Swing Time

Often rated the best, or second best, of Fred Astiare and Ginger Rogers’ collaborations, this movie gives you everything you would expect: singing, dancing, lots of laughs, a little bit of melancholy, and a few really inventive spectacle pieces. However, Swing Time isn’t one of those movies where it is great because it has no major flaws. Instead, it is great because the things it does well, it does so well that you find yourself forgiving the things it does poorly.

Where Swing Time excels is in its musical numbers. As expected in an Astaire and Rogers picture, the dancing is exceptional. While no piece is a clunker, for me there were three stand out hits: “Pick Yourself Up” near the beginning of the movie, “Waltz in Swing Time” in the middle of the movie, and “Never Gonna Dance” near the end. Not only is each number technically virtuosic, but Rogers and Astaire are able to convey the emotions of their characters through dance just as vividly as through their acting. There is also an amazing mix of ballroom, tap, and music hall dance styles that both shows off the incredible range of the central performers and ensures there is a bit of something for everyone, regardless of their tastes.

While dancing may be the obvious stand out aspect of the film, the singing is quite good too. The songs are catchy and memorable. There were two in particular I recognized for their longevity, without knowing they originated in this film. Swing Time premiered “The Way You Look Tonight,” which won an Oscar and went on to be a powerhouse jazz staple covered by everyone from Frank Sinatra to Rod Stewart. Though not quite as famous, the movie also features “A Fine Romance,” which charted on release and had its own, smaller, period of covers by the likes of Bing Crosby and Ella Fitzgerald.

Where the movie struggles is in the story. It is a tad thin on substance. There is more going on than just a series of lame excuses to move from musical number to musical number, but if you took away the spectacle of the performances the plot would look pretty poor. It is strong when it explores the lead characters’ desires to make it in New York City and when they are falling for one another, and weak when trying to justify the contrivances that stand in the way of them achieving those ends. For example, there is a bit with a pair of pants that appears in both the beginning and end of the film with the idea, I think, to provide some nice comedic repetition to bookend the story. When the pants bit is first introduced, it makes total sense. It creates a situation where Astaire’s character must go to New York while also suggesting that his commitment to his life before New York is not as strong in reality as he believes it to be. At the end of the movie, despite the fact that it is supposed to be helping resolve a primary plot point, it is basically played for a laugh and nothing more.

Lastly, I feel I cannot finish my review without mentioning that there is a dance number that includes blackface. It is not the most egregious version: while Astaire uses stage makeup to darken his skin, none of the more offensive and racially charged characteristics of the traditional minstrel show stereotype are present. He does not exaggerate his lips, eyes, or hair. Still, just the visual of Astaire’s darkened face was enough to make me uncomfortable. Especially since, unlike comedic and satirical allusions to blackface in films like Tropic Thunder or Silver Streak, in Swing Time it is both done earnestly and within the context of a dance hall show. It’s a shame too, since the dance itself is, for the most part, the same kind of virtuosic and inventive performance we’ve been enjoying from Astaire all film long. After watching the movie, I went and read some about the production and discovered it has been speculated that Astaire, who trained under African-American tap artist John Bubbles, had intended this number to pay tribute to both his mentor and the broader African-American tap tradition. Be that as it may, seen through the eyes of a modern observer, the number is hard to swallow regardless of context.

Would Recommend: If you are crazy about (non-ballet) dance.

Would Not Recommend: If you don’t enjoy movie musicals.