Shall We Dance (1937)

Director:

Mark Sandrich

Writers:

Allan Scott (screen play) and
Ernest Pagano (screen play) ...
(more)

Release Date:

7 May 1937 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

Hot Feet !

Plot:

A budding romance between a ballet master and a tapdancer becomes complicated when rumours surface that they're already married.

Plot Keywords:

Ballet | Ocean Liner | Gossip | Ship | Dancer

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 nominations

Cast

Fred Astaire	...	Petrov
Ginger Rogers	...	Linda Keene
Edward Everett Horton	...	Jeffrey Baird
Eric Blore	...	Cecil Flintridge
Jerome Cowan	...	Arthur Miller
Ketti Gallian	...	Lady Denise Tarrington
William Brisbane	...	Jim Montgomery
Harriet Hoctor	...	Herself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Norman Ainsley	...	Ship's Bartender (uncredited)
Ben Alexander	...	Evans - a Bandleader (uncredited)
Sherwood Bailey	...	Newsboy (uncredited)
Matthew Boulton	...	Ship's Officer (uncredited)
Harry Bowen	...	Johnson - the Locksmith (uncredited)
Sidney Bracey	...	First Steward (uncredited)
William Burress	...	New Jersey Justice of the Peace (uncredited)
Charles Coleman	...	Central Park Policeman (uncredited)
Monte Collins	...	Usher-Messenger (uncredited)
Jean De Briac	...	Show Producer (uncredited)
Dudley Dickerson	...	Engine Room Singer (uncredited)
Pauline Garon	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Douglas Gordon	...	Steward (uncredited)
Helena Grant	...	Passenger Starting Gossip (uncredited)
Charlie Hall	...	Ship's Bartender (uncredited)
Eddie Hall	...	Man on Stairs with Blonde (uncredited)
Jane Hamilton	...	Woman (uncredited)
Sam Harris	...	Passenger Walking Dog (uncredited)
Sam Hayes	...	Dispatcher (uncredited)
Charles Irwin	...	Fire Drill Steward (uncredited)
Tiny Jones	...	Flower Woman (uncredited)
Lew Kelly	...	Policeman at Jail (uncredited)
George Magrill	...	Room Steward (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
Marie Marks	...	Woman (uncredited)
Alphonse Martell	...	Doorman (uncredited)
Torben Meyer	...	Show Producer (uncredited)
Frank Moran	...	Process Server (uncredited)
Mantan Moreland	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
Henry Mowbray	...	Radio Officer (uncredited)
Leonard Mudie	...	Room Service Waiter (uncredited)
Vesey O'Davoren	...	Ship's Bartender (uncredited)
Jack Rice	...	Hotel Desk Clerk (uncredited)
Matty Roubert	...	Elevator Operator (uncredited)
George Savidan	...	Errand Boy (uncredited)
Rolfe Sedan	...	Ballet Master (uncredited)
Ann Shoemaker	...	Matron Spreading Gossip (uncredited)
Mary Stewart	...	Dancer and Singer (uncredited)
Spencer Teakle	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Pete Theodore	...	Linda's Dancing Partner (uncredited)
Richard Tucker	...	Mr. Russell - Attorney (uncredited)
Marek Windheim	...	Ballet Master (uncredited)
Sam Wren	...	Charlie (uncredited)
Emma Young	...	Tai (uncredited)

Directed by
Mark Sandrich

Writing credits
Allan Scott		(screen play) and
Ernest Pagano		(screen play)
P.J. Wolfson		(adaptation)
Lee Loeb		(based on a story by) and
Harold Buchman		(based on a story by)
Anne Morrison Chapin		contributor to treatment (uncredited)
James Gow		contributor to screenplay construction (uncredited)
Edmund H. North		contributor to screenplay construction (uncredited)

Produced by
Pandro S. Berman	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
George Gershwin
Robert Russell Bennett		(uncredited)
Nathaniel Shilkret		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
David Abel		(photographed by)
Joseph F. Biroc		(uncredited)

Film Editing by
William Hamilton

Art Direction by
Van Nest Polglase

Costume Design by
Irene		(gowns: Miss Rogers')

Makeup Department
Mel Berns	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
J.R. Crone	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Argyle Nelson	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Carroll Clark	....	associate art director
Darrell Silvera	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Hugh McDowell Jr.	....	recordist

Special Effects by
Vernon L. Walker	....	special effects (as Vernon Walker)

Camera and Electrical Department
J. Roy Hunt	....	camera operator (uncredited)
John Miehle	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Cliff Shirpser	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Edith Clark	....	wardrobe attendant (uncredited)

Music Department
Ira Gershwin	....	lyricist
Nathaniel Shilkret	....	musical director
Robert Russell Bennett	....	music arranger (uncredited)
Hal Borne	....	musician: rehearsal pianist (uncredited)
Joseph A. Livingston	....	music arranger (uncredited)

Other crew
Harry Losee	....	ballet stager
Hermes Pan	....	ballet stager
Harry Cornbleth	....	stand-in: Fred Astaire (uncredited)
Eddie Hall	....	stand-in: Edward Everett Horton (uncredited)
John Huettner	....	stand-in: Edward Everett Horton (uncredited)
Marie Osborne	....	stand-in: Ginger Rogers (uncredited)
Paul Rochin	....	stand-in (uncredited)
Harry Timms	....	stand-in (uncredited)

Production Companies

• RKO Radio Pictures (presents) (as RKO Radio Pictures Inc.)

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1937) (USA) (theatrical) (as A Radio Picture)
• RKO Radio Pictures Argentina (1937) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• RKO Radio Films (1937) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Chapel Distribution (2009) (Australia) (theatrical) (35mm print)
• C&C Television Corporation (1955) (USA) (TV)
• Continental Home Vídeo (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Emerald (2006) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Image Entertainment (1994) (USA) (laserdisc)
• Turner Home Video (1999) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (2005) (Brazil) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

109 min | Argentina:116 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Canada:PG (Ontario) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Netherlands:AL (original rating) (1937) | Australia:G | Finland:S | USA:Unrated | UK:U (video rating) | USA:Approved (PCA #2994) | UK:U (original rating)

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

The seventh (of ten) dancing partnership of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

Quotes:

Jeffrey Baird:[picks up phone] Hello?
Cecil Flintridge:Oh, hello, Jeffrey. Yes, are you there?
Jeffrey Baird:Of course I'm here.
Cecil Flintridge:Now don't shout at me - I'm in jail.
Jeffrey Baird:Well, that's all right; we don't need you.
Cecil Flintridge:I'm in jail for battery, and I want you to get me out. I'm at the Susquehannah Street Jail . . . Susquehannah! Susquehannah - S-U-S-Q-U-Q! Q! You know, the thing you play billiards with . . . Billiards! B-I-L-L-
Policeman at Jail:What is this, a spelling bee?
Cecil Flintridge:Ahem. No, "L" for larynx. L-A-R-Y . . . N-No, not "M", N! . . . "N" as in neighbor! Neighbor, N-E-I-G-H-B--B! B! Bzzz. Bzzz. You know, the stinging insect! Insect! I-N-S-S! S, for symbol. S-Y . . . Y! Y!
Jeffrey Baird:Well, why? Don't ask me "why."
Cecil Flintridge:Look, Jeffrey. I'm in jail. W-wait a minute. What jail did you say this was?
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: The Best of Christopher Walken (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

They All Laughed

Oh, no, they can't take that away from me

"Shall We Dance" is for this viewer one of the great Astaire-Rogers films, even if some of the comments don't agree. I love it because of the glorious Astaire dancing. One of my all-time favorite numbers of his is "Slap that Bass" in which Astaire dances to the rhythm of machines. Oh, those pirouettes! Amazing. I rewound and watched it twice more.

Astaire plays a ballet dancer named Petrov. In real life, Astaire was loathe to do ballet because he was self-conscious about his large hands. Who's looking at his hands? Petrov falls hard for singer Linda Keene (Rogers, who else) and arranges to follow her on the same ship to New York.

Everyone has a great time, including the comic relief, Eric Blore, Edward Everett Horton, and Jerome Cowan. One of the best scenes occurs as Horton and Cowan smuggle a dummy of Linda (from a number she never did) into Astaire's stateroom to photograph the two together and prove they're married (they're not. And Blore getting arrested and telephoning to get bailed out of the Susquehana jail is wonderful.

But "Shall We Dance," like the previous Astaire-Rogers pairings, isn't about the plot, it's about the music and dance. What music, what dance. George and Ira Gershwin's score includes "I've Got Beginner's Luck," and "They All Laughed," both sung by Astaire, "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" (sung and danced by the pair on roller skates), "They Can't Take That Away From Me" (sung by Astaire), and the music later becomes a ballet sequence with Astaire and Harriet Hoctor. Astaire and Rogers dance to "Shall We Dance" after Astaire sings the number and the two reprise "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off."

You can't beat "Shall We Dance" for pure escapism, breathtaking dance, and great songs.