Astaire & Rogers Collection: Vol. 1

[Gold Trumpet]

Two Points: How I wished this would have been Criterion, but any DVD release of this is a great day. Second, I really refrain from getting dogmatic with my declarations, but any lover of movies should be hopping up and down right now (and if this isn't your cup of tea, don't take me serious. World Peace)


Cover art: http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=57013

August 16, 2005.
Available separately priced at $19.97 SRP each or as part of the signature collection box set, priced at $59.92 SRP.

Shall We Dance - To keep musical-comedy star Linda Keene from retiring to marry, her manager Arthur Mille, suggests to the press that she's already married to Petrov, the ballet dancer. The two ultimately decide to marry so that they can have very public divorce and clear the air, but true love blossoms between them.

Features include:

* Commentary by Kevin Cole and Hugh Martin
* They Can't Take That Away from Me: The Music of Shall We Dance featurette
* Musical Short Sheik to Sheik and Classic Cartoon Toy Town Hall

Swing Time - It's Swing Time anytime Fred and Ginger slip on their dancing shoes. Here, Fred's a gambler with a fiancée back home...but one look at Ginger and all bets are off! He pursues, she resists, and it's all tied together by a series of breathtaking dances.

Features include:

* Commentary by John Mueller, Author of Astaire Dancing
* The Swing of Things: Swing Time Step by Step featurette
* Musical Short Hotel a la Swing and Classic Cartoon Bingo Crosbyana

Top Hat - Perhaps the best remembered of the 10 Astaire/Rogers musicals, Top Hat has it all: Art Deco elegance, a wonderfully addled storyline, loopy support from skilled farceurs and the incomparable chemistry of the two leads cheek-to-cheeking to Irving Berlin's finest film score.

Features include:

* Commentary by Fred Astaire's Daughter Ava Astaire McKenzie and Film Dance Historian Larry Billman
* On Top: Inside the Success of Top Hat featurette
* Comedy Short Watch the Birdie with Bob Hope, Classic Cartoon Page Miss Glory

Follow the Fleet - In the fifth of 10 Astaire/Rogers pairings, Fred trades his top hat for a sailor's cap, Randolph Scott gets the girl (pre-Nelson Harriet Hilliard), Ginger gets a tap solo and viewers get the unending delight of seven sparkling Irving Berlin numbers, including Let Yourself Go, We Saw the Sea, the Duo's zany I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket skit and their sublimely powerful Let's Face the Music and Dance.

Features include:

* Follow the Fleet: The Origins of Those Dancing Feet featurette
* Musical Short Melody Master: Jimmie Lunceford and His Orchestra and Classic Cartoon Let It Be Me

The Barkleys of Broadway - The last Astaire/Rogers movie, about a show-biz team divided by career ambitions, is also the duo's only color film.

Features include:

* Reunited at MGM: Astaire and Rogers Together featurette
* Vintage Short Annie Was a Wonder and Classic Droopy Cartoon Wags to Riches

[modage]

here: just make sure to sign in this thread if you've seen any of these.  that will give GT an idea of how many people actually watch old musicals.  i'm guessing under 10.  mac, eward, maybe ghostboy and a few others

(i've only seen Swing Time, which i thought was great and will buy, possibly in the set).

[eward]

ive seen swing time and top hat.  classics.  both are sooo deserving of that title. especially top hat, for me.  i am buying this set and will probably buy the volumes to follow.

[pete]

which one was the one when astaire was on a boat and he convinced some dude that the dude was seasick by swaying a lot?
I remember watching that when I first got vertigo and it made me laugh.

[MacGuffin]

which one was the one when astaire was on a boat and he convinced some dude that the dude was seasick by swaying a lot?

Don't quote me on it, but I think it's The Gay Divorcee.

[modage]

which one was the one when astaire was on a boat and he convinced some dude that the dude was seasick by swaying a lot?

macguffin thinks its the gay divorcee.

Don't quote me on it, but I think it's The Gay Divorcee.

[modage]

tonite i watched my 2nd astaire/rogers film, Top Hat, which is apparently considered their best, though i still preferred Swing Time to this quite a bit.  i really do like musicals when they're done well.  this doesn't have a huge amount of musical numbers, just a few songs that are well integrated into the story as well as some short dance numbers.  Rocky & Bullwinkle fans (like myself) will get a kick out of seeing Edward Everett Horton in a hilarious supporting role.  

if anyone has never seen a black and white musical, i would definitely recommend checking one of these out because it's really a whole different deal from the technicolor 50's/60's musicals that more people are probably used to.  (as in, if you haven't seen anything pre-Singin' In The Rain, see Swing Time.)  this means YOU!  Astaire and Rogers are the real deal!