Flying Down to Rio (1933)
This is the debut picture for Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Neither is top billing (they are 5th and 4th, respectively), but they made enough of an impression to get their own movies from here on. See this if just for a bit of history.
Astaire in particular steals the show, but even Rogers is more compelling than the leading lady, who is made to be pretty but a bit stiff. The leading man is also a tad boring, and Astaire steals every scene from him, even when he's not dancing.
And when they dance? Sparks and fireworks.
Why else see the movie? Well, not for the boilerplate plot, and not for the rest of the cast in particular. Or the direction. But wait, there is a ten minute climax that is worth every minute. Amazing, cheesy, sexist, wonderful stuff (depending on your vantage point). The female dancers start getting strapped in (yes!), to the tops of simple airplanes, around 1:12:10 into the film. (The young women even make slightly suggestive comments about it, glad that their "parents" don't know about this). Then the planes take off and the weirdest funniest choreography takes over, with some of the most absurd costumes (propellor hats, little planes around the collar, and even some clothes that the wind tears off with parachutes). It's bad and terrific because it's so bad. Meaning it's really rather good. Remember, this is a 1930s musical.
And so the movie goes. It's pre-code, so there is a hint of liberty with the relationships that won't occur in later Astaire/Rogers films (and I don't mean between them, but between the two leads). There is some good music, too, including genuine seeming Brazilian jazz/pop from 1933, a dance and style called the Carioca. Of course, American pre-swing styling known as the foxtrot wins the day. All is always well in these kinds of musicals.
Check it out. Not a masterpiece, but with some historic and quite fantastic moments. And never a dull patch.
This is the debut picture for Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Neither is top billing (they are 5th and 4th, respectively), but they made enough of an impression to get their own movies from here on. See this if just for a bit of history.
Astaire in particular steals the show, but even Rogers is more compelling than the leading lady, who is made to be pretty but a bit stiff. The leading man is also a tad boring, and Astaire steals every scene from him, even when he's not dancing.
And when they dance? Sparks and fireworks.
Why else see the movie? Well, not for the boilerplate plot, and not for the rest of the cast in particular. Or the direction. But wait, there is a ten minute climax that is worth every minute. Amazing, cheesy, sexist, wonderful stuff (depending on your vantage point). The female dancers start getting strapped in (yes!), to the tops of simple airplanes, around 1:12:10 into the film. (The young women even make slightly suggestive comments about it, glad that their "parents" don't know about this). Then the planes take off and the weirdest funniest choreography takes over, with some of the most absurd costumes (propellor hats, little planes around the collar, and even some clothes that the wind tears off with parachutes). It's bad and terrific because it's so bad. Meaning it's really rather good. Remember, this is a 1930s musical.
And so the movie goes. It's pre-code, so there is a hint of liberty with the relationships that won't occur in later Astaire/Rogers films (and I don't mean between them, but between the two leads). There is some good music, too, including genuine seeming Brazilian jazz/pop from 1933, a dance and style called the Carioca. Of course, American pre-swing styling known as the foxtrot wins the day. All is always well in these kinds of musicals.
Check it out. Not a masterpiece, but with some historic and quite fantastic moments. And never a dull patch.