#90 on the AFI Top 100 is the classic Fred and Ginger musical, Swing Time (1936.)

Seeing Top Hat (1935) at the TCM Classic Film Festival was my first exposure to Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and I wanted more.  I rented Swing Time from Netflix the very next day.  I personally liked Top Hat better but both are great films with phenomenal dancing.

TCM.com gives this synopsis of Swing Time:

To prove himself worthy of his fiancee, a dancer tries to make it big, only to fall for his dancing partner.

Fred Astaire directed and choreographed his own dance sequences in several of his RKO musicals including Swing Time and Top Hat.  Unlike Busby Berkeley’s musicals which at times became very abstract, Astaire’s films had more of an integration of music and dance with the story.

Swing Time was directed by George Stevens – best known for A Place in the Sun, Giant, and Shane.  All of those classics AND he could direct musicals.  Talk about versatile.

I found this album on iTunes – it has all of the songs from the Fred and Ginger films at RKO.  I love it.

Fred and Ginger are dynamic on screen.  It is no wonder they made 10 films together.

What is your favorite Fred and Ginger film?