I'm in Heaven: Rewatching All of Fred & Ginger's Films
This was such a fun rewatch. I love the breezy musicals of the 1930s, and I especially love a Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire flick.
One of my three New Year's Resolutions was to rewatch all of Ginger and Fred's films and I enjoyed every second of it.
It's been so long since I've watched any of these films, but I definitely remember loving Roberta and Carefree more than the rest. Let's see if my taste has changed in roughly a decade (for some, anyway. The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle and The Barkleys of Broadway are both recent-ish watches. The former I saw in 2020 and the latter 2019).
Yarr, there be spoilers below. (I don't know why I decided to type that as a pirate. Just go with it.) You're also going to know which movie I ranked first because it's going to be the blog post's main image, but whatever. Onward!
Flying Down to Rio (1933)
TCMDb: "A dance-band leader finds love and success in Brazil."
The first Fred & Ginger flick! They play Fred Ayres and Honey Hale, two members of Gene Raymond's dance-band, and they're not the main characters, for the last time.
The storyline is more focused on Gene Raymond and Dolores Del Rio, and how he tries to woo a South American heiress all the way down to... well, Rio. Here's where I confess that I'm not a Gene Raymond fan, so the main storyline didn't really hook me. I am interested in big band culture, though. I love movies set at hotels with big bands playing. So in a sense, Fred and Ginger hooked me. To Gene Raymond's credit, I did enjoy the camera work in the scene where the name of the hotel is displayed on his bathrobe: you only find out they're staying at the hotel because you read it very slyly on his ass. How risqué!
The ending dance scene, with the dancers all hooked to the exterior of the plane wings gives me such anxiety—especially that one dancer that tumbles off her plane wings and magically lands on top of the plane below her!—but you can't deny that it was fun to watch. Here's hoping they all had insurance at the hotel!
Fun Meet Cute? Nah, Fred and Ginger—sorry, Honey—already know each other. But their flirting is top notch.
Dance Rating: The Carioca was fun; don't know that I'd ever want to dance it, but they make it look fun and they both play dizzy and concussed very humourously.
Ginger's Dress Ratings: There's only one real noteworthy dress here, the one she wears for the Carioca. It's black with feathers along the skirt; nothing to write home about, like some of the gowns to come, but still very sleeky and sexy.
Banter Rating: They're the comedic entourage in this film, and the ease at which Fred and Ginger banter easily sets them up for the nine films to follow. These two definitely want to jump each others' bones.
Honey: What's this business about the foreheads?
Fred: Mental telepathy.
Honey: I can tell you what they're thinking about from here.
Final Rating: A fun beginning for such a special partnership.
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The Gay Divorcee (1934)
TCMDb: "An unhappily married woman mistakes a suitor for the gigolo hired to end her marriage."
Ooh, I loved this one more than I remembered. In this, Ginger plays a married woman named Mimi Glossop who wants to divorce her off-screen husband and goes to the trouble of hiring a man to be caught with so that her husband will 'discover them' and demand a divorce. Only problem is, she thinks that man is Fred's character, Guy Holden, but it's not!
With Fred and Ginger as the main characters, they feature so much more and their characters are so much more fleshed out.
I also love how the mix-up happens. Mimi, through her aunt's lawyer ex-fiancé, Egbert Fitzgerald, played by Edward Everett Horton, is to receive a code word from the man playing her affair partner so she'll know who it is. What she doesn't know is that Guy, a friend of Egbert's, has supplied him with the code word: "Chance is the fool's name for fate."
After they have the let's-fall-in-love dance, Guy says it to Mimi and she becomes convinced that Guy is playing her affair partner; and she thinks he's just a gigolo. She invites him up to her room later, he goes (because why not) and then the real affair partner actor, Rodolfo Tonetti, shows up (played by Erik Rhodes, who looks so much like Mildred Natwick that I'm frankly shocked they're not related) and everything gets cleared up. But muddled; because Guy wants to make sure that Tonetti doesn't take advantage of Mimi, and Tonetti wants to make sure that Mimi's husband catches the two of them, and Mimi just wants to dance with Guy. So they sneak out to the courtyard and dance The Continental.
All's well that ends well; Mimi's husband shows up the next morning, catches Mimi and Tonetti, but waves it off. He's on a gravy train and he's not giving it up. Just when they all fear that Mimi's going to be trapped in the marriage, the waiter comes in and unwittingly reveals that Mimi's husband has been carrying on his own affair.
Fun Meet Cute? Yes! God yes. They're on a ship in the beginning, and Mimi's dress is caught in her steamer trunk. Guy comes along to flirt since he can see her gams (way to go, Ginge!) and then tries to save her...by ripping her dress and turning the maxi-length into a mini. He offers her his coat and she promises to mail it back to him in London.
Dance Rating: Before we get into the partnered dances, there's great creativity on Fred's part. At the beginning there's a dance done with his hands and fingers. 'The Continental' was fun, but for my money, I'm obsessed with their 'Night and Day' routine. So romantic; it's very intimate. He twirls her to induce her into dancing with him; and then when she starts to walk away, he tugs at her hand and she does this hop-skip move back into the rhythm. And the dip onto the circular couch!
Ginger's Dress Rating: In 'Night and Day' she's wearing this spectacular gown with sequins on the straps and lining of the bodice that I love; but if I ever get the money and the figure, I'm commissioning a replica of the dress she wears in 'The Continental'. According to the internet, it's silver lamé with teal blue accents on the sleeves and the bottom of the skirt. Imagine swanning into a room wearing that!
Banter Rating: These two are fun once they get going. They're not as fun and carefree as Flying Down to Rio, but the process of falling in love is fun to watch.
Mimi: Please don't ask me to stay.
Guy: All right, I won't. Don't go!
Final Verdict: I think I may be switching loyalties? This was way more charming than I remembered!
Roberta (1935)
TCMDb: "A football player inherits a chic Paris fashion house."
The first go-around, I determined that Roberta was my favourite Fred and Ginger flick.
I love the premise: that all of the action takes place, improbably, inside a Parisian fashion house. That Fred and Ginger play old flames (Huck Haines and Elizabeth Gatz, or, as she's known for part of the action, the Polish countess Countess Scharwenka) who meet up again in Paris and pick up where they left off. That Randolph Scott and Irene Dunne play star-crossed loves, one of whom inherits the fashion house (Scott) and the other is its best designer (Dunne). That they all come together to save the fashion house.
It's a very tight plot and all the moving parts come together beautifully. Also, it was remade in 1952 and called Lovely to Look At. Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson (another wonderful pair that made several films together) play the Randolph Scott and Irene Dunne characters. Red Skelton kinda plays part of the Randolph Scott character, it's his family that inherits the fashion shop. And Marge and Gower Champion are on hand to play the Fred and Ginger characters (gosh, how I loved Marge Champion's dancing prowess). Ann Miller's also there, too!
Fun Meet Cute? Well, in the sense that they already know each other, it's not technically a meet cute; but the way in which their characters run into each other again is pretty fun. Of all the dress shops in all of Paris, he had to walk into the one she patronizes?
Dance Rating: There are some great dances in here, to 'I Won't Dance' and 'Smoke Gets In Your Eyes' and 'Lovely to Look At' but none are really as memorable as the dances in other films. 'I'll Be Hard to Handle' is a comedic tap routine, and you can tell they're having a ball dancing it. According to IMDb, it was because their taps were being picked up on the wooden floor for the first time, so they could fully enjoy the moment.
Ginger's Dress Rating: Again, there were more memorable dresses in other Fred and Ginger flicks; but the Juliet cap she wears for 'Smoke Gets In Your Eyes' is something I must own! Maybe I can wear it with my replica The Gay Divorcee dress.
Banter Rating: Not so much banter, this movie feels more grown up than fun banter.
Huck: People in love are always quarreling with each other. Now, you take Liz and myself, for instance.
Liz: Liz? Who is this Liz?
Huck: Oh, a little country girl from back home that I'm thinking of marrying. You know, big feet, dumb, simple, oh, very simple.
Final Verdict: Honestly... this may be one of the weaker song and dance films in the Fred and Ginger canon. But I do still love the storyline!
Top Hat (1935)
TCMDb: "A woman thinks the man who loves her is her best friend's husband."
The movie that dares to ask the question 'Can we replicate The Gay Divorcee again to the same success?'
In this, Jerry Travers and Dale Tremont fall in love, though it's another case of mistaken identity. This time, Dale's friend Madge wants to set her up with a fella, only Dale thinks it's Madge's husband Horace (played by, you guessed it, Edward Everett Horton) when it's really her husband's friend Jerry. All throughout the film, Jerry tries to woo Dale, and it almost works every time... until she remembers that this is her friend's husband.
The plot moves from London (much like The Gay Divorcee) to Italy, where there's more dancing and more wooing, until finally Dale decides that she's going to take up with the Italian fashion designer behind the gowns she came to model (played by, you guessed it, Erik Rhodes, still no relation to Mildred Natwick) because she's so disgusted at Madge's husband's behaviour.
She tells Madge all about her husband's wandering eye, and there's a bit of fun as she, Horace and Jerry piece together that Dale's got them confused. There's a bit more fun as they sneak away on a gondola, but just when it seems all hope is lost, that Dale married Alberto Beddini all due to a mistake, they find out that the priest wasn't actually a priest and they're free to be together!
This is fun and charming, but it's a little too much like The Gay Divorcee for my tastes.
Fun Meet Cute? Yes! Jerry is staying one floor above Dale and can't help but tap dance, waking her up and disturbing her. Once he catches a glimpse of her, he's charmed, and the bit continues throughout the film.
Dance Rating: There's some more artistic genius here from Fred with the 'Top Hat, White Tie and Tails' tap routine. The tap routine between Fred and Ginger in the rain for 'Isn't This a Lovely Day (to be Caught in the Rain)' is also fun. 'The Piccolino' is romantic, but come on. The only dance anyone remembers is 'Cheek to Cheek' and for good reason. Technically, it's top notch. Romantically? It doesn't get much better!
Ginger's Dress Rating: How can any dress compete with the ostrich feather dress of 'Cheek to Cheek'? The other dresses are, I'm sure, gorgeous, but I can't even conjure them in my memory and they'd probably pale in comparison.
Banter Rating: Sigh. Lovely.
Jerry: May I rescue you?
Dale: No, thank you. I prefer being in distress.
Final Verdict: Too much like The Gay Divorcee for my tastes, but the 'Cheek to Cheek' dance is iconic for a reason.
Follow the Fleet (1936)
TCMDb: "Two sailors on leave romance a dance-hall hostess and her prim sister."
Follow the Fleet? More like Follow the Plot... which I couldn't do. I'm sorry, this just got boggled down in my brain and I couldn't really follow the flow at all. There's a naval element; and two sisters (Ginger's the fun one, her sister's the square that is too good for Randolph Scott's character).
Ginger plays Sherry Martin, a dancer/chanteuse and Fred plays Bake Baker (not making that up), a naval officer on shore leave who left her behind to enter the service. They reconnect on land... stuff happens, they fall back in love again, and the ending dance is sexy.
I wasn't feeling this one at all, I'm sorry.
Fun Meet Cute? They already know each other; they used to be dance partners. I honestly don't remember if they were cute when they reconnected, and I'm writing this just after the movie ended.
Dance Rating: I enjoyed their tap routine during the dance competition; and the finale for 'Let's Face the Music and Dance' was fun. It was a continuous take, 2.5 minutes in length.
Ginger's Dress Rating: Forgetable, except the final dress for 'Let's Face the Music and Dance'. That was just plain sexy.
Banter Rating: Weak.
Bake: Let's kiss and make up.
Sherry: No, let's just make up. That'll give you something to work for.
Final Verdict: Yawn. Sorry.
Swing Time (1936)
TCMDb: "To prove himself worthy of his fiancée, a dancer tries to make it big, only to fall for his dancing partner."
Ugh, the way I deflated when Fred started putting on the blackface... that's the major downer of Swing Time. Otherwise this movie is so enjoyable, so sophisticated and the dances are so complex. WHY?!
This is one of two Fred and Ginger flicks I don't own in a physical format (and this is the most popular one of the bunch! The other one I don't own is The Barkleys of Broadway, but nobody's crying over that loss...) so I had to track it down. I'm going to have to rectify not owning this immediately; what a delight this movie is (aside from the blackface. WHY?!).
The main premise is that Fred's character, Lucky Garnett, is a gambler who wants to marry a woman, but her father won't let them wed until he can make $25,000. Off he goes on an adventure, with his sidekick, Pop, and who does he meet? Ginger's character, Penny Carroll. There's a mix up with some loose change, she accuses him of stealing, he gets her fired from her dance school, they reveal that they can actually dance pretty well together, and then they fall in love. And now Lucky's doing everything he can not to make that $25,000 so he can go back to his fiancée and marry her!
I really can't sum up Swing Time with any sort of justice. It's just so perfect.
Fun Meet Cute? Yes! The whole sequence when Penny's trying to 'teach' Lucky how to dance is so charming.
Dance Rating: Every partnered dance here is perfect. When they're at the dance school, the polka-and-tap of 'Pick Yourself Up' is fun. The waltz of 'Waltz in Swing Time' is sexy. 'Never Gonna Dance' is so romantic, it almost rivals 'Cheek to Cheek' in my opinion.
Ginger's Dress Rating: The gown she wears in the 'Waltz in Swing Time' routine is so gorgeous. All of her gowns are great in Swing Time. Here's an article detailing the dress she wore in 'Never Gonna Dance' that's well worth your time.
Banter Rating: Sophisticated.
Penny: Listen. No one could teach you to dance in a million years. Take my advice and save your money!
Final Verdict: Immaculate. Except for the blackface!!!
Shall We Dance (1937)
TCMDb: "A ballet dancer and a showgirl fake a marriage for publicity purposes, then fall in love."
This film almost feels like a breath of fresh air in a sea of dance flicks. It's also more grown up than some of their earlier movies. As ballet dancer Peter P. Peters (aka Petrov) and star Linda Keene, Fred and Ginger are bound together from the beginning when the cruise ship they're on assumes they've gotten married and the two go along with it, willingly or unwillingly, for publicity purposes.
There's some stuff in here about an old flame who brazenly tells Linda to her face to 'divorce' Petrov so she can have him; and Linda trying to run off with this very unfortunately unsophisticated guy (who doesn't have a Wikipedia page); and Edward Everett Horton, so take a drink if you count that kinda thing.
Because they're already paired up, the innuendo has to be more sophisticated, too. There are 'candid photos' of the two in bed (though it's an unassuming Petrov and a mannequin with Linda's face) and an extended scene of the two in Central Park talking about 'taking care of it' and how Petrov has no choice but to marry her now (because the rumour was that they were married, but they weren't, but then it spread so far that they have to get married to save face) while a police officer is eavesdropping and thinking that he's listening to a conversation between a couple who's gotten themselves in trouble with the stork.
I do enjoy that the dances get more challenging in this film. This deep into their run, I wonder how much they worried about it becoming stale and challenged themselves to do harder dances or to have fun with the form. I'll explain more below.
I did like this movie, but it wasn't as memorable as some of their other turns.
Fun Meet Cute? Meh, but the build-up to their pseudo romance is cute. Petrov pays a man to walk his dog on the ship deck and mimics how quickly Linda is walking and from there... romance!
Dance Rating: For a film called Shall We Dance, there sure wasn't a lot of dancing in the first half of this thing. But when they get to the partnered dances, boy are they fun. There's an air of goofiness to the dances and songs in this film. Their first partnered dance to 'They All Laughed' comes apart when they both dance different styles (her tap, him ballet) before combining. 'Let's Call the Whole Thing Off' is done on roller skates, which is definitely whimsical and a departure from their other dances.
I do love the ending dance 'Shall We Dance' (how appropriate!), in which Petrov decides that he wants to dance with Linda, and if she won't dance with him, he'll hire a bunch of female dancers with Linda masks to dance with. She finally falls for his charm, decides not to give him the divorce papers, and joins in the dance.
Ginger's Dresses Rating: The first dress she wears when we meet Linda is to die for. It looks like it's either gold or silver and has long fringe on the skirt flowing from the waist. If this re-watch has taught me anything it's that I need to get fit and get a dressmaker. The sunburst/floral dress is fun, and I love the way the skirt billows was she twirls. The black gown she wears for the final dance scene is glam enough, but not as memorable as other dresses she wore in this or other films.
This blog post is a great showcase of Ginger's dresses from Shall We Dance and Carefree.
Banter Rating: Meh. They've been stronger in other films.
Petrov: Isn't it wonderful being here tonight like this, still on the same boat together?
Linda: Oh, I seldom change boats mid ocean.
Final Verdict: Fun, but not particularly memorable when stacked up against their other films.
Carefree (1938)
TCMDb: "A psychiatrist falls in love with the woman he's supposed to be nudging into marriage with someone else."
Who doesn't love a little medical malpractice and unethical doctor-patient relationships with their RKO musicals? Jokes aside, this is fun so long as you don't think too much about that aspect of the film. It's nice to have a departure from one or both of them being showbiz professionals already and swanning about Europe or some other glam locale falling in love.
In this, Fred plays Dr. Tony Flagg and Ginger plays Amanda Cooper. He's a psychoanalyst who's friend, Ralph Bellamy (who has never done anything to me personally, yet whenever he pops up on my screen I can't help but go "Ugh, him.") is engaged to Ginger but she keeps calling off the engagement. Ralph wants Tony to talk to Amanda, and through a series of questionable and logic-defying analytic moments, manages to make Amanda fall in love with him. The rest of the film is him trying to undo what he's done, realizing that he actually doesn't want to undo it, and Ginger gets clocked in the face in the last 30 seconds of the film (that may be a slight exaggeration. You should time it if you watch. Let me know how close I was) and they all live happily ever after!
Fun Meet Cute? Not really. Tony's there to psychoanalyze Amanda at the behest of her thrice-jilted fiancé and he says some very unkind things about her into a Dictaphone that she later hears on the recording.
Dance Rating: How dreamy was 'I Used to Be Color Blind'? That's the point, Jess, you say. This gorgeously shot partnered dance takes place in Amanda's dream and was shot at four times the normal speed so that when it was slowed down it had the ethereal, dreamy effect. Absolutely gorgeous and more lifty (is that the technical term?) than some of their other dances.
'The Yam' is such a goofy song (Fred refused to sing it, so Ginger does it all by herself) but the dance is so funny and aerobic! They're hoisting themselves onto tables, launching themselves onto bouncy chairs, clamouring in and out of the lodge they're dancing through, and I'm exhausted just thinking about it.
'Change Partners' is also very romantic. Fred and Ginger really hit it out of the park with the partnered dances on this film.
Ginger's Dresses Rating: The ethereal dream dress was absolutely gorgeous. I'm a broken record at this point, but I'd love to have a copy of it. All of the dresses are very dreamy in this film, actually, but the 'I Used to Be Color Blind' dress takes the cake. Also, I must own that cupid's bow sweater.
Banter Rating: Ain't much of a bantering film, but they do have some great lines.
Tony: I wish you'd please understand that I'm only trying to help you find yourself.
Amanda: Well, if I ever get lost, I'll call on you.
Final Verdict: Quirky and charming. I remember liking this the first time around and (questionable medical ethics aside) I stand by it now.
The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939)
TCMDb: "True story of the dancing team who taught the world to two-step."
I always forget how abrupt the ending is and then it happens and you're like, wait, what? That's where it ends?! Anyway. No offense to Fred or Ginger but what a fizzle to go out on after a near-decade of strong films and critical success.
The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle is a biopic about the dancing couple that introduced the world to two-step dances and really kicked off ballroom dancing in North America. As such, there's nothing of the signature Fred-and-Ginger you might have expected from the pair; they're playing real people and they have to stick within the confines of that world. Although I will say, Ginger did get her way on some things. Irene Castle was a consultant on the film and loathed how Ginger refused to go brunette or wear some of the dresses (if they weren't good enough for the film, and being able to see what did make the cut... how bad were they?), so that must have been a fun filming experience.
This film has all the hallmarks of a studio musical biopic. They all seem to be set in Ruritania, there are more montages than you can shake a stick at, there's schmaltzy romance, and there's devastating heartbreak that forces either the hero or the heroine to tragically carry on.
Overall, just a big ole meh from me. I'm glad that Fred and Ginger had such a wonderful output and that they both went on to great success outside their partnered films after 1939, but this is such a sad trombone of a film to retire on.
Fun Meet Cute? There's never a fun meet cute in these old musical biopics.
Dance Rating: I guess. This isn't one of those fun Fred-and-Ginger dance flicks, since they're playing real people (and Irene Castle was hands-on in the filming) they have to do the real dances like the real people would have. That's not to say that they're not technically impressive, as always, and they did find ways to jazz up the scenes. The one where they're taking their act cross-country and Fred and Ginger dance across a gigantic map of the United States? Loved it.
Ginger's Dresses Rating: I mean, gorgeous in their own ways. But they were mostly based on Irene Castle's originals, if not straight up copies, and so they were very of the time. Ginger could make a garbage bag look glam but some of these dresses just don't stand up to the mode of 1939 (or modern times).
Banter Rating: They have their panache, of course, but again, they're playing real people... (infer what you want from that.)
Irene Castle: What does 'ham' mean?
Vernon Castle: That's just an expression.
Irene Castle: Well, what does it mean?
Vernon Castle: In the theater, we speak of certain actors as hams.
Irene Castle: Oh, that makes me feel so professional! Am I, am I a real ham?
Vernon Castle: Well, yes. You're a little one.
Irene Castle: Oh, wonderful!
Final Verdict: I guess. Watch if you're a Fred and Ginger, or a Ginger, or a Fred completist and you want to watch all of their films, but like. You're not missing much, in my opinion.
The Barkleys of Broadway (1949)
TCMDb: "A married musical team splits up so the wife can become a serious actress."
In glorious technicolour! I wonder what it felt like for movie fans who loved the Fred and Ginger flicks of the '30s to have to go a literal decade without another pair up. Were they counting down the days until The Barkleys of Broadway premiered? I think this does a great job at playing to their strengths and the obvious chemistry they shared, but it's such a mature story compared to the movies they made in the '30s. By now, Fred and Ginger are older, wiser, and they've had a decade to grow as separate performers. It's interesting to watch that experience play out on screen, especially for a story that feels a little on the nose.
Fun Meet Cute? No, they're a boring old married couple by the time the film begins.
Dance Rating: I guess. There's still some fun there, but their best routines are behind them. I think my favourite was the 'My One and Only Highland Fling' routine, but their Scottish accents leave a lot to be desired (she says, typing on her computer from 'New Scotland').
Ginger's Dresses Rating: Pretty enough, but it makes you wonder how glorious all of their '30s films would've looked in colour. Black and white does magnificent things to the depth and contrast of the films and I love how the lighting is used to add to each scene, but I would've loved to see some billowing, glittery colourful gowns the way they were designed.
Banter Rating: Limp. These characters are at the end of their professional relationship, there's not much to banter about anymore.
Josh Barkley: You couldn't walk across the stage without me. There isn't a gesture you do that I didn't teach you!
Dinah Barkley: That's a lie!
Josh Barkley: It took a lot of patience to put you where you are. I worked! I pulled things out of you. I molded you - like - like Svengali did Trilby!
Dinah Barkley: Svengali!
Josh Barkley: Yeah, the guy with the beard. That's me!
Final Verdict: I would've hated this if it weren't Fred and Ginger, I know this about myself. I would've hated watching this if it were one of Doris Day's earlier movies.
My Fluid and Not At All Final Ranking of Fred & Ginger Films That'll Probably Change Minutes After Posting This (& I've Already Re-Arranged the Top 5 Twice Because I Can't Pick!):
- The Gay Divorcee
- Swing Time
- Top Hat
- Carefree
- Roberta
- Shall We Dance
- Flying Down to Rio (if they were the main characters this might've ranked higher)
- Follow the Fleet
- The Barkleys of Broadway
- The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle
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