Swing Time
Nov. 18th, 2009 08:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
icepixieHmmm. It was good, but it didn't blow my socks off or anything. Maybe if I hadn't read so many good opinions of this one before seeing it, I might have been more impressed. Actually, maybe its problem was that, plotwise, it was too good--it wasn't bad enough, like Top Hat, to where I could comfortably skip most of the farcical developments; neither was it good enough that sitting through the non-dancing parts was actively pleasurable. (Though one key moment I did enjoy was the "picket line" outside Penny's room. Hee! And I did sort of enjoy seeing Ginger get to pursue Fred for a while. That was a change.)
Most irritating was Penny's aversion to gambling, which only appeared when it was necessary for the plot, and was conveniently absent when it wasn't. (Also irritating was the casual sexism that seemed more prevalent than usual. I know, I know, I can't judge movies of seventy years ago by th standards of today, but the scenes in the dance studio in particular made me want to punch someone. Martha P. Nochimson comments that there are some class issues at work in this movie that aren't there in some of the others--or rather, perhaps, that this time the class difference puts Ginger's character lower than Fred's--and I'm thinking that might contribute to the excessive use of "little girl" and like epithets to refer to Penny. That makes it even more grrrful, but does at least explain why it seems worse in this movie than the others.)
The ending was ridiculous, though the cast tried valiantly to make it work, especially Helen Broderick. (She stole every scene she was in.) If I try really hard, I can almost think of it as a Shakespearian comedy, and the too-too ending, with the stupid joke, doesn't bother me as much.
The film is interesting for the way it plays with the national economic context. The shot of Lucky riding a freight train in his top hat and morning suit of course pokes fun at the film series itself via an ingrained image of the Depression. The "strike" came right out of a Ford plant. "Though I'm left without a Penny" in "Never Gonna Dance" manages to reference the Depression and play on her name as well. And "the wolf" is apparently a reference to "the wolf at the door," a popular metaphor for economic hardship at the time (according to Nochimson, anyway)--and, according to certain TV writers, in 2261. ;) I think it's the one film in the series that actually takes the contemporary economic climate into account, though Castles does sort of nod knowingly in the direction of the political zeitgeist. (Possibly Follow the Fleet does as well.)
The dancing is lovely, of course. "Pick Yourself Up" is joyous, even in that drab dance studio set, and "Never Gonna Dance" is perhaps the most moving number they ever did together. Poor Penny. Poor Lucky. At least this time their sadness has a legitimate reason behind it, rather than "Too dumb to ask the other person's NAME." The orchestration was particularly effective, especially when it segued directly from the title melody to a reprise of "The Way You Look Tonight." (Although Ginger needed some kind of bra-like apparatus under that dress, lovely as it was.)
In fact, the scoring throughout was quite good; every measure, I think, even the background stuff, came from one of the five principle songs, which made everything feel especially put-together. I've got to take issue with "A Fine Romance," though. It's supposed to be funny, and it does start out that way, but the moment Penny compared them to hothouse tomatoes, my eyebrows rose up to the top of my forehead and stayed there throughout. Dorothy Fields was trying waaaaay too hard for comedy there, and overshot to land somewhere in the neighborhood of unintentional self-parody. The melody was pretty blah as well, though it got orchestrated fairly nicely at one point when Romero's band was playing.
I think the hideousness of Ginger's dress kept me from liking "Waltz in Swing Time" as much as I might have. I spent the entire thing wanting to take a pair of scissors to those horrible ruffles everywhere, and a machete to that ridiculous Peter Pan collar. (It's an evening gown. You don't need a PETER PAN COLLAR on a BACKLESS EVENING GOWN.)
As for the Bojangles number...well. The shadows were great. The blackface, not so much. *cringes* *cringes some more*
Any idea why people kept referring to Penny as a redhead? I know it's black and white, but her hair looks pretty damn platinum to me.
Also, they were driving around in the snow in an open convertible...why? This strikes me as somehow unwise. Sure, it's fake snow, but, you know. Vague motions toward authenticity are appreciated. (Like when they danced at the wrong nightclub for their audition, but no one called them on it. Er? Maybe the Silver Sandal manager was in the audience or something.)
Speaking of the club, that trompe l'oeil floor in the renovated Silver Sandal was amazing.
Basically: Nice, but I was expecting it to knock Follow the Fleet out of the top position, and was surprised it didn't. I think Fred and Ginger are much better when their characters don't have to carry out the ridiculous plot machinations, and they can just sit back and be amusing and do great dances. (Yes, I am MISSING THE POINT. I DON'T CARE.)
Most irritating was Penny's aversion to gambling, which only appeared when it was necessary for the plot, and was conveniently absent when it wasn't. (Also irritating was the casual sexism that seemed more prevalent than usual. I know, I know, I can't judge movies of seventy years ago by th standards of today, but the scenes in the dance studio in particular made me want to punch someone. Martha P. Nochimson comments that there are some class issues at work in this movie that aren't there in some of the others--or rather, perhaps, that this time the class difference puts Ginger's character lower than Fred's--and I'm thinking that might contribute to the excessive use of "little girl" and like epithets to refer to Penny. That makes it even more grrrful, but does at least explain why it seems worse in this movie than the others.)
The ending was ridiculous, though the cast tried valiantly to make it work, especially Helen Broderick. (She stole every scene she was in.) If I try really hard, I can almost think of it as a Shakespearian comedy, and the too-too ending, with the stupid joke, doesn't bother me as much.
The film is interesting for the way it plays with the national economic context. The shot of Lucky riding a freight train in his top hat and morning suit of course pokes fun at the film series itself via an ingrained image of the Depression. The "strike" came right out of a Ford plant. "Though I'm left without a Penny" in "Never Gonna Dance" manages to reference the Depression and play on her name as well. And "the wolf" is apparently a reference to "the wolf at the door," a popular metaphor for economic hardship at the time (according to Nochimson, anyway)--and, according to certain TV writers, in 2261. ;) I think it's the one film in the series that actually takes the contemporary economic climate into account, though Castles does sort of nod knowingly in the direction of the political zeitgeist. (Possibly Follow the Fleet does as well.)
The dancing is lovely, of course. "Pick Yourself Up" is joyous, even in that drab dance studio set, and "Never Gonna Dance" is perhaps the most moving number they ever did together. Poor Penny. Poor Lucky. At least this time their sadness has a legitimate reason behind it, rather than "Too dumb to ask the other person's NAME." The orchestration was particularly effective, especially when it segued directly from the title melody to a reprise of "The Way You Look Tonight." (Although Ginger needed some kind of bra-like apparatus under that dress, lovely as it was.)
In fact, the scoring throughout was quite good; every measure, I think, even the background stuff, came from one of the five principle songs, which made everything feel especially put-together. I've got to take issue with "A Fine Romance," though. It's supposed to be funny, and it does start out that way, but the moment Penny compared them to hothouse tomatoes, my eyebrows rose up to the top of my forehead and stayed there throughout. Dorothy Fields was trying waaaaay too hard for comedy there, and overshot to land somewhere in the neighborhood of unintentional self-parody. The melody was pretty blah as well, though it got orchestrated fairly nicely at one point when Romero's band was playing.
I think the hideousness of Ginger's dress kept me from liking "Waltz in Swing Time" as much as I might have. I spent the entire thing wanting to take a pair of scissors to those horrible ruffles everywhere, and a machete to that ridiculous Peter Pan collar. (It's an evening gown. You don't need a PETER PAN COLLAR on a BACKLESS EVENING GOWN.)
As for the Bojangles number...well. The shadows were great. The blackface, not so much. *cringes* *cringes some more*
Any idea why people kept referring to Penny as a redhead? I know it's black and white, but her hair looks pretty damn platinum to me.
Also, they were driving around in the snow in an open convertible...why? This strikes me as somehow unwise. Sure, it's fake snow, but, you know. Vague motions toward authenticity are appreciated. (Like when they danced at the wrong nightclub for their audition, but no one called them on it. Er? Maybe the Silver Sandal manager was in the audience or something.)
Speaking of the club, that trompe l'oeil floor in the renovated Silver Sandal was amazing.
Basically: Nice, but I was expecting it to knock Follow the Fleet out of the top position, and was surprised it didn't. I think Fred and Ginger are much better when their characters don't have to carry out the ridiculous plot machinations, and they can just sit back and be amusing and do great dances. (Yes, I am MISSING THE POINT. I DON'T CARE.)
