Product Description
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You'll Love The Way Fred and Ginger Look Tonight in the 5-film,
5-Disc Astaire and Rogers Collection Volume One, including the
highly accled Top Hat and Swing Time.
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Fans of classic movie musicals will be in heaven with Astaire &
Rogers Collection, Vol. 1, featuring the DVD debut of five films
of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, the quintessential dancing
duo. The two gems of the set are Top Hat (1935), generally
considered their definitive movie, and Swing Time (1936), which
many consider their most enjoyable. Follow the Fleet (1936),
Shall We Dance (1937), and The Barkleys of Broadway (1949) fill
out the set, each with its own charms.
Follow the Fleet The Astaire-Rogers films mix light romantic
comedy (usually centered around mistaken identities and ending,
inevitably, in blissful wedding promises) with elegant dinner
wear and surreal sets intended to transport '30s audiences away
from the Depression to such locales as Rio, Paris, and Venice.
The two stars are also aided by a recurring stable of RKO players
such as Edward Everett Horton (master of the double-take), Eric
Blore, and Helen Broderick. And then there's that sensational
dancing set to great songs by the likes of Irving Berlin, George
and Ira Gershwin, and Jerome Kern, numbers that are not merely
entertaining but also innovative for their time in that they
reveal character and advance the plot. Add it all up, and you
have a recipe for an irrepressible joie de vivre that practically
defines the movie musical.
With a score by Irving Berlin, Top Hat is most famous for two
numbers, Astaire's definitive tuxedo setting "Top Hat, White Tie,
and Tails" and the feathery duet "Cheek to Cheek." But other joys
include Astaire's "Fancy Free" declaration, "Isn't It a Lovely
Day," and the grand finale "The Piccolino." Favorite musical
moments in Swing Time include the set-piece "Pick Yourself Up,"
in which Rogers "teaches" Astaire to dance before they break into
a spectacular number; the farewell ode "Never Gonna Dance," and
the O-winning "Just the Way You Look Tonight," from the team
of Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields.
Swing Time Follow the Fleet changes the pace a bit, with Astaire
playing a sailor, and it suffers from making him and Rogers the
second-banana couple to the dull Randolph Scott and Harriet
Hilliard. But it still has plenty of laughs and some classic
Irving Berlin numbers, including "Let Yourself Go," which Rogers
sings before she and Astaire compete in a dance contest; a Rogers
solo tap number; "I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket," their
best comic dance. The pièce de résistance is "Let's Face the
Music and Dance," a show within a show in which the pair dons
their customary evening formals. Effortlessly flowing from
pantomime to song to dance, this sublime piece of storytelling is
one of the series' defining moments. Shall We Dance has a complex
plot that has Astaire and Rogers actually getting married before
the final credits roll, and turns George and Ira Gershwin's
brilliant "They Can't Take That Away from Me" into a
heartbreaking ode. Other great songs include "Slap That Bass,"
"They All Laughed," and "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off,"
unforgettably performed on roller skates. The Barkleys of
Broadway is the oddity, reuniting the stars 10 years after their
last RKO picture when Judy Garland had to be replaced due to
problems. It's trademark MGM: splashy colors, Fred in a
gimmicky solo number (playing sorcerer's apprentice to a line of
unoccupied shoes), O Levant providing his usual dynamic
pianism and acerbic personality, and a score that is at its best
when it borrows songs from a previous generation (including the
big ballroom number set to "They Can't Take That Away from Me").
The film falls short of their best work, but serves as a fond
remembrance of the most glorious partnership in film history.
--David Horiuchi
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Set Contains:
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Picture quality on the DVD ranges from quite good (Barkleys) to
rather fuzzy (Shall We Dance). Three of the discs have commentary
tracks. John Mueller, the author of Astaire Dancing, does a nice
analysis of the dance numbers in Swing Time. Film historian Larry
Billman offers more of a series overview on Top Hat. He's joined
by Astaire's daughter, Ava Astaire McKenzie, who doesn't say a
lot but does provide a nice glimpse of Astaire as a her.
Pianist Kevin Cole and songwriter Hugh Martin (Meet Me in St.
Louis) team up for the track on Shall We Dance. They speak
affectionately about Astaire and Rogers but especially enjoy
conversing about George and Ira Gershwin. All five DVDs have a
featurette, ranging from 11 to 18 minutes each, and each on a
different topic: dance numbers, the series, Astaire and Rogers's
early careers, Gershwin music, and the Barkleys reunion.
Interviewees include the commentary contributors plus Leonard
Maltin, former Astaire partner Barrie Chase, and Broadway
performers Noah Racey and Nancy Lemenager. Racey and Lemenager
demonstrate some steps, having played the Astaire and Rogers
roles in the 2003 Broadway musical Never Gonna Dance, which was
based on Swing Time. Also filling out the discs are various
musical shorts and cartoons.
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