Another addition to the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers catalog of dancing masterpiece movies is “Swing Time.” Astaire is John Garnett, a dancer who is scheduled to get married. But his gambling addiction makes him late for the wedding and gets him into a lot of hot water with his fiance’s father, who tells him that he can only come back and marry the girl if he manages to pull together $25,000. John hops a train for New York, determined to find the money, but instead runs into Penny Carrol, (Ginger Rogers) and finds himself very intrigued.
When he discovers that Penny is a teacher at a dancing school, he signs up for a class, trying to get to know her better. He pretends he can’t dance, but then reveals that he’s actually pretty good. They go to audition at a nightclub, but end up having to gamble in order to win back the orchestra from the nightclub owner who lost it in a careless bet.
With the orchestra in place, they dance, and they win the job of dancing nightly at the club. John now has a steady income, but he doesn’t want to make too much money – if he gets $25,000, he’ll have to go back and marry that girl, and he doesn’t want to now. Meanwhile, Penny finds out he’s engaged, and that sends her into the arms of the orchestra leader. Come, come now—we all know that’s a mistake. Once you’ve danced with Fred, you’ll never be happy to dance with anyone else again.
Of course, in the end, John and Penny end up together and they dance into the sunset. How else would an Astaire/Rogers end?
This movie is full of trademark costumes for her, trademark dance moves for him, and was the vehicle which launched two of our standards – “A Fine Romance” and “The Way You Look Tonight.” The film was not rated.
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