Shall We Dance

"Foot-free Fred and joyous Ginger...in their gayest, gladdest show!"

1937 1h 49m EN

👍

7.3

SOLID

★7.3TMDB · 124

ComedyRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Ballet star Petrov arranges to cross the Atlantic aboard the same ship as the dancer and musical star he's fallen for but barely knows. By the time the ocean liner reaches New York, a little white lie has churned through the rumour mill and turned into a hot gossip item—that the two celebrities are secretly married.

“Foot-free Fred and joyous Ginger...in their gayest, gladdest show!”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Fred Astaire
Petrov
Ginger Rogers
Linda Keene
Edward Everett Horton
Jeffrey Baird
Eric Blore
Cecil Flintridge
Jerome Cowan
Arthur Miller
Ketti Gallian
Lady Tarrington
William Brisbane
Jim Montgomery
Ann Shoemaker
Matron

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Mark Sandrich
Writers: Allan Scott, Ernest Pagano, Lee Loeb
Languages: English, French
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 $1.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

89 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, French.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and Edward Everett Horton carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Foot-free Fred and joyous Ginger...in their gayest, gladdest show!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Mark Sandrich directs. David Abel behind the camera. George Gershwin scores. William Hamilton cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $1.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
289 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, French.
4Directed by Mark Sandrich, shot by David Abel. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by George Gershwin. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor William Hamilton shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and Edward Everett Horton carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Foot-free Fred and joyous Ginger...in their gayest, gladdest show!".
9IMDB entry: tt0029546 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 8 themes, including "newspaper", "dancing", "ballet dancer", "musical".

The technical file

Cinematography: David Abel
Original score: George Gershwin
Editing: William Hamilton
Costume design: Irene
Runtime: 109 min · 1h 49m
Status: Released
Budget: $991,000
Box office: $2,168,000
Return: 219% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Shall We Dance (1937)

Also by

Mark Sandrich

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-08-22
★ 7/10
“Just Caesar, just Napoleon, only Garbo, so just Petrov is enough... You don’t want to dance with the great Petrov? Don’t be a silly horse.” With an introduction like that, how can “Linda” (Ginger Rogers) possibly decline to dance with this clearly modest and unassuming gent (Fred Astaire) as they embark on an ocean liner bound for New York. As they travel and despite their frosty start, the pair start to bond a little, but nowhere near as much as some gossips assume and before they are halfway across the Atlantic are married! Except, well… She avails herself of the mail aeroplane to disembark but things steadily worsen and the newspapers even start drawing storks above their headlines! “Petrov” - well, “Peter”really knows all along that it’s his publicity people who are stirring things but he is also becoming quite keen on this lady - despite being the centre of the attentions of the recently freed-up “Lady Tarrington” (Ketti Gallian). Amusingly, though, even he is befuddled when photos appear in the papers that even he can’t quite fathom. Who is the dummy now? Making up this chaotic storyline are his dedicated butler “Cecil” (Eric Blore) and his right-hand man “Baird” (Edward Everett Horton) who is in danger of tripping over his own conspiracy cloak! There is a really gorgeous chemistry on display here, with Rogers’s facial expressions speaking volumes of disdain, disbelief and, believe it or not, affection too. There are two stand out musical set-pieces from the Gershwins in “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off” and “They Can’t Take That Away From Me”; the dance routines - especially on the ice rink, are mischievous and naturally choreographed and the whole film effortlessly entertains us with some great comedic timing, a little zany behaviour and a cast of professionals who all look like they were having a good laugh.

Production companies