TCM Greatest Classic Film Collection: Astaire & Rogers (The Gay Divorcee / Top Hat / Swing Time / Shall We Dance)

This is one of the best collection of musicals that TCM has produced. Loving musicals I enjoyed each one of these exquisitely restored RKO films with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Perhaps, TCM placed these in volume 1 for being considered the best in the series. In fact, I strongly believe that this is the best group of musicals of the thirties. In my opinion, Sandrich does with the musical what I think no one could have done during this period: weaving the screwball comedy with the musical in an effective manner. Sandrich directs these films except Swing Time, which was directed by George Stevens. Sandrich's films are welll-structured, accommodating the songs and the dance sequences in a very effective manner. Under Sandrich, these predictable plots move in a cohesive manner and with precision. In addition to this, producer Pandro Berman invites the best song writers of the period. Irving Berlin contributes his music and lyrics to Top Hat, Jerome Kerns does the same for Swing Time, George and Ira Gershwin make their debut with Shall We Dance, and a Cole Porter song makes way into The Gay Divorcee (the first film in this group chronologically). Moreover, it seems that RKO spent lots of money on art deco settings that embellish each one of these films.In The Gay Divorcee (1934), it is enjoyable to watch the first funny encounter between Astaire and Rogers. In this musical Astaire sings and dances a beautiful song, A Needle in A Haystack. Astaire and Rogers dance to Cole Porter's Night and Day and Magidson and Conrad's the Continental. This is accompanied by a dance ensemble that is equal to anything done by Busby Berkley.In Top Hat (1935), the plot may seem similar to the previous film, but other than the actors, the witty dialogue and the situations are fresh. Even the way confusions are created is quite unique. Sandrich must have been really good at doing this. Although one does see great dancing in The Gay Divorcee, Fred Astaire's tap-dancing in Top Hot tops whatever he has done before this. I enjoyed watching Astaire gunning down a chorus with a cane as he tap-dances Top Hat, Whites Ties and Tails in Top Hat. In this film, I also had the opportunity to watch Astaire and Rogers dance to the tune Of Berlin's Cheek to Cheek, a very sensual dance that leaves Rogers a little flushed. Then they dance to The Piccolino, again accompanied by a dance ensemble that rivals any of Berkley's choreographs.In Shall We Dance (1937), the last in this group directed by Sandrich, the songs are written by George and Ira Gershwin. The plot is unique since it is about an American dancer - who uses a Russian artistic name, Petrov, while his real name is Pete Peters - who falls in love with Rogers (Linda Keene). Again, another perfect combination of screwball and musical. I think this is the second best in this group after Top Hat. Among my favorite numbers is Astaire's performance to Slap the Bass dine along with machinery, Rogers' vocal performance of They All Laughed (at Christopher Columbus), Astaire and Rogers' first dancing duet with the music to that same song, and their roller-skate routing with "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off." I also found quite fascinating a back-bend routine done by a classical ballet dancer of this period called Harriet Hoctor who appears at the end of this film.Finally, there is Swing Time (1936), directed by George Stevens. This is the film that takes longer to begin. I get to see Astaire and Rogers dance together for the first time almost after 30 minutes into the movie. Nevertheless, once they begin, it is pure musical.My favorite numbers here are Pick Yourself Up, A Fine Romance, Bojangles of Harlem, and Never Gonna Dance. In my opinion, Bojangles of Harlem is quite exceptional in this group. As screwball, I don't believe it is as effective as Sandrich's films. Rogers and Astaire hit it off right away and the plot does test my willingness to disbelieve as I see Astaire winning a casino through card-playing. The beginning, which shows how Astaire is duped from marrying, and a repetition of this at the end of the film is just plain silly. Nevertheless, Astaire and Rogers are the movie itself, so everything is tolerable.This collection comes in individual discs and commentaries. It is one of the best TCM collections.

I really enjoy watching the movies from the 30’s and 40’s. The Astaire/Rogers movies even more so . These 4 movies for this price is a real deal .

First, I must note... I ordered the "TCM Greatest Classic Film Collection: Astaire & Rogers (Volume 1) (The Gay Divorcee / Top Hat / Swing Time / Shall We Dance)" DVD through Amazon, not another seller. If you have enough items in your cart to qualify for Free Shipping. I recommend that you don't select it, since it took over two weeks to ship this DVD from Amazon's "warehouse". However, I must also note, that I was NOT charged for the DVD, until it shipped. I also ordered the Astaire & Rogers (Volume 2) DVD from Amazon as well, at the same time, and oddly enough, it shipped right away. I had to wait two weeks to start watching that, since I wanted to watch all eight movies in the order that Fred and Ginger made them. I should rate FOUR stars for this wait... However... That has nothing to do with this DVD itself...When the DVD finally arrived, the packaging was in excellent condition, and I was quite surprised. The Packaging came with FOUR DVDs, each with their own Disc Art, instead of the TWO DVDs, as advertised. The DVD case also came with a spindle that held all four DVDs. This packaging version was just like the Volume 2 DVD. I have now resorted all 8 movies into the order that Fred and Ginger made them.I have not watched all of the movies yet, and I still have "Shall We Dance" Vol 1. ( & The "Barkleys of Broadway" Vol 2. ) to watch yet, but the picture quality of the six that I have watched have been excellent.All of the films have been wonderful so far, and Fred & Ginger have lived up to the fabulous reviews that so MANY others have said about the two. In fact, after watching them dance, I find it hard to believe how perfect they were. In a few of their dances, they were dancing over stairs and tables and other objects, near the edges of the theater stages, without any hesitation or stumbles. It makes one wonder, how many takes it took them to get it right, and how many bruises they both got before the final takes that are show in the films. In fact, in one of films, "Swing Time"?, I think, Sorry, I can't remember exactly... Ginger takes a few falls on purpose, which seem almost as if they were for real... So much so, that during one fall, when Ginger lands on her rear... You can clearly see that she bounced. So you know, she went home that night and was sore... How she did this on purpose without really hurting herself is a mystery to me. That's how good she was.Ginger was truly gifted in every movie she was in, and in these movies she truly shines. From Dancing, to Singing, to Acting, and so on. You truly believed she fell in love with Fred in every movie. Even in one of the films, where Fred sings to her about how beautiful she looks, from another room, while she washes her hair. She becomes so enchanted, that she comes into the room with soap still in her hair, and forgets all about that, until Fred turns around and looks at her strangely. She looks into a nearby mirror, Sees her soapy hair, and runs away from him and back into the other room, all embarrassed.And of course, with Ginger being such an amazing & beautiful woman, Fred realistically falls in love with her in every film too... Who wouldn't!While there are few spontaneous & unrealistic scenes in these films, where they just go into music & dance sequences for no logical reason, most of the rest do seem to be as a result of being in musicals or dancing to an orchestra, or something like that. And every piece, even the unrealistic ones, still perfectly fits into the plot of the film and so forth. While Fred telling Ginger how beautiful she looks, or dancing with her "Cheek to Cheek", or even Ginger singing to Fred about her feelings, I can't find any reason why anyone would not find something to enjoy about these films.If you don't have this set, or Volume 2, I highly recommend that you add them to your collection. You shouldn't be disappointed.

If you like dancing, Fred Astaire, and Ginger Rogers, you'll love this DVD.

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers are the all time family favourites in my house.All four movies are pure enjoyment and easy to watch over and over again.The dance routines and songs, especially in Top Hat leave you breathless.I particularly enjoy the costumes worn and I am always amazed at the attentionto detail in each and every one of them. Love the glamour days of Hollywood!I previously owned these movies individually in VHS and have worn them out,so I'm very happy to be able to purchase all 4 movies in the DVD set.

j attends toujours le remboursement du coffret DVD défectueux .en effet c'est illisible sur mes 3lecteurs DVD pour "région eronnee"

formulaic with a generous dose of the ham which audiences at that time relished, these films are all the same classics. Astaire may not have been the greatest dancer of his time but he was great and the choreography is fun as well as high quality. The humour swings from the corny to the sharp and witty. for all their minor faults these films are a delight

Un excellent petit coffret DVD de grandes comédies musicales pas toujours facile à trouver avec des sous-titres en français !

Great value even though it is a Region 1 disc it plays very well on a Multi Region player, the total cost saving is well worth the wait for delivery.The movies are just CLASSIC...