lack of clutches as just another trademark. There's one scene in (I believe it's) Swing Time when they're about to kiss in Ginger's dressing room and (comically) the door swings open and squishes them behind it. When the door swings back, Fred has a lipstick smudge on his face and the two of them have suddenly become all goofy, stunned and smitten. It's kind of a surprise because they usually never "go there."

[charliechaplinfan]

I know the scene but haven't come across it yet, I think it's in Swing Time too. They don't suffer from lack of clinches, the dances put across all the emotions and tensions riding under the surface.

[intothenitrate]

You're right. There's an exceptionally vivid, concentrated, and direct form of story-telling going on there. The fact that they're sandwiched in between all of the fluff and silliness (and I mean that with the greatest possible affection) makes them all the more potent. Everything becomes deadly earnest when the music starts.

A great case in point will be "Never Gonna Dance" at the end of Swing Time. I'll be staying tuned in to read your report on that!

[charliechaplinfan]

If only I could get around to it, it's so hectic here and to say that the air is buzzing with excitement is to understate it, you can't beat having young kids at Christmas. I think Swing Time will be viewed after Xmas somehow.

[Rita Hayworth]

Everyone Here ...

I love Swing Time ... one of my favorite movies! It's put a on my and I walk away after seeing it :!:

[charliechaplinfan]

Now the kids are back at school, I only got chance to watch one of Fred and Ginger's films whilst they were off school, that was Swing Time and that had to be done in two sections.

Swing Time was always my favourite, I love the first dance, Pick Yourself Up, it's full of life and fun. I love the comedy in this film, Fred singing The Way You Look Tonight to Ginger who has her hair covered in shampoo which was whipped cream. It falls a little flat to me with the conductor, after watching the preceding films the formula of the foreign man who is after Ginger's affections is a little worn, this time it's George Metaxa, why does her intended always have to be foreign? It develops along the line of Top Hat were Ginger ends up nearly married to him. She does love Fred this time, despite the romance being a bit on and off, she doesn't know Fred has a fiancee and she tries to cosy up to him whilst singing A Fine Romance, Ginger sings first, Fred melts but Victor Moore as Fred's stooge interrupts. I'd forgotten how lovely the dance is at the end of the movie Never Gonna Dance, partly sung by Fred then danced together so beautifully, again looking at trivia on the imdb it took 47 takes and Ginger's feet bled badly at the end of the day.

There is good support here by Helen Broderick and Victor Moore, a small part by Eric Blore but it doesn't have the same humour and confusion with the supporting characters that Top Hat has, on balance I'm probably tipping more towards Top Hat purely on the basis of the supporting cast. I didn't realise how much I liked these actors (apart from Edward Everett Horton to whom I've always been partial) and how much I missed them until I've watched a few of the movies on at a time.

For the dances alone Top Hat, Follow The Fleet and Swing Time contain my favourite and perhaps the most famous. I have three to go now, four with the Barkleys of Broadway.

A note on Bojangles of Harlem danced in black face by Fred, the music is a real thumping tap number and the choreography is wonderful, the dance style is diffferent to the usual suave Fred which makes me wonder if he was paying a tribute to Bojangles Bill Robinson. Black face is something that is sometimes difficult to swallow with the passage of time, I've seen silent comedy scenes that really are unfortunate and not funny but here, perhaps I'm being to kind to Fred however I want to believe that it's his way of giving the nod to a very talented dancer.

[CineMaven]

Most definitely Fred was paying homage to the great Bojangles. They might not have received the world acclaim that he got, but I think Fred knew and respected all the great dancers. If you ever see "Cabin In the Sky" John Bubbles does some dancing and fancy fast quick foot work that Fred would have been the first to applaud.

Blackface...it's always a sticky wicket. But I take no umbrage in what Fred did.



The one...the only Bill Robinson.

[JackFavell]

I agree with Maven - I think it is a tribute. He is definitely dancing in the style of Bill Robinson, and absolutely saying that he's the best.

I have been enjoying your posts here, catching up for a week or so, now that I finally found the thread, and feel very similar to you about Swing Time. I prefer the freshness of the movies up to Top Hat, though Swing Time is probably the most perfect of their films.

I do like Georges Metaxa, but much prefer EEH to Victor Moore.

[charliechaplinfan]

I'm not that fimiliar with Georges Metexa, his role in Swing Time is particularly ineffectual at wooing Ginger.

I'm glad you both agree with me about Fred's affectionate tribute to Bojangles, I felt it was that but was as I'm such a fan of these musicals I didn't know whether it was my fondness for Fred that was clouding my opinion. Did Bojangles's dancing ever make it to the silver screen. I know him as an inspiration for the famous song and also an inspirer of other dancers. Cabin in the Sky is one I have to watch, I will pay special attention to that dance. I'm reminded too of the Nicholas brothers, often seen on documentaries and only once on film in The Pirate. I need to seek more of their films out too.

I'm getting into new territory now with the Fred and Ginger films, the remaining ones Shall We Dance, Carefree, The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle and The Barkeleys of Broadway I've only watched once before, I don't have any abiding memories of them apart from all the Ginger faces in Shall We Dance and not being terribly impressed with Ginger in Vernon and Irene Castle, time will tell.

[ChiO]

According to IMDb, Bill Robinson was in 13 movies (I had assumed more). Probably the most familiar are:

THE LITTLE COLONEL (1935) - with Shirley Temple
THE LITTLEST REBEL (1935) - with Shirley Temple
REBECCA OF SUNNYBROOK FARM (1938) - with Shirley Temple
STORMY WEATHER (1943)

[charliechaplinfan]

I've never seen a little Shirley Temple film, shock horror. Although she's famous and I've known who she was since I was small I just haven't watched one. I have seen The Bachelor and the Bobbysoxer and Fort Apache but these aren't in the same vain. Maybe I should, child star's really my cup of tea but now I'm curious.

[JackFavell]

Shirley is actually just great, up to a certain point in time. I am not so crazy about Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and later films like it, but the earlier films are just swell.