Which of the following Ginger and Fred movies would best serve as the 'prequel' to "Barkleys of Broadway?"
"Flying Down To Rio"........
"Roberta"........
"Follow The Fleet"........
"Swing Time"........
"Shall We Dance"........
...As for the 'background', most folks 'round these parts know that 'Barkleys' set out to be the 'sequel' to "Easter Parade", but after Judy Garland had to step away from the production, Ginger stepped in, and the rest is history...As to the choices above, the only criteria was that both of the GandF characters had to be in show biz, which is more often than not the case in a GandF film..."The Castles", while fitting the 'show biz' criteria, obviously could not have a sequel w/o Vernon, and it was a true story, anyway... "Swing Time" is 'marginal', but after 'Never Gonna Dance', you just figure they were gonna make a living hoofing, right?
Well, hope this poll makes ya think a bit... it really is tough to just pick one to be the 'most likely'...
Hope to post more frequently... until then,
Keep It Gingery!!!
VKMfan
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...BTW - really think that first pic is from some other movie... but hey, they are bonking heads a la The Carioca... but I think this one is from Gay Divorcee... OGRE, please give us a status report...
ReplyDelete:-]
Actually I think its from a magazine article or something with Fred and Ginger modeling the steps of the Carioca.
ReplyDeleteOkay even though I thought of this poll question its a difficult choice for me - partly because Barkleys stands so well on its own. The obvious choice is Petrov and Linda but do you think he would pull the Svengali act on her?
I haven't made up my mind yet, but Follow the Fleet could also be a good choice. After all, Fred was running the show they put on and was trying to "help" Ginger's career. (HIC) :-)
ReplyDeleteAnd she acknowledged that she didn't hit the big time going solo.
ReplyDeleteOh thats a good point Fioraon!
ReplyDeleteI just say Shall We Dance because of the tie in with the song "They Can't Take That Away From Me." When Fred sang that to Ginger in Shall We Dance when they were on the ferry after eloping just makes your heart melt. Then in Barkleys of Broadway when they dance to it and Fred is singing to her trying to win her back with dance like always, it just breaks your heart. It's like he is saying, "Don't you remember when I first sang this to you?"
ReplyDeleteMaybe Shall we dance, with "They can't take that away from me and they are married at the end.
ReplyDeleteDesarae thats a good point too. Now Im more confused than ever!
ReplyDeleteLOL! SassyGinger I know what you mean. I think you have set about an impossible task of selecting just one movie :) They each serve as a kind of prequel in one way or another. I am excited to see how this poll turns out!
ReplyDeleteWell here's another way to look at it. I got too hung up on the Svengali thing. I love how Josh and Dinah are so affectionate through out the film (well while theyre getting along). What other G&F couple might be like that. Probably Penny and Lucky? LOL, we're reading way too much into this!
ReplyDeleteI know, isn't it fun! So have you voted yet SassyGinger?
ReplyDeleteYeah I voted Swing Time but I'm still torn between that and Shall We Dance. Its pretty silly how I'm so torn over a poll about an idea that was never meant to exist.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny because the first time I watched The Barkleys of Broadway (before I knew the back story behind how Ginger ended up on the movie), seeing them as starting out as married made me think of the movie as sort of a continuation of many of their other movies. Then when I saw the benefit scene, I immediately thought of Shall We Dance, and the two movies have been linked in my mind ever since. I can't shake it :)
ReplyDeleteSlightly off topic, but still on the topic of Ginger...I have a question if anyone can answer. In Tom, Dick, and Harry when Ginger goes into the second dream sequence it is her, but when she comes out of the dream and sits up the woman does not look like her. Am I seeing things or is that a different person for that shot? And if it is a different person, who is it? Thanks for the help because I am driving myself crazy rewinding that scene :)
ReplyDeleteAlmost said Follow the Fleet but decided on Shall We Dance because they were both performers, then got together at the end. Petrov decided to drop the Russian act (and consequentially the name as well). Then their marriage got rocky because... well you know the rest.
ReplyDeleteMy time to post this has come down to writing in communications class while the professor talks about Orson Wells and the 1938 broadcast that freaked everyone out.
Great stuff, y'all! I honestly can see each of them working, but 'Shall We Dance' was pretty cool with the 'They Can't take That Away From Me' connection... so I went with that one - and the Sassyness of Linda Keene overall could have morphed into Dinah Barkley's 'hot temper'...
ReplyDeleteActually, 'Rio' could be the 'prequel' to 'Follow the Fleet', or even 'Roberta'... but from 'Rio' to Barkleys' is a bit of a stretch... in other words, looking at a 'trilogy' deal, from 'Rio' to 'FTF' to 'Barkleys'... 'Swing Time'? It would work well also, as Fred's Character was the pure 'show biz' partner, and Ginger was 'just starting her career'...
Desarae - concerning the Tom,Dick and Harry scene...honestly, will have to check that out... as far as I know it is Ginger, but need to watch it a few times to see for sure... would be kinda weird not to have her for that shot, since it is kind of a close-up...
Lauren - hope all is well in UCLAN Land! 'War of the Worlds'...yep that was pretty interesting, mainly how folks reacted indicated that radio was quite influential at that point... are you about wrapped up this semester? hope so - time for the Summer of Ginge... :-]
Everything is good! I have a ton of projects to work on for the next two weeks, then finals week after that, then I'm out! For a week. Then I have summer school. But I'm not taking 5 classes in summer school.
ReplyDeleteHope you're doing well, and your jaw too!
Hey Lauren! Don't expect to goof off during that week. Remember you have a Ginger assignment. :)
ReplyDeleteI think I never saw „Roberta“ on my parents TV, but I'm going to order it this summer. The year 1935 is just my time and Irene Dunne's „Smoke Gets in Your Eyes“ is reason enough to adore it. „Flying Down to Rio“ is almost such a wired stew like „Barkleys“, but it's my style and I love it: Gingers song „Music Makes Me“ is one of my anthems! The „Barkleys“ rather modern bigband sound isn't my style at all and I hate those ...eeendless... piano-concertos and the French drama stuff doesn't interest me.
ReplyDelete„Shall We Dance“ is also on my „to-order“ schedule (saw it on tv long ago), but I'll order early/mid-30s films first (furthermore „Carefree“ isn't on my bill - too swingy already – I wanna' keep my own style pure. These days I'm waiting for „42nd Street“ and „Footlight Parade“!!). „Swingtime“ is already in my collection and pleases me very much. „Follow the Fleet“ is just **SWELLEST** - I think the absolute best of all Freddy&Ginger films.
So it was impossible to vote and compare those diamonds to „B-b-barkleys“, without giving me a pain.
Lauren - thanks for the kind words - I am totally over the root canal debacle... took about 6 weeks - quite an experience, to be sure... hope your summer is cool - it's good to take a few classes - I typically took one or two - allows you to keep a bit 'ahead of schedule', which is never a bad thing...
ReplyDeleteFioraon... is she supposed to be searching for Hat Check Girl? We need to put out a 'reward' for that puppy... sounds goofy, but hey, I'll trow a few bones in the pot if someone would step up with the movie in ANY format... Return can translate old reel film into 'electronic', right?
CS - Roberta is pretty cool - GandF are basically 'support', but have enough of a role to keep us happy.
Music Makes Me just totally rocks! I LOVE that tune... and, well, love to watch it, too :-)
You need the 'Busby Berkley collection' - it has 42nd Street, Gold Diggers of 1933, and also Footlight Parade, Dames, and Gold Diggers of 1935 - also has a 'Busby Berkley bio DVD' - honestly need to watch that one... for the price ~$40.00, not a bad deal (5 movies + bio DVD), considering any one of those would probably be around $20 if you count shipping.
Yep, Follow The Fleet is a fave of mine, too... 'Let Yourself Go'...how cool is THAT? Really hard to deny that one as my favorite Ginger tune / performance. My Mom LOVES FTF as well...
FINAL RESULTS FOR POLL:
ReplyDeleteShall We Dance - 10
Swing Time - 5
Follow The Fleet - 3
Roberta - 1
Flying Down To Rio - 0
Huey, I made a mistake. I said "yes" when my seller proposed to order the Golddiggers without the rest. Actually this is not possible, but she has certain connections. Well, before I saw the Golddiggers again (after long years), I had dreamt about "We're in the Money" and "My Forgotten Man", but now I also like Joan Blondell. It took a little time learning to love her, but Ruby Keeler is in too. A cute little family of showgirls.
ReplyDeleteLet Yourself Go is - in modern language - really "cool". Well, I rather like warmth and prefer that old expression SWELL, but a Rapper couldn't be "cooler" than Ginger and Freddy in Let Yourself Go. Fred at that accordion - and he was a mighty good accordion-player! All the boys of that band are "cool" as well.
Love Joan as well - I need to find more stuff with her in it...
ReplyDeleteFred on accordion... classic!
Hey, I mixed two songs up!
ReplyDeleteFred played accordion in "Music Makes Me" (Flying Down to Rio). In "Let Yourself Go" Ginger is accompanied by a small big-band too, but the swellest thing about it is Ginger, singing together with a girl-trio.
Of course I actually know that: I count "Let Yourself Go", "Music Makes Me" and "We're in the Money" in my most favorite songs!