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=57013August 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