Ginger Rogers will forever be known as the dancing partner of Fred Astaire; they fit together. Together they made some of the greatest film musicals of all time. She could manage the steps, as well as both the sophisticated and common attitudes needed for the comedy and romance. Astaire danced with others who were technically better, but no one who was such a perfect partner. Apart from Astaire she strove to have a “serious” career (after a group of “let’s put on a Broadway show” films) that led to a string of turgid melodramas that she could never pull off—not that anyone could have made Kitty Foyle watchable. Her best “solo” works were comedies.
An honorable mention goes to the anthology film, Tales of Manhattan (1942) simply for the large number of golden age stars in it.
#8 – The Major and the Minor (1942) — 31-year-old Rogers pretends to be a child to get a half price train ticket and ends up with Ray Milland at a military school. As this is a romantic comedy, they’d never make it today. [Also on the Ray Milland list]
#7 – Carefree (1938) — A lesser Astaire/Rogers film which is more of a screwball comedy than their typical musicals.
#6 – Star of Midnight (1935) — A ripoff of the Thin Man series; if I can’t get another real one, close is good enough. William Powell is a gentleman detective—this time a lawyer—and Rogers is the girl who wants to marry him.
#5 – Flying Down to Rio (1933) — The first pairing of Astaire and Rogers, though not as the leads. It was intended as a vehicle for breathtaking Mexican actress Dolores del Rio and she’s good, but the pair steal the film. Beyond the music, there’s the exquisite and totally unreal world. Brazil never looked like this but I wish it did. This is a pre-code film; jokes about rounded heels (look it up) and what South American women have that’s better below the equator would have been censored a few years later. Likewise the transparent tops of the female wing-walkers. [Also on the Fred Astaire list]
#4 – Swing Time (1936) – The 6th Astaire/Rogers film, it has some of the best dance numbers, but with a weaker script than their earlier films. The humor fails and the world is not as magical, none of which matters when Astaire sings “The Way You Look Tonight.” [Also on the Fred Astaire list]
#3 – Shall We Dance (1937) – Another Astaire/Rogers, with another assist from the always good Edward Everett Horton and Eric Blore. I find this to be the funniest Astaire film with Astaire playing a jazz dancer who has made it in ballet so must put on a persona of an arrogant Russian. The songs are solid, with “They Can’t Take That Away from Me” the standout. [Also on the Fred Astaire list]
#2 – The Gay Divorcee (1934) – The 2nd Astaire/Rogers film, and the first with them as leads, this one has Rogers attempting to get a divorce from her absent husband and mistaking Astaire as the gigolo she planned to use for cause. Horton and Blore appear again. [Also on the Fred Astaire list]
#1 – Top Hat (1935) – The 4th Astaire/Rogers picture and they’d perfected the routine. The jokes are solid and the fantasy world of shining marble is wondrous and where I want to live (much less depression era audiences). And of course the dance numbers are fantastic. Rogers falls for a very forward Astaire until she incorrectly deduces that he’s the husband of her good friend. Horton, Blore, and Helen Broderick add to the comedy. [Also on the Fred Astaire list]