Fred & Ginger
In 1930, three years before Fred Astaire had even appeared on film, writer Robert Benchley had already proclaimed him “the greatest tap dancer in the world.” By the time Flying Down to Rio, his second film and first real breakthrough, opened in 1933, Astaire, along with his sister Adele, had already been hailed as a sensation of the New York and London stages. Ginger Rogers, on the other hand, though already several years into a successful movie acting career, had never danced with a partner before when they were paired on Rio. The rest is history: over nine years, Fred and Ginger would make ten movies together, immortalized as icons for their dazzlingly fleet-footed choreography and their singularly charming onscreen chemistry. It was an artistic partnership that would revolutionize and reimagine the Hollywood musical, reshaping the genre’s legacy for generations to come. Eighty-five years after their first collaboration, the Film Society is delighted to present a three-day complete retrospective of their shared oeuvre.
Free Screening: Flying Down to Rio
Free Screening!
Celluloid history is made as fourth- and fifth-billed Rogers and Astaire steal the show in their first pairing, a zingy Pre-Code fun machine bursting with slangy innuendo, jazzy musical numbers, and outré optical effects.The Gay Divorcee
Roberta
Top Hat
Q&A with critic Brian Seibert
The Astaire-Rogers formula was perfected in their fourth—and arguably finest—pairing, in which they dance “Cheek to Cheek” in five swooning minutes of Dream Factory perfection.Follow the Fleet
Swing Time
Introduction by critic Brian Seibert at the 5pm screening on July 13
Gambling man Fred goes to New York seeking fortune and instead finds “a fine romance” with working girl Ginger in what may be, dance number for dance number, the pair’s finest hour.Shall We Dance
Carefree
Introduction by critic Brian Seibert at the 7pm screening on July 14
The most infectiously lighthearted of the duo’s pairings adds a lively dose of screwball to the formula, with Fred a Freudian analyst and Ginger the patient who falls id-over-ego in love with him.The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle
The Barkleys of Broadway
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3+ Film Package – Tickets just $9 Members / $10 Students, Seniors, and Persons with Disabilities / $13 General Public.
All-Access Pass – See everything for $75.
Fred & Ginger All-Access Pass + LC Swing – Celebrate dance across Lincoln Center with the Film Society’s all-35mm Fred & Ginger retrospective, taking place July 13-15, and Lincoln Center’s Midsummer Night Swing June 26 – July 14. This $89 pass entitles you to one ticket to every screening in Fred & Ginger, plus one ticket to the Brianna Thomas Band on July 11 at Midsummer Night Swing. Must purchase by July 10, 2018.
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