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Follow the Fleet |  | Directors: Friz Freleng, Joseph Henabery, Mark Sandrich
Actors: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Randolph Scott, Harriet Hilliard, Astrid Allwyn
Studio: Turner Home Ent
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.98
Buy New: $7.95
as of 11/27/2009 11:05 CST details
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Rating:  34 reviews
Sales Rank: 28769
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, Original recording remastered, Subtitled, NTSC
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled)
Rating: Unrated
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 110 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: DT7250D
ISBN: 0780650697
UPC: 053939725025
EAN: 9780780650695
ASIN: B0009NSCQ2
Theatrical Release Date: February 20, 1936
Release Date: August 16, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
All hands on deck! In the fifth of 10 Astaire/Rogers pairings Fred trades his top hat for a sailor's cap Randolph Scott gets the girl (pre-Nelson Harriet Hilliard) Ginger gets a tap solo and viewers get the unending delight of seven sparkling Irving Berlin numbers including Let Yourself Go We Saw the Sea the Duo's zany I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket skit and their sublimely powerful Let's Face the Music and Dance. Astaire is Bake Baker a hoofer now given to stepping a sailor's horn-pipe while he and other swabbies patrol the seas for democracy. Rogers is his former partner Sherry now convoying the Navy around a ballroom for 10 cents a dance. But one day the fleet returns to home port. Bake again meets Sherry and the partnership is renewed at least for one more show. In small early-career roles look for a very blond Lucille Ball and a very young Betty Grable.Running Time: 110 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: MUSICALS/MUSICALS UPC: 053939725025
Amazon.com essential video
Of the nine films Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers completed for RKO Pictures, Follow the Fleet falls short of the top echelon. Coming between series peaks Top Hat and Swing Time, Fleet repeats the mistake (à la Flying Down to Rio and Roberta) of casting Fred and Ginger as the comic couple, while the romantic roles went to Randolph Scott and Harriet Hilliard (before she went on to fame with her husband, Ozzie Nelson, in Ozzie and Harriet). Fred puts down his top hat to become sailor Bake Baker (yet another of his alliterative screen names), while Ginger plays old flame Sherry Martin. The two are reunited when Fred takes shore leave in San Francisco, and soon their efforts turn to helping Ginger's sister Connie (Hilliard) land Fred's shipmate Bilge (Scott). (Look for Lucille Ball and Betty Grable in small roles.) Too much screen time is spent on Hilliard and Scott, but Fred and Ginger make up for it with plenty of laughs and some classic musical numbers, and Irving Berlin's score is one of the best of the series, with cunning lyrics and melodies that linger in the memory. Highlights include Fred and Ginger in a dance contest, a Ginger solo tap number, and "I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket," their best comic dance. The pièce de résistance is "Let's Face the Music and Dance," a show within a show in which Fred and Ginger don their customary evening formals. Effortlessly flowing from pantomime to song to dance, this sublime piece of storytelling is one of Fred and Ginger's defining moments. --David Horiuchi
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 34
 Almost, but falls short. October 6, 2009
L. K Reyes (Warrenton, Virginia)
This is a Ginger Rogers and Astaire movie that almost could be funny. But somehow it falls short. It chronicles the love stories of two sisters and their sailor boys. One (Ginger) is resentful towards her former tapping partner (Astaire) who always manages to inadverdantly sabotage her career opportunities. The other sister, is the ugly duckling turned into a swan type, who unfortunately, falls in love with a cad of a sailor. So that love story is a very difficult one to be interested in. There are a lot of tap dance numbers. A scene showing Astaire playing the piano. And an especially lovely ballroom routine towards the end with Ginger and Astaire. Fans of the duo will probably like the movie. But it feels long and just not quite funny enough.
 One Of My Favorite Astaire-Rogers Films February 13, 2009
Craig Connell (Lockport, NY USA)
This is one of the best Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers films, or at least one of my favorites. Most of the Fred & Ginger movies feature great dancing but sappy romance stories. This still has the courtship corniness but not as pronounced as the other films.
This movie features not just great dancing but likable characters and a bunch of good songs. The music is the central theme here and what's nice is the addition of a tap solo by Rogers. She not only was a super dancer but a very pretty woman and one with tremendous figure. She dances also with Fred, of course, and they're always a fun pair to watch on the dance floor.
Growing up in the 1950s watching "Ozzie & Harriet" on television, it was a real kick the first time I saw this to see such a young Harriet Hilliard. No surprise than Ozzie fell for this beauty. Although she had that short early '30s hairstyle, I recognized her voice right away.
Also in this movie are quick appearances by Betty Grable and Lucille Ball, but I have to admit that I have yet to out Ball. I can't find her, but I know she's in here.
Astaire, except for some obnoxious gum-chewing in the first third of the film, was fun to watch and Randolph Scott - although better in westerns - is likable, too.
This is simply a nice, feel-good film and good one if you want to to enjoy the great talents of Astaire and Rogers. The DVD transfer is pretty good, too, so there is a lot to like.
 Relax. Let youself go. Enjoy this movie. January 11, 2009
hassenfeffer (Hammond, In)
After the huge success of "Top Hat", Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers teamed up for the fifth time in "Follow The Fleet",released in February 1936. Also returning from "Top Hat" were director Mark Sandrich,dance director Hermes Pan and composer Irving Berlin. The result was another wonderful musical,with another fine score by Berlin.
This movie is different from the earlier Fred and Ginger films in that they already know each other,being ex-lovers at the start of the movie,instead of meeting for the first time. It also has a different role for Fred. As a sailor, he spends much of the screen time in naval uniforms. He doesn't dress up fancy until the end.
Bake (Fred) joined the navy hoping to forget Sherry (Ginger) after their break up. But the ship is coming back to port. Soon Bake and Sherry will find their way back to each other.
In the film's other plot,Bake's navy buddy Bilge (Randolph Scott) falls for Sherry's sister Connie (Harriet Nelson, billed under her maiden name ,Hilliard).
Bake and Sherry used to be a professional dance team before they broke up. Much of the plot concerns whether ot not they will get back together both personally and professionally.
Needless to say it is the songs and production numbers that highlight the movie. Many of the songs from the movie made the hit parade at the time.
Fred opens with the witty "We Saw The Sea"("We joined the navy to see the the world! And what did we see? We saw the sea"). Ginger sings "Let Yourself Go", the theme of which is repeated several times throughout the movie. Harriet sings two songs, including "Get Thee Behind Me Satan", which had been dropped from "Top Hat". She actually sings pretty well,too.
Fred and Ginger each get a solo tap number. The best dance sequence is at the end. In "Let's Face The Music And Dance", with Bake and Sherry reunited in front of an audience, Fred and Ginger are back in formal wear. Fred in his usual tux and Ginger in a beaded evening gown. She even accidently hit Fred in the face with a heavily beaded sleeve! That was the best take they did of that dance, however, so it was the one that got used. Watch that amazing last step when they leave the stage!
Another highlight is Lucille Ball in a small role as the wisecracking Kitty,who helps Sherry give Connie a makeover and find her true self.
With the right combination of breezy comedy, sweet romance, and that wonderful dancing, this ranks among Fred and Ginger's best.
Extras on the DVD include the trailer,a musical short, and a cartoon. No commentary track, however. There is on okay "Making of" featurette.
If you enjoy Fred and Ginger as much as I do,this DVD is for you.
Follow Those Wonderful Dance Numbers! (3.5 stars) December 26, 2008
Antonio Robert (Slovakia, Europe)
With Fred/Ginger pairing, I am ready to do something rare - look over the rather uninteresting love story (which has far more screentime than their own) and look forward to the breathtaking dance numbers. And this is nowhere more true than in the 1936 vehicle. Dancing scenes to the music of Irving Berlin are among the best the duo has ever done. "Let Yourself Go" sounds throughout the first half of the movie. Later comes Fred crooning "I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket" at the crucial point when one starts to be seriously bored. And the final "Let's Face The Music And Dance" scene with that gorgeous Ginger's gown and all -- the film is well worth watching for the sake of its very end. An essential viewing for dancers... and others!
Astaire and Rogers back to earth May 3, 2008
Douglas M
"Follow the Fleet" is the 5th of the Astaire/Rogers films and while not their best, their presence still puts it ahead of most other musicals. The pluses include:
- Rogers returning to her more sassy roots as a spunky nightclub performer. Both her singing and dancing are better than before and she really socks across "Let Yourself Go" with a very pretty Betty Grable as one of a trio of backup singers.
- Astaire having a lot of fun as a gum chewing sailor and demonstrating his spot on comedy timing particularly in a funny scene when he sets up Astrid Allwyn.
- Lucille Ball in a small supporting role as a tough pal of Rogers and showing hints of the comedian she became.
- Harriet Hilliard in the sappy lead, the sort of mindless part which Ruby Keeler played, but singing in her husky voice the haunting "Get Thee Behind Me Satan" memorably.
- the spellbinding classy dance to "Let's Face the Music and Dance", the pinnacle at that point of the Astaire/Rogers duets.
The negatives really are that the plot is dumb, the film too drawn out and Randolph Scott is a really clunky leading man for Hilliard.
The DVD package is quite good. The print is unrestored which is disappointing but the extras include a first rate featurette discussing the film and with Astaire's daughter appearing. There is a musical short from 1936 starring a long forgotten jazz band headed by Jimmie Lunceford. If you like jazz, you will like the short. The theatrical trailer for the film is in poor condition and the cartoon is OK.
All in all, this is a good package but better value if purchased as part of one of the Astaire/Rogers collections.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 34
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