All done in one take, as usual. No room for even the slightest error. The camera never moves away, there's no fancy editing or movie trickery. Just effortless perfection.
Ginger has about 38 million hits on the net...Fred about 9 million. Ginger just had a 13 film retrospective, with many of her non-Fred films. For ten years, she was the highest paid female star in Hollywood. She made 73 films in all...only 10 with Fred. Fred is ranked #4 on the list of TCM's all time greatest male classic stars. Ginger is #14 on the female side. Both of them are great stars, who will never be forgotten. But what makes them really special is that each makes the other even better.
Agreed! People forget that it was GINGER that brought people into the theaters during their 9-film streak. SHE was by far the more popular of the two. We view Fred's incredible contributions to dance in retrospect and assume he was the draw. Ginger made Fred look amazing and he appreciated it. Together they were magic, and it launched them both to stardom and fame.
Is there any couple in the history of film who could convey so much tenderness just by walking together? The best walkers in the business. And they could dance too.
Fred was the master dancer and hub of the creative wheel. No doubt about that. But with Ginger, there was a special chemistry and magic that no other partner could match. She was his best dance partner, not for technical skill...there were two or three other partners better in this than Ginger...but because of their very unique screen reciprocity, on and off the dance floor. They just worked together so beautifully.
If two people know the truth, then if they talk long enough, they agree. Fred and Ginger are totally unique. They play reciprocal roles, and have different strengths and weaknesses, but It all comes together, because of their special chemistry....on and off the dance floor. But when they dance, it truly is magic. There's nothing like them. They express something very close to life itself. For sure, we agree.
When i was in school i use to sign into youtube all the time to sit and watch these videos of Fred and Ginger, until i could afford to buy the eintire collection . They use to mesmerise me, and still do. You can count on these two to cheer you up if your having a bad day !
@ZionBound826 ...Not only to dance...but to dance WITH a partner. I think it was Jerome Robbins who said that if you want to see how to dance with someone else, watch Astaire and Rogers. Quite a contrast to today, when partners not only don't dance with one another, they dance apart, and quite often, don't even have to be doing remotely the same dance!
Such grace, terderness, and love. They danced so experessively together. They were and are the best dance duo ever. Ginger convinces you that Fred is the greatest.
I remember sitting on the floor next to my grandmother's chair watching these movies and asking if I could be Ginger Rogers when I grew up! So Beautiful, so graceful, and I wanted Fred Astair!! LOL!
May I say this is a classic from an era of it's own. As far as the remakes from singers of this era should just leave it alone. It's almost like distrubing an heavenly eternal passing that will always survive through time. (the gallery now claps and I say thank you.....thank you.... and now I get an ovation.)
amazing,ginger is so beautiful and elegant,such grace dancing !It feels like she's just gliding! And Aistaire is a genius dancing. Wish movies nowadays were like this again.
Ginger's dress was so lovely and timeless, you could totally wear that in 2010! Or just about any time in the last 70-ish years, for that matter. Same with that one from "Never Gonna Dance" in Swing Time. Love it. Movies will never be this awesome again.
fred astaire and ginger rogers... i dnt think i have ever seen any better chemistry btween any dancing couple... always had great chemistry btween them in every movie they ever did...
So wonderful! As someone who never really did dance, and now no longer can walk without a cane, just watching them twirl and jump backwards up 3 steps is breathtaking!
Someone once asked Fred who his favorite dance partner was and, being a gentleman, he dodged the question. Personally, I could watch him and Ginger all day. They were magical together!
My favorite Fred Astaire dance scene because of the controlled pace. Fred believed that a dance scene needed to be shot in one scene with not clipping. I enjoy the flow of the dance, from slow to fast, to slow, climax to slow finish; the elegance, especially when they do the jump spin UP the stairs--and Ginger is in high heels.
where again have you ever seen such elegance as in the Hollywood of the 1930s? and such dancing? so smooth, flawless, without any special effects... - not to mention Ginger's omg-beautiful dress!! - simply magical! I could watch them dance forever. those films back then, that was real art! I can't believe they will soon turn 90!
@Capsos1 ...Rogers is described as an A-level actress who could dance. Her dance reactions to Fred were superb. Fred said that they worked so well together, that "everyone else I ever danced with just looked wrong.". And Fred, who always struggled as an actor without Ginger, was accurately described as a musician who danced..his body being his instrument. But together, the mathematics of their chemistry was 1 + 1 = 10,001! There are moments when they literally become gods, who speak to eternity.
My jaw dropped when I watched this. This is the absolute in athleticism, elegance, sexiness, and aesthetics - it has everything - and a damn good tune too!
This is an early dance from their third film, "Roberta", 1935. It's very poetic and beautifully simple. It was picked by Fred as one of his favorite dances with Ginger. The choreography was by Fred and his alter ego, Hermes Pan. By this time, their creative process was established. Fred's contract permitted only four people to be present in the creation of the dances...Himself, Pan, Hal Borne the pianist, and Ginger. Fred insisted that every step was to be original, no step ever to be repeated.
I have read of a man who went to the RKO costume department in the early 70s and was told to take whatever could be used again and throw away every thing else.He found ginger rodgers beautiful gowns "rotting" on the hangers,and instead of throwing them away saved what he could.Its awful to think hollywood didnt give a shit about its history.
The combined genius of Jerome Kern Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Do we have anything like them today? PS- Also a shout out to whoever made that dress.
+Rosa Schlüpfer Ms. Rogers' name is shown in big letters at the beginning of the clip, and in the title box for this page, and you still fucked it up? Priceless.
When only the best will do ,heaven now is getting entertained by the best entertainers the world ever seen they had beauty, class, grace and charisma ..
I seriously doubt anyone on here meant to imply she was "secretly better." People are simply paying some attention to Ginger since she deserves some recognition as well. Don't get me wrong: I worship at the feet of Fred Astaire, but this video is about BOTH of them, dancing as PARTNERS. It's a bit degrading to Ginger that the majority of the comments only ever recognize Fred.
To be honest, as a female with some dance training it's much easier to look competent when you have a wonderfully talented partner than it is the other way around. It's harder to be the less trained male partner and still look good. Ginger was great, but Fred undoubtedly had the greater share of dancing skills, which is why they look so wonderful together. A good partner is a wonderful thing.
@jazzy6307 nooo they didn't hate each other. and she didn't put feathers on that dress purposely. they did gt into a quarrel over it though, and to make up, fred sent ginger a gold and diamond brooch in the shape of a feather.
@Kate0603: I like Kelly too, and Fred and Gene were the best of friends...but Astaire has a significant edge over Gene as a dancer. Kelly said that "all modern dancing begins with Fred Astaire",...and Balanchine called Fred "the greatest dancer of the 20th century". ...and he said "the reason I came to America was because of wonderful dancers like Ginger Rogers". Astaire and Rogers were American originals....they created both modern dance, and the dance/musical genre. They are immortal.
watch closely in this clip (or any Fred- Ginger clip) Ginger moves with delicate and understated grace- she glides on air. Fred's movements are wide, overstated, and clunky-his feet never leave the ground. Ginger had it all. Talent, charm, grace, beauty. A brilliant comedienne, she was also an accomplished dramatist (she won her only oscar for a drama role) The only thing she didn't have was artistic control over the studio system that shackled her to light weight money makers.
I love the proposal after their dance. That was delivered perfect. I like this dance. I wish they would show these kind of movies in the theater where I live. They were such a beautiful couple. I am going to get all their movies and I cant wait.
Like 'Night and Day' the year before- a marvelously fluid and simple pas a deux topped off with an exquisite example of Fred's deflationary 'nonchalance', as if to bring us all gently floating back down to earth.
Nobody can move quite like Fred Astaire, I find myself going into a trance watching his feet and Ginger Rodgers did the same, only backwards as legend has it. 😊
At 1.24 Ginger has to do two running turns across Fred and still be in a position at the end to catch his hand. I think that shows the contribution she made to this act.
Just a total DELIGHT from start to finish -- All the innate artistic harmony inherent in magnificently conceived and excecuted ballroom dancing, at its' absolute ZENITH ! And, oh yeah : ) ... That flawless little "simultaneous backwards up the stairs" number, showing up around 2:12 / 2:13, is just simply a complete WONDER TO BEHOLD ! : )
Are people really arguing who worked harder on this piece - Fred Astaire or Ginger Rogers - just because someone quoted Faith Whittlesey? You can't be serious. Just let it go and enjoy the dancing. I doubt either Astaire or Rogers would have found this discussion anything but ridiculous.
I wish my generation would dance this way. I would love to dance with a guy like that. It's so romantic and intimate. I only hope I will find someone who has the same views as me to marry.
Now this is real magic! Nothing can compete! Whether it's the enchanting world of pandora from Avatar, the wizarding world of harry potter, or an actual magic show with tricks and illusions, it's Fred and Ginger who make the real magic as well as the best kind of magic: the kind that warms your soul, makes you smile and truly touches your heart in every way possible :)
i think this dance is wonderful and i love ginger's dress, i love the fact that fred was credited for his part in the cheoreography in roberta with hermes pan as his assistant!
