Justintroduced paris ballet impresario baird edward everett horton visits his ambivalent star pete fred astaire, his first scene, for further exposition, leading us to linda ginger rogers, whom he worships from afar, opening rkos shall we dance, 1937. The inclusion of the question mark serves to distinguish these two films from the 1937 fred astaire and ginger rogers film shall we dance. Dancing through the little known details of fred astaires. Shall we dance, released in 1937, is the seventh of the ten astaire rogers musical comedy films. Clip from shall we dance 1937 with fred singing they cant take that away from me to ginger followed by a clip from the barkleys of broadway 1949 where they dance not included in this video is. Fred astaire has been hailed as one of the greatest dancers of all time, but behind the shy smile was a man who kept his secrets close to his heart. Carefree was a reunion for the team of astaire and rogers after a brief hiatus following shall we dance and six other previous rko pictures. Of all the partners fred had over the course of his film career, none ever reacted to. The gay divorcee 1934, roberta 1935, top hat 1935, follow the fleet 1936, swing time 1936, shall we dance 1937, carefree 1938, the story of vernon and irene castle 1939 and finally the barkleys of broadway 1949. This is because both were bruised from more than fifteen earlier takes and were actually in pain. While fred astaire was busy preparing for his role in shall we dance, phyllis consumed all of her free time on the planning and blueprints for the building process of their long awaited dream home. This was a task that proved to be tedious, especially since phyllis insisted on.
Shall we dance 1937 is the film set to music by the gershwin brothers. This is a complete list of the songs introduced by fred astaire beginning with his first broadway show over the top in 1917 his childhood and teenage period in vaudeville is not covered. This musical casts fred astaire as a worldrenowned ballet dancer and. In more recent years, most movie musicals have reverted back to the preastaire and kelly styles of filming dance. Weve seen top hat and swing time and love them both so it was a treat. The idea for the film originated in the studios desire to exploit. In this film, astaire plays a famous ballet dancer in paris. Judy garland fred astaire movie photo from the 1948 movie easter parade see more. In the film both fred astaire and ginger rogers appear uncomfortable as they get up. Eventually, of course, the twosome falls in love for real, but not before a cornucopia of confusion. The idea for the film originated in the studios desire to exploit the successful formula created by richard rodgers and lorenz hart with their 1936 broadway hit on your toes. Few would argue with the opinion that american entertainer fred astaire was the greatest dancer ever seen on film. Fred astaire and ginger rogers in shall we dance 1937 ginger rogers in. Fred astaire shall we dance from shall we dance 1937 this song written by george gershwin.
Astaire recorded all of the songs from shall we dance without ginger at the time the film was released. After happening across a photograph of tapdance sensation linda keene ginger rogers, peters falls instantly in love. Fred astaire s amazing solos and his pairings with ginger rogers are all classic dance numbers. Fred astaireginger rogers musicals, shall we dance casts astaire as a worldrenowned ballet dancer and rogers as a musical comedy headliner. From the 1937 musical shall we dance, fred astaire enters the stage in white tie and tails accompanied by a female chorus, each wearing. Shall we dance dvd a ballet dancer and a showgirl fake their marriage for publicity purposes before falling in love for real in this delightful musical comedy starring fred astaire and ginger rogers in their seventh film together. Released may 7th, 1937, shall we dance stars fred astaire, ginger rogers, eric blore, edward everett horton the movie has a runtime of about 1 hr 49 min, and received a score of out of 100 on. George gershwin was the first to score an entire picture with shall we dance. Peters fred astaire is an american ballet dancer working in paris. With a fluff plot thats sillier than usual, shall we dance marks the one and only time the brothers gershwin wrote a score for an astaire rogers musical. Fred astaire was born in omaha, nebraska, to johanna geilus and fritz austerlitz, a brewer. The seventh of rkos fred astaireginger rogers musicals, shall we dance casts astaire as a worldrenowned ballet dancer and rogers as a musical comedy headliner. Shall we dance 1937 dance movies, fred astaire movies.
About fred astaire american dancer fred astaire bio. Shall we dance, the seventh out of ten films starring fred and ginger, certainly proves the dancing duo had tweaked their formula since the all dancing, no plot film that was the gay divorcee. Fred astaires amazing solos and his pairings with ginger rogers are all classic dance numbers. Featuring several legendary songs composed by the gershwins most famously, lets call the whole thing off and they cant take that away from me, jokes that land, and a movie filled with. Fred astaire also changed the way dance sequences in movies were filmed, insisting that the focus be.
They are available on the twocd set starring fred astaire from columbia as. His stage and subsequent film and television careers spanned a total of 76 years. The beloved shall we dance was the only fred and ginger film with songs from george and ira gershwin, and they were splendid. I happened to see out of the corner of my eye the other that shall we dance, the 7th of the fred astaire and ginger rogers pairings was on bbc 2, so i recorded it and then me and my sister watched it. However, the actual film titles on the us film appear as simply shall we dance, leading to some online sources, including imdb, referring to it without showing the question mark.
May 10, 1899 june 22, 1987 was an american dancer, singer, actor, choreographer, and television presenter. Fred was certainly no stranger to george and ira, they had written funny face on broadway for him and also had done damsel in distress which he costarred with joan fontaine the year before. Fancyfree fred and joyous gingerin their gayest, gladdest show. It is the only instance where fred astaire looks inauthentic when performing, an imposter. Those who cointroduced a song with him are indicated in the cosinger column. The next film in the series, the story of vernon and irene castle 1939, would be their final rko film together, although they would reunite in 1949 for mgm s the barkleys of broadway. Shall we dance is for this viewer one of the great astairerogers films, even if.
Shall we dance, the seventh in the astairerogers series, is a standout because the script affords astaire a legitimate excuse for a change of pace in his dancing, the comedy is solid, and this is the best cutting job an astaire picture has enjoyed in a long time. Shall we dance, released in 1937, is the seventh of the ten astairerogers musical comedy films. Astaire and rogers made a further nine films together at rko. Ballet dancer peter peters fred astaire is obsessed with the idea of partnering with tapdance. Fred astaire and ginger rogers they cant take that away. Shall we dance 1937 movie clip i hope to dance with. Rogers manager jerome cowan concocts a phony romance between his client and astaire in order to garner publicity for them both.
Shall we dance 1937 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. Fred astaire and ginger rogers lets call the whole. Fred and ginger miss a step in shall we dance bright. Adele astaire fred astaire queens theatre new york broadway mikhail baryshnikov fred and. Fred astaire was not only a great dancer changing the face of the american movie musical with his style and grace but he was also a singer, and an actor with many different dramatic and comedic credits, in both movies and tv specials. List of songs introduced by fred astaire wikipedia. Having kept the rko studio financially afloat during the darker days of the great depression, astaire and rogers kept movie audiences entertained too, with sublime dance numbers, romantic fantasies of boymeetsgirl, and songs that stayed with the audience long after the house.
Oddly enough, the strong song list in shall we dance makes it the best showcase in the series of one of gingers particular talents not her ability to sing, but her ability to be sung to. I ran charles the 1937 film shall we dance, a fred astaireginger. He is widely considered the most influential dancer in the history of film. Shall we dance 1937 rotten tomatoes movie trailers. Astaire and rogers made one movie in 1937, shall we dance, once again costarring edward everett horton. Shall we dance 1937 was the seventh outing within four years for rko superstars fred astaire and ginger rogers.
Ballet dancer peter peters fred astaire is obsessed with the idea of partnering with tapdance sensation linda keene ginger rogers and arranges. Selznick said he is a man, conceded to be perhaps, next to leslie howard, the most charming in the american theater but in this scene in shall we dance, he looks like a nerd. Shall we dance 2004 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. Cast included fred astaire, ginger rogers, edward everett horton, eric blore, jerome cowan, and harriet hoctor. Shall we dance 1937 stream and watch online moviefone.