Swing Time (1936)

A gambler (Fred Astaire), accompanied by his friend (Victor Moore), goes to New York to make his fortune so he can marry the woman (Betty Furness) he loves. Instead, he meets a dance teacher (Ginger Rogers) and they form a partnership and he becomes conflicted about returning to the girl he left behind. Quite possibly the best of the Astaire & Rogers collaborations, the film is near flawless on all levels. First off, there are those exquisite Jerome Kern and Dorothy Field songs including A Fine Romance, Pick Yourself Up and the sublime Oscar winning The Way You Look Tonight. The choreography by Hermes Pan is perfection including Bojangles of Harlem and the transcendent Never Gonna Dance, considered by many to be the apex of the Astaire & Rogers dances. Then there's the second bananas, the droll Helen Broderick and bumbling Victor Moore, who manage to hold their own every bit of the way. Directed by George Stevens, whose contribution makes the film stand a notch or two above the other Astaire & Rogers movies. With Eric Blore and Georges Metaxa.