Swing Time (RKO) is a
1936The year 1936 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*nov 6 - first Porky Pig animated cartoon*February 15 - first Republic serial, Darkest Africa, released*September 28 - The Marx Brothers' Harpo Marx marries actress Susan Fleming...
Hollywood
musicalThe musical film is a film genre in which several songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative. The songs are usually used to advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but some musical films simply plop the songs in as unrelated "specialties" - as with Carmen Miranda's...
comedy
filmFilm encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects....
set mainly in
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and stars
Fred AstaireFred Astaire , born Frederick Austerlitz, was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films...
,
Ginger RogersGinger Rogers was an American film and stage actress, dancer and singer.During her long career, she made a total of 73 films, and is noted for her role as Fred Astaire's romantic interest and dancing partner in a series of ten Hollywood musical films that revolutionized the genre...
,
Helen BroderickHelen Broderick was an American film and stage actress known for her comic roles, especially as a wisecracking sidekick. She began on Broadway as a chorus girl in the Follies of 1907, the first of Florenz Ziegfeld's annual revues. By the late 1920s, she was playing leads and featured roles, most...
,
Victor MooreVictor Frederick Moore was a star of stage and screen, as well as being a comedian, writer and director.-Personal life:...
,
Eric BloreEric Blore was an English comic actor. Blore was born in Finchley , England.He worked as an insurance agent for a time. He gained theatre experience while touring Australia. Originally enlisting into the Artists Rifles he was commissioned in the South Wales Borderers in World War I...
and Georges Metaxa, with music by
Jerome KernJerome David Kern was an American composer of popular music. He wrote around 700 songs, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A Fine Romance", "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", "All the Things You Are", "The Way You Look Tonight", and "Who?", a 6-week number 1 hit for...
and lyrics by
Dorothy FieldsDorothy Fields was an American librettist and lyricist.She wrote over 400 songs for Broadway musicals and films...
. The film was directed by
George StevensGeorge Stevens was an American film director, producer, screenwriter and cinematographer.-Film career:Born in Oakland, California, Stevens broke into the movie business as a cameraman, working on many Laurel and Hardy shorts...
.
Swing Time is considered by
CroceArlene Croce founded Ballet Review magazine in 1965. She was a dance critic for The New Yorker magazine from 1973 to 1998. Prior to her long career as a dance writer, she also wrote film criticism for Film Culture and other magazines. The keynote of her criticism can be grasped from her ability to...
,
MuellerJohn E. Mueller is a political scientist in the field of international relations as well as a scholar of the history of dance. He is recognized for his ideas concerning "the banality of ethnic war" and the theory that major world conflicts are quickly becoming obsolete. -Career:He received his A.B...
and Hyam to be Astaire and Rogers' best dance musical, featuring four dance routines that are each regarded as masterpieces of their kind. "Never Gonna Dance" is often singled out as the partnership's and collaborator
Hermes PanHermes Pan was an American dancer and choreographer, principally celebrated as Fred Astaire's choreographic collaborator on the famous 1930s movie musicals starring Astaire and Ginger Rogers.-Early life:...
's most profound achievement in filmed dance, while "
The Way You Look Tonight"The Way You Look Tonight" is a song featured in the film Swing Time, originally performed by Fred Astaire. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1936. The song was written by Jerome Kern with lyrics by Dorothy Fields. Fields later remarked, "The first time Jerry played that melody for...
" won the
Academy Award for Best Original SongThe Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...
and went on to become Astaire's most successful hit record, scoring first place in the U.S.
Swing Time (RKO) is a
1936The year 1936 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*nov 6 - first Porky Pig animated cartoon*February 15 - first Republic serial, Darkest Africa, released*September 28 - The Marx Brothers' Harpo Marx marries actress Susan Fleming...
Hollywood
musicalThe musical film is a film genre in which several songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative. The songs are usually used to advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but some musical films simply plop the songs in as unrelated "specialties" - as with Carmen Miranda's...
comedy
filmFilm encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects....
set mainly in
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and stars
Fred AstaireFred Astaire , born Frederick Austerlitz, was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films...
,
Ginger RogersGinger Rogers was an American film and stage actress, dancer and singer.During her long career, she made a total of 73 films, and is noted for her role as Fred Astaire's romantic interest and dancing partner in a series of ten Hollywood musical films that revolutionized the genre...
,
Helen BroderickHelen Broderick was an American film and stage actress known for her comic roles, especially as a wisecracking sidekick. She began on Broadway as a chorus girl in the Follies of 1907, the first of Florenz Ziegfeld's annual revues. By the late 1920s, she was playing leads and featured roles, most...
,
Victor MooreVictor Frederick Moore was a star of stage and screen, as well as being a comedian, writer and director.-Personal life:...
,
Eric BloreEric Blore was an English comic actor. Blore was born in Finchley , England.He worked as an insurance agent for a time. He gained theatre experience while touring Australia. Originally enlisting into the Artists Rifles he was commissioned in the South Wales Borderers in World War I...
and Georges Metaxa, with music by
Jerome KernJerome David Kern was an American composer of popular music. He wrote around 700 songs, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A Fine Romance", "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", "All the Things You Are", "The Way You Look Tonight", and "Who?", a 6-week number 1 hit for...
and lyrics by
Dorothy FieldsDorothy Fields was an American librettist and lyricist.She wrote over 400 songs for Broadway musicals and films...
. The film was directed by
George StevensGeorge Stevens was an American film director, producer, screenwriter and cinematographer.-Film career:Born in Oakland, California, Stevens broke into the movie business as a cameraman, working on many Laurel and Hardy shorts...
.
Swing Time is considered by
CroceArlene Croce founded Ballet Review magazine in 1965. She was a dance critic for The New Yorker magazine from 1973 to 1998. Prior to her long career as a dance writer, she also wrote film criticism for Film Culture and other magazines. The keynote of her criticism can be grasped from her ability to...
,
MuellerJohn E. Mueller is a political scientist in the field of international relations as well as a scholar of the history of dance. He is recognized for his ideas concerning "the banality of ethnic war" and the theory that major world conflicts are quickly becoming obsolete. -Career:He received his A.B...
and Hyam to be Astaire and Rogers' best dance musical, featuring four dance routines that are each regarded as masterpieces of their kind. "Never Gonna Dance" is often singled out as the partnership's and collaborator
Hermes PanHermes Pan was an American dancer and choreographer, principally celebrated as Fred Astaire's choreographic collaborator on the famous 1930s movie musicals starring Astaire and Ginger Rogers.-Early life:...
's most profound achievement in filmed dance, while "
The Way You Look Tonight"The Way You Look Tonight" is a song featured in the film Swing Time, originally performed by Fred Astaire. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1936. The song was written by Jerome Kern with lyrics by Dorothy Fields. Fields later remarked, "The first time Jerry played that melody for...
" won the
Academy Award for Best Original SongThe Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...
and went on to become Astaire's most successful hit record, scoring first place in the U.S. charts in 1936. Kern's score, the second of three he composed specially for Astaire, contains three of his most memorable songs.
But while it is considered to be one of Astaire and Rogers' greatest films, the film's plot has been criticized as has the performance of Metaxa. On the plus side is a particularly fine acting and dancing performance from Ginger Rogers who, it is believed, had an affair with director Stevens during the making of the film. Rogers herself, credited much of the film's success to Stevens: "He gave us a certain quality, I think, that made it stand out above the others."
Swing Time also marked the beginning of a decline in popularity of the Astaire-Rogers partnership among the general public, with box office receipts falling faster than usual, after a successful opening. Nevertheless, the film was a sizable hit, costing $886,000 while grossing over $2,600,000 worldwide and showing a net profit of $830,000. Still, the partnership never again quite regained the creative heights scaled in this and previous films.
In 1999,
Swing Time was one of
Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books and popular culture. Unlike celebrity-focused publications US Weekly, People, and In Touch Weekly, EWs primary concentration is on entertainment...
's top 100 films. In 2004, it was selected for preservation in the United States
National Film RegistryThe National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...
by the
Library of CongressThe Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress and is the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and holds the largest number of books. The head...
as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In the new
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition)AFI's 100 Years…100 Movies — 10th Anniversary Edition was the 2007 updated version of 100 Years… 100 Movies. The original list was first unveiled in 1998....
it has been added at #90.
Synopsis
John "Lucky" Garnett (
Fred AstaireFred Astaire , born Frederick Austerlitz, was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films...
) is a gambler and dancer who, after showing up late for his wedding to Margaret (
Betty FurnessElizabeth Mary Furness was an American actress, consumer advocate and current affairs commentator.-Early years:...
), is told by her father that he must earn $25,000 in order to demonstrate his good intentions. He and his friend "Pop" Cardetti (
Victor MooreVictor Frederick Moore was a star of stage and screen, as well as being a comedian, writer and director.-Personal life:...
) hitch the first freight train to New York, where Lucky meets Penny (
Ginger RogersGinger Rogers was an American film and stage actress, dancer and singer.During her long career, she made a total of 73 films, and is noted for her role as Fred Astaire's romantic interest and dancing partner in a series of ten Hollywood musical films that revolutionized the genre...
), a dance school instructor, and immediately falls in love with her. They prove successful together in the casino and on the dance floor. After raising the $25,000, he decides to marry Penny and beats off competition from dance band conductor Ricardo Romero (Georges Metaxa) to secure his bride.
Principal cast
- Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire , born Frederick Austerlitz, was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films...
as John "Lucky" Garnett
- Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers was an American film and stage actress, dancer and singer.During her long career, she made a total of 73 films, and is noted for her role as Fred Astaire's romantic interest and dancing partner in a series of ten Hollywood musical films that revolutionized the genre...
as Penelope "Penny" Carrol
- Victor Moore
Victor Frederick Moore was a star of stage and screen, as well as being a comedian, writer and director.-Personal life:...
as Edwin "Pop" Cardetti
- Helen Broderick
Helen Broderick was an American film and stage actress known for her comic roles, especially as a wisecracking sidekick. She began on Broadway as a chorus girl in the Follies of 1907, the first of Florenz Ziegfeld's annual revues. By the late 1920s, she was playing leads and featured roles, most...
as Mabel Anderson
- Betty Furness
Elizabeth Mary Furness was an American actress, consumer advocate and current affairs commentator.-Early years:...
as Margaret Watson
- Georges Metaxa as Ricardo Romero
- Landers Stevens (George Stevens' father) as Judge Watson
Key songs/dance routines
Astaire introduces two new elements into his approach to filmed song and dance, both of which represent the abandonment of theatrical staging conventions. First is the use of space, horizontally in "A Fine Romance" and vertically in "Never Gonna Dance", and second is the introduction of trick photography in "Bojangles of Harlem". Partnered hopping steps/spins and the satire of self-conscious elegance feature prominently in the choreography, in which Astaire was assisted by Hermes Pan.
- "Pick Yourself Up
"Pick Yourself Up" is a popular song composed in 1936 by Jerome Kern, with lyrics by Dorothy Fields. It has a verse and chorus, as well as a third section, though the third section is often omitted in recordings...
": The first of Kern's standards is a charming polkaThe polka is a lively Central European dance and also a genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the middle of the 19th century in the Czech lands and is still a common genre in Lithuanian, Czech, Croatian, Slovenian, Polish, German, Hungarian, Austrian,...
first sung and then danced to by Astaire and Rogers. One of their most joyous and exuberant numbers is also a technical tour-de-force with the basic polka embellished by syncopated rhythms and overlayed with tap decoration. In particular, Rogers recaptures the spontaneity and commitment that she first displayed in the "I'll Be Hard to Handle"I'll Be Hard to Handle" is a 1942 song composed by Jerome Kern, with lyrics written by Bernard Dougall.It was written for the film Roberta , where it was introduced by Ginger Rogers.-Notable recordings:...
" number from RobertaRoberta is a 1935 musical film by RKO starring Irene Dunne, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, and Randolph Scott. It was an adaptation of a Broadway theatre musical of the same name, which in turn was based on the novel Gowns by Roberta by Alice Duer Miller...
(1935).
- "The Way You Look Tonight
"The Way You Look Tonight" is a song featured in the film Swing Time, originally performed by Fred Astaire. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1936. The song was written by Jerome Kern with lyrics by Dorothy Fields. Fields later remarked, "The first time Jerry played that melody for...
": Kern's classic Oscar-winning foxtrotThe Foxtrot is a ballroom dance.-History:It is often said that foxtrot took its name from its inventor, the vaudeville actor Harry Fox; however the exact origins are unclear...
is sung by Astaire, seated at a piano, while Ginger is busy washing her hair in a side room. Here, Astaire conveys a sunny yet nostalgic romanticism but later, when the music is danced to as part of "Never Gonna Dance", the pair will create a mood of sombre poignancy. As evidence of its enduring appeal, this song is regularly featured in modern cinema and television: as in ChinatownChinatown is a American neo-noir film, directed by Roman Polanski. The film features many elements of the film noir genre, particularly a multi-layered story that is part mystery and part psychological drama...
(1974), or My Best Friend's WeddingMy Best Friend's Wedding is a 1997 romantic comedy film from TriStar Pictures, directed by P. J. Hogan.It stars Julia Roberts, Cameron Diaz, Dermot Mulroney, Rupert Everett and Rachel Griffiths.The film was a commercial and critical success...
(1997), and it played a prominent role as the key linking element in the final episode of Star Trek: Deep Space NineStar Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television program that premiered in 1993 and ran for seven seasons, ending in 1999. Rooted in Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek universe, it was created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller, at the request of Brandon Tartikoff, and produced by Paramount...
.
- "Waltz In Swing Time": Described by one critic as "the finest piece of pure dance music ever written for Astaire", this is the most virtuosic partnered romantic duet Astaire ever committed to film. Kern - always reluctant to compose in the Swing style - provided some themes to Robert Russell Bennett
Robert Russell Bennett was an American composer and arranger, best known for his orchestration of many well-known Broadway and Hollywood musicals by other composers such as Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, and Richard Rodgers. In 1957 and 2008, Bennett received Tony Awards...
who, with the assistance of Astaire's rehearsal pianist Hal BorneHal Borne was an American popular song composer, orchestra leader, music arranger and musical director, who studied music at the University of Illinois...
, produced the final score. The dance is a nostalgic celebration of love, in the form of a syncopated waltz with tap overlays - a concept Astaire later reworked in the similarly impressive "Belle of New York" segment of the "Currier and Ives" routine from The Belle of New YorkThe Belle Of New York is a 1952 Hollywood musical comedy film set in New York circa 1900 and stars Fred Astaire, Vera-Ellen, Alice Pearce, Marjorie Main and Keenan Wynn, with music by Harry Warren and lyrics by Johnny Mercer...
(1952). In the midst of this most complex of routines, Astaire and Rogers find time to gently poke fun at notions of elegance, in a delicate reminder of a similar episode in "Pick Yourself Up".
- "A Fine Romance
"A Fine Romance" is a popular song composed by Jerome Kern with lyrics by Dorothy Fields, published in 1936.The song was written for the musical film, Swing Time, where it was co-introduced by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers...
": Kern's third standard, a quickstepQuickstep is an International Style ballroom dance that follows a 2/4 or 4/4 time beat, similar to a fast Foxtrot. An example of a song suitable for the classic quickstep would be Louis Prima's "Sing, Sing, Sing"...
to Field's bittersweet lyrics, is sung alternately by Rogers and Astaire, with Rogers providing an object lesson in acting while a bowler-hatted Astaire appears at times to be impersonating Stan LaurelStan Laurel was an English comic actor, writer and director, famous as the first half of the comedy double-act Laurel and Hardy, whose career stretched from the silent films of the early 20th century until post-World War II.-Early life:Stan Laurel was born in his grandparents' house on 16 June...
. Never a man to discard a favourite piece of fine clothing, Astaire wears the same coat in the opening scene of Holiday InnHoliday Inn is a 1942 film starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, with music by Irving Berlin. The film has twelve new songs, one brief use of "Oh How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning," written in 1917 for the World War I musical "Yip Yip Yaphank" which was reprised on Broadway in 1942 under the...
(1941).
- "Bojangles Of Harlem": Once again, Kern, Bennett and Borne combined their talents to produce a jaunty instrumental piece ideally suited to Astaire, who here - while overtly paying tribute to Bill Robinson
Bill “Bojangles” Robinson was an American tap dancer and actor of stage and film.-Early years:Robinson was born in Richmond, Virginia to Maxwell, a machine-shop worker, and Maria Robinson, a choir singer...
- actually broadens his tribute to African-American tap dancers by dancing in the style of Astaire's one-time teacher John W. BubblesJohn William Sublett , known by his stage name John W. Bubbles, was an American vaudeville performer, dancer, singer and entertainer.-Life and career:...
, and dressing in the style of the character Sportin' Life, whom Bubbles played the year before in Gershwin's Porgy and BessPorgy and Bess an opera, first performed in 1935, with music by George Gershwin, libretto by DuBose Heyward, and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward. It was based on DuBose Heyward's novel Porgy and the play of the same name which he co-wrote with his wife Dorothy Heyward...
. Dorothy Fields recounts how Astaire managed to inspire the reluctant Kern by visiting his home and singing while dancing on and around his furniture. It is the only number in which Astaire - again bowler-hatted - appears in blackfaceBlackface, in the narrow sense, is a style of theatrical makeup that originated in the United States, used to take on the appearance of certain archetypes of American racism, especially those of the "happy-go-lucky darky on the plantation" or the "dandified coon "...
. The idea of using trick photography to show Astaire dancing with three of his shadows was invented by Hermes Pan, who also choreographed the opening chorus, after which Astaire dances a short opening solo which features poses mimicking, perhaps satirising, Al JolsonAl Jolson was an American singer, comedian, and actor. According to PBS, he is considered the "first openly Jewish man to become an entertainment star in America"...
- all of which was captured by Stevens in one take. There follows a two-minute solo of Astaire dancing with his shadows which took three days to shoot. Astaire's choreography exercises every limb and makes extensive use of hand-clappers. This routine earned Hermes Pan an Academy AwardThe Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are presented annually by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers. The formal ceremony at which the awards are presented is...
nomination for Best Dance Direction.
- "Never Gonna Dance
"Never Gonna Dance" is a song performed by Fred Astaire and danced with Ginger Rogers in their movie Swing Time. Words by Dorothy Fields and Music by Jerome Kern...
": After Astaire sings Field's memorable closing line: "la belle, la perfectly swell romance" of Kern's haunting ballad, they begin the acknowledgement phase of the dance - possibly their greatest - replete with a poignant nostalgia for their now-doomed affair, where music changes to "The Way You Look Tonight" and they dance slowly in a manner reminiscent of the opening part of "Let's Face The Music And Dance" from Follow the FleetFollow the Fleet is a 1936 Hollywood musical comedy film with a nautical theme and stars Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Randolph Scott, Harriet Nelson , and Astrid Allwyn, with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. Lucille Ball and Betty Grable also appear, in bit parts...
. At the end of this episode, Astaire adopts a crestfallen, helpless pose. They now begin the denial phase, and again the music changes and speeds up, this time to the "Waltz In Swing Time" while the dancers separate to twirl their way up their respective staircases, escaping to the platform at the top of the Silver Sandal Set - one of the most beautiful Art DecoArt Deco was a popular international art design movement from 1925 until the 1940s, affecting the decorative arts such as architecture, interior design, and industrial design, as well as the visual arts such as fashion, painting, the graphic arts, and film...
-influenced Hollywood Moderne creations of Carroll ClarkCarroll Clark was an American art director. He was nominated for seven Academy Awards in the category Best Art Direction He worked on 173 films between 1927 and 1968....
and John Harkrider. Here the music switches again to a frantic, fast-paced, recapitulation of "Never Gonna Dance" as the pair dance a last, desperate, and virtuosic routine before Ginger flees and Astaire repeats his pose of dejection, in a final acceptance of the affair's end. This final routine was shot forty-seven times in one day before Astaire was satisfied, with Rogers' feet left bruised and bleeding by the time they finished.
Contemporary reviews
- American Dancer, November 1936: "Astaire's dancing can no longer be classified as mere tap, because it is such a perfect blend of tap, modern and ballet, with a generous share of Astaire's personality and good humor...Rogers is vastly improved...but she cannot, as yet, vie with Astaire's amazing agility, superb grace and sophisticated charm. With Astaire one feels, with each succeeding picture, that surely his dancing has reached perfection and marks the end of invention of new steps: and yet he seems to go forward with ease and apparent nonchalence."
- Dance Magazine
Dance Magazine is a major American trade publication for dance. It has been published since 1927, and covers modern dance and ballet, along with a calendar of upcoming events. In addition, the magazine produces the "25 to Watch" list, annually....
, November 1936, Joseph Arnold Kaye: "Much has been written about Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in Swing Time except, perhaps, one thing: Astaire and Rogers are the picture; everything else seems to have been put in to fill the time between swings. Dance routines are fresh and interesting, dance is superb. When Hollywood will learn to make a dance picture as good as the dancing, we cannot even guess."
- Variety
Variety is a weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the Daily...
, 2 September, 1936, Abel: "Perhaps a shade under previous par, but it's another box-office and personal winner from the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers combo...Film's 103 minutes running time could have been pared to advantage but Swing Time will swing 'em past the wickets in above-average tempo."
Region 1
Since 2005, a digitally restored version of
Swing Time is available separately and as part of
The Astaire & Rogers Collection, Vol.1 from
Warner Home VideoWarner Home Video is the home video unit of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., itself part of Time Warner. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video . It was re-named Warner Home Video in 1980...
. These releases feature a commentary by
John MuellerJohn E. Mueller is a political scientist in the field of international relations as well as a scholar of the history of dance. He is recognized for his ideas concerning "the banality of ethnic war" and the theory that major world conflicts are quickly becoming obsolete. -Career:He received his A.B...
, author of
Astaire Dancing - The Musical Films.
Region 2
Since 2003, a digitally restored version of
Swing Time (not the same as the US restoration) is available separately, and as part of
The Fred and Ginger Collection, Vol. 1 from
Universal StudiosUniversal Studios , a subsidiary of NBC Universal, is one of the six major American movie studios. Its main motion picture production/distribution arm is called Universal Pictures. Its production studios are located at 100 Universal City Plaza Drive in Universal City, California...
, who control the rights to the RKO Astaire-Rogers pictures in Europe. These releases feature an introduction by Astaire's daughter, Ava Astaire McKenzie.
Recent references
Frank RichFrank Rich is a center-left New York Times columnist who focuses on American politics and popular culture. His column ran on the front page of the Sunday Arts & Leisure section from 2003 to 2005; it now appears in the expanded Sunday Week in Review section.-Early career:Rich graduated from Harvard...
, writing in
The New York Times in January, 2009, linked President
Barack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office, as well as the first president born in Hawaii...
's inaugural-address reference to "pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off" to the Fields' lyric in the movie. Rich, opinion writer and former drama critic, wrote that it was "one subtle whiff of the
Great DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
" in the address.
External links
- Swing Time at Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films. The name derives from the historical cliché of throwing tomatoes and other produce at stage performers if a performance was particularly bad.- History :...
- Reel Classics