Swing Time

I completely agree with my fellow film buffs that "Swing Time" ties with "Top Hat" as Fred and Ginger's best musical together. While "Top Hat" has an elegant, almost dreamy atmosphere to it, "Swing Time" gets a gold star for its more real (albeit musical numbers) and honest feel. Fred and Ginger just shine as dapper Lucky and sassy but classy Penny. One of their best dance numbers together is the spontaneous and fun "Pick Yourself Up", where Fred is in overly formal attire and Ginger wears a cute black business dress. Fred's big moment in the sun, however, is the legendary "Bojangles of Harlem" number. Many people today object to it because Fred dances in black face, but I feel it's totally misunderstood. Instead of the awful, grotesque black face Al Jolson wore (pitch black face with white lips), Fred wears tasteful theatrical makeup (think Laurence Olivier as Othello). Also, Fred isn't doing a jig in a cotton field and eating watermelon; the backdrop is a city with glamorous backup dancers. It's not a racist parody, it's one great dancer's tribute to another (that's who Bojangles was, after all). Forget what's on Fred's face, just watch him display a talent no one sees anymore. Because that's what it is: talent and tribute, not hate.

This was, in many ways, the zenith of the Astaire-Rogers 10-film saga. And it manages to reveal a perfectly cohesive story (as well as a marvelous musical score) without one frame of mistaken identity or a misunderstanding which takes an hour-and-a-half to resolve. (Spoiler-ish) Astaire is initially betrothed to society girl Furness, but goes out into the world to raise a wedding dowry and ends up meeting, dancing with, and falling in love with Rogers instead. (If it reads like it all happens too fast, by all means acquaint yourself with the rest of the A-R film series.) The plots ultimately didn't matter- only the duo's ravishing dance duets, which were their love scenes. Probably no more thrilling dances have ever been presented on film: the tap routine "Pick Yourself Up" which first introduces the couple to each other; the 'lovely Waltz in Swing Time' (a happy duet which sort of marks the Act 1 finale); and the dramatic "Never Gonna Dance." This number is stunning for two reasons: it's a dance of a break-up, and it's the dance which may have been their most difficult to film. Because Astaire's mantra was uncut (or nearly uncut) dance numbers, his duets with Rogers were usually all done in one unbroken camera shot. In "Never Gonna Dance," the action travels from one dance floor up two curved staircases to another, cutting only one time, to a final 2-shot showing Rogers gloriously spinning in and out of Astaire's arms several times before making a dramatic exit. The shoot, history says, lasted from mid-morning until about 4 a.m. THE NEXT DAY, as take after take of the dance was spoiled with one problem after another (cameras bumping into walls, lights crashing, Astaire's toupee flying off his head!). Eventually, Rogers' feet bled into her high heels, but neither she nor Astaire wanted to stop until they got it right- and they finally did on take number FORTY-EIGHT. Now that's entertainment.

I agree that George Stevens contribution to Swing time is noteworthy however it is the brilliance of Jerome Kern that truly stands out from this production. Kern's beautiful melodies:- 'Pick Yourself Up', 'A Fine Romance' and the 'The Way You Look Tonight'had left an indelible effect on my conscience, because programmers had been clever enough to utilise their qualities in advertisements and TV sitcoms in the UK in the 70's & 80's. But when I learnt recently that these numbers all originated from the same production I was surprised.

I had the pleasure of seeing this picture for the first time over the Christmas holidays (2004) and was entranced by the execution of these compositions in their original form. Of course much of the credit goes to Dorothy Field's lyrics - perfectly delivered by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. No wonder Irving Berlin and George Gershwin also wrote for them. We should remember that Astaire the vocalist is the equal of Astaire the dancer! Notwithstanding Kerns's melodies - which like Mozart's piano concertos are pure and simple but undoubtedly the work of a master - it is also the sexual chemistry of Astaire and Rogers that is expertly conveyed by Stevens and far ahead of its time! Forget Mike Nichol's Closer (2004) it is George Steven's Swing Time (1936) which suggests the leading players and their companions have an interesting private life and are far nicer people than Closer's protagonists too!

If you only watch one Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers musical this should be the one. There has long been a debate over which film is their best: Swing Time or Top Hat. In my opinion, Swing Time definitely takes this honor, number two being Top Hat, followed by The Gay Divorcée. All of their films together are excellent, but Swing Time is set apart because it takes a much more realistic look at love and life. This film handles the love affair between Astaire and Rogers' characters in a way that none of the other films did. The romance is touching, sweet, charming - and believable!

The songs are amazing, including "Pick Yourself Up", "The Waltz In Swing Time", "A Fine Romance", "Never Gonna Dance", and "The Way You Look Tonight", which is the greatest love song ever written. The scene where Astaire sings this to Rogers is not to be missed. His reaction to her touch - in this scene, as well as in the "Fine Romance" scene - is priceless. Watch for another not-to-be-missed moment, also in the "Fine Romance" scene, as Rogers uses every feminine trick in the book to try to get Astaire to respond.

Although this goes without saying, the dancing in "Swing Time" is superb. I hardly know words that are sufficient to describe the beauty that is the bittersweet dance number "Never Gonna Dance". The emotion in this scene is phenomenal. It is absolutely exquisite. If Fred & Ginger had, indeed, never danced - before or after - to any other number, this alone would have made them famous. It is the most beautiful dance ever recorded in motion picture history. Every time I re-watch this film, I'm always caught off guard by the sheer beauty of this one scene. For this reason alone, "Swing Time" is definitely a "must see" film.

'Swing Time (1936)' is typically held as one of the finest Fred Astaire and Gingers Rogers musicals, of which nine were made between 1933 and 1939 {' The Barkleys of Broadway (1949)' would follow a decade later}. Directed by George Stevens, the film abandons the often-silly mistaken identity subplots of previous films, and presents a more credible love story, supplemented by some of the most remarkable dance numbers I've yet had of enjoyment of seeing. Replete with the usual stock of enjoyable comedic actors, 'Swing Time' is a professionally-produced film, and Astaire and Rogers, as always, bounce off one another exceedingly well. Though the storyline isn't quite as entertaining as in 'Top Hat (1935)' or 'Shall We Dance (1937),' the picture relies purely on its terrific dance routines to elevate it to such a high status. Jerome Kern provided the film's music, and Dorothy Fields wrote the lyrics, including the Oscar-winning song, "The Way You Look Tonight."

John "Lucky" Garnett (Astaire) loves home-town sweetheart, Margaret (Betty Furness), and wants to marry her… or, at least, he thought he did. After the master-gambler moves to New York City to acquire a $25,000 dowry for the wedding, he comes upon beautiful dance instructor Penny Carroll (Rogers), immediately recognising that she is the woman for him. Wasting no time to consider the logic of his actions, Lucky signs up for dancing lessons, and his incredible "progress" leads the pair towards considerable success. A promising romance begins to bloom, but Lucky cannot bear to tell Penny that he's already engaged to marry another woman; at the same time, he deliberately resists achieving success in his gambling activities, lest he win enough money to return home to Margaret. Pop Cardetti (Victor Moore) and Mabel Anderson (Helen Broderick), knowing members of an older generation, stand around to witness the pair's irregular romance, and form a close friendship of their own, though everything is thrown into turmoil when sleazy musician Ricky Romero (Georges Metaxa) attempts to coax Penny from Lucky's grasp.

The absence of Edward Everett Horton unfortunately detracts from the effectiveness of the film's comedy, though Victor Moore provides an amusing substitute; his tone and mannerisms are so ridiculously adorable that he could accurately be described as a real-life Elmer Fudd. Jerome Kern's musical numbers vary from lighthearted tap dance numbers ("Pick Yourself Up") to sarcastic quicksteps ("A Fine Romance") to a virtuoso, emotion-filled ballroom routine ("Never Gonna Dance"), perhaps the most stirring performance that Astaire and Rogers ever did. There's a certain indescribable desperation to the way in which the two dancers leap and twirl across the dance floor, their movements escalating almost imperceptibly from an idle walk, and Rogers' long dress twists and turns in the air behind her. In Astaire's continual search for creative perfection, his routines were filmed, wherever possible, in a single take, and this particular number was attempted no less than forty-seven times. Also notable is Astaire's frenetic tribute to Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, performing in black-face against three tall synchronised shadows on the wall behind him.