Actuakers
One of my all time favorites.
Lightdeossk
Captivating movie !
Christopher Reid
This is the first Astaire/Rogers film I've seen and I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. The dancing is great, of course. They seem to float or glide above the floor. I was impressed by both of them, the way they make it look so effortless. It's exciting and makes you want to get up and somehow be a part of it. They spin so quickly but their heads remain steady and controlled. Rogers never seems to hold onto Astaire but is always in the right place. She contacts him via her waist and with that connection they seem to get all the leverage they need.I enjoyed the Jerome Kern songs. They're catchy and memorable in a nice way. I liked some of the locations, outside in the snow, the dance studio and the stages. It was cool seeing the three shadows dancing above Astaire. They eventually diverge from his actions and then you realise he's been dancing in sync with a pre-recorded silhouette the whole time. Some of the comedy moments were quite good, especially with the supporting cast. I loved the dance lessons manager and the dirty looks he gave to his employees as they kept being negative towards customers.But other aspects didn't impress me as much. The love story is very thin and artificial. It feels completely arbitrary. It's given no meaning or significance. Both lovers end up easily getting engaged to people they apparently don't love. Their friends have no problem sabotaging their weddings for personal benefit. It didn't strike me as funny so much as flippant. Astaire makes me smile or laugh occasionally but not enough. I also didn't like the gambling. It's highly unrealistic and promotes a dangerous habit. Bond movies are different somehow, they're more psychological and sexy. This movie feels too random and I found I didn't like all of the humour and had to keep waiting for the brilliant dance sequences.I didn't even notice it but the dances are generally filmed in continuous takes and capture the full bodies of the performers. One scene uses a crane to go from a lower stage to a higher one. No cutting away to an audience or close-ups of faces or legs. It goes to show that good film-making is seamless and makes you forget you're watching a movie. All I remember about the dances is how fun and incredible they were. If they were badly filmed, I would have been distracted and picked up on many little details.I'm looking forward to seeing more Astaire/Rogers movies. I did enjoy Swing Time but it seems flawed to me. I don't think the duo is great at comedy. It's too obvious or predictable. Astaire keeps pulling funny faces and only some of them surprise me or feel like genuine character moments. With Keaton and Chaplin, you always sensed the love in their films was sincere. Their characters were truly affected by things. They never simply played to the audience.But Astaire and Rogers seem more like cartoon characters. Frivolous and back to square one after each scene. Maybe they're together, maybe they're apart. I guess I'll just try to enjoy the jokes and singing and dancing along the way.
l_rawjalaurence
SWING TIME contains the usual mix of ingredients characteristic of an Astaire-Rogers vehicle: a creaky script, slick one-liners, a slew of character-roles and above all the song and dance sequences. What makes George Stevens' film so memorable is the quality of the score with at least three Kern standards: "Pick Yourself Up," "The Way You Look Tonight," and "A Fine Romance."Astaire never had a great singing voice; he delivers Kern's gorgeous lyrics in an agreeable contralto, even though sometimes he tends to slide into the top notes. Likewise Rogers' vocal capacities are just above competent. However the two of them are quite magical in their dance-routines: mostly shot in a single take, they show the pair of them in perfect unison gliding across the dance-floor, while keeping the viewers' attention totally focused on their steps. No couple could ever perform with such style and grace as these two; even after nearly seven decades, their routines are unbelievable.Astaire has a solo routine where he performs in black-face as a tribute to Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson. To contemporary viewers, this sequence might seem offensive, but we have to view it in context. 1936 was the year when James Whale's SHOW BOAT was also filmed (with another score by Kern and Oscar Hammerstein III), with Paul Robeson's memorable vocal rendition of "Ol' Man River," a melancholy depiction of the African American's life in the pre-Civil Rights era. Black face routines were considered a legitimate component of vaudeville and/or musical shows.The supporting performances are memorable - as they always were in the Astaire/Rogers films. Helen Broderick and Victor Moore enjoy their opportunities to exchange banter, and are especially funny in one sequence where they start to laugh uncontrollably at Astaire's marital troubles. Eric Blore has a cameo role as a dance academy owner; he doesn't have much to do, but he at least has the chance to go through his range of exasperated facial expressions as he tries to maintain his authority over Rogers and Broderick. Georges Metaxa has a thankless role as the Latin lover Rocky Romero, who has to endure the indignity of his pants almost falling down at the end as he tries to conduct the orchestra.As with all the best Astaire/Rogers vehicles, SWING TIME is tautly constructed, with the plot zipping along at a cracking pace, while allowing plenty of time for dance routines. Forget the script, with its meaningful verbal introductions to the songs; just enjoy the dance.
TheLittleSongbird
The story, like with most Fred and Ginger films, is not Swing Time's best asset, it does come across as contrived, though it also has a charming and cute edge to it. That however doesn't matter so much, when so much in fact everything else is done so well. Swing Time is another Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers classic, and a very close second best to Top Hat. The sets and photography are very lavish and beautiful to look at(Ginger's wardrobe likewise), the most audacious and sophisticated of all the Fred and Ginger films. Jerome Kern's score and songs are also outstanding, The Way You Look Tonight, A Fine Romance, Pick Yourself Up and especially Never Gonna Dance are all classics, and while it is understandable why some won't like it and find it jarring Bojangles of Harlem is at least catchy. There's nothing to complain about in the dancing either, the standout is easily Never Gonna Dance, just perfection in every meaning of the word and Fred and Ginger probably haven't done a dance more beautiful or emotionally moving. It in particular shows off Astaire's effortless grace and style perfectly. The choreography has a lot of spirit and pizazz, done with an appropriately light touch as well as touches of the dramatic. The script is good-natured and amusing, with some sweet parts too. Special mention should also go to the dialogue scene preceding Never Gonna Dance which is very poignant, maybe the most poignant dialogue scene of any of their films. Fred and Ginger are delightful together, and play their characters with great charm. Victor Moore acts with energy and enthusiasm, but one does wish there was much more of Eric Blore. In conclusion, once you get past the story Swing Time is a wonderful film. 9.5/10 Bethany Cox
chaos-rampant
What happened here? These movies were usually good, or better.The production is the most lavish of the Fred/Ginger films up to this point, their dance together easily tops previous efforts (though 'Carioca' and 'Cheek to Cheek' are perhaps more epochal), the cinematic choreography is much more intricate than before. As a musical, it has the most effort of what I've seen of them.I am also into these films for the story though, contrary to most folks it seems. The story is as foamy on the surface as before, whipped cream on strawberry daiquiri. The connecting thread is dance (as having control of the band that plays the number) = learning to control oneself (in our case, Fred is a pathologic gambler) = love. This time, however, it is sappy in a bad way, broad, crass and dumb, with none of it resolved in the music: Ginger at the last moment does not marry the suave singer, because he looks funny in over-sized pants? Completely in bad taste. Compare with the elegance of their Flying Down to Rio, where the point was that dance is true when danced with a love that is true.
