Ginger and Fred

Last updated
Ginger and Fred
Ginger and Fred poster.jpg
Italian theatrical release poster
Italian Ginger e Fred
Directed by Federico Fellini
Screenplay byFederico Fellini
Tonino Guerra
Tullio Pinelli
Story byFederico Fellini
Tonino Guerra
Produced by Alberto Grimaldi
Heinz Bibo
Starring
Cinematography Tonino Delli Colli
Ennio Guarnieri
Edited by Ruggero Mastroianni
Music by Nicola Piovani
Irving Berlin
Jerome Kern
Lorenz Hart
Production
companies
Distributed by
  • Istituto Luce-Italnoleggio Cinematografico (Italy)
  • Acteurs Auteurs Associés (France)
  • Tobis (West Germany)
Release dates
  • 13 January 1986 (1986-01-13)(Paris)
  • 22 January 1986 (1986-01-22)(France and Italy)
  • 20 February 1986 (1986-02-20)(West Germany)
Running time
125 minutes
CountriesItaly
France
West Germany
LanguagesItalian
English
Box office$837,623 [1]

Ginger and Fred (Italian : Ginger e Fred) is a 1986 satirical comedy-drama film written and directed by Federico Fellini and starring Marcello Mastroianni and Giulietta Masina. [2]

Contents

The title is a reference to the American dancing couple Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The two leads portray Italian impersonators of Astaire and Rogers who reunite after thirty years of retirement for a vulgar and bizarre television extravaganza.

The film was the subject of a trademark claim in the United States by Ginger Rogers, who claimed in Rogers v. Grimaldi that the film violated her Lanham Act trademark rights, right of publicity, and was a "false light" defamation. [3] The Second Circuit rejected this claim, finding that "suppressing an artistically relevant though ambiguous[ly] title[d] film" on trademark grounds would "unduly restrict expression." [4]

Plot

Amelia and Pippo were once together famous as dancers, imitating Ginger Rogers' and Fred Astaire's dance routines. Thirty years after they've retired, they team up one more time for a live TV show. Although this reunion is overshadowed by Pippo's lack of stamina, their performance is well-received and revives their popularity for another day.

Cast

Reception

Critical response

Ginger and Fred has an approval rating of 77% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 13 reviews, and an average rating of 7/10. [5]

Awards and nominations

Ginger and Fred was nominated for best foreign film awards in 1986 by the U.S. National Board of Review of Motion Pictures, [6] as well as the 1987 Golden Globes and BAFTA. Masina received a David di Donatello for Best Actress award for her role (1986).

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>The Gay Divorcee</i> 1934 American musical film by Mark Sandrich

The Gay Divorcee is a 1934 American musical film directed by Mark Sandrich and starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. It also features Alice Brady, Edward Everett Horton, Eric Blore, and Erik Rhodes. The screenplay was written by George Marion Jr., Dorothy Yost, and Edward Kaufman. It was based on the Broadway musical Gay Divorce, written by Dwight Taylor with Kenneth S. Webb and Samuel Hoffenstein adapting an unproduced play by J. Hartley Manners.

<i>Top Hat</i> 1935 film by Mark Sandrich

Top Hat is a 1935 American musical screwball comedy film in which Fred Astaire plays an American tap dancer named Jerry Travers, who comes to London to star in a show produced by Horace Hardwick. He meets and attempts to impress Dale Tremont to win her affection. The film also features Eric Blore as Hardwick's valet Bates, Erik Rhodes as Alberto Beddini, a fashion designer and rival for Dale's affections, and Helen Broderick as Hardwick's long-suffering wife Madge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ginger Rogers</span> American actress and dancer (1911–1995)

Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starring role in Kitty Foyle (1940), and performed during the 1930s in RKO's musical films with Fred Astaire. Her career continued on stage, radio and television throughout much of the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Astaire</span> American dancer, actor, and singer (1899–1987)

Fred Astaire was an American dancer, actor, singer, choreographer and presenter. He is widely regarded as the "greatest popular-music dancer of all time". He received numerous accolades including an Honorary Academy Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, a BAFTA Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Grammy Award. He was honored with the Film Society of Lincoln Center tribute in 1973, the Kennedy Center Honors in 1978, and AFI Life Achievement Award in 1980. He was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960, American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1972, and the Television Hall of Fame in 1989.

<i>The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle</i> 1939 film by H. C. Potter

The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle is a 1939 American biographical musical comedy directed by H.C. Potter. The film stars Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Edna May Oliver, and Walter Brennan. The film is based on the stories My Husband and My Memories of Vernon Castle, by Irene Castle. The movie was adapted by Oscar Hammerstein II, Dorothy Yost and Richard Sherman. This was Astaire and Rogers' ninth and last film together with RKO. Their final pairing was The Barkleys of Broadway (1949) at MGM.

<i>Swing Time</i> (film) 1936 musical film starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers

Swing Time is a 1936 American musical comedy film, the sixth of ten starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Directed by George Stevens for RKO, it features Helen Broderick, Victor Moore, Betty Furness, Eric Blore and Georges Metaxa, with music by Jerome Kern and lyrics by Dorothy Fields. Set mainly in New York City, the film follows a gambler and dancer, "Lucky" (Astaire), who is trying to raise money to secure his marriage when he meets dance instructor Penny (Rogers) and begins dancing with her; the two soon fall in love and are forced to reconcile their feelings.

<i>Juliet of the Spirits</i> 1965 film by Federico Fellini

Juliet of the Spirits is a 1965 comedy-drama film directed by Federico Fellini and starring Giulietta Masina, Sandra Milo, Mario Pisu, Valentina Cortese, and Valeska Gert. The film is about the visions, memories, and mysticism that help a middle-aged woman find the strength to leave her philandering husband. The film uses "caricatural types and dream situations to represent a psychic landscape". It was Fellini's first feature-length color film, but followed his use of color in "The Temptation of Doctor Antonio" episode in the portmanteau film, Boccaccio '70 (1962).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giulietta Masina</span> Italian actress (1921–1994)

Giulia Anna "Giulietta" Masina was an Italian film actress best known for her performances as Gelsomina in La Strada (1954) and Cabiria in Nights of Cabiria (1957), for which she won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress at the 1957 Cannes Film Festival.

<i>Flying Down to Rio</i> 1933 film by Thornton Freeland

Flying Down to Rio is a 1933 American pre-Code RKO musical film famous for being the first screen pairing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, although lead actors Dolores del Río and Gene Raymond received top billing. Among the featured players are Franklin Pangborn and Eric Blore. The songs in the film were written by Vincent Youmans (music), Gus Kahn and Edward Eliscu (lyrics), with musical direction and additional music by Max Steiner. During the 7th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for the new category of Best Original Song for "Carioca", but it lost to "The Continental" from The Gay Divorcee, the next Astaire and Rogers film.

<i>Follow the Fleet</i> 1936 film by Mark Sandrich

Follow the Fleet is a 1936 American RKO musical comedy film with a nautical theme starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in their fifth collaboration as dance partners. It also features Randolph Scott, Harriet Hilliard, and Astrid Allwyn, with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. Lucille Ball and Betty Grable also appear, in supporting roles. The film was directed by Mark Sandrich with script by Allan Scott and Dwight Taylor based on the 1922 play Shore Leave by Hubert Osborne.

<i>The Barkleys of Broadway</i> 1949 film by Charles Walters

The Barkleys of Broadway is a 1949 American Technicolor musical comedy film from the Arthur Freed unit at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer that reunited Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers after ten years apart. Directed by Charles Walters, the screenplay is by Betty Comden, Adolph Green, and Sidney Sheldon, the songs are by Harry Warren (music) and Ira Gershwin (lyrics) with the addition of "They Can't Take That Away from Me" by George and Ira Gershwin, and the choreography was created by Robert Alton and Hermes Pan. Also featured in the cast were Oscar Levant, Billie Burke, Jacques François and Gale Robbins. It is the last film that Astaire and Rogers made together, and their only film together in color. Rogers came in as a last-minute replacement for Judy Garland, whose frequent absences due to a dependence on prescription medication cost her the role.

<i>Carefree</i> (film) 1938 American musical film by Mark Sandrich

Carefree is a 1938 American musical comedy film directed by Mark Sandrich and starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers and Ralph Bellamy. With a plot similar to screwball comedies of the period, Carefree is the shortest of the Astaire-Rogers films, featuring only four musical numbers. Carefree is often remembered as the film in which Astaire and Rogers shared a long on-screen kiss at the conclusion of their dance to "I Used to Be Color Blind," all previous kisses having been either quick pecks or simply implied.

<i>Shall We Dance</i> (1937 film) 1937 film by Mark Sandrich

Shall We Dance is a 1937 American musical comedy film directed by Mark Sandrich. It is the seventh of the ten Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers films. The story follows an American ballet dancer (Astaire) who falls in love with a tap dancer (Rogers); the tabloid press concocts a story of their marriage, after which life imitates art. George Gershwin wrote the symphonic underscore and Ira Gershwin the lyrics, for their second Hollywood musical.

Arlene Louise Croce is an American dance critic. She founded Ballet Review magazine in 1965. From 1973 to 1998 she was a dance critic for The New Yorker magazine.

The Nastro d'Argento is a film award assigned each year, since 1946, by Sindacato Nazionale dei Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani, the association of Italian film critics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruggero Mastroianni</span> Italian film editor (1929–1996)

Ruggero Mastroianni was an Italian film editor. In his obituary of Mastroianni, critic Tony Sloman described him as "arguably, the finest Italian film editor of his generation."

<i>Macaroni</i> (film) 1985 film

Macaroni is a 1985 Italian comedy-drama film directed by Ettore Scola. The film, starring Marcello Mastroianni and Jack Lemmon, was selected as the Italian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 58th Academy Awards, ahead of Federico Fellini's Ginger and Fred, but was not accepted as a nominee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers</span> Hollywood double act

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were dance partners in a total of 10 films, nine of them released by RKO Radio Pictures from 1933 to 1939, and one, The Barkleys of Broadway, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1949, their only film in Technicolor.

<i>In Person</i> (film) 1935 romantic musical comedy film

In Person is a 1935 American romantic musical comedy film directed by William A. Seiter and starring Ginger Rogers, George Brent and Alan Mowbray.

<i>Rogers v. Grimaldi</i> American legal case

Rogers v. Grimaldi, 875 F.2d 994 is a trademark and intellectual freedom case, known for establishing the "Rogers test" for protecting uses of trademarks that implicate intellectual freedom issues.

References

  1. "Ginger & Fred".
  2. "NY Times: Ginger and Fred". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-12-23. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
  3. Rogers v. Grimaldi , 875 F.2d 994 (2d Cir. 1989).
  4. Rogers v. Grimaldi, 875 F.2d 994, at 1001.
  5. "Ginger and Fred | Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes .
  6. "1986 Award Winners". National Board of Review of Motion Pictures. 2016. Retrieved October 31, 2016.