(103 min) Released 1936-08-27
Director: George Stevens
Stars: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Victor Moore, Helen Broderick, Eric Blore
Hermes Pan ... dance director, Oscar nom for Bojangles of Harlem (see all noms)
Genres: Comedy | Musical | Romance
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028333/
This has all the elements of the great F&G films. Penny finds Lucky annoying when they meet, he seduces her with dance, twice (Pick Yourself Up and much more seriously in Never Gonna Dance). We have the great white/black rooms, beautiful gowns / formal wear, and excellent comedy relief (HB with Victor Moore instead of E.E.Horton; Blore is welcome, but only present in the dance academy). The songs by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields are superb; having all songs from one source adds cohesion (all songs here are making their film debut, so likely written for this). Plus we get an extra plot complication with Lucky already engaged to another back home.
Although this has greater emotional depth, primarily from Never Gonna Dance, I'll stick with rating Top Hat higher. Somehow Swing Time drags a wee bit, although both films are the same length (within 2 minutes). Top Hat has a grand ensemble number; none here (24 chorus girls in the Bojangles number falls short of "grand ensemble", since they are primarily backup/support for FA). Top Hat has 5 dance numbers; only 4 here. Top Hat has 2 FA solos, one is hooked into the plot (the cute meet); only 1 here.
The dances, songs (*no dancing):
- Scene 10: Pick Yourself Up, F&G in the dance academy, over the short white fence
- Scene 13: The Way You Look Tonight*, FA to Ginger in shampoo, F&G reprise; Oscar winner, Best Song
- Scene 16: Waltz in Swing Time, F&G
- Scene 19: A Fine Romance*, F&G in snowy setting
- Scene 21: Bojangles of Harlem, FA
- Scene 24 of 27: Never Gonna Dance, F&G (47 takes in one 10-hour day); the dance incorporates melodies from TWYLT, WIST & AFR
Very good commentary track by John Mueller, who wrote the book "Astaire Dancing." He echoes some of what I say about the Bojangles number, and says FA's dancing resembles John Bubbles more than Bojangles. That's John W. Sublett of the dance team Buck and Bubbles. Mueller mentions that Bubbles originated the role of Sportin' Life in Porgy and Bess on Broadway the year before, and relates FA's costume to that. I have some of Bubbles' films, so I'll be more alert when watching one. Mueller also describes that the shadow dance was filmed on a blank background, then the positive dance was done likewise, and they were optically printed together; so yeah, early Chroma key. And I like Mueller's point that the shadows are distracting: the viewer is too busy searching for flaws to sit back and enjoy the dance.
Next time, try to ignore the name of the Bojangles number, and the blackface, and the distraction of the shadows, and see if you can't enjoy the dancing. After all, that chorus straightens SO nicely when they line up with the camera.
Really, this would be one of my desert island films. I adore the 3 other dances here, and the way they tease us at the end: will they dance once more?
