That's funny, I was very much aware of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers' legendary status in Hollywood's canon ever since I was a kid, probably at a time when I hadn't reached 5% of my current cinematic knowledge. But it took till my mid-thirties to watch one of these many cinematic partnerships. I guess it's never too late to discover a gem of Hollywood Golden Age. But to be quite honest, I didn't pick "Swing Time" because it's the most celebrated Astaire-Rogers film (or is it "Top Hat"?), I picked it because of its inclusion in the American Film Institute's Top 100 Movies (the latest edition). I had never heard about it so when I saw the title on the list, I was like "OK, but why not "Top Hat"?". Not that I've seen it either, but the film was listed in AFI's Musicals List and "Cheek to Cheek" among the Top 100 most iconic songs, not to mention that the dance sequence was a staple of Hollywood, used in many contemporary movies to define the Golden Age.But no, they picked "Swing Time" and I guess they had their reasons, and from what I read in the reviews, including Roger Ebert's (I always do that when it comes to movies I know a little about, so you can imagine for those I have zero awareness), George Stevens' 1936 romantic comedy is the best Astaire-Rogers movie, which means that it contains their best dance routines. I second that. The dance sequences not only please and impress the eyes but I loved the way they were fitting in the story. In lesser musicals, they generally work as fillers, interludes, but here, they deliver more than scenes.And now it's time I deliver a little about the film. There's John aka "Lucky" a gambler who misses his wedding ceremony when he's conned by his friends into betting that he wouldn't miss it. The film starts with the usual set-up of a marriage we suspect will never happen. Lucky is summoned by his father-in-law-to be but slip through the net by telling he'll win enough money from to prove his good intentions. The way things revolve around winning money seems very contrived and repetitive but necessary to kick Lucky and his friend Pop (scene stealing Victor Moore) out of the town.Lucky comes to New York, he's broke (he lost his money on the marriage bet) and tries to con Penny, a modest dance teacher (Ginger Rogers) he crosses on street, one thing leading to another, he tells her he needs dance lessons, and I suspect it was more difficult for Astaire to feign lousy steps than any routine he had to play. But Rogers has quite a modern approach to her role, she's both invested and detached, a bit like Meg Ryan at her prime without distracting good looks, she's a real match for Astaire as you never doubt they're not having fun together. The first dance starts when Lucky wants to prove Penny's boss how good a teacher she is, and then the magic starts.There's an energy, a lightness, a glee of being and a cheerful complicity that never leaves any dance floor where these four feet operate together, and it's always catching with you. Although the film follows the formula of the screwball comedy to the letter, Astaire and Rogers seem to take it differently from the usual players (Grant, Gable, Russell...) where it's all about rapid-fire dialogues and outsmarting contests, the film is funny and you also enjoy the company of both Moore and Helen Broderick as Penny's friend, but you can tell the two actors are only talking circles when the real deal is the dance.The film is rich in romantic ballads "The Way You Look Tonight" which became Astaire's signature song and the "Never Gonna Dance" near the end that inspired the climactic dance sequence. So dancing is the real star, along with Astaire and Rogers, forming a sort of holy trinity whose aura inhabit the film without ever overriding it. All these dances never last more than five minutes, even Astaire's 'blackface' tap dance in the middle is long enough to let you enjoy the humorous details with the three silhouettes dancing behind Astaire, but short enough to never let the excitement fade. So whether for jazz, tap dance or waltz, every emotion is beautifully conveyed by these magical steps. I'm no analyst or expert to judge them on a technical level but I found them so lively, so dynamic, so emotionally rich that it was just as if they were telling a story within the story and more than that, they were more than interludes. Actually, they were so good that they inevitably highlighted the little flaws, essentially, the script which was too predictable or formulaic. Like a critic of the time said "if only the story was as good as the dancing".Indeed, the dancing was so magical and integral to the film's appeal that it's quite ironic one of its most defining song is "Never Gonna Dance". I'm glad they didn't pick this as the title, although "Swing Time" doesn't do justice to the music either, the film does far more than swinging. Maybe they should have taken the French title, pretty poetic and beautiful, it simply says "Over the Wings of Dancing" and that's true with Astaire and Rogers, you could think they would literally fly over the dancefloor.

Songs: "It's Not in the Cards" danced by Fred Astaire and ensemble; "Pick Yourself Up" sung by Astaire and Rogers; danced by Astaire and Rogers, Victor Moore and Helen Broderick; "The Way You Look Tonight" sung by Astaire (the last few bars reprized by Georges Metaxa); danced by Astaire and Rogers; "Waltz in Swing Time" danced by Astaire and Rogers; "A Fine Romance" sung by Astaire and Rogers; "Bojangles of Harlem" sung by chorus; danced by Astaire and ensemble; "Never Gonna Dance" sung by Astaire; danced by Astaire and Rogers. All songs by Jerome Kern (music) and Dorothy Fields (lyrics). Music arranged, orchestrated and developed by Robert Russell Bennett. Additional musical arrangements: Hal Borne. Music director: Nathaniel Shilkret. Dance director: Hermes Pan. Choreography: Fred Astaire.Copyright 27 September 1936 by RKO-Radio Pictures, Inc. New York opening at Radio City Music Hall, 27 August 1936 (ran 2 weeks). U.S. release: 4 September 1936. 12 reels. 103 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Leaving his fiancée to wait behind, a dancer travels to New York to make something of himself, but meets another girl.NOTES: Best Song, "The Way You Look Tonight" (defeating "Did I Remember" from Suzy, "I've Got You Under My Skin" from Born To Dance, "A Melody From the Sky" from Trail of the Lonesome Pine, "Pennies From Heaven" from Pennies From Heaven and "When Did You Leave Heaven?" from Sing, Baby, Sing).Hermes Pan was nominated for Dance Direction for the Bojangles number (lost to Seymour Felix for "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody" in The Great Ziegfeld).The sixth pairing of Astaire and Rogers. Negative cost: $886,000. Initial domestic rental gross: $1,624,000. Initial foreign rental gross: $994,000. Net profit: $830,000.COMMENT: Another delight from the Astaire-Rogers team. As usual, the songs are so catchy they have all become "standards", there are marvelous dances and set-pieces, a bright and breezy script, a first-class support cast, stylish direction, and production values that leave nothing to the imagination. Admittedly, I'm practically alone in my admiration for the script, but I can't understand why other critics are so hard on it. Not only is it amusing and entertaining, not only does it allow the players ample scope to enhance their screen personalities (Astaire to be debonair and resourceful, charming his way out of potentially embarrassing situations and impoverishment; Rogers to be vivaciously independent, yet most attractively and femininely costumed and photographed; Moore to be delightfully bumbling — the running gag with his ace of spades is particularly well contrived; Blore side- splittingly harassed — a pity he has only the one scene, but he certainly makes the most of it; Broderick wittily wasp-tongued), but above all it paths the way for a silkily smooth transition to the dances and songs. What more can you ask of a script?I have only one complaint: The songs are so tuneful and melodious, I only wish they were reprized at much greater length. I also liked John Harrington's villainous Dice Raymond, with his cunning, shifty eyes. And Metaxa makes a wonderful stooge and contrast to Astaire. (Oddly, Frank Jenks and his comrades are seen only at the beginning of the movie and don't reappear in the story. However, I don't suppose they will be sorely missed).AVAILABLE on a superb Warner DVD.

While "The Gay Divorcée" and "Top Hat" remain listed on the top of the Astaire/Rogers pairings, I feel that it is "Swing Time" that is their greatest. It starts off winningly with Fred pretending to be a klutz of a dancer so he can get a lesson from the pretty Ginger, resulting in the revealing "Pick Yourself Up" where all of a sudden he breaks into a tap and shows her that he's no clod with two left feet. Their romance is the epitome of what Katharine Hepburn said to describe them: "She gave him sex; he gave her class." Indeed, Fred is an odd looking leading man-extremely skinny with thinning hair and a long face that manages to glow when he smiles. Their romance blooms into a fabulous dance partnership which opens a nightclub, and on the night of their opening, the fiancée (Betty Furness) he forgot to mention shows up. While the plot doesn't sound like much, it is the presentation which makes it a classic. Astaire and Rogers get to sing and dance quite elegantly to the Oscar Winning "The Way You Look Tonight" then spar to "A Fine Romance", one of the great comedy duets ever performed on stage or screen. Astaire puts on black-face in the brilliantly staged "Bojangles of Harlem" which has some brilliant musical cords, and even if the manner in which is presented is quite controversial today, it remains one of his greatest solo numbers. The comedy relief is provided by wise-cracking Helen Broderick (returning from "Top Hat") and Victor Moore, the cutest chubby character actor to make it big on stage and screen. He was already a legend on Broadway when he made this, and the success of this lead to him being given some leading roles in a few "B" programmers, two of which co-starred the wonderful Broderick. When people speak of Eve Arden as the great wise-cracker of the silver screen, they need to remember that Broderick was around before, and while not as glamorous as Arden, she often stole every scene she was in.Add in fussy Eric Blore as the head of the dance agency where Rogers and Broderick worked in the opening segment, and you have a consistently entertaining film which has stood the test of time. A Broadway version of this ("Never Gonna Dance") was underrated when it opened in 2002 and closed quickly; Perhaps fans felt why look for phony Astaire and Rogers when the real thing is easily available. But the show was elegantly staged, and even if unnecessary, provided me with an evening of entertainment that I will never forgot. It's ironic, however, that the supporting characters got the best notices, with former Broadway leading lady Karen Ziemba tossing off sardonic comments in the Broderick role (and receiving a Tony nomination) and Peter Bartlett in the small role that Blore played. To play on the character's obvious feminine traits, the name of the character was changed to "Pangborn" in honor of that hysterically funny portrayer of sissy characters (Franklin Pangborn), and it remained one of the show's highlights. When the leads broke into "The Way You Look Tonight", I could hear a gasp of recognition from the older ladies in the audience, and I knew that if it didn't strike the critics, it certainly won them over.Technically, "Swing Time" is an absolutely perfect film with a great art decco set and quick editing in the musical numbers to make them move rather than just stand still. The costumes are all exceptional, and with the fantastic songs and choreography, everything simply comes together. This is the film where I think that Astaire and Rogers have the best chemistry, and even Moore and Broderick with their major age difference come off romantic as well, certainly no Fred and Ethel Mertz. It is obvious that everybody was having fun, even if the hard work shows, and that makes for one of the very best original movie musicals ever made.

Where would we be without them ? No I'm not talking about Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. I'm not even talking about the Hollywood musical.What I'm talking about are the Great American Songwriters, Composers, and Lyricists in the 30's and 40's who created the Hollywood musical and who in turn gave jobs to musicians, dancers, orchestra leaders, and singers.Yet how little these creative men and woman are known, or even mentioned today, ?, rarely if at all is the answer to that question.We can thank Composer Jerome Kern for writing not only the music in Swing Time, but also for writing countless melodies that we know today, and with various lyricists.On Swing Time, Mr Kern's lyricist was Dorothy Fields. Miss Fields wrote, "pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again, Mr Kern wrote the bouncy playful melody.I have been an enthusiast of American's great songwriters of the 20's 30's and 40's all my life, their creative genius has given me an interest and much joy.So when people go to see a musical written in the past, they should remember that the musical they have just enjoyed the songs of, had to be composed first, then words had to be written.Swing Time had music Jerome Kern and lyrics by Dorothy Fields.And the other writers for Astaire and Rodgers musicals were Cole Porter music and lyrics. Irving Berlin music and lyrics. And George Gershwin music, with brother Ira writing the lyrics.So, in this review I am paying not only a tribute to Mr Astaire and Miss Rogers, I am also paying a tribute to Mr Jerome Kern who penned thousand of songs with different lyric writers during his life, including Swing Time.And I'm paying an equally tribute to Miss Dorothy Fields who also wrote her streetwise lyrics with various composers through her lifetime, including Swing Time.It all boils down to this.The audiences of the 30's and 40's were more mature and sophisticated than today's audiences because they had to be having just come through the second World War.Todays audience is largely immature and childish because they do not have the same struggles, and today's so-called music reflects this.