Shall We Dance (1937)

To much detriment of his employer (Edward Everett Horton) an American ballet dancer (Fred Astaire, who is additionally pushed into adopting a Russian persona) seems much too interested in popular, modern dance.

He is smitten with another musical-comedy artist (Ginger Rogers) and is suddenly glad of his fake 'Petrov' name because it allows him access to her.

She, however, is unimpressed and uninterested.

Eavesdropping he finds out she is to set out on a cruise and tricks his boss into agreeing to send him to America on the same ship.

In order to dissuade a troublemaking female (Ketti Gallian) the rumor that they are a married couple is started, but soon spreads aboard the cruise ship and beyond.

These complications, and more, are simply excuses to wrap a silly story around a series of George Gershwin musical (including a snippet of “Rhapsody in Blue” during the title credits,) and Astaire-Rogers dance numbers; most notably "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" (on roller skates) and "They Can't Take That Away from Me," but also including a proto-beat box "Slap That Bass" and a couple of oddities, "Hoctor's Ballet" with a dancer whose weird body contortions can’t help but bring to mind (to this viewer) contemporary Horror tropes of J-Horror or the special edition of The Exorcist; and a number with multiple Ginger Rogers’ masked dancers straight out of The Twilight Zone.

There is also use of a creepy, very realistic looking Ginger Rogers’ dummy.

While Astaire generally gets all the credit, or they are simply billed as a couple, Ginger Rogers should get much deserved credit for supporting Astaire and matching him at every step.

Astaire sometimes also is mentioned as an inferior singer, but I see no evidence of that here.

Though The Cellulloid Closet (1996) used out of context clips to prove its thesis, the use of Edward Everett Horton as an example always seemed apt and here, with some not too subtle double entendres, a relationship seems to develop between his character and Jerome Cowan's.

On hand is also the always hilarious and underused Eric Blore.

Not considered one of the great Astaire-Rogers’ but still perfectly enjoyable fare.

Top tier would be The Gay Divorcee (1934), Top Hat (1935), Follow the Fleet (1936) with Shall we Dance (1937) and Swing Time (1936) close behind. Top Hat is probably the most admired.