Follow the Fleet
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Movie Reviews of Follow the Fleet
Movie Review: They Remeet Cute in This One
Summary: 5 Stars
"Follow The Fleet," (1936), was the fifth of ten pictures made for RKO Radio Pictures by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. It was made after "Top Hat," and is, of course, another romantic musical comedy, this time with a score by Irving Berlin. Once again, its family resemblance to the others is unmistakable, as substantially the same team was utilized behind the camera. It was produced by Pandro S. Berman; directed by Mark Sandrich; choreographed by Hermes Pan; Dwight Taylor and Allan Scott adapted it for the screen from the play "Shore Leave." Van Nest Polglase, in his capacity as art director, again produced the sparkling black and white art deco sets.
The plot's silly as ever, maybe even sillier, as Astaire and Rogers play Bake Baker - again with the alliterative name - and Sherry Martin, the comic couple. Probably, this stems from the play on which the film was based, but you have to ask: what were they all thinking? Well, at least Astaire and Rogers play an established, if broken-up couple in this one, and don't meet cute. They remeet cute. The romantic couple is Harriet Hilliard, in her pre Ozzie Nelson days, as Rogers' confidant, and sister Connie; and Randolph Scott, who doesn't exactly cast a testosterone-fueled shadow, as Astaire's shipmate Bilge Smith. Astrid Allwyn plays Mrs. Iris Manning, the spoiler. The young Lucille Ball and Betty Grable get some screen time, too. Astaire has supposedly joined the peacetime, between the wars navy, as his beloved dancing partner Rogers refused to marry him. So he looks fabulous in bellbottoms, chews gum like a madman, and finally gets to hit San Francisco again, where the Martin sisters are based, on shore leave. With Randolph Scott, billed as a ladies' man, in tow. Oh boy.
Berlin contributed seven numbers to the score. Two of them go to Hilliard: "Get Thee behind Me Satan," and "But Where are You?" She acquits herself well. Rogers gets an unusual solo song and dance to the kicky "Let Yourself Go." Astaire solos on the well-known "We Saw the Sea," and the lesser-known "I'd Rather Lead the Band." The great stars, who somehow stay out of top hat and evening dress until the closing number, duet on the comically-oriented "I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket."
And then there is what they'd call in the theater the "11 o'clock song," the one that the audience will remember as it walks out: "Let's Face the Music and Dance." Irving Berlin nodded now and then, but he was no June/moon/spoon dollar a day tunesmith. "Let's Face the Music," opens on a rather dark outlook, and moves, powerfully, to the affirmative. Both song and dance have great emotional content. "Follow the Fleet," as a whole, may not be the most distinguished of the Astaire-Rogers canon, but "Let's Face the Music" belongs to the ages.
Movie Review: Relax. Let youself go. Enjoy this movie.
Summary: 5 Stars
After the huge success of "Top Hat", Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers teamed up for the fifth time in "Follow The Fleet",released in February 1936. Also returning from "Top Hat" were director Mark Sandrich,dance director Hermes Pan and composer Irving Berlin. The result was another wonderful musical,with another fine score by Berlin.
This movie is different from the earlier Fred and Ginger films in that they already know each other,being ex-lovers at the start of the movie,instead of meeting for the first time. It also has a different role for Fred. As a sailor, he spends much of the screen time in naval uniforms. He doesn't dress up fancy until the end.
Bake (Fred) joined the navy hoping to forget Sherry (Ginger) after their break up. But the ship is coming back to port. Soon Bake and Sherry will find their way back to each other.
In the film's other plot,Bake's navy buddy Bilge (Randolph Scott) falls for Sherry's sister Connie (Harriet Nelson, billed under her maiden name ,Hilliard).
Bake and Sherry used to be a professional dance team before they broke up. Much of the plot concerns whether ot not they will get back together both personally and professionally.
Needless to say it is the songs and production numbers that highlight the movie. Many of the songs from the movie made the hit parade at the time.
Fred opens with the witty "We Saw The Sea"("We joined the navy to see the the world! And what did we see? We saw the sea"). Ginger sings "Let Yourself Go", the theme of which is repeated several times throughout the movie. Harriet sings two songs, including "Get Thee Behind Me Satan", which had been dropped from "Top Hat". She actually sings pretty well,too.
Fred and Ginger each get a solo tap number. The best dance sequence is at the end. In "Let's Face The Music And Dance", with Bake and Sherry reunited in front of an audience, Fred and Ginger are back in formal wear. Fred in his usual tux and Ginger in a beaded evening gown. She even accidently hit Fred in the face with a heavily beaded sleeve! That was the best take they did of that dance, however, so it was the one that got used. Watch that amazing last step when they leave the stage!
Another highlight is Lucille Ball in a small role as the wisecracking Kitty,who helps Sherry give Connie a makeover and find her true self.
With the right combination of breezy comedy, sweet romance, and that wonderful dancing, this ranks among Fred and Ginger's best.
Extras on the DVD include the trailer,a musical short, and a cartoon. No commentary track, however. There is on okay "Making of" featurette.
If you enjoy Fred and Ginger as much as I do,this DVD is for you.
Movie Review: fine and somewhat underrated Fred and Ginger musical
Summary: 5 Stars
Follow The Fleet is a solid RKO musical from 1936 that gives us Fred Astaire as Bake Baker, navy seaman and Ginger Rogers as Sherry Martin dancing at their best, even if the plot is rather thin. Look also for a great performance by Randolph Scott as Bilge Smith, Bake's buddy in the navy; and Harriet Hilliard plays Connie Martin, Sherry's sister. The plot and the action move along at a good pace; and the convincing acting was very nicely done.
The action starts when a navy ship carrying Bake Baker and his buddy Bilge Smith come into San Francisco's port. Bake wants to rekindle his old romance with Sherry but for now at least she wants nothing of the sort between them. Bilge soon falls for Sherry's sister Connie; and this provides a subplot even though too much time is spent on Bilge and Connie's relationship, in my opinion.
Bake wants Sherry back very badly--and he even ruins a job or two for her just to make sure she's still available! This causes obvious complications between Sherry and Bake. Meanwhile, Connie wants marriage with Bilge; but Bilge certainly isn't ready for marriage with any woman.
The song and dance numbers shared by Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire are nothing less than heavenly; they dance exceptionally well together especially in the film's finale, "Let's Face The Music And Dance." We also get a scene in which Ginger dances by herself; and this is noteworthy simply because it so rarely happened in the movies.
Look also for some great musical numbers on board the navy ship. Fred really knew how to dance!
The DVD comes with a very good bonus about Fred and Ginger; it has historians and Fred's daughter discussing how Fred and Ginger got into show business and finally movies. There's also a cute cartoon and another brief extra entitled Melody Master: Jimmy Lunceford and His Dance Orchestra. This is great bonus material!
Although some believe that Follow The Fleet is not the strongest Fred and Ginger movie, it kept my attention very well and I enjoyed it thoroughly. The song and dance numbers couldn't have been better; and it's nice to see Lucille Ball as a friend of Sherry Martin even if Lucille's part was rather small. The finale features Ginger in the famous beaded dress that she maintained weighed 35 pounds!
I highly recommend this movie for fans of classic movie musicals; and fans of Fred and Ginger will not want to overlook this one!
Movie Review: Different!
Summary: 5 Stars
What I liked most about this Gem is that for once we loose the generally ingratiating pair of shrill characters in Eric Blore and Edward Everet Horton. I guess to some their absense seems almost sacriligious for and A & R film but to me it was most welcomed! Also for "shock" value we get a very young Harriet Nelson aka Harriet Hilliard who to my complete surprise not only holds her own but actually stands out! She exhibits pathos she was never afforded in her role as third star billing in the Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. Fred and Ginger offer a more earthy and gritty street dancing style rarely utilized in their other films. Except for the final dance number which is elegant and graceful the rest of the dancing on disply in this movie is riproaring! Ginger finally gets her chance to put everybody under the table with an out-of-this-world tap and vocal number complete with Andrew Sisters type backup singers! I can't believe some of these low star reviews. Other than Top Hat which is one of the greatest movies ever made.....this is one of their best! Don't miss it!Movie Review: Superb Irving Berlin Score
Summary: 5 Stars
This film is ususally considered second-rate Astaire Rogers, but it is one my favorites. I've always given the score a lot of weight in judging this type of film, and Berlin was really on with this one. We get to see Ginger singing and dancing alone in this film, to the tune "Let Yourself Go" which, by the way, Kristin Chenoweth chose for the title and first song on her first solo album. I enjoyed seeing Harriet Hilliard Nelson getting to sing a couple of songs as Ginger's sister and spying Lucille Ball.
You won't see anything like the comic number that Fred and Ginger do to "Putting all my Eggs in One Basket" in any of their other films and the classic final dance by the stars is worth of the classic "Let's Face the Music and Dance." In this film generally we get to see more of the talented Ginger Rogers.
In fact the part of the film that I think drags is in the middle when Fred heads out with the fleet and does a lot of solo dancing and singing. I always like Fred better when he's with a girl.