Culture Notes: On Ginger Rogers

Ginger Rogers in costume for Swing Time (1936). Just look at all those perfect seams.

As I've mentioned before, I love Fred and Ginger, which is why I was so tickled to read "Style Wars: Ginger vs. Marlene" from Peter at Male Pattern Boldness. I'm not familiar with Ginger Rogers' work after 1939, with the exception of the "reunion" picture The Barkleys of Broadway, which I disliked. Peter uses the perfect word — "shellacked" — to describe the look Ginger developed in the '40s: that stiffness appeared in her dancing too.

But in those movies from the '30s, Ginger is always the pretty girl next door, a little smart-talking, a little vulnerable, a little no-nonsense, drawn into a fantasy world of perfect romance, Big White Sets and outfits that need never nod at practicality.



(I fear this video will be pulled, but enjoy it while it's here.)