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The Bargain Nexus - Swing Time
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List Price: $19.98
Our Price: $1.99
Your Save: $ 17.99 ( 90% )
Availability:
Manufacturer: Turner Home Ent
Starring: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Victor Moore, Helen Broderick, Eric Blore
Directed By: George Stevens
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786304119129
Format: Black & White
ISBN: 6304119127
Label: Turner Home Ent
Manufacturer: Turner Home Ent
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Turner Home Ent
Release Date: 1996-08-13
Running Time: 103
Studio: Turner Home Ent
Theatrical Release Date: 1936
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: SWING TIME
Comment: ES UNA ALEGRIA PARA LOS OJOS Y LOS OIDOS LA MUSICA LA DANZA ES FACINANTE..GRACIAS
Customer Rating:
Summary: Pick Yourself Up, Dust Yourself Off, and Watch This Over Again!!!
Comment: I get chills when watching SWING TIME, the sixth of ten Astaire/Rogers collaborations. In Between "The Barkley's Of Broadway" and "CareFree" (my personal favorites, this ranks #2. Then again, TOP HAT and SHALL WE DANCE barely missed my top 3.
The reasons why I love SWING TIME so much is the perfect blend of plot (save the ending, where Georges Mexata, playing Ricardo Romero, concedes his affection for Ginger Rogers way too easily. Didn't know slacks made that much of a difference.), comedy (Victor Moore was hilarious.)and, of course, the dancing of Fred and Ginger.
Wasn't it amazing watching them go? In terms of a collection of dances, they might have been at their best here. The first, "Pick Yourself Up", is a joyous and exuberant number embellished by syncopated rhythms and overlayed with tap decoration. Watching the last minute of the routine, where Fred and Ginger take flight, then leaping in and eventually off the dance floor left me breathless.
"Waltz In Swing Time" , in my opinion, may have been the most virtuosic partnered romantic duet Astaire ever committed to film. Love is celabrated in this dance, in the form of a syncopated waltz with tap overlays In the midst of this complex routine, Astaire and Rogers fill their steps with a mirthly reminder of a similar episode in "Pick Yourself Up". Pretty Cool stuff.
Never Gonna Dance" was a breathtakingly amazing, phenomenally emotionally foray that left me speechless. This dynamically choreographed routine was shot forty-seven times in one day before Astaire was satisfied, with Rogers' feet left bruised and bleeding by the time they finished. And given the end result, you can see why, for it partnered emotion with elegance and spins with grace. Poetry in motion here is an understatement. It is absolutely exquisite, and quite possibly, the most beautiful dance ever recorded in motion picture history. But surprisingly, not my favorite dance routine in the movie.
That distinction goes to "Bojangles In Harlem". The Bill "Bojangles" Robinson tap tribute was captaivating; though I must admit, I had to get over the blackface. Bojangles Of Harlem" coupled Astaire's supreme effort with a jaunty instrumental piece. that opening solo, which Astaire mimics Jolson poses between rhythmic taps is amazing. Recorded in one take, Astaire exercises every limb and makes extensive use of hand-clappers. Then his dance with the shadows and throwaway ending, a la the master himself, had me rewinding this solo performance repeatedly.
This was an amazing movie.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Astaire/Rogers - maybe their best film and the best DVD package
Comment: "Swing Time", the 6th of the Astaire/Rogers films, is often considered their best. In this one, the farce has been replaced with a straight musical romance and the film is accordingly richer. Here are some of the highlights:
- a much more 3 dimensional performance from Rogers whose makeup has been simplified and looks much better. She really benefits from the thoughtful direction of George Stevens, with whom she became romantically involved at the time.
- unusual and interesting orchestrations with a different sound to the previous films. Lisen to the harpsichord like sound of "Bojangles".
- outstanding songs from Jerome Kern: the jolly "Pick yourself Up", the exhilarating "Waltz in Swing Time", the spectacular "Bojangles of Harlem" and the devastating "Never Gonna Dance" - every number a showstopper.
This superb film benefits from a good print and a great DVD package. In contrast to the dreadful commentary on "Top Hat", Astaire author John Mueller provided an outstanding perfectly paced commentary telling us interesting detail about all the performers, the construction of the dances, the music and the director - invaluable. There is also an excellent featurette about the film using contemporary interviews of historians, dancers etc, an amusing cartoon sending up Bing Crosby, the trailer of the film and a comprehensive musical short featuring swing and some well staged and surprising numbers.
This is the best DVD in the Astaire/Rogers sets not only because the film is so good but the extras are too.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not to be carried away, but this is one of the best musicals Hollywood has ever produced
Comment: "Listen," says exasperated dance teacher Penny Carroll to her two-left feet customer, Lucky Garnett, "No one could teach you to dance in a million years. Take my advice and save your money!"
We can't help smiling because Penny is played by Ginger Rogers, and the clumsy Lucky, who saw Penny on the street and was smitten, then finagled his way to the dance studio to meet her, is Fred Astaire. But Penny's boss overhears her comment and fires her on the spot. Lucky comes to the rescue. "Now, umm... how did you say that last step went?" he asks Penny. "Oh, yes!" And with that he swings her out to the dance floor and they launch into "Pick Yourself Up," one of the most expert and cheery fast tap polkas you'll ever hope to see.
Some say Swing Time is the best of the Astaire-Rogers movies. Other say that honor goes to Top Hat. I say, "Who cares?" Both are superb. For many, what sets Swing Time apart is the extraordinarily blending of the incomparable dancing and the rich Jerome Kern-Dorothy Fields songs. The book isn't much -- boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy wins girl back. The usual suspects make up the comedy support, in this case Eric Blore as the dance studio owner, Helen Broderick (who was Broderick Crawford's mother) as Penny's best friend, and Victor Moore, who trails after Lucky.
For any musical to work, the leads must be special, the music must be extraordinary and the production numbers must be memorable. On any scale, in my opinion, Swing Time does it. Just look at the numbers. In addition to "Pick Yourself Up, there's...
"The Way You Look Tonight." If you can't hear the melody behind these words, you need to listen to more good music.
Someday,
When I'm awfully low
And the world is cold,
I will feel a glow just thinking of you
And the way you look tonight.
Yes, you're lovely
With your smile so warm
And your cheek so soft.
There is nothing for me but to love you
Just the way you look tonight.
With each word your tenderness grows,
Tearing my fear apart.
And that smile that wrinkles your nose,
Touches my foolish heart.
Lovely,
Never, never change.
Keep that breathless charm.
Won't you please arrange it, 'cause I love you
Just the way you look tonight...
Just the way you look tonight.
Astaire is at the piano singing this while Rogers is in the next room washing her hair, not feeling too beautiful and with suds all over her head. As a declaration of affection and love, it's tender, romantic and funny. For once the Academy Awards got things right. It won the 1936 Oscar for best song.
"Waltz in Swing Time" is a lush, romantic ballroom dream, with Astaire and Rogers showing their incomparable stuff on a nightclub dance floor. There's no song or words, just an incredible series of melodies built by Hal Borne from themes provided by Kern, Robert Russell Bennett and Borne. Even if you know nothing about dance, and I'm one, Astaire and Rogers are mesmerizing.
"A Fine Romance" is a rueful romantic comedy number sung by Rogers in the snow, while Astaire tries to discourage her affections.
"Bojangles of Harlem," danced in blackface by Astaire as a tribute to Bill Robinson, features incredible tap dancing. And it may be the only blackface number watchable today without flinching. Astaire gives it to us in three parts; a production tap number with a chorus line of dancers, a tap routine with Astaire and three of his shadows and then a single tap routine. In the last part, try to keep track of the syncopated, complicated coordination of shoe taps and hand clappers that Astaire manages without showing an iota of effort.
"Never Gonna Dance" is one of the great stories of broken romance told in dance. It's played out in bold steps and sweeps, up a dramatic stairway and across gleaming black floors. Here's that word again...extraordinary.
If I had to list the Hollywood musicals I like best they'd be Swing Time, Top Hat, Love Me Tonight, Singin' in the Rain and The Band Wagon. It's not surprising that Astaire has three of them. In a way, Swing Time and Top Hat give as good a view as anything of what Hollywood's Thirties sophistication was all about. This is a world where Fred wears a dinner jacket or tails as effortlessly as you or I might wear slacks, where Ginger has gowns that are memorably stylish (just look at the feathered number she wears dancing "Cheek to Cheek" in Top Hat), where fancy nightclubs feature brilliantined floors and apartments are all white and all Art Deco, where Ginger wisecracks and Fred charms. It's a world long gone, but at least we have Swing Time on DVD. It's one of the Fred and Ginger movies from the Astaire & Rogers Collection, Volumes One and Two, and can be bought separately. Swing Time looks first class on DVD and has some interesting extras. The commentary track is by John Mueller, the author of Astaire Dancing. It and Arlene Croce's The Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers Book are essential reading for fans of Astaire.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Silly to Sublime -- Or Swinging-- in Seconds
Comment: Okay, let's make one thing clear: the ten movies Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers made, for RKO Radio Pictures, as it was then called, all have silly plots, and "Swing Time" is no exception. But they are what they are, and all there is.
"Swing Time's" plot, if you can call it that, as cobbled together by Astaire's frequent writer/collaborators, Howard Lindsay and Allan Scott, revolves around cuffs on striped pants. But, as produced by Pandro S. Berman, who threw enough money at the screen for Astaire pictures -- the sets are lovely, cool, black and white, shadowed art nouveau creations; and as directed by Oscar-winning George Stevens, the plot keeps perking along for a swift 104 minutes. Music, by Jerome Kern, with lyrics by Dorothy Fields, ranges from the happy "Pick Yourself Up," to the sublime, Oscar-winning "The Way You Look Tonight," and the moving "Never Gonna Dance." And then there's the dancing, never matched, never bettered.
Astaire and Rogers were still relatively new together at this point: Katherine Hepburn memorably quipped that he brought her class; she brought him sex appeal. But, having lost his first partner, his sister Adele, in a marriage to English nobility -- see "Royal Wedding," Astaire was reluctant to be assigned a steady partner again. The leads are backed by regulars from Astaire's Broadway, and vaudeville past. Victor Moore reprises his many comic roles, as do Eric Blore and Helen Broderick: and why was her character always called Madge or Mabel? A young Betty Furness makes one of her few big screen appearances, before getting chummy with Frigidaire. Georges Metaxa plays the usual Erik Rhodes part, as the swarthy suitor who loses Rogers to Astaire.
It's said that, great composer that he was, Kern didn't swing, and that's what Astaire always wanted from him. But Kern and Astaire surely swing in the great "Bojangles" number, with those dancing shadows on the curtains behind the hoofer. But beware, the politically correct: Astaire, not really that long out of vaudeville at this point, dons blackface for this.
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Editorial Reviews:
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If you only had one Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers film to watch, this classic musical from 1936 would be your best bet. It was the dance duo's sixth film together, and director George Stevens handled the material with as much flair behind the camera as Fred and Ginger displayed in front of it. This time out, Fred plays a gambling hoofer who's engaged to marry a young socialite (Betty Furness), but when he's late for the wedding his prospective father-in-law sends him away, demanding that he earn $25,000 before he can earn his daughter's hand in marriage. When Fred meets Ginger in a local dance studio (where he pretends to be a klutz so she can be his instructor), he's instantly smitten and the $25,000 deal becomes a moot point. Featuring six songs by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields (including a splendid rendition of "The Way You Look Tonight") and some of the most elegant dance sequences ever filmed, this lightweight fluff epitomizes the jazz-age style of 1930s musicals, virtually defining the genre with graceful joie de vivre. --Jeff Shannon
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