Swing Time

"A glorious songburst of gaiety and laughter!"

1936 1h 43m EN

👍

6.8

SOLID

★6.8TMDB · 259

RomanceComedy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Lucky is tricked into missing his own wedding to Margaret and has to make $25,000 so her father will allow him to marry her. He and business partner Pop go to New York where they run into dancing instructor Penny. She and Lucky form a successful dance partnership, but romance is blighted by his old attachment to Margaret and hers for Ricky.

“A glorious songburst of gaiety and laughter!”

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Cast

Fred Astaire
Lucky Garnett
Ginger Rogers
Penny Carrol
Victor Moore
Pop Cardetti
Helen Broderick
Mabel Anderson
Eric Blore
Gordon
Betty Furness
Margaret Watson
Georges Metaxa
Ricky Romero
Landers Stevens
Judge Watson (uncredited)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: George Stevens
Writers: Howard Lindsay, Allan Scott, Erwin S. Gelsey
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.9M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

90 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by George Stevens, shot by David Abel. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Jerome Kern. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Henry Berman shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and Victor Moore carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "A glorious songburst of gaiety and laughter!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0028333 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

George Stevens directs. David Abel behind the camera. Jerome Kern scores. Henry Berman cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $0.9M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
290 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Directed by George Stevens, shot by David Abel. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Jerome Kern. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Henry Berman shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and Victor Moore carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "A glorious songburst of gaiety and laughter!".
8IMDB entry: tt0028333 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 12 themes, including "new york city", "dancing", "musical", "ballroom dancing".

The technical file

Cinematography: David Abel
Original score: Jerome Kern
Editing: Henry Berman
Costume design: Bernard Newman
Runtime: 103 min · 1h 43m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $886,000
Box office: $2,600,000
Return: 293% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Swing Time (1936)

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George Stevens

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2019-08-12
★ 9/10
Fine duo, fine romance, really really fine film. Gambler and dancer John "Lucky" Garnett (Fred Astaire) is engaged to Margaret Watson, being of a care free mind, and not a little gullible, John is hopelessly late for the wedding. Margaret's father is furious and demands that John go out into the real world and earn $25,000 to prove he has enough wits about him to do credit to the impending marriage. John and his trusty sidekick Pop Cardetti hit New York City, pretty soon John meets Penny Carroll (Ginger Rogers, after a less than favourable earlier meeting) at a dance school. After the initial hostilities from Penny subside, it's apparent that both John & Penny are a dynamite dance act, it's also obvious that both of them are starting to fall for each other, just what will their respective partners think of that then... I sat down to watch Swing Time and within five minutes I had a big smile on my face, that smile was to stay there right to the last second when the picture had finished. Rest assured here, Swing Time is most definitely a film to embrace and cherish. Of the ten musicals that Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers made together, Swing Time arguably leads the way as being the most magical of the bunch. Sure the likes of Top Hat may have more vitality, but Swing Time comes with seamless precision. From the wonderful numbers and routines, to the feeling that this couple were hatched from the very same egg, it really is a marvellous piece of uplifting cinema to witness a pair of performers so completely in tune with each other. The plot set up is straight forward, and we of course lurch from one amiable plot turn to another, but we know that it's all coming together to entertain us via the presentation of its musical numbers. Music and lyrics come courtesy of Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields, and they be corkers - Pick Yourself Up, The Way You Look Tonight, Waltz In Swing Time, Never Gonna Dance and the brilliant A Fine Romance. Yet the crowning glory is, and a sequence that should rank high on any list of great cinematic moments, is Astaire doing Bojangles Of Harlem, with black face makeup on (no offencive caricature here), the sequence builds to a pinnacle that sees Astaire dancing in triplicate with rear projection versions of himself - utterly fabulous. Wonderfully directed by George Stevens, whose real father appears in the film as Margaret's enraged father, and containing two great support performances from Victor Moore as Everett 'Pop' Cardetti & Helen Broderick as Mabel Anderson, Swing Time doesn't so much swing, it actually flows along like a perfectly formed ripple on a sea of joy. I feel sorry for those who have an aversion to musicals because they are sure to miss out, not only because of the wonderful artistry on show here, but also to feast on a film that can in a filmic sequence can lift you up out of your doldrums. 9/10

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