(no subject)

[icepixie]

For some reason, I always think of the film Carefree (1938) as having been filmed in color. Maybe it's that "I Used to Be Colorblind" song. Or maybe it's that half of it takes place outdoors, where I'm sure of what colors the grass, sky, etc. are. (Although I found it amusing that in the menu art, the colorists couldn't decide whether to make Ginger's "Yam" dress green or red. Surely they had records somewhere? Maybe not. I always think of it as pinkish red, myself.)

It's not a film that rewards rewatching, by the way. It just gets creepier and more disturbing if you spend the least little amount of time thinking about it. The dances are fun, though. (Well. That slow motion one was...not the best decision that could've been made. But anyway.) And I do enjoy Amanda/Ginger's hypnosis-induced crime sprees, not to mention that sequence where she makes up a dream involving wolves and squirrels and "[her] persecutors." ("And then...they got me.")

Comments

[eldivinomarques.livejournal.com]

The Yam dress was grey with red and, If I do not remember it wrong, I think Ginger Rogers commented this in her bio. To be honest, I would have never guessed that color combination watching the Yam.

Well, in this pic colors are over saturated but, it was supossed to look like this (I think this is a real color promo pic from Carefree):

(http://s759.photobucket.com/albums/xx231/Swing_Time/?action=view&current=4145mLo0MIL__SS500_.jpg)

[icepixie]

Oh, cool picture! I didn't realize color promo photos for any of the black and white movies existed, besides one I've seen for Follow the Fleet. Those colors look pretty much like what I figured they were--I was thinking the gray was more pink, but the red looks about like what I thought it was.

[eldivinomarques.livejournal.com]

Do you only know the color one of Follow the Fleet? Haven't you seen this one from Swing Time? (There is one more, I think, but I only saw that one in a tiny size):

Now, here you have a pink dress ;) Btw, this pic was posted at the Fred Astaire LJ community by postgirl66.



And here you have the tiny one:

[postgirl66.livejournal.com]

What a coincidence!I plan to write a little post about
a missing scene from "Carefree" because I found two pics,
that seem to indicate that there were some cuts.
I'm really not so sure,but I think I will try to post
it in the Astaire LJ community.

[eldivinomarques.livejournal.com]

One of those pics is the one of Fred as a doctor and trees behind? I recently saw it on Ebay.

Oh, please, write the post, I'm now intrigued.

[postgirl66.livejournal.com]

Yes,it's one of those pics.I find it interesting,because
I saw it never before.And the background in the pic looked
really different from any "Carefree" set.But more about it
tomorrow.

[eldivinomarques.livejournal.com]

Nor me, I just found it yesterday while checking ebay auctions. I heard about the scene and never saw any pic of that. Yes, the tree background was strange, kind of oniric one.

Ook, le'ts wait until tomorrow to read the post *sighs* ;)

[icepixie]

That sounds interesting! I look forward to reading it.

[icepixie]

Oh, I have seen that first one. Now I remember. (Heck, I think posted a response to postgirl66 when she posted it to the community!)

Don't think I've ever seen the second one, though; thanks! Knowing that the dress was pink I think might make me hate it more than I did already, which I didn't think was possible. ;)

[eldivinomarques.livejournal.com]

Do you hate it? Uhmm well, it's not one of my favourites but I think I hate more the one she wears in the dream scene in Carefree, but I think that what really makes me hate the Carefree one is that the shoes do not match the dress and spoils it completely

[icepixie]

I have an intense hatred for ruffles, and that dress is pretty much one big ruffle. I also dislike buttons that serve no purpose, and those ridiculous peter pan collars on formalwear. It's a trifecta of Things I Hate, and the pink doesn't help. ;)

Ohhh, and I can't stand those shoes in the dream scene! They totally don't go, yes. The dress itself is all right--I don't love it, but I find nothing really objectionable about it--but yeah, those shoes. Blech.

My favorite's the one from "Never Gonna Dance." It's so simple, but it has just the right amount of ornamentation on the bodice and on the straps that cross in the back, plus the skirt is really full without calling too much attention to itself. And the white looks great. I like the one from "Face the Music" too, and the dress from "Piccolino."

[eldivinomarques.livejournal.com]

My favorite's the one from "Never Gonna Dance." [...]I like the one from "Face the Music" too, and the dress from "Piccolino."

Hehe, we like the same dresses then.

The "Never Gonna Dance" and "Face the Music" ones were made to make her look stunning. Simple and elegant. I think they didn't need anything more. Perfect as they are.

The "Piccolino" may not be not as stunning as the others but it's so 'cute', as cute as Dale is, as cute as the whole movie is and I think it reflects perfectly that kind of imaginary universe Fred & Ginger seem to live inside in Top Hat, and universe of happiness, youth, love and yes, richness.

[postgirl66.livejournal.com]

Don't get me started on my favourite dresses!I could write
a whole post about them,maybe I will;-)
But...I absolutely can't stand the floral dress from
"They all laughed"(Shall we dance)I don't know why,but
it reminded me of a table cloth.What was she thinking???
On the other hand,the "Never gonna dance" dress would
win any poll in my book and I like the sparkle of
"The Piccolino" one.Stunning.

[eldivinomarques.livejournal.com]

Maybe? Just a maybe?? ;P We need that post but, not only about Ginger but about Fred's outfits too. It will be interesting to see fan preferencers in this subject.

[icepixie]

Yeah, I hate the fabric of that dress too, although the cut is all right. But it ends up looking like a couch or something. It's a pity, because "They All Laughed" is one of my favorite dances.

[lilsurelybeans.livejournal.com]

I have an intense memory of hearing that Carefree's Colorblind number was meant to be filmed in color. I don't remember where I heard it. It may have been a TCM intro or it may have even been in someone's memoir. The rest of the movie was going to be BW, but that number (probably due to the song lyrics) was going to be in color. I guess they didn't like the way it looked or something.
I've always liked Carefree. It is more of a comedy than a musical though. Ginger is hilarious in it.
...About the color photos from Follow the Fleet...I haven't seen them in years. I think I have them on a floppy somewhere. I must look for them!

[icepixie]

I've heard that they were going to film that scene in color, and that was why the lyrics were written as they were, but once they ran the numbers they decided it would be too expensive. Siiigh.

(Although then again, can you imagine the lurid colors that set was probably painted in? It might be a good thing that it was filmed in b&w.)

I like the screwball comedy structure of the movie, and I also think Ginger is really hilarious in it, but some of the implications and power imbalances make go eeyurg.