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Follow the Fleet
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| Follow the Fleet | |
|---|---|
 original theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Mark Sandrich |
| Written by | Allan Scott Dwight Taylor Lew Lipton (add'l dialogue) |
| Based on | Shore Leave 1922 play by Hubert Osborne |
| Produced by | Pandro S. Berman |
| Starring | Fred Astaire Ginger Rogers Betty Grable Randolph Scott |
| Cinematography | David Abel |
| Edited by | Henry Berman |
| Music by | Irving Berlin Max Steiner |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 110 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $747,000[1] |
| Box office | $2,727,000[1] |
Follow the Fleet is a 1936 American musical comedy film with a nautical theme starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in their fifth collaboration as dance partners. It also features Randolph Scott, Harriet Hilliard, and Astrid Allwyn, with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. Lucille Ball and Betty Grable also appear, in supporting roles. 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.
Follow the Fleet was extremely successful[2] 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[3] of 3rd, 2nd, 3rd respectively in the US Hit Parade. Harriet Hilliard and Tony Martin made their screen debuts in this film. Ironically, Martin would later star in Hit the Deck, the second of two films based on the identically titled stage musical, which, like Follow the Fleet, was based on the novel Shore Leave.
RKO borrowed Randolph Scott from Paramount and Astrid Allwyn from Fox for the production.[4]
Plot
[edit]Seaman "Bake" Baker and Sherry are former dance partners, now separated, with Baker in the Navy and Sherry working as a dance hostess in a San Francisco ballroom, Paradise.
Bake visits the ballroom with his Navy buddy "Bilge" during a period of liberty, reuniting with Sherry (but costing her job), while Bilge is initially attracted to Sherry's sister Connie. When Connie begins to talk about marriage, Bilge quickly diverts his attention towards a friend of Sherry's, Iris, a divorced socialite.
The sailors return to sea while Connie seeks to raise money to salvage her deceased sea-captain father's sailing ship. When the boys return to San Francisco, Bake attempts to get Sherry a job in a Broadway show, but fails amidst a flurry of mistaken identities and misunderstandings. He redeems himself by staging a benefit show which raises the final seven hundred dollars needed to refurbish the ship – although he has to jump ship in order to do so. Bilge, now a chief petty officer, is ordered to locate and arrest him, but allows Bake to complete the show.
After the concert, Bake and Sherry are offered a show on Broadway, which A.W.O.L. Bake accepts on the proviso that Sherry asks him to marry her. Of course, he first has to be sent to the brig and take his punishment.
Cast
[edit]- Fred Astaire as Bake Baker
- Ginger Rogers as Sherry Martin
- Randolph Scott as Bilge Smith
- Harriet Hilliard as Connie Martin
- Astrid Allwyn as Mrs. Iris Manning
- Betty Grable as trio singer
- Harry Beresford as Captain Hickey
- Russell Hicks as Nolan
- Brooks Benedict as David Sullivan
- Ray Mayer as Dopey Williams
- Lucille Ball as Kitty Collins
- Tony Martin as sailor
- Jane Hamilton as Paradise Ballroom waitress
- Doris Lloyd as Mrs. Courtney
- Humphrey Bogart as sailor
Cast notes:
- Singer Harriet Hilliard was later well known as the wife of Ozzie Nelson and the mother of Ricky and David Nelson, who all portrayed themselves on the TV series The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.
Musical numbers
[edit]Hermes Pan collaborated with Astaire on the choreography. Two songs, "Moonlight Maneuvers" and "With a Smile on My Face" were written for the film but unused.[citation needed]
- "We Saw The Sea": The film introduces Astaire with this song.[5]
- "Let Yourself Go": Backed by a trio which includes Betty Grable, a nautically-attired Rogers sings this Berlin standard, which is followed, after an interlude (which includes the 'Get Thee Behind Me' song from Harriet Hilliard), by a comic tap duet with Astaire. This routine begins as a competitive challenge between Astaire-Rogers and another couple (Bob Cromer and Dorothy Fleischman, who soon withdraw) and develops into an energetic duet with much emphasis on galloping kicks, leg wiggling and scampering moves.[6]
- "Get Thee Behind Me Satan": Sung by Harriet Hilliard, this number was originally intended for Rogers in Top Hat.
- "I'd Rather Lead A Band": After singing this number Astaire embarks on a tap solo in which he dances on, off and around the beat – an ability for which he had long been famous in theatre. After leading the band in the song, he discards the baton and begins the solo part of his routine. After this, he is joined by a chorus of sailors who are alternately led and challenged by him.
- "Let Yourself Go" (solo dance): This is Ginger Rogers' only solo tap dance in her ten films with Astaire.
- "But Where Are You?": Sung by Harriet Hilliard.
- "I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket": 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 a 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?"
- "Let's Face the Music and Dance": Astaire sings this to Rogers after which the dance begins slowly and culminates in a static exit pose. The dance is filmed in one continuous shot lasting two minutes and fifty seconds. During the first take, Rogers's dress, which was heavily weighted so as to achieve a controlled swirling action, hit Astaire in the face[7] midway through the routine, though the effect is barely discernible. He nonetheless selected[8] this take out of twenty overall for the final picture. The set – designed by Carroll Clark under the direction of Van Nest Polglase – is frequently cited as a leading example of Art Deco-influenced art direction known as Hollywood Moderne. Film clips of this routine were featured in the 1981 film Pennies from Heaven – detested by Astaire,[9] – where it was also reinterpreted by Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters with revised choreography by Danny Daniels.
Reception
[edit]Contemporary reviews were positive. "Even though it is not the best of [Astaire and Rogers's] series, it still is good enough to take the head of this year's class in song and dance entertainment," wrote Frank S. Nugent in The New York Times. "They tap as gayly, waltz as beautifully and disagree as merrily as ever."[10]
"With Ginger Rogers once again opposite, and the Irving Berlin music to dance to and sing, Astaire once more legs himself and his picture into the big time entertainment class", Variety wrote in a positive review, although it found the 110 minute running time "way overboard" and suggested it could have benefited from being cut by 20 minutes.[11]
"Well loaded with entertainment for mass satisfaction", reported Film Daily.[12]
John Mosher of The New Yorker wrote that "Fred Astaire bobs at his best ... I don't think he's done any better stepping anywhere then he does in this picture, and trim little Ginger Rogers keeps up with him all the time." They were enough, Mosher wrote, to overcome the film's excessive length and a plot that lacked "any of the lightness of the Astaire feet."[13]
Writing for The Spectator in 1936, Graham Greene gave the film a mildly good review, describing it as Fred Astaire's "the best since Gay Divorce". Comparing the acting of Astaire to the animated character Mickey Mouse, Greene suggests that the two are alike in "break[ing] the laws of nature". However, Greene draws the line at comparing Ginger Rogers to Minnie. Greene also denounced the bleep censorship introduced by the British Board of Film Censors in removing the word "Satan" from the Hilliard song "Get Thee Behind Me Satan".[14]
Dance commentators Arlene Croce and John Mueller point out that, aside from the obvious weakness,[15] a discursive and overlong plot lacking quality specialist comedians,[16] the film contains some of the Astaire-Rogers partnership's most prized duets, not least the iconic "Let's Face the Music and Dance". According to Arlene Croce: "One reason the numbers in Follow the Fleet are as great as they are is that Rogers had improved remarkably as a dancer. Under Astaire's coaching she had developed extraordinary range, and the numbers in the film are designed to show it off."[17] That this film's remarkable score [18] 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.[19] As an actor, however, Astaire makes an unconvincing[20] 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.
The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:
- 2006: AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals – Nominated[21]
Box office
[edit]The film earned $1,532,000 in the US and Canada and $1,175,000 elsewhere making a profit of $945,000. This was slightly down on that for Top Hat but was still among RKO's most popular movies of the decade.[1]
It was the 14th most popular film at the British box office in 1935–1936.[22]
References
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^ a b c Richard Jewel, 'RKO Film Grosses: 1931-1951', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol 14 No 1, 1994 p55
- ^ Croce: "with all its flaws Follow the Fleet was a shattering hit", p.84
- ^ Mueller p.412
- ^ TCM.com
- ^ A separate recording exists of Irving Berlin singing this song to his own piano accompaniment, a recording which was featured by Astaire's choreography partner Hermes Pan and rehearsal pianist Hal Borne in the 2004 ARTE documentary l'Art de Fred Astaire.
- ^ Mueller p.92
- ^ Astaire: "I got the flying sleeve smack on the jaw and partly in the eye", p.220
- ^ Astaire: "The No. 1 take was perfect. It was the one we all liked best.", p.220
- ^ Satchell, p.251:"I have never spent two more miserable hours in my life. Every scene was cheap and vulgar. They don't realise that the thirties were a very innocent age, and that should have been set in the eighties — it was just froth; it makes you cry it's so distasteful."
- ^ Nugent, Frank S. (February 21, 1936). "Movie Review – Follow the Fleet". The New York Times. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
- ^ "Follow the Fleet". Variety. New York. February 26, 1936. p. 15.
- ^ "Reviews of the New Films". Film Daily. New York. February 19, 1936. p. 4.
- ^ Mosher, John (February 29, 1936). "The Current Cinema". The New Yorker. p. 50.
- ^ Greene, Graham (24 April 1936). "Follow the Fleet/The Peace Film". The Spectator. (reprinted in: Taylor, John Russell, ed. (1980). The Pleasure Dome. pp. 67–69. ISBN 0192812866.)
- ^ Croce: "its plot is a dead weight", p. 82; Mueller: "bogged down by a sour, labored plot", p. 89
- ^ Mueller p. 90
- ^ Croce, p. 82
- ^ Astaire: "one of his best" p. 218
- ^ Mueller p. 78
- ^ Mueller: "no one is taken in", p. 89
- ^ "AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals Nominees" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-08-13.
- ^ "The Film Business in the United States and Britain during the 1930s" by John Sedgwick and Michael Pokorny, The Economic History ReviewNew Series, Vol. 58, No. 1 (Feb., 2005), pp.97
General bibliography
[edit]- Astaire, Fred. Steps in Time, 1959, Heinemann, London
- Croce, Arlene. The Fred and Ginger Book, Galahad Books 1974, ISBN 0-88365-099-1
- Green, Stanley (1999). Hollywood Musicals Year by Year (2nd ed.), pub. Hal Leonard Corporation ISBN 0-634-00765-3 page 53
- Mueller, John. Astaire Dancing: The Musical Films of Fred Astaire, Knopf 1985, ISBN 0-394-51654-0
- Satchell, Tim. Astaire: The Biography. Hutchinson, London. 1987. ISBN 0-09-173736-2
External links
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Follow the Fleet (film).
- Follow the Fleet at IMDb
- Follow the Fleet at the TCM Movie Database (archived version)
- Follow the Fleet at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
- Follow the Fleet at Reelclassics
- Follow the Fleet at Virtual History
Follow the Fleet
View on Grokipediafrom Grokipedia
Follow the Fleet is a 1936 American musical comedy film directed by Mark Sandrich, starring Fred Astaire as sailor Bake Baker and Ginger Rogers as his former dance partner Sherry Martin, with supporting roles by Randolph Scott and Harriet Hilliard.[1] Produced and distributed by RKO Radio Pictures, it was released on February 21, 1936, running 110 minutes in black-and-white with mono sound.[1] The film, their fifth collaboration out of ten, centers on a nautical theme and features an original score by Irving Berlin, including the iconic number "Let's Face the Music and Dance."[1]
Adapted from Hubert Osborne's 1922 play Shore Leave: A Sea-goin' Comedy in Three Acts, produced by David Belasco, the plot follows two Navy sailors on liberty in San Francisco who pursue romances amid dance competitions, misunderstandings, and a charity stage show to save a yacht.[1] Notable musical sequences include Astaire and Rogers' tap duet "I'd Rather Lead a Band," Rogers' solo "But Where Are You?," and ensemble numbers like "We Saw the Sea," highlighting their signature blend of romance, comedy, and choreography by Hermes Pan.[1] Early appearances by Lucille Ball and Tony Martin add to the ensemble cast.[1]
Critically, Follow the Fleet received mixed reviews for its formulaic storyline but praise for the Berlin songs and dance routines, earning an 83% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes based on 12 reviews.[2] Commercially, it was the second-highest-grossing Astaire-Rogers film, contributing to their status as RKO's top box-office draws during the 1930s.[1] The movie exemplifies the era's musical genre, blending lighthearted escapism with innovative dance cinema.[2]
Cut numbers include "Moonlight Maneuvers" (intended as a production number for Ginger Rogers and chorus in the final show-within-the-film) and "There's a Smile on My Face" (dropped as a song for the character Connie after "Get Thee Behind Me, Satan" was reassigned).[3] These deletions occurred during post-production to streamline the runtime.[3]
Plot and characters
Plot summary
Follow the Fleet (1936) is a musical comedy film centered on two U.S. Navy sailors, Bake Baker and Bilge Smith, who arrive in San Francisco for shore leave aboard their ship. Bake, a talented dancer, seeks to rekindle his romance with his former partner, Sherry Martin, whom he finds working at the Paradise Club, a dime-a-dance establishment. Meanwhile, Bilge, Bake's carefree buddy, encounters Sherry's reserved sister, Connie Martin, a schoolteacher who initially resists his advances but gradually warms to him after a makeover organized by Sherry's friends. The sailors' night out leads to a dance contest where Bake and Sherry perform brilliantly, winning the prize, but Bake's impulsive decision to sabotage Sherry's job at the club—aiming to propel her toward a serious dancing career—strains their reunion, as Sherry grapples with his unreliable past and reluctance to commit following their previous breakup.[3][1] As the fleet prepares to depart, romantic entanglements deepen: Bilge proposes to Connie but flees upon realizing the implications of marriage, leaving her heartbroken. During the sailors' absence, Sherry and Connie discover their father's shipyard is facing foreclosure and decide to restore an old boat as a surprise for Bilge. Bake, stationed elsewhere, arranges a prestigious Broadway audition for Sherry in New York, but complications arise when he inadvertently causes her to miss it. Connie's distress peaks upon seeing Bilge with another woman, Iris Manning, prompting the sisters to organize a benefit show to save the shipyard. Desperate to help, Bake goes AWOL to join the production, enlisting Bilge and the crew for the performance.[3][1][2] The climactic benefit show at the shipyard succeeds, drawing a large crowd and securing the business's future. Through the events, Bake redeems himself by securing Sherry a genuine Broadway opportunity and proposing marriage, while Bilge, moved by Connie's sacrifices and the restored boat, overcomes his commitment fears and reconciles with her. The film concludes with the sailors returning to duty, their relationships solidified amid themes of reunion and personal growth.[3][1]Cast
The principal cast of Follow the Fleet (1936) features the acclaimed dancing duo of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in lead roles, supported by a ensemble that includes several performers in early career milestones. Astaire portrays Bake Baker, a wisecracking sailor and tap dancer whose laid-back persona marks a deliberate shift from his more polished characters in prior films.[3] Rogers plays Sherry Martin, a resilient ballroom hostess and dancer who showcases her versatility with the only solo tap number in the Astaire-Rogers RKO series.[3] Randolph Scott stars as Bilge Smith, the earnest sailor who pursues a romance with Sherry's sister, a role that highlights his transition from Westerns to musical comedy after being loaned from Paramount Pictures.[3] Harriet Hilliard makes her screen debut as Connie Martin, the independent and initially romance-averse sister of Sherry, for which she altered her appearance by dyeing her blonde hair brown to differentiate from Rogers.[3][1] Astrid Allwyn appears as Iris Manning, a sophisticated socialite serving as a fleeting romantic interest for Bake, having been borrowed from Fox for the production.[3] Among the supporting players, Tony Martin debuts on screen as a sailor, a bit part that nearly included a vocal feature before reassignment to Astaire.[1] Betty Grable has a featured role as a singer in a trio, an early showcase that preceded her rise to stardom in musicals.[4][1] Lucille Ball plays Kitty Collins, a sassy chorus girl in one of her largest roles to date, earning audience acclaim that boosted her RKO prospects.[1][3] Russell Hicks rounds out key authority figures as Jim Nolan, the theatrical producer involved in Sherry's career aspirations.[1] Additional sailors and ensemble members, such as Ray Hendricksen in a minor sailor role, fill out the nautical ensemble without credited highlights.[1]Production
Development
Follow the Fleet originated from Hubert Osborne's 1922 play Shore Leave, a dramatic comedy about sailors on shore leave, which RKO Pictures acquired the rights to.[3] The studio sought to capitalize on the success of its Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers musicals by loosely adapting the play into a lighthearted nautical-themed film, shifting its tone from dramatic elements to a breezy musical comedy with integrated song and dance sequences.[1] This transformation expanded the original plot's focus on romantic entanglements during a 24-hour liberty into a vehicle tailored for Astaire and Rogers, emphasizing elaborate dance numbers that showcased their partnership. Pre-production faced a brief hiccup when Ginger Rogers walked out on September 18, 1935, returning two days later after her salary was raised to $2,000 per week.[3] Pandro S. Berman served as producer, overseeing the project as part of RKO's ongoing Astaire-Rogers series, while Mark Sandrich directed, marking his third collaboration with the duo following The Gay Divorcee (1934) and Top Hat (1935).[3] Screenwriters Dwight Taylor and Allan Scott, who had previously worked on Top Hat, finalized the screenplay by mid-1935, incorporating original musical elements to suit the stars' strengths.[1] Irving Berlin was hired around this time to compose the film's score, bringing his songwriting expertise to create numbers that complemented the adapted storyline and dance-focused narrative.[3] Key creative decisions during pre-production prioritized the Astaire-Rogers dynamic, with the script evolving to include extended choreography opportunities, such as ensemble dances on a shipboard set, diverging significantly from the play's more straightforward dramatic structure.[1] This approach ensured the film aligned with RKO's formula for their popular series, blending romance, comedy, and spectacle while retaining core themes of fleeting shore leave romances.[3]Filming
Principal photography for Follow the Fleet commenced on October 31, 1935, and wrapped on January 4, 1936, entirely on soundstages at RKO Radio Pictures in Hollywood, California.[3] The production finished three days ahead of its scheduled timeline, a testament to the efficient planning under producer Pandro S. Berman.[1] Director Mark Sandrich focused on achieving fluid transitions between dialogue, acting, and dance sequences, utilizing a color-coded chart derived from the shooting script to meticulously allocate time for musical, singing, acting, and dancing elements.[3] This methodical approach estimated a runtime of 97 minutes, with more than 25 percent dedicated to musical numbers, though the final cut extended to 110 minutes to accommodate the full integration of performances.[5] Sandrich's technique ensured synchronization across takes, often requiring multiple repetitions to capture the seamless energy of the Astaire-Rogers partnership. The film was produced in black-and-white with monaural sound via the RCA Victor System and an aspect ratio of 1.37:1, on a budget of $747,000.[6][7] Elaborate naval ship interiors, essential to the story's nautical setting, were constructed on the studio soundstages, presenting logistical hurdles in scaling and lighting for dynamic scenes like shipboard routines.[3] Fred Astaire's perfectionism drove extensive pre-production rehearsals, beginning months earlier with choreographer Hermes Pan, which occasionally caused delays as the team refined steps for precision and synchronization.[5] For instance, the "Let's Face the Music and Dance" sequence demanded numerous retakes due to costume malfunctions—Ginger Rogers' heavy beaded sleeves inadvertently struck Astaire during spins—yet no major accidents occurred during principal photography.[3]Choreography and music
The choreography for Follow the Fleet was led by Hermes Pan, who collaborated closely with Fred Astaire to design dance routines that blended tap, ballroom, and large-scale ensemble elements, adapting to the film's nautical theme.[1] Pan's innovative approach included staging the opening ensemble number "We Saw the Sea" on a simulated shipboard deck, incorporating synchronized sailor formations and tap sequences to evoke naval life.[3] He also ensured precise camera work that captured the performers' footwork and spatial dynamics.[1] Irving Berlin composed six original songs specifically for the film, drawing on its military backdrop to create upbeat, resilient tunes that underscored themes of romance and escapism.[8] These included "We Saw the Sea," "Let Yourself Go," "Get Thee Behind Me, Satan," "Let's Face the Music and Dance," "I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket," and "But Where Are You?" However, two songs—"Moonlight Maneuvers" and "There's a Smile on My Face"—were ultimately cut during production, with the former intended as a ballad for Irene Dunne.[3] Berlin made on-set adjustments, such as revising "Let's Face the Music and Dance" from a solo ballad into a duet tailored for Astaire and Ginger Rogers, incorporating an opening where Astaire plays piano to highlight his instrumental proficiency.[1] The integration of choreography and music emphasized tight synchronization between dancers and the orchestra, conducted by Max Steiner, to achieve fluid transitions from song to movement.[1] A notable example is Rogers' first major solo tap routine in "Let Yourself Go," where Pan scouted amateur dancers from Los Angeles ballrooms to form an ensemble backdrop, enhancing the number's energetic, contest-like feel while aligning her steps precisely with Berlin's driving rhythm.[1] This collaborative process, involving weeks of rehearsals amid a compressed filming schedule, allowed Pan and Berlin to refine sequences iteratively for maximum visual and auditory impact.[3]Musical numbers
Song list
The musical numbers in Follow the Fleet (1936) were all written by Irving Berlin, with lyrics and music credited to him, and arrangements handled by RKO studio musicians including Max Steiner as musical director.[9][1] The film's soundtrack includes seven principal songs integrated into the narrative, ranging from upbeat ensemble pieces to intimate romantic duets and solos, culminating in a benefit show finale. Two additional numbers were prepared but ultimately cut from the final version.[3]| Song Title | Performers | Context/Placement |
|---|---|---|
| "We Saw the Sea" | Fred Astaire, Randolph Scott, and chorus | Opening ensemble number introducing the sailors' arrival in port.[9][10] |
| "I'd Rather Lead a Band" | Fred Astaire | Upbeat solo in the Paradise Club sequence, showcasing Astaire's tap dancing with the band.[9][11] |
| "Let Yourself Go" | Ginger Rogers (solo, with chorus) | Energetic solo performance during a stage show, followed by a danced reprise.[9][10] |
| "But Where Are You?" | Harriet Hilliard | Romantic solo advancing the subplot with Bilge.[9][8] |
| "Get Thee Behind Me, Satan" | Tony Martin | Romantic ballad sung to Harriet Hilliard, advancing a subplot.[9][8] |
| "I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket" | Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers | Lighthearted duet during a rehearsal, blending song and dance.[9][8] |
| "Let's Face the Music and Dance" | Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers | Iconic duet in the benefit show finale, combining sophisticated choreography with the leads' chemistry.[9][8] |