Gems

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

I was surprised to see an appreciation of the Astaire/Rogers films in the LA Times. Not that they don't deserve it, just that it was on the editorial page. The piece was by David Gelernter, who's usually more political.

He calls the films the "crown jewels of American film, arguably of all American culture" and it's hard to disagree. I've been watching the nine black and white movies Fred and Ginger made at RKO for decades and I don't think I'll ever tire of them.

While the glorious dancing is the centerpiece of this series, just as amazing are the songs, written by the greatest tunesmiths of the era--especially Berlin, Gershwin and Kern. For the most part, the songs were written specifically for the series, and the composers seem to be reaching higher than usual. The hits includes "Cheek To Cheek," "The Way You Look Tonight," "Let's Face The Music And Dance," "They Can't Take That Away From Me," "Let's Call The Whole Thing Off," and "Change Partners." Even relatively lesser known numbers, like "No Strings" or "Let Yourself Go," are delights.

Astaire went on to make plenty of other fine musicals, but few compared to the magic he had with Rogers. Ginger may not have been the best dancer he worked with, but she was the best partner--she added the spice that made him come alive on screen.

While the songs and dances were perfection, there were flaws in the series. Most of the stories were weak. Though Fred and Ginger--and the talented farceurs they surrounded themselves with--played with verve, outside The Gay Divorcee and Top Hat, it's pretty hard to ignore how dopey most of the plots are. But then, few people watch the films for plot.

Oddly, Gelernter's highlight of the series is the "Bojangles Of Harlem" number in Swing Time (1936). It is wonderful, no doubt. But apparently Gelernter picks it for political reasons--a white dancer from Nebraska singing a song by a Jewish composer about a great black entertainer. (Astaire does the number in blackface, but it's such a heartfelt tribute it doesn't feel offensive--though the lyric by Dorothy Fields is a bit much.) I wouldn't even call it the best number in the movie. That would either be the exuberant "Pick Yourself Up" or the touching "Never Gonna Dance." And I'm not even mentioning the comic "A Fine Romance" or the Oscar winner "The Way You Look Tonight."

Gelernter also wonders if Ginger ever said she did everything Fred did, but backwards and in heels. Well, no, not really. In her autobiography, she explains she first saw the line in a Frank and Ernest comic in 1982, and was amused. She knew Fred was the superior dancer, and he probably knew she was the better actor. What mattered most was the whole was greater than the sum of their parts.

Astaire came out to Hollywood in 1933 a Broadway star, while Ginger played plenty of smaller parts in film before she hit it big. (They'd actually dated back in their New York days.) They were teamed by chance as supporting players in Flying Down To Rio (1933) and, while they hardly danced, were so refreshing a team that the audience demanded more. By 1935, they had one of the biggest hits of the decade with Top Hat. All the films in the series were popular, but the costs kept going up after the grosses peaked, so RKO stopped teaming them after The Story Of Vernon And Irene Castle (1939). They had a cinematic reunion a decade later with The Barkleys Of Broadway (their only color film), and though it's perfectly enjoyable, the magic is mostly gone.

But the magic still exists, on DVD, to be enjoyed over and over. And, if you get a chance, maybe you can see them on the big screen. That's still the best way.