Actors - Follow the Fleet

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	Actors - Follow the Fleet

Follow The Fleet (RKO) is a 1936 Hollywood musical comedy film with a nautical theme and stars Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Randolph Scott, Harriet Hilliard and Betty Grable, with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. The film was directed by Mark Sandrich with script by Allan Scott and Dwight Taylor based on the 1922 play Shore Leave by Hubert Osborne.

Aside from the obvious weakness: a discursive and overlong plot lacking quality specialist comedians to bring its whimsical elements to life - a flaw which also characterised Roberta
- this film contains some of the Astaire-Rogers partnership's most prized duets, not least the iconic Let's Face The Music and Dance. That this remarkable score was produced immediately after his smash-hit score for Top Hat
is perhaps testimony to Berlin's claim that Astaire's abilities inspired him to deliver some of his finest work. As an actor, however, Astaire makes a somewhat unconvincing attempt at shedding the wealthy man-about-town image by donning a sailor's uniform, while Rogers, in this her fifth pairing with Astaire - brings her usual comedic and dramatic flair to bear on her role as a nightclub entertainer.

These flaws notwithstanding, this film was extremely successful at the box office, and during 1936, Astaire's recorded versions of Let Yourself Go, I'm Putting All My Eggs In One Basket, and Let's Face The Music And Dance reached their highest positions of 3rd, 2nd, 3rd respectively in the US Hit Parade.

Key songs/dance routines:

Hermes Pan collaborated with Astaire on the choreography, which dwells on themes of sudden changes in tempo, rhythm and direction. Competitive challenge is another important component.

We Saw The Sea: The film loses not a minute in introducing Astaire the sailor, and his mates, in this cheerful ditty.

Let Yourself Go: Backed by a trio which includes Betty Grable, a nautically-attired Ginger sings this bright and bubbly Berlin standard, which is followed after a short interlude by a comic tap duet with Astaire. This routine begins as a competitive challenge between Astaire-Rogers and another couple (who soon withdraw) and develops into an energetic duet with much emphasis on galloping kicks, leg wiggling and scampering moves.

Get Thee Behind Me, Satan: Sung by Harriet Hilliard, this number was originally intended for Ginger in Top Hat
.

I'd Rather Lead A Band: After singing this jaunty number Astaire embarks on a virtuoso tap solo which is a complex study of the challenges of dancing on, off and around the beat - an ability for which he had long been famous in theatre. Complicating the task are frequent and sudden changes of tempi. This concept would be explored further in his "conducting solo" finale of Second Chorus
. After a clumsy edit, the solo morphs into a comic routine with a chorus of sailors alternately led and challenged by Astaire.

Let Yourself Go (solo dance): Ginger Rogers' only solo tap dance in her ten films with Astaire is an interesting routine which permits comparison of Pan's independent choreography with his joint efforts with Astaire.

I'm Putting All My Eggs In One Basket: Berlin's remarkable ability to combine endearing melodies with syncopated rhythms, complex key modulations and verbal dexterity is showcased in lines such as: "I've tried to love more than one/Finding it just can't be done/Honey, there's one I lie to/When I try to/Be true/To/Two". As in the I Won't Dance number from Roberta
, the song is preceded by a solo piano display by Astaire - a playing style he termed his "feelthy piano". Then Astaire and Rogers sing alternate choruses before embarking on an affectionate comic dance duet which plays on the notion of both dancers being unable to keep in step with each other. Incidentally, Lucille Ball
appears just before this number to put a sailor admirer down with the line "Tell me little boy, did you get a whistle or a baseball bat with that suit".

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