The Astaire-Rogers Musicals!

[jtcarrey]

Have you watched Shall We Dance with the audio commentary track? It's one of the better ones of the set. Composer Hugh Martin is on it.

I'll have to check that out

 

[Forgotten Man]

It was that scene that made me fall in love with Fred and Ginger! The music, the sets and clothing was top shelf for me! And it was my very first old movie that I checked out on my own! After I saw Swing Time I really fell in love with old movies... I do really enjoy 'Top Hat' and 'Shall We Dance'... each movie has a special appeal for me, and I love them all for other reasons but, 'Swing Time' will be my #1 Astaire and Rogers flick since it was the first I saw and it kinda set the stage of what was to come next... I loved how the guys talked "Lucky" into putting cuffs on his morning trousers... HAHAHAHA! And the livid tailor that insisted NO CUFFS! HAHAHA!

And don't even get me started on the deco infested set of the "Silver Sandal"! That night club with it's high reflective black floors and that band stand with the deco illustration of that perspective view of tops of skyscrapers... *sigh* good stuff!

 

[jtcarrey]

Certainly you don't mean THIS floor? lol

hehehe

(you can enlarge it with this link: http://img112.imageshack.us/img112/3340/skylinehe8.jpg)

omg yessss that set was AMAZING... My top two are Swing Time and Top Hat just for the sets alone even! Someday, when I open my own club, I'm going to make a floor like that one, it's mesmerizing!

 

[dhermann1]

I tend to get them all merged into one big smush. But my favorite number is "Let's Face the Music and Dance". I also like, "A Fine Romance" (where they take a drive through the snowy landscape in an open roofed car, only in Hollywood!). But it's all great great stuff.
I once saw Ginger Rogers get out of a cab on west 58th Street in Manhattan, maybe in the early 80's. She still exuded glamour like a supernova.

 

[jtcarrey]

ah that's so cool, I wish I could have met her

 

[Dagwood]

Surprised that "Shall We Dance" hasn't received more votes.

My favorite number is "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off." Also, that famous dance scene in the boiler room...

 

[Nathan Dodge]

Surprised that "Shall We Dance" hasn't received more votes.

My favorite number is "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off." Also, that famous dance scene in the boiler room...

I was just going to say that. Shall We Dance is my second favorite Astaire-Rogers movie--watched it twice this past week! As I already mentioned, "Slap That Bass" is one catchy song and dance number! They sure kept that engine room clean!

 

[Amy Jeanne]

I love most of their movies, but by default my favourite is the very pre-Code Flying Down To Rio. Nothing can top a pre-Code, in my opinion.

I LOVE Ginger Rogers, but I'm still warming to Fred Astaire. I hated him for the longest time until I heard some of his music/singing without the accompaniment of movies! I adore all his songs and his unique singing voice.

 

[Nathan Dodge]

I think that FOLLOW THE FLEET might rank higher on my favorite Astaire-Rogers films, but the Randolph Scott-Harriet Hilliard (later Nelson) "romance" hurts the movie. Hilliard sings the sappy "But Where Are You?" I also find it mildly amusing when Scott suddenly appears the instant the opening song, "We Saw the Sea" ends. It's as if they're saying "And now the musically inept member of the cast makes his entrance!" You'd think that they'd at least have him in the background, miming the words or something...

 

[dhermann1]

Astaire

My mother, who certainly had her opinions, had one word to say when his name was brought up: "Cadaverous". Well, he was pretty skinny. Anyway, I still love him.

 

[jtcarrey]

ok, Carefree is ANOTHER of my favorites, watched that one tonight, SO CUTE! ahhhh and so different from their other films, still enjoyed it very much :eusa_clap

 

[Nathan Dodge]

*BUMP* Just shilling for some more votes! lol

I think that SHALL WE DANCE is my second favorite film of theirs. I also have a newfound love of "They Can't Take That Away From Me" after watching --numerous times-- the featurette that tells the poignant story of how Ira Gershwin burst into tears upon seeing Fred for the first time after George Gershwin's death. The fact that Astaire's name was the last word George ever spoke makes it all the more touching. Michael Feinstein is on the feauturette and proves to be well-versed in things Gershwin. And now that Bobby Short has left the building, he's the next logical link in keeping this stuff alive, as are we!

 

[Nathan Dodge]

Coming Additions to the Astaire Bookshelf...

August 5th sees the re-release of Fred Astaire's autobiography, Steps In Time: An Autobiography

and October 15 comes Fred Astaire: Icons of America which looks to be quite interesting. We need more serious works about Golden Age stars.

 

[Nathan Dodge]

FYI: Amazon is currently selling the Astaire-Rogers DVD sets for $31.99 each. They're normally $53.99.

 

[Tangoman]

I chose Gay Divorcee mostly because of the snappy extended performance of "The Continental" that goes on and on.

Yup in the end I had to agree with that although it was a close run with Flying Down to Rio. Don't think that Ginger gets enough credit for her singing. Watching the DVDs I'm reminded that in the films the songs were fairly evenly split between them both, but later audio recordings tended to focus on Fred.

 

[Nathan Dodge]

Yup in the end I had to agree with that although it was a close run with Flying Down to Rio. Don't think that Ginger gets enough credit for her singing. Watching the DVDs I'm reminded that in the films the songs were fairly evenly split between them both, but later audio recordings tended to focus on Fred.

Ginger has an excellent voice for certain numbers. She sounds great on "The Piccolino" and in Gold Diggers of 1933 she makes "We're In the Money" her own! Especially with that coin outfit!

 

[Nathan Dodge]

I'm having a fun time deciding whether "The Way You Look Tonight" (from Swing Time) or "They Can't Take That Away From Me" (from Shall We Dance) is the best song to ever appear in a Fred & Ginger film. Both pack an emotional wallop.

 

[Miss Sis]

I voted for Top Hat purely because it is the first Fred and Ginger film I ever saw. I recorded it and have watched it so many times, it just delights me. The others I have found to be a bit 'samey' so I haven't given them proper attention, I confess!

I can't chose a favourite song though, that's just impossible, but I love when Ginger sings 'Let yourself go' in Follow the Fleet. It's such a fun song and I end up humming it to myself all day long after I've watched the film. I also love the big dance numbers like 'The Continental' and 'The Piccolino' for all the ensemble dancers.

Yes, when I was young I wanted to be a chorus dancer!!! (Same with Bugsy Malone - I wanted to wear tap pants and a hat with a long feather on it.)

 

[Joan]

Swing Time

I have to say Swing Time first, but I also like Follow the Fleet. I think Harriet Hilliard is adorable, and something about "Face the Music and Dance" grabs me. Swing Time, though, has my favorite songs and dances.

I finally saw Flying Down to Rio, and oh, my! Ginger Rogers's costume for "Music Makes Me"! Lots of good lines in that one, too.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I'm having a fun time deciding whether "The Way You Look Tonight" (from Swing Time) or "They Can't Take That Away From Me" (from Shall We Dance) is the best song to ever appear in a Fred & Ginger film. Both pack an emotional wallop.

I'll go out on a limb and say that "The Way You Look Tonight" may well be the finest American popular song to come out of the thirties -- perfect blend of meaningful lyric and sophisticated melody. And I'll go further out on the limb and say that of all the versions that have been recorded over the past seventy years, Astaire's exquisite 1936 Brunswick recording with Johnny Green's Orchestra is still the best.