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USA 1937
Directed by
Mark Sandrich
116 minutes
Rated G

Reviewed by
Bernard Hemingway
3 stars

Shall We Dance

This Astaire-Rogers musical is the seventh of their pairings, a standard boy-meets--loses-and-gets-back-girl story in which an American tap dancer (Rogers) gets involved with another American dancer (Astaire) posing as a Russian 

Fred is no boy here but he and Ginger appear to be having a good time, particularly in their dance extension of 'They All Laughed'.  Edward Everett Horton and Eric Blore make their typical comedic contribution but let's face it the narrative is just in-fill between the musical numbers.  In this respect the George and Ira Gershwin contribution is outstanding with some of their best songs featuring, including the classics, 'They All Laughed', 'Let's Call The Whole Thing Off' and 'They Can't Take That Away From Me' all of which get a sung and a danced version, the latter number as a finale placing Fred in a balletic number with Harriet Hoctor before reuniting him with Ginger for their more populist tap style. 

Although the famous duo were to make two other films together, this one, which surprisingly did not do well at the box office, is really their swansong.

 

 

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