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Swing Time (1936)
Swing Time (1936)
Director: George Stevens
Cast: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Victor Moore
Genre: Comedy, Musical, Romance
About: A stage performer (Fred Astaire) who likes to gamble, heads to New York City with nothing more than a dime in his pocket. He wants to raise $25 grand so he can marry his well-to-do fiancée. But once in NYC he falls for a spirited, redhead who's an aspiring dancer (Ginger Rogers).
Cast: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Victor Moore
Genre: Comedy, Musical, Romance
About: A stage performer (Fred Astaire) who likes to gamble, heads to New York City with nothing more than a dime in his pocket. He wants to raise $25 grand so he can marry his well-to-do fiancée. But once in NYC he falls for a spirited, redhead who's an aspiring dancer (Ginger Rogers).
Review: Some high stepping dancing by Fred and Ginger
Fred Astaire danced with many different partners in his career, some maybe even better dancers than Ginger Rogers, but none of them had the spunky likability of Ginger. Fred and Ginger look right together. I can't even begin to image my journey into cinema with out them. They use to say that Fred Astaire gave the pair class, and Ginger Rogers gave them sex appeal. What a winning combination!
The story is simple, after all it's a rom-com musical and we can't expect the story to be too deep. But it's deeper than 21st century audiences might be aware of, as the movie is about a down and out guy who's just lucky enough at gambling to make it big...real big...with lots of money, a fancy car and even partners in a swanky night club. That's something those suffering through the depression could latch onto and dream about...and movies like Swing Time helped them escape their reality of poverty, if only for the duration of the movie.
There's some nice songs here especially The Way You Look Tonight, but what really makes the movie special are the dance numbers.
I loved them all, but especially fond of the high spirited and joyous opening number, Pick Yourself Up. I love the jump-twirls over the railings and back again on to the dance floor. A Fine Romance with it's setting in the snowy outdoors was charming. And the final dance number at the end, which starts off somber and then builds the emotions until the music and dance steps ignite into pure joy, Never Gonna Dance.
Fred Astaire danced with many different partners in his career, some maybe even better dancers than Ginger Rogers, but none of them had the spunky likability of Ginger. Fred and Ginger look right together. I can't even begin to image my journey into cinema with out them. They use to say that Fred Astaire gave the pair class, and Ginger Rogers gave them sex appeal. What a winning combination!
The story is simple, after all it's a rom-com musical and we can't expect the story to be too deep. But it's deeper than 21st century audiences might be aware of, as the movie is about a down and out guy who's just lucky enough at gambling to make it big...real big...with lots of money, a fancy car and even partners in a swanky night club. That's something those suffering through the depression could latch onto and dream about...and movies like Swing Time helped them escape their reality of poverty, if only for the duration of the movie.
There's some nice songs here especially The Way You Look Tonight, but what really makes the movie special are the dance numbers.
I loved them all, but especially fond of the high spirited and joyous opening number, Pick Yourself Up. I love the jump-twirls over the railings and back again on to the dance floor. A Fine Romance with it's setting in the snowy outdoors was charming. And the final dance number at the end, which starts off somber and then builds the emotions until the music and dance steps ignite into pure joy, Never Gonna Dance.