Follow the Fleet: Fred and Ginger go nautical

If there's one thing I love it's a singing and dancing sailor, so naturally RKO's 1936 picture 'Follow the Fleet' starring Fred Astaire as a singing and dancing navy man was certain to pique my attention.

'Follow The Fleet' was RKO's follow-up to Fred and Ginger's wildly successful 1935 movie 'Top Hat'.

But here we see Fred trade his top hat for a sailor hat to become navy seaman 'Bake' Baker, while Ginger Rogers plays Bake's old flame Sherry Martin.

[Sidebar: I love the alliterative character names used in some of Fred and Ginger's movies: Huck Haines, Bake Baker, and the sultry Honey Hale – a moniker I've adopted myself as an online alter-ego or stage name.]

The plot of 'Follow the Fleet' is very similar to 1935's 'Roberta', in which Randolph Scott plays Bilge, a chum of Fred's and is the 'straight' romantic lead to Harriet Hilliard (before she went on to fame in Ozzie and Harriet) who plays the conservative sister to Ginger's character, while Fred and Ginger play more comic-relief type characters. Unfortunately this means we have to put up with Harriet singing, which I have to say does not set my world on fire. (If you really want to check out her lifeless solos you can see them here and here). My advice - when Harriet starts singing just take the opportunity to get up and make a cup of tea.

[Sidebar: Harriet is a natural blond, and in the film she had to wear a brunette wig so as not to draw too much attention from Ginger, the above-the-title star of the film. I don't think they need have worried - Harriet just doesn't have the same sparkle or sex appeal that Ginger does.]

I've actually seen this movie twice, and I enjoyed it much more the second time around. I think that's because inititally I was so enamoured of Fred in his usual top-hat-and-tails persona that I found his gum-chewing 'everyman' rendition of a common seaman a bit jarring. The second time around I loved it though.

Fred ditches his top hat for a sailor outfit, and Ginger is as gorgeous
as always - this is exactly how I'd love my hair to look - *sigh*

The film has been critisized by many reviewers for having a silly, far-fetched plot. Um, duh? It's a fluffy 1930s comedy-romance picture. C'mon people, movies in the '30s were all about silly fantasy escapism - which is one of the reasons I love watching them. And if 'Confessions of a Shopoholic' can be a box-office hit today, well, I rest my case.

The plot involves a lot of farcical moments, at times reminding me of a better episode of Three's Company, where the characters get mixed up in various misunderstandings to comic effect. For example, Bake wants to get in Sherry's good books and tries to help her solo singing career by sabotaging the audition of who he thinks is her competition - but unwittingly sabotages Sherry's own audition. Sherry gets her own back later as she manipulates a social situation to get egg on Bake's face.

Bake is more successful with a scheme to dupe his navy friend Bilge (Scott) into thinking the 'fast' woman he's stuck on is two-timing him, thus surreptitiously redirecting Bilge's affections to the more wholesome and deserving (and in my opinion boring) Connie Martin (Hilliard). The way Bake achieves this is via a scheme he cooks up that creates a typical farcical situation where the audience knows what's really going on but the characters on stage do not. Pretty funny stuff.

The film has some great comedic quips in the dialogue that keep it light and fizzy, including:

Fred -"Let's kiss and make up."
Ginger - "No, let's just make up. That'll give you something to work for."

and

Fred [about another sailor] - "He's stuck on that Iris Manning. Say, what's she like?"
Ginger - "Anything in a uniform."

An interesting side note is that Lucille Ball (who was also seen in 'Roberta') and Betty Grable (who was also seen in 'The Gay Divorcee') have small roles in the film.

On to the music! Follow the Fleet has some great musical numbers - scored by Irving Berling – and I especially love the 'Let Yourself Go' number. It's a wonderfully catchy tune that Ginger sings fantastically and with her usual on-screen verve.



Ginger sings one of my favourite songs from the Astaire-Rogers movies

After she sings, Ginger and Fred do a great dance number as they spar with each other and other couples in a dance contest. It's one of my favourites from all their movies, and I particularly love Ginger's amazing satin nautical-themed costume.

Ginger and Fred stomp it off in the 'Let Yourself Go' dance routine

Later in the film, preceding the 'I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket' dance number, we are treated to a scene of Fred playing piano. Yes, folks, it's really him playing. Fred Astaire was a talent unmatched by anyone else - a dancer with no equal as well as an accomplished actor, singer and yup, he can even play fantastic jazzy piano numbers.

Fred tickles the ivories - is there anything he CAN'T do??

Fred does a snazzy solo tap number set aboard ship. It starts off with Fred striking up the ship's band to play for some shipboard VIPs as he says "come on fellas, just like we rehearsed it". The band plays, Fred sings, and then he starts doing the tap number.

Initially Fred dances alone, but then suddenly dozens of sailors inexplicably appear out of doorways behind him, fall into line and do some obviously pre-choreographed backup dancing. At this point while watching the film my beau totally cracked up and shouted "Just like we rehearsed it fellas!" at the television.

Bake Baker and his Navy Blue Blowers - "just like we rehearsed it, fellas"

The final and most celebrated/remembered dance number in the film is 'Let's Face the Music and Dance'. This number is a total departure from other other song/dance routines as the other ones all integrated into the plot of the movie. LFTMAD is a picture-in-picture affair - Bake and Sherry agree to perform in a fundraising event and this number is the dance they do on stage at the fundraiser and they are both 'out of character'. Here we are back to the more standard Fred and Ginger fare of tuxedo, evening gown, and Big Glamourous Set.


Fred and Ginger perform the finale number 'Let's Face the Music and Dance'

Ginger's gown is govered in glass beads and because of this was extremely heavy. During the dance sequence if you watch closely you can see Fred get hit in the face by Ginger's beaded sleeve. Apparently Fred said it felt like being punched in the face and that he 'saw stars'. The dance was filmed over 20 more times to get a cleaner take, but in the end the original was the best overall and made it into the movie, slap in the face included.

The dance is great, as usual, but I have to say that I personally prefer the earlier, more exuberant numbers in this film, namely 'Let Yourself Go' and 'I'm Putting All My Eggs..", where Fred and Ginger clown around a bit more. Maybe it's because I'm a lindyhopper myself that I gravitate this slightly goofier and less po-faced style, rather like the roller-skating dance they do in 1937's 'Shall We Dance'.

So, all in all, I put 'Follow the Fleet' into the thumbs-up category for fluffy 1930s musicals. Yes, it's silly - that's the point. But it's silly in a way that makes me smile rather than grimace. If you want some lighthearted fare and don't mind sitting through a few boring Harriet Hilliard moments, I thoroughly recommend it.