Product Description

You'll Love The Way Fred and Ginger Look Tonight in the 5-film, 5-Disc Astaire and Rogers Collection Volume One, including the highly acclaimed Top Hat and Swing Time.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1954 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2005-08-16
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Original recording remastered, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 5
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 532 minutes

Amazon.com
Fans of classic movie musicals will be in heaven with Astaire & Rogers Collection, Vol. 1, featuring the DVD debut of five films of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, the quintessential dancing duo. The two gems of the set are Top Hat (1935), generally considered their definitive movie, and Swing Time (1936), which many consider their most enjoyable. Follow the Fleet (1936), Shall We Dance (1937), and The Barkleys of Broadway (1949) fill out the set, each with its own charms.

Follow the Fleet

The Astaire-Rogers films mix light romantic comedy (usually centered around mistaken identities and ending, inevitably, in blissful wedding promises) with elegant dinner wear and surreal sets intended to transport '30s audiences away from the Depression to such locales as Rio, Paris, and Venice. The two stars are also aided by a recurring stable of RKO players such as Edward Everett Horton (master of the double-take), Eric Blore, and Helen Broderick. And then there's that sensational dancing set to great songs by the likes of Irving Berlin, George and Ira Gershwin, and Jerome Kern, numbers that are not merely entertaining but also innovative for their time in that they reveal character and advance the plot. Add it all up, and you have a recipe for an irrepressible joie de vivre that practically defines the movie musical.

With a score by Irving Berlin, Top Hat is most famous for two numbers, Astaire's definitive tuxedo setting "Top Hat, White Tie, and Tails" and the feathery duet "Cheek to Cheek." But other joys include Astaire's "Fancy Free" declaration, "Isn't It a Lovely Day," and the grand finale "The Piccolino." Favorite musical moments in Swing Time include the set-piece "Pick Yourself Up," in which Rogers "teaches" Astaire to dance before they break into a spectacular number; the farewell ode "Never Gonna Dance," and the Oscar-winning "Just the Way You Look Tonight," from the team of Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields.

Swing Time

Follow the Fleet changes the pace a bit, with Astaire playing a sailor, and it suffers from making him and Rogers the second-banana couple to the dull Randolph Scott and Harriet Hilliard. But it still has plenty of laughs and some classic Irving Berlin numbers, including "Let Yourself Go," which Rogers sings before she and Astaire compete in a dance contest; a Rogers solo tap number; "I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket," their best comic dance. The pièce de résistance is "Let's Face the Music and Dance," a show within a show in which the pair dons their customary evening formals. Effortlessly flowing from pantomime to song to dance, this sublime piece of storytelling is one of the series' defining moments. Shall We Dance has a complex plot that has Astaire and Rogers actually getting married before the final credits roll, and turns George and Ira Gershwin's brilliant "They Can't Take That Away from Me" into a heartbreaking ode. Other great songs include "Slap That Bass," "They All Laughed," and "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off," unforgettably performed on roller skates. The Barkleys of Broadway is the oddity, reuniting the stars 10 years after their last RKO picture when Judy Garland had to be replaced due to health problems. It's trademark MGM: splashy colors, Fred in a gimmicky solo number (playing sorcerer's apprentice to a line of unoccupied shoes), Oscar Levant providing his usual dynamic pianism and acerbic personality, and a score that is at its best when it borrows songs from a previous generation (including the big ballroom number set to "They Can't Take That Away from Me"). The film falls short of their best work, but serves as a fond remembrance of the most glorious partnership in film history. --David Horiuchi

DVD Features
Picture quality on the DVD ranges from quite good (Barkleys) to rather fuzzy (Shall We Dance). Three of the discs have commentary tracks. John Mueller, the author of Astaire Dancing, does a nice analysis of the dance numbers in Swing Time. Film historian Larry Billman offers more of a series overview on Top Hat. He's joined by Astaire's daughter, Ava Astaire McKenzie, who doesn't say a lot but does provide a nice glimpse of Astaire as a father. Pianist Kevin Cole and songwriter Hugh Martin (Meet Me in St. Louis) team up for the track on Shall We Dance. They speak affectionately about Astaire and Rogers but especially enjoy conversing about George and Ira Gershwin. All five DVDs have a featurette, ranging from 11 to 18 minutes each, and each on a different topic: dance numbers, the series, Astaire and Rogers's early careers, Gershwin music, and the Barkleys reunion. Interviewees include the commentary contributors plus Leonard Maltin, former Astaire partner Barrie Chase, and Broadway performers Noah Racey and Nancy Lemenager. Racey and Lemenager demonstrate some steps, having played the Astaire and Rogers roles in the 2003 Broadway musical Never Gonna Dance, which was based on Swing Time. Also filling out the discs are various musical shorts and cartoons.

Customer Reviews

Top Hat
I am absolutely thrilled with my purchase. Very good value for money, and very well restored and remastered. "Top Hat" being my favourite, for the music timing and comedy.I really love the music and dancing, especially
"Dancing Cheek to Cheek". I am also impressed with the special fearures of naratives and the scene selections in all the movies!

Style, Grace and Dancing
Ginger was brilliantly effective. She made everything work for her. Actually, she made things very fine for the both of us and she deserves most of the credit for our success". --Fred Astaire

"I adore the man. I always have adored him. It was the most fortunate thing that ever happened to me, being teamed with Fred: he was everything a little starry-eyed girl from a small town ever dreamed of."-Ginger Rogers



Those fans of the television show Dancing with the Stars owe a large debt to the dancing talents of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Now, the idea of ballroom dancing has been out there long before Astaire and Rogers danced as a duo. However seeing them on film is seeing dance at its best. When you talk the idea of dance , this is what great dancers strive for. I give these films straight TENS across the board.

This five DVD collection is the best of their cinematic pairings. Included in this set is the films Top Hat, Follow the Fleet, Swing Time, Shall We Dance and The Barkleys of Broadway (their last film together). To me, this is cream of their motion picture crop. One would wish their first film Flying down to Rio, which show their electric chemestry, would be in this collection...however it is not!

Most younger viewers may get turned off by the films in glorious Black & white...It isn't just this film, its most films and TV in black & White. To me this just highlights the music and the dancing. Fred & Ginger were, and in my mind,still are icons of modern dance, These films proved that point

Lets talk for a second about the music. Top Hat and Follow the Fleet had scores by the great Irving Berlin. Jerome Kern (who later wrote Showboat) musicly teamed by Dorothy Fields for the film Swing Time. Shall We Dance had a film score from the Gershwin Brothers. The music was a classic era of jazz and lush music you could sing over and over.

This 1930's and 1940's films had a light storyline, always leading into the music. These pieces of musical cinematic fluff were great because the music also had chemestry. The music seem like a third partner in their dance. This is why these films worked so well and still have a certain magic today

Most of their films have historial audio commentary tracks. One would have wished either Astaire or Rogers were alive to share their cinematic memories, but alas this never happened. It is just a treat to see these two dancing and captured on dvd

Bennet Pomerantz, AUDIOWORLD

Astaire & Rogers Collection, Vol. 1 (Top Hat / Swing Time / Follow the Fleet / Shall We Dance / The Barkleys of Broadway
Loved them all. Brings back memories of good times. Well worth the price in memories and escaping into the past if only momentarily.