I saw "Shall we dance" one day after "Top hat" (1935, Mark Sandrich). The two films are very much the same and that is no wonder because the crew is very much the same. With that I do not only mean the two lead actors Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers but also some of the supporting actors, the director, the cinematographer, the script writer, the art director etc. etc..
As in "Top hat" the story doesn't amount to much and the humor is rather silly (according to today's standards). I happen to notice that the facial expression of Fred Astaire when making a joke is very similar to that of Stan Laurel.
Also the mood is much the same as in "Top hat". It is the luxury mood of rooms with ceilings at a height of at least 4 meters, of ordering room service and of drinking champagne.
But the real gems of an Astaire / Rogers film are of course the music and above all the dance. The music is this time from George and Ira Gershwin ("They can't take that away from me"). The dance parts are again gorgeous. One dancing scene in particular got my attention. It is the scene in the machine room of the cruise ship. The mechanical movements of the machinery are integrated in the choreography, and this dance seems to me to be more modern than anything I saw in "Top hat".
All in all "Shall we dance" is in my opinion in no way inferior to "Top hat", although last mentioned film is generally viewed as the pinnacle of the Astaire-Rogers oeuvre.
As in "Top hat" the story doesn't amount to much and the humor is rather silly (according to today's standards). I happen to notice that the facial expression of Fred Astaire when making a joke is very similar to that of Stan Laurel.
Also the mood is much the same as in "Top hat". It is the luxury mood of rooms with ceilings at a height of at least 4 meters, of ordering room service and of drinking champagne.
But the real gems of an Astaire / Rogers film are of course the music and above all the dance. The music is this time from George and Ira Gershwin ("They can't take that away from me"). The dance parts are again gorgeous. One dancing scene in particular got my attention. It is the scene in the machine room of the cruise ship. The mechanical movements of the machinery are integrated in the choreography, and this dance seems to me to be more modern than anything I saw in "Top hat".
All in all "Shall we dance" is in my opinion in no way inferior to "Top hat", although last mentioned film is generally viewed as the pinnacle of the Astaire-Rogers oeuvre.