Editing Ginger Rogers (section)

=== 1933–1939: Partnership with Astaire ===
Rogers was known for her partnership with [[Fred Astaire]]. Together, from 1933 to 1939, they made nine musical films at RKO: ''[[Flying Down to Rio]]'' (1933), ''[[The Gay Divorcee]]'' (1934), ''[[Roberta (1935 film)|Roberta]]'' (1935), ''[[Top Hat]]'' (1935), ''[[Follow the Fleet]]'' (1936), ''[[Swing Time (film)|Swing Time]]'' (1936), ''[[Shall We Dance (1937 film)|Shall We Dance]]'' (1937), ''[[Carefree (film)|Carefree]]'' (1938), and ''[[The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle]]'' (1939). ''[[The Barkleys of Broadway]]'' (1949) was produced later at MGM. They revolutionized the Hollywood musical by introducing dance routines of unprecedented elegance and virtuosity with sweeping long shots set to songs specially composed for them by the greatest popular song composers of the day. One such composer was [[Cole Porter]] with [[Night and Day (song)|"Night and Day"]], a song Astaire sang to Rogers with the line "... you are the one" in two of their movies, being particularly poignant in their last pairing of ''The Barkleys of Broadway.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}''

[[File:fredginger.jpg|thumb|left|Rogers with her frequent co-star [[Fred Astaire]] in the film ''[[Roberta (1935 film)|Roberta]]'' (1935)]]

[[Arlene Croce]], [[Hermes Pan]], Hannah Hyam, and [[John Mueller]] all consider Rogers to have been Astaire's finest dance partner, principally because of her ability to combine dancing skills, natural beauty, and exceptional abilities as a dramatic actress and comedian, thus truly complementing Astaire, a peerless dancer. The resulting song and dance partnership enjoyed a unique credibility in the eyes of audiences.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}

Of the [[Fred Astaire's solo and partnered dances|33 partnered dances]] Rogers performed with Astaire, Croce and Mueller have highlighted the infectious spontaneity of her performances in the comic numbers "[[I'll Be Hard to Handle]]" from ''Roberta'', "[[I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket]]" from ''Follow the Fleet'', and "[[Pick Yourself Up]]" from ''Swing Time''. They also point to the use Astaire made of her remarkably flexible back in classic romantic dances such as "[[Smoke Gets in Your Eyes]]" from ''Roberta'', "[[Cheek to Cheek]]" from ''Top Hat'', and "[[Let's Face the Music and Dance]]" from ''Follow the Fleet''.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}

Although the dance routines were choreographed by Astaire and his collaborator [[Hermes Pan (choreographer)|Hermes Pan]], both have testified to her consummate professionalism, even during periods of intense strain, as she tried to juggle her many other contractual film commitments with the punishing rehearsal schedules of Astaire, who made at most two films in any one year. In 1986, shortly before his death, Astaire remarked, "All the girls I ever danced with thought they couldn't do it, but of course they could. So they always cried. All except Ginger. No, no, Ginger never cried".<ref>{{cite web| last=Crowther| first=Linnea| title=Ginger Never Cried| website=[[Legacy.com]]| url=http://www.legacy.com/news/celebrity-deaths/article/ginger-never-cried| access-date=August 26, 2019| year=2013}}</ref>

John Mueller summed up Rogers's abilities as: "Rogers was outstanding among Astaire's partners, not because she was superior to others as a dancer, but, because, as a skilled, intuitive actress, she was cagey enough to realize that acting did not stop when dancing began&nbsp;... the reason so many women have fantasized about dancing with Fred Astaire is that Ginger Rogers conveyed the impression that dancing with him is the most thrilling experience imaginable".<ref>{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I_wjtqH6YvsC&q=rogers+conveyed+impression|title=Fred Astaire| last=Epstein| first=Joseph| date=May 29, 2012| publisher=Yale University Press| isbn=978-0-300-17352-9| page=133}}</ref>

According to Raymond Rohauer, curator at the New York Gallery of Modern Art, Astaire gave Rogers this salute: "Ginger was brilliantly effective. She made everything work for her. Actually she made things very fine for both of us and she deserves most of the credit for our success."<ref>''Ginger: Salute to a Star'', Dick Richards, p. 162</ref>

In a 1976 episode of the popular British talk-show ''[[Parkinson (TV series)|Parkinson]]'' (Season 5, Episode 24), host [[Michael Parkinson]] asked Astaire who his favorite dancing partner was. Astaire answered, "Excuse me, I must say Ginger was certainly [uh, uh,] the one. You know, the most effective partner I ever had. Everyone knows."{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}

After 15 months apart and with RKO facing bankruptcy, the studio paired Fred and Ginger for another movie titled ''Carefree'', but it lost money. Next came ''The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle,'' based on a true story, but the serious plot and tragic ending resulted in the worst box-office receipts of any of their films. This was driven not by diminished popularity, but by the hard 1930s economic reality. The production costs of musicals, always significantly greater than regular features, continued to increase at a much faster rate than admissions.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}