Ballet star Petrov arranges to cross the Atlantic aboard the same ship as the dancer and musical star he's fallen for but barely knows. By the time the ocean liner reaches New York, a little white lie has churned through the rumour mill and turned into a hot gossip item—that the two celebrities are secretly married.
Fred Astaire Ginger Rogers Edward Everett Horton Eric Blore Jerome Cowan Ketti Gallian William Brisbane Harriet Hoctor Rolfe Sedan Richard Tucker Ben Alexander Charles Coleman Eddie Hall Matthew Boulton Sidney Bracey Monte Collins Dudley Dickerson Pauline Garon Charlie Hall Frank Moran Leonard Mudie Henry Mowbray Norman Ainsley Sherwood Bailey Harry Bowen William Burress Jean De Briac Douglas Gordon Helena Grant Show All…
L'entreprenant Mr Petrov, Geef Me 'n Kans!, De Dans naar het Geluk, おどらんかな, L'Entreprenant Monsieur Petrov, Voglio danzar con te, Tanz mit mir, Ritmo loco, Vamos Dançar?, Ще танцуваме ли?, 随我婆娑, Давайте потанцуем, 쉘 위 댄스, 踊らん哉, Smím prosit?, Ritme boig, Får jag lov?
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Baltimore, Maryland
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SpainAPTA
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Brazil
Spain
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Bear with me, this is gonna be very emotional and potentially very embarrassing, but right now I don't care.
Yesterday was a bad day for me, a day of many tears—like many of my days. I came home, made a salad and did what I always do when I need some comfort—I turned to Fred Astaire. I began watching Shall We Dance, but last night not even that worked, on the contrary, it made me even sadder, and my obsession with this man began to frustrate me to no end.
Although I have made great progress, I'm not the best at nursing myself due to a history of mental, physical and sexual abuse, so I tend to put myself down…
80 years ago, they didn’t need superheroes. They had Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. And they were capable of superhuman physical feats without special effects or camera cuts.
The first half of this or so is a pretty great film. It's funny. The dancing is superb. The story is ridiculous, rom-commy, but not offensive in the way rom-coms can get. I won't say that it's entirely without flaw, but Astaire and Rogers don't feel like empty vessels, at least. Astaire mugs like hell for the camera, and Rogers needs a bit more agency. But they work. They have chemistry. There's charm to it.
And then, something happens toward the end that changes it all. They enjoy a day together in New York, and this culminates in their singing "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off," a song so ubiquitous that it's a punchline more often than not. The chorus…
There are plenty of great film composers, but less than a handful of films with scores composed by one of the greatest composers of all time. “Shall We Dance” is maybe the best of the handful.
With music written by George Gershwin as he developed a brain tumor that would lead to his death, “Shall We Dance” is a tandem treasure of musical and cinematic history. It’s the first full-length score Gershwin composed specifically for a film; and also one of his last. Enthusiastic about experimentation in a new medium, Gershwin set about creating an interpretation of music unrivaled in its creativity to this day.
Nearly every scene of “Shall” features a Gershwin-penned jazz reinterpretation of a classical dance style.…
From the hundreds of letters I've read at the Fred Astaire Archive, many of which he wrote to his sister Adele, his closest confidante, I only transcribed a few of them since I wanted to be able to read as many as possible instead of wasting my precious time transcribing them (photocopies are not allowed). I wanted to share a passage from this particular letter because it's such a good representation of the general tone of his letters. He was staying at his sister's place in some apartment building while she was gone, and writes her about what he’s been up. I often notice that so many people seem to have this strange idea of Astaire, that he was this…
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers star in this musical romantic comedy about the scandal that brews when a ballet star and a famed dancer are mistakenly reported as being married.
The seventh screen pairing of this iconic duo introduced several Gershwin songs that would go on to become standards, with They All Laughed, Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off and They Can’t Take That Away From Me each finding a life of their own outside of the film that’s endured over time.
The film is definitely at its best in these now iconic musical numbers, as it’s here that everything really seems to come to life, but I found the rest of the film lacklustre in comparison; the story is…
Every film needs more Eric Blore. This film also has a few conversations that are overheard and the listener thinks something very different is going on, like unwed pregnancy or something. I like the way when Fred says something shocking, he just sits there with his mouth open as he waits for the response. It's very interesting.
Fred is Petrov, a fake Russian ballet dancer who just wants to tap dance. He falls for a picture of Ginger and meets her, but she doesn't give two hoots about him. They are in Paris. On the boat back to the States a rumor is started that they are married. The music is George and Ira Gershwin and it's great.
it really doesn’t get more comforting for me than tap dancing on roller skates and a fake marriage plot. also my favorite silly old man eric blore is in this and everything he did made me giggle.
my first Rogers/Astaire movie somehow 🤔 but it was lovely (last dance aside because the masks are CREEPY) I love the energy between the two leads!! I can’t wait to watch more 🤩
What are y’all’s favorite Rogers/Astaire movies??
