Hitchcoc Fred and his friend, Randolph Scott (this is not a Western) are on shore leave. Obviously, these are show people. Ginger is around somewhere (his former partner) and in this effort they rekindle their relationship and their dancing skills. Along with them is the young woman who later became the wife of Ozzie Nelson. She's so young and it became surprising to me how well she could sing. I know that Ozzie was some second rate band leader in these days. There is some sparring because of the lack of seriousness of Fred's friend, Bilge. He is one of those guys who is full of himself and leads women on, only to desert them. Of course, who cares about the plot since we can see the most famous dance pair in history hoof it to some lesser known Irving Berlin songs. "Face the Music and Dance" is the only one that rings a bell with me.

mark.waltz "Shore Leave" has an interesting history. It was a play on Broadway in the early 1920's, then a 1925 hit musical called "Hit the Deck!" with songs by Vincent Youmans. RKO made a movie of that in 1930 (which has apparently vanished off the face of the celluloid earth) and MGM re-made that version in 1955 with an all-star cast. Somewhere in the middle came this, RKO's version of the same story with new songs and their hot team of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.When Astaire pops up in the opening sequence to sing a very funny navy song about seeing the world ("What did we see? We saw the sea!"), the compass is set for a musically outstanding film that has an ordinary plot but rises above it because of its songs and dances. Ginger sings the bouncy "Let Yourself Go!" (with chorus girls Betty Grable and Lucille Ball), then Fred comes in with "I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket". The musical rhythms that Berlin uses are so smart, twisting certain refrains and stanzas much like Stephen Sondheim would do much later. Just when you're ready to call it a day for the romantic tales of two sailors (Astaire and Randolph Scott), in comes "Let's Face the Music and Dance". Dramatically, it seems totally out of place in the movie, although Astaire's routes as a dancer are mentioned to give it plausibility as to why he would do a show while on leave. It seems to be closer to something from Berlin's previous Astaire/Rogers effort, "Top Hat", which had a more sophisticated theme than this pre-cursor to "Anchor's Aweigh" and "On the Town"."Let's Face the Music and Dance" is still one of the classic cannons of the Astaire/Rogers pairing, and probably my favorite. The set-up is worthy of a movie itself, a young woman seemingly contemplating suicide and a gambler whose luck (and money) have run out. So what do they do? Dance to one of the most romantic musical numbers in film history. Famously re-done by Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters in 1981's "Pennies From Heaven", the musical number grabs you and never lets go. Even if the rest of the movie was a dog, this number would increase my rating to where it is now.While "Follow the Fleet" may not rank highest in my list for story (that goes to "Swing Time", released the same year"), it certainly will wow you with its sophistication, wit, and above all, its music and dancing. Those last two things are all that an old movie buff can really ask for.

Charles Herold (cherold) There are a couple of nice dance numbers in this picture, although nothing I'd call a favorite. And the songs by Irving Berlin are, of course, quite good. But man, what a dumb movie. The main story is dumb but tolerable, with Astaire annoying Rogers with his failed attempts to help her and win back her love. But what really aggravated me was the subplot involving the jerk sailor and the teacher. The teacher first appears in glasses and dowdy clothes and is blown off by the jerk. She gets a quick makeover, comes out and is soon making out with the jerk, who establishes in their brief time together that every thing he told her when she was wearing glasses was a lie. She becomes so attached to him after they kiss that she starts talking of her dream of having a husband to sail her boat (not a euphemism for anything), and he rightly thinks she's thinking of him and creates some distance (and also hooks up with a slutty hottie). She spends tons of money to salvage her boat for this guy she only spent a few hours with, and because she doesn't want it to be a surprise doesn't write to him while he's at sea. When he comes back he goes on a date with the hottie. She is heartbroken, but after some machinations courtesy of Astaire he realizes that he really would like to captain her boat, she totally ignores the fact that he has consistently treated her terribly in the maybe 5 hours of their lives they've spent together and everything is hunky dory.Eve by Hollywood standards this is a pretty flimsy romance. In real life she's delusional and he's just a creep.

ferbs54 Since 1935's "Top Hat" is, quite simply, one of the finest musicals ever made, it was perhaps inevitable that Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers' follow-up picture, as a team, should fall somewhat short of that miraculously high mark. Still, that next film, the 5th for the team, 1936's "Follow the Fleet," does have an incredible lot to offer. In this one, Fred doesn't play his typical debonair sophisticate, but rather a gum-chewing Navy gob named Bake Baker, who, back in San Francisco on leave, with his shipmate Bilge Smith (played by Randolph Scott, who had costarred in F&G's 3rd outing, "Roberta"), sets out to romance sisters Sherry (our Ginger) and Connie Martin (Harriet Hilliard, who many baby boomers will recall from the old "Ozzie & Harriet" TV show). Making small appearances in "Follow the Fleet" are Betty Grable (who had performed "Let's K-nock K-nees" with Edward Everett Horton in F&G's 2nd film, "The Gay Divorcée") and Lucille Ball (who had also appeared briefly in "Top Hat" as well as "Roberta"; her role is a bit more sizable here). Director Mark Sandrich, who had also brought in "The Gay Divorcée" and "Top Hat," and would later helm the team's 7th and 8th films, "Shall We Dance" and "Carefree," does his usual professional work here. Still, with all these elements in place, the picture has its problems, perhaps the biggest one being a story line that drags in parts (ironic, perhaps, given the word "fleet" in the film's title!). The picture is not nearly as funny as some of the others in the 10-film series (especially the hilarious "Gay Divorcée" and "Carefree"), and there is no single, standout, epic dance number to speak of (such as The Carioca in F&G's initial outing, "Flying Down to Rio," The Continental in "The Gay Divorcée," The Picolino in "Top Hat" or The Yam in "Carefree"). Van Nest Polglase's sets are not nearly as spectacular here as usual, and there are no wonderful supporting performances from the likes of character actors E.E. Horton, Erik Rhodes or Eric Blore. Still, there ARE the musical/dance numbers, set to seven Irving Berlin songs, and they are, for the most part, wonderful. Highlights of the film are Fred belting out "We Saw the Sea" (with its memorable rhyme of "taxi" and "Black Sea"), Ginger singing "Let Yourself Go," Harriet warbling "Get Thee Behind Me, Satan," F&G kicking tuchus in a dance (no) contest, Fred and some fellow gobs tapping up a storm to "I'd Rather Lead a Band," Ginger's solo tap dance audition, Harriet crooning "But Where Are You," Fred tickling the ivories (!) most impressively, F&G's out-of-sync, pratfall-laden dance routine to "I'm Putting All My Eggs In One Basket," and, finally, F&G's superelegant turn to "Let's Face the Music and Dance." Ultimately, "Follow the Fleet" reveals itself to be a middling F&G film...meaning that it is still a superior musical and lovely, magical entertainment. Later in 1936, by the way, the pair would zoom back up to the heights again, in "Swing Time"....