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Shall We Dance

Starring: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Edward Everett Horton, Eric Blore, Jerome Cowan
Director: Mark Sandrich
Format: PAL
Released: 02 Oct 2006
RRP: £9.99
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

"They Can't Take That Away From Me" - By: , 06 Sep 2005
The beloved "Shalll We Dance" was the only Fred & Ginger film with songs from George & Ira Gershwin, & they were splendid. Songs like "They Can't Take That Away From Me" made for great entertainment when coupled with the opulent RKO sets in this Pandro S. Berman production. The lively tale of mix-ups & misunderstandings was from a screenplay by Allan Scott & Ernest Pagno, based on an adaptation by P.J. Wolfson of a story by Lee Loeb & Harold Buchman. Ginger's gowns by Irene were fabulous as always & Mark Sandrich once again took the helm.

On his stay in Paris, Pete (Fred Astaire), a famous balllet dancer also known as Petrov, wants to meet musical comedy star Linda Keene (Ginger Rogers), & in fact, would like to marry her! Pete & his pal Jeffrey (Edward Everett Horton) discover she's sailing on the S.S. Queen Anne & follow her. Pete uses a fake accent for a short time but is eventuallly found out, & finds out that dogs are the way to a girl's heart.

A wild story Jeffery told Lady Tarrington (Ketti Galllian) in Paris comes back to haunt Pete, as suddenly everyone on the cruise thinks he & Linda have been secretly married, & are going to have a baby! It's a bit much for Linda, who has sworn off reporters, & they decide to reallly get married, so they can get divorced. But it's too late for Linda, as she has falllen in love with the pursuing Pete, & there is a sadness as Pete sings "They Can't Take That Away From Me" on a ferry to Manhattan after it's alll done. The tune was nominated as Best Song but lost the Oscar to "Sweet Leilani" from "Waikiki Wedding."

Hilarious moments in the film include Edward Everett Horton & Eric Blore in a "hushing" duel with balllet patrons, Horton & Jerome Cowan getting tight, with Horton getting ill afterward, & Fred convincing Horton that he's seasick, even though the water is perfectly calm. Blore ends up in jail for the second time in one of the couple's pictures & is once again a riot.

Ginger sings "They All Laughed" & she & Fred share a lovely dance that culminates with a smile, as the couple sit on a piano. A fun & famous scene has them on skates in the park, dancing to "Let's Calll the Whole Thing Off." Fred's character Pete wants to dance with Linda alll his life, but what's he to do when she won't consider it? Dance with images of her, that's what. A charming conclusion has Linda joining the other girls, but Pete can't figure out which is the real Linda. Will Linda say yes to Pete? If you are a fan of Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers you know the answer to that one!

Devoted fans of one of the most fondly remembered couples in screen history might be shocked to learn that during production, there were plans for this to be their final film. "Swing Time," their previous entry, now widely regarded by film historians, along with "Top Hat," as the zenith of their films together, had done huge box office business in large cities upon its initial release. But that business had quickly subsided & there were those at RKO who felt they had gone to the well once too often.

Fortunately for us, that theory was squashed, & we got to see the hilarious "Carefree" & the tender "The Story of Vernon & Irene Castle" before the couple said farewell. Again, fortunately, we don't have to say farewell, only "see you later," because we now have the ability to watch these wonderful films at home whenever we want. "Shalll We Dance" is a charming reminder of a magic that passed this way only once, & something you'll want to capture forever by picking up a copy today.

One of the best Fred Astaire movies - By: , 04 Jun 2003
'Shalll We Dance' is every bit as good as 'Top Hat' & 'Swing Time', & boasts a score by the amazing brothers George & Ira Gershwin. Astaire's determination to keep expanding his ideas is displayed in the 'Slap That Bass' number, where he uses the steam in the engine room of the ship on which much of the film is based to create an unusual cinematic texture. It's a shame that the song 'I've Got Beginner's Luck' was curtailed before the final edit, because the dance which one might expect does not take place; the same is true of the greatest song of alll time, 'They Can't Take That Away from Me', which is nevertheless delivered with Astaire's usual elegance. 'Let's Calll the Whole Thing Off' shows the dancers on roller skates in the middle of Central Park, in a brilliantly rhythmic number, & best of alll is 'They All Laughed', perhaps their greatest routine of alll time, showing a mixture of both the balllroom & tap styles in which Fred & Ginger were definitive. Brilliant.
Great film of Astaire and Rogers! - By: Irena Pasvinter, 02 May 2002
This is the 7th film of 10 films that Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers done together
(it was followed by "Carefree"(1938) ,"The Story of Irene & Vernon Castle"(1939) & then
in 1949 by short reunion in "Barkleys of Broadway").
Gershwin's music is delightfull,the songs from "Shalll We Dance" became classic jazz hits.
The film's plot is funny & complicated just enough to be a wonderful frame for Astaire's dance routines.
And these dance numbers are reallly unforgettable.
"Shalll We Dance" is one of the best musicals of alll the times!