It is at #90 but who cares at least this list features the greatest song and dance team in the history of cinema with agrueably their finest film, the other being Top Hat (1935) which did not make the final list but was one of the 400 nominees to make the list. How does everyone feel about this 1930's musical masterpiece being on the AFI Top 100 best movies of all time list?
shareAlso, this is one of six other musicals to make the list. This film has been honored by Leonard Maltin and Roger Ebert, the gods of film critics, as one of their 100 best movies of all time as well. So maybe that had something for "Swing Time" to make the AFI TOP 100 List. By the way, when Ebert released his "The Great Movies" book, he constantly stated in it that it is not his opinion of the 100 best movies of all time, like every other publication was doing at that time, but stating that those were 100 films that shaped his experiences of movie-going and the reason why movies have entertained and inspired him to become a film critic in the first place. You should read Ebert's review of "Swing Time", it is very detailed and a joy to read.
shareI would have preferred to see Top Hat on the list, but at least one of the Astaire - Rogers films made it.
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Brilliant! I absolutely agree.
One of the greatest musicals ever made.
The songs were brilliant and the dancing....fantastic.
It is a better movie than Top Hat.
I love all of their musicals and "Top Hat" is one of the best, but for the full expression of their dancing and character portrayal it has to be "Swing Time".
shareI agree. You could cut out all of the "straight" scenes, show only the song and dance routines, and tell the story of the movie (artificial as it is) with significantly more subtlety and depth.
I like a good musical, especially "Singing in the Rain", "American in Paris" and "Top Hat" - but this one blows me away. Not one, not two, but every number is absolutely stunning. Who cares about the underlying plot :).
I had never seen a Fred / Ginger movie before, but when I looked at the AFI list, I made it a priority. Luckily, TCM showed it this month. What a great film. It's very funny and the musical numbers are instantly likeable. They make it look so effortless.
I think it's wonderful this movie made the list. I really appreciate the range of films that AFI puts on their list. They may not give the 100 greatest American movies ever made (which is impossible; everyone has a different opinion), but they do give 100 movies that everyone ought to see.
I loved this movie. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers are adorable together. Every dance scene sparkles, and the scene with "The Way You Look Tonight" and Ginger Rogers' shampoo-covered hair is one of the most charming scenes I've ever seen in a movie.
Mildred! He's at it again. http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=8093247
I think it certainly deserves to be on the list. Fred and Ginger truly shine in it, and it's one of my favorite musicals.
"I know you're in there, Fagerstrom!"-Conan O'Brien
If Swing Time is on the AFI list then Top Hat should also have been included. Well, let's see if in 2017 justice finally is made... (They could remove Yankee Doodle Dandy in order to make room for Top Hat!)
Swing Time is by far my favorite, but you're right, Top Hat should've made the list. It's so iconic and it basically defines the Astaire/Rogers team.
"Eva Longoria must be a lesbian cause she married a woman."
First of all, it is not a masterpiece. The storyline started out promising but soon became flimsy. The dance numbers were terrific, as always, but the songs weren't memorable. The character of Pop was simply stupid and Helen Brodrerick, as funny as she was, was wasted.
Top Hat is 10x better with a tighter, more enjoyable plotline putting all of its characters (i.e. Helen Broderick) to good use.
"What's the use of worrying about your beard when your head's about to be taken?"
That's crazy. The songs are just as good as the Irving Berlin tunes in "Top Hat." I'll agree that the plot and comedy routines in "Top Hat" are much tighter, so it's probably the better movie, but "Swing Time" has the superior musical numbers, especially "Never Gone Dance," which is pretty much the Astaire/Rogers zenith.
shareI think I read on the original list that Yankee Doddle Dandy made #100, but I loved this ten times more. In my opinion it should've been on it.
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i'm guessing swingtime made it into the top 100 for its music, because for everything - story line, characters, dancing and the music, top hat should definately have made it
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AFI is a JOKE. They pick their "lists" (and lists are stupid anyway)
by deciding HOW THE DVD WILL SELL. In another words, expect overrated
stuff like "E.T." to make top-ten lists, then AFI stickers will be put
on and millions more of this tile will sell.
The same thing with their greatest musical numbers "list." A great
classic like Judy Garland's "On the Atichitson Topeka and the Santa Fe"
doesn't make the list, but a song from "Saturday Night Fever" does.
And it hits at number ten (Garland's "The Trolley Song" hits at 26).
Absurd.
if its done on dvd sales then perhaps first they would like to make sure that every dvd is widely available, i still can't find most of Garlands movies on dvd
I've danced with you, I'm never gonna dance again - Lucky to Penny in Swingtime, 1936