Independent Films, Film Profiles

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 Nelson (credited under her real last name: Hilliard), and Betty Grable, with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. Lucille Ball also appears, in a bit part. 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.Dance commentators Arlene Croce and John Mueller point out that, aside from the obvious weakness: a discursive and overlong plot lacking quality specialist comedians[2] to bring its whimsical elements to life - a flaw which also characterised[3]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." According to 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."[4] That this film's remarkable[5] score was produced immediately after his smash-hit score for Top Hat is perhaps testimony to Berlin's claim[6] that Astaire's abilities inspired him to deliver some of his finest work. As an actor, however, Astaire makes an arguably unconvincing[7] 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.Follow the Fleet 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[9] of 3rd, 2nd, 3rd respectively in the US Hit Parade."Bake" Baker (Fred Astaire) and Sherry (Ginger Rogers) are former dance partners, now separated, with Baker in the Navy and Sherry working as a dance hostess in a San Francisco ballroom.Bake visits the ballroom with his Navy buddy "Bilge" (Randolph Scott) during a period of liberty, reuniting with Sherry while Bilge is initially attracted to Sherry's sister Connie (Harriet Hilliard). When Connie begins to talk about marriage, Bilge quickly diverts his attention towards a friend of Sherry's, Iris (Astrid Allwyn), 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.After the concert, Bake and Sherry are offered a show on Broadway and decide to re-team.