The Fred And Ginger Collection Vol. 1 [DVD]

Wonderful dancers, and an excellent DVD. This was a gift for an elderly lady , who in her youth danced like this, so I know she was delighted to receive this and relive memories of yesteryear

The dvd box was in good condition. Top Hat movie was a little dodgy but don't know whether it is the actual dvd or the recording. Abit jumpy. Excellent collection though

All these films are tremendous, with Top Hat just taking the honours. This was film making for entertainment at its best. The songs and the dancing are divine - the result of tremendous hard work and professionalism from Astaire and Rogers, and yet it all looks so easy! Black and White these films may be, but they transport you into a glorious, colourful, dream world. If you're feeling down, watch one of these films and I defy you not to feel better afterwards. Oh that we could make more films like this today.

Great songs, great dancing and very funny film- never realised what a good actress Ginger was. Nice package too

For fellow Fred and Ginger fans, who have been waiting for years for these marvellous movies to appear in DVD format, I would say that the waiting was well worth it. The quality of the prints used is superb, really as good as one could hope for and much better than the prints used for the VHS tape releases.Fred Astaire’s daughter, Ava, apparently selected the four movies chosen and gives a brief introduction to each one. These introductions are interesting but some additions would be even better. When these movies were shown on BBC television in the 1980s, they were preceded by a couple of films that gave much background material about these movies with contributions by many of the key participants, who were then still alive. These included Fred and Ginger themselves plus Pandro S Berman and Hermes Pan. Perhaps these background films could be resurrected and included in the next DVD set release.Ava Astaire’s choice of four movies is Top Hat, Follow the Fleet, Shall We Dance and Carefree. All are indispensable for any serious Fred and Ginger fan but I regret that my personal favourite, Swing Time, was not included. However, for sheer style, music, dancing and singing these musicals have never been surpassed and they will be watched with pleasure by future generations, when many of today’s dreary blockbusters are forgotten. At less than £8 each from Amazon, they are incredible value.

I would recommend the Astaire & Rogers DVD collection which was released on Nov. 10, including _Top Hat_, _Follow the Fleet_, _Shall we Dance_, and _Carefree_. I don't suppose anything about the collection is finer thanAva McKenzie's introductions to the films. Running about 5-7minutes each, Astaire's daughter gives background/behind the scenes type information on the films. She details the misconceptions about how Astaire and Rogers got along, as she has a time or two before. Mrs. McKenzie also shows the ring Astaire wore in Top Hat. In the intro to _Follow the Fleet_ you see a slowed image of the infamous shot to the head during the "...Face the Music and Dance" number. There is a story I never heard about Hermes Pan's embarrassing meeting with George Gershwin. During a rehearsal with a pianist who was actually George Gershwin (unbeknownest to Pan), Hermes didn't like the music's arrangement and said, "Gershwin or no Gershwin, this isn't for me!". Ava McKenzie's introductions are more elaborately shot than most intros you see on television. She often picks up letters and shows them to the camera as she reads. Using a shot from _Top Hat_ during the opening credits where Fred and Ginger were seen by their feet only, the intro begins showing Ava in the same fashion. Having seen the pictures themselves so many times before, the introductions were clearly the highlight to me of the collection, and I popped in one disc after another to hear the introduction before finally settling into watching _Top Hat_ itself. Yet, the films are timeless classics. It is beyond about time that Fred and Ginger were preserved in the DVD format. And Mr. Barnes Laureate company very much leads the way in Astaire DVD entertainment. They produced a top-notch Holiday Inn DVD, and while this collection does not include the same amount of documentary and commentary, it is in itself better due to the quality of films it contains.

Does what it says

Dad very happy. Will let me know what he thinks.