Mark Sandrich's Shall We Dance (1937) is a tad heavy in the schmaltz department, particularly as it casts Astaire as the most unlikely of ballet stars, Pete Petrov Peters. Smitten with lovely musical star, Linda Keene (Rogers), Pete makes passage on the same luxury liner as his par amour. Theirs is a quiet - if glib - little shipboard nothing that results in a few choice dances but precious little else; that is, until a hint of gossip gets overblown for the tabloids so that by the time the ship docks in Manhattan harbor everyone believes Petrov and Linda are husband and wife. This was the sort of reluctant romantic dribble that the Astaire/Rogers franchise was beginning to develop into by the end of their tenure at RKO. It is one of the examples chiefly responsible for both stars eventually choosing NOT to renew their contracts and go their separate ways; he to even greater acclaim with a string of lush and lovely Technicolor musicals at MGM (The Band Wagon, Silk Stockings, Three Little Words); she on the road to a dramatic career (Kitty Foyle) and choice turns as a dead pan comedian (Stage Door, Roxy Hart).
This is the worst looking DVD in the box set; having said that, it's still pretty good by most standards. Age related artifacts are at their most prevalent here as is film grain. But the real culprit which prevents one from thoroughly enjoying the film is the lower than average contrast levels that render the image darker than it ought to be and with considerable loss of tonal gray variations and fine detail throughout. The audio is Mono but nicely presented. Extras include an audio commentary, short subject, a featurette on 'the music' of the film and a theatrical trailer.
This is the worst looking DVD in the box set; having said that, it's still pretty good by most standards. Age related artifacts are at their most prevalent here as is film grain. But the real culprit which prevents one from thoroughly enjoying the film is the lower than average contrast levels that render the image darker than it ought to be and with considerable loss of tonal gray variations and fine detail throughout. The audio is Mono but nicely presented. Extras include an audio commentary, short subject, a featurette on 'the music' of the film and a theatrical trailer.