Shall We Dance (1937)

Somewhere I read that you'll think more highly of the Astaire/Rogers SHALL WE DANCE if it's the first of their movies that you've seen. Watching them in order leaves you with the impression that we've seen all this before, and what's more, that we've seen it all done better before as well.Unquestionably the great strength of the film is its musical score, by my count the fifth great musical score in a row for the series, but I'd have to agree with George Gershwin that it wasn't used very well. The main problem: Ginger and Fred don't dance together enough. Indeed, they only have one major duet in the whole movie, danced to 'They All Laughed'. It's a dandy, but even here they'd done comparable dances even more brilliantly in ROBERTA, TOP HAT AND SWING TIME. Of course, they also roller skate, and practically everyone adores the scene so who am I to knock it? Nevertheless, I miss them dancing, and the final duet to the title song comes and goes in about 30 seconds and only whets my appetite for more.After giving possibly the best performance in the entire series in SWING TIME, Ginger Rogers seems off here, irritable practically from beginning to end and considerably less fun than she was in the rest of the series (and during practically the rest of her career). The fact that she was the victim of an extortion attempt during the film's shooting may have had something to do with it. For those interested, she received a note demanding $50,000 or else they would kill Ginger's mother. Turning it over to the FBI, the fellow was apprehended at the scheduled drop point and turned out to be a sailor who was simply after the money, not the mother. He'd chosen Ginger because she was his favorite actress!But getting back to the movie, unlike in the rest of the series the songs are generally ill-fitted into the plot. While it's not unusual for Fred's solo to be a simple exhibition of his dancing ability that has little to do with the rest of the film, it is unusual for their major duets to move the plot exactly nowhere. As John Mueller points out in ASTAIRE DANCES, during the marvelous dance to 'They All Laughed', Ginger's character seems to be loosening up emotionally and moving closer to Fred's, the typical character movement in their up tempo numbers, but here she simply reverts to exactly where she had been before, i.e., simply resentful towards him. It's as if the dance had never happened. And what her motivation was for the reconciliation dance at the end I'll never understand. Would you be attracted to someone dancing with people wearing masks of you? I'd more likely call the nearest mental hospital.Speaking of motivation, what exactly would possess Fred to suddenly play hard to get once Ginger had finally invited him into her apartment on their wedding night? It did lead to probably the most artful shot that Mark Sandrich devised in the entire series (the one of them both hesitating before opposite sides of the door between them), but still...Ah, I'm sure I'm being too hard on SHALL WE DANCE. It's an elaborate production featuring two great performers, a few laughs, and terrific music. Who could ask for anything more?

Poor Fred Astaire. When I was growing up they were still debating who was the best dancer. Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire?Kelly's film have been all spruced up by MGM, they were shot in colour as they were made later. Fred still remains in these creaky, black and white RKO pictures with scratchy audio and inferior picture quality that desperately needs to be remastered.I recently watched Singin in the Rain with my young son, he recognised some of the songs because he sang some of them at school. That was enough of a pull for him to keep watching the film.When I got him to watch Shall we Dance, he got bored, in fact so was I. Astaire plays Petrov a faux Russian ballet dancer chasing a musical comedy star, Ginger Rogers, across the ocean with a series of misunderstandings about them being a married couple and broad double takes from some of the supporting cast.There is an innovative dance sequence with Astaire (Slap that Bass) and a group of black musicians set in a ship which stands out a lot more now and I guess it would had been daring for the time.Astaire gets to mix some ballet with tap dance but Ginger is rather sidelined here and the screwball comedy part is groan inducing. Still a few classic songs are included in the film but I felt they were too good for this film.

Shall We Dance (1937) *** 1/2 (out of 4) The seventh teaming of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers has him playing a Russian ballet and her a tap-dancer. The two of them really get to know one another while on a boat heading for America but somehow word gets out that they're married, which sets off a firestorm in New York and gives them unwanted attention. SHALL WE DANCE is without question a very good film but there's no doubt that it's lacking some originality. Previous teamings of the two stars pretty much had the same story. They meet. He annoys her. She falls for him. He falls for her. There's a mistake which causes problems. That same story structure is pretty much followed here and there's no question that it's quite predictable by now but at the same time there's no question that the two stars and their supporting players are in fine form and manage to make it work. There are several good moments here but I'd say the highlight is the roller skating sequence where the always impressive duo makes one even more aware of their genius. I'm not sure how long it took them to perfect this dance sequence but it's certainly a very impressive one that ranks among their best work. The Gershwin songs are all pretty good in their one way but "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" is certainly the highlight. As I said, both Astaire and Rogers are perfect together as there's never a doubt that their chemistry seems real. Edward Everett Horton is on hand and offers up his usual nice comic timing. SHALL WE DANCE is certainly going to appeal to those fans of Astaire and Rogers even though it does fall short of TOP HAT and SWING TIME.

The story is rather thin and silly and Ketti Gallian's performance came across as vapid; the rest however is sheer pleasure. The film is beautifully shot with extravagant, if not quite as sophisticated as Top Hat and particularly Swing Time, production values, particularly apparent in Let's Call the Whole Thing Off. George and Ira Gershwin's score and songs don't disappoint either, really quite wonderful actually. Standing out were the catchy Let's Call the Whole Thing Off and the touchingly melancholic They Can't Take That Away From Me. The choreography dazzles and shows great energy and poise, just seeing Fred and Ginger in roller skates for Let's Call the Whole Thing Off makes one envious of how they were able to do that and make it seem so easy. The dialogue has a real warmth and wit, the dialogue during the jail scene is just hilarious and that scene came across as the best from a comedic point of view, and the gags and such are good-natured and enjoyably daft. Shall We Dance is not without heart either, it is very difficult not to be moved by You Can't Take That Away From Me. Fred Astaire is immensely charming and likable and dances a dream as always, it more than makes up for that he's not all that convincing as a Russian. Ginger Rogers looks gorgeous and interacts and dances with Astaire wonderfully, you are not quite as emotionally invested in Linda Keene as you are with some of her other characters but Rogers still gives everything she's got. In supporting roles, Eric Blore was a joy and provided some of the film's funniest moments(the aforementioned jail scene), though Edward Everett Horton and Jerome Cowan are very enjoyable as well. To conclude, a great piece of escapism. 9/10 Bethany Cox