Product Description
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THE GAY DIVORCEE (1934) O winner* The Continental revels in
precision-dance joy, Cole Porter’s Night and Day sways with
timeless grace and Fred and Ginger’s first top billing sets the
tone for more film hits to come. SHALL WE DANCE (1937) A George
and Ira Gershwin score has Fred tapping to Slap That Bass rhythms
of a ship’s engine room and the duo’s Let’s Call the Whole Thing
Off skate routine. Pure bliss! SWING TIME (1936) One of the
team’s greatest! The Jerome Kern/Dorothy Fields score goes from
jubilant (Pick Yourself Up, Bojangles of Harlem) to sublime (the
O-winning** The Way You Look Tonight, A Fine Romance). TOP
HAT (1935) The pair’s best-remembered film features Fred’s
signature Top Hat, White Tie and Tails, the incomparably romantic
Cheek to Cheek and more in Irving Berlin’s tip-top score. DISC 1:
SIDE A ~ THE GAY DIVORCEE INCLUDES: • 2 Shorts – Show Kids and
Star Night at the Cocoanut Grove • Cartoon Shake Your Powder Puff
• Audio-Only Bonus: Hollywood on the Air Radio Promo • Theatrical
Trailer SIDE B ~ SHALL WE DANCE INCLUDES: • Commentary by
Songwriter Hugh Martin and Pianist Kevin Cole • Featurette The
Music of Shall We Dance • Musical Short Sheik to Sheik • Cartoon
Toy Town Hall DISC 2: SIDE A ~ SWING TIME INCLUDES: • Commentary
by John Mueller, Author of Astaire Dancing • Featurette The Swing
of Things: Swing Time Step by Step • Musical Short Hotel a la
Swing • Cartoon Bingo Crosbyana • Theatrical Trailer SIDE B ~ TOP
HAT INCLUDES: • Commentary by Fred Astaire’s Daughter Ava Astaire
McKenzie and Film Historian Larry Billman • Featurette On Top:
Inside the Success of Top Hat • Comedy Short Watch the Birdie
with Bob Hope • Cartoon Page Miss Glory • Theatrical Trailer All
4 Movies – Subtitles: English, Français & Español (Main Feature.
Bonus Material/Trailer May Not Be Subtitled).
.com
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Turner Classic Movies' Greatest Classic Films Collection:
Astaire & Rogers collects four movies on two double-sided discs,
with the bonus features that appeared on the single-disc versions
of the movies. 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.
The Gay Divorcee (1934) is their best early picture, a loose
adaptation of Astaire's stage show, 'The Gay Divorce.' The only
song retained for the movie is Cole Porter's smash hit "Night and
Day," which is the setting for a sublime pas de deux between Fred
and Ginger. The closer is the sprawling 17-minute ensemble number
"The Continental." With a score by Irving Berlin, Top Hat (1935)
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." Maybe their most enjoyable picture, Swing Time (1936)
features 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
O-winning "Just the Way You Look Tonight," from the team of
Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields.
Shall We Dance (1937) 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. Bonus
features include commentaries on the last three films,
featurettes, and vintage shorts and cartoons. --David Horiuchi