Blu-ray Review Swing Time Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

[Matt Hough]

Matt Hough submitted a new blog post

Swing Time Blu-ray Review

Continue reading the Original Blog Post.

 

[Andrew Budgell]

Great review, Matt! I'm looking forward to picking this one up very soon!

 

[Astairefan]

Definitely a release I'm looking forward to getting soon (and, short of any more Astaire/Rogers films being announced, what should be the release of the year for me)!

 

[PMF]

"A fluttery hair", as Matt Hough wrote, is present in the finale number. Does anyone know if this was present since its initial release? Seems doubtful that this would've been present in a now no longer existing OCN. So, with the elements available, perhaps this "fluttery hair" was inherent to the sources used. Still, with today's technology, I wonder why it digitally could not have been removed?

Regardless, I'm glad to have known in advance in order to prepare myself and enjoy.
Without reservations, I'm still going to purchase "Swing Time" and support a hopeful future of other Fred & Ginger titles from Criterion.

 

[haineshisway]

The good news about Never Gonna Dance is that I was so mesmerized by it, as I always am, that I did not notice said hair at all. Given the OCN situation, it's a pretty great transfer, actually.

 

[AnthonyClarke]

Thanks Matt for a great intro to a disc I'll place inside my treasured Fred and Ginger box-set with the hologram cover.

 

[Matt Hough]

Thanks Matt for a great intro to a disc I'll place inside my treasured Fred and Ginger box-set with the hologram cover.

I did the same.

 

[Steve Y]

Thanks for this review. My father was a big fan of this film, and we watched it earlier this year, a few months before he passed away. Apart from Top Hat, it's probably my favorite Astaire-Rogers collaboration, and it might have my favorite songs.

 

[Nick*Z]

There's still considerable edge enhancement during 'A Fine Romance' and a hair caught dead center in the frame during 'Pick Yourself Up'. This isn't a new transfer, but the first time Warner's 2K remastering from some years ago has actually made the leap to 1080p. Honestly, Warner should have digitally scrubbed the hair and stabilized the edge effects. This is a passable effort - nothing more, nothing better. Regrets.

 

[moviebuff75]

The hair would have been present on the original negatives.

 

[roxy1927]

Well this is very strange. I have seen Swing Time many times including as I have already said on here in one of the two most beautiful black and white prints of a film I have ever seen which was at the Gramercy revival house in Manhattan and there has never been a fluttery hair in any print.
Can you imagine? A RKO A picture? Opening at Radio City?
And digital enhancement? Are they kidding?
This bluray job sounds like a doozy.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Peg and I watched this release. Our first time viewing the film.

I have been ignorant of Fred/Ginger films. Most of my exposure to Fred Astaire has been from other films: Bandwagon, That's Entertainment and the like. To me, Ginger Rogers was as an older actress--one whom my appear with Merman-esque hair on an episode of The Love Boat.

So, what an eye-opener.

Ginger was quite a beauty and her comedic timing was on point. Fred was, well, Fred. Their dancing together was unsurprisingly superb. Their excellent chemistry was quite obvious. And what a cavalcade of great Jerome Kern songs.

While the story itself was kinda lame, there were so many other ingredients which more than made up for it.

 

[AnthonyClarke]

Well, Mike .. you'll find Top Hat and Gay Divorcee just as totally astounding. And Follow the Fleet is worth every cent just for its superb casino scene .. and of course Flying down to Rio for its death-defying airplane wing sequences (no spoilers please...) and Roberta for I Won't Dance, and . etc etc etc.

 

[bujaki]

Well, Mike .. you'll find Top Hat and Gay Divorcee just as totally astounding. And Follow the Fleet is worth every cent just for its superb casino scene .. and of course Flying down to Rio for its death-defying airplane wing sequences (no spoilers please...) and Roberta for I Won't Dance, and . etc etc etc.

For sheer beauty, there is nothing like Ginger's final dip in Let's Face the Music and Dance in Follow the Fleet. It bring tears to my eyes.

 

[Matt Hough]

That is beautiful, but the hops to the music over the low enclosures in "Pick Yourself Up" just practically lift you out of your seat as they exit.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I appreciate the input about the other films.

For some reason, I've seen so many more Gene Kelly films over the years. Can't really think of a good reason why that is.

I always remember a story that I remember Mel Torme telling on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show in which he made the claim that Fred Astaire was not only one of the best dancers of all time...but that he was also one of the best singers ever.

 

[Robin9]

I appreciate the input about the other films.

For some reason, I've seen so many more Gene Kelly films over the years. Can't really think of a good reason why that is.

I always remember a story that I remember Mel Torme telling on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show in which he made the claim that Fred Astaire was not only one of the best dancers of all time...but that he was also one of the best singers ever.

Mel Torme was absolutely right and he's not the only person who held (holds) that opinion. As long as one accepts that singing the great popular songs well is not primarily about having a marvellous voice, although that certainly helps, but is about using the voice to deliver the songs musically and the lyrics colloquially.

 

[AnthonyClarke]

The amazing thing about Fred is his innate sense of time and sprung rhythms. He's like a coiled spring waiting to be unwound (like my wind-up 78 gramophones!). This immaculate sense of time and rhythm imbues every song, every dance, his drumming and his piano-playing. Watch his hands while he dances -- he'd rather you didn't, as he thought they were too large. But they seem to just quiver with the beat. He was the master.....

 

[Darby67]

Thank you for yet another terrific review, Matt. I am definitely picking this up before the current B&N 50% off sale ends.