Ginger and Fred

{{hatnote|"Fred and Ginger" redirects here. "Fred and Ginger" usually refers to Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. For the building in Prague, see Dancing House.}}

{{Infobox film

| name = Ginger and Fred

| image = Ginger and Fred poster.jpg

| caption = Italian theatrical release poster

| native_name = {{Infobox name module|it|Ginger e Fred}}

| director = Federico Fellini

| screenplay = Federico Fellini
Tonino Guerra
Tullio Pinelli

| story = Federico Fellini
Tonino Guerra

| producer = Alberto Grimaldi
Heinz Bibo

| starring = {{Plainlist|

}}

| cinematography = Tonino Delli Colli
Ennio Guarnieri

| editing = Ruggero Mastroianni

| music = Nicola Piovani
Irving Berlin
Jerome Kern
Lorenz Hart

| studio = {{Plainlist|

}}

| distributor = {{Plainlist|

Istituto Luce-Italnoleggio Cinematografico (Italy)
Acteurs Auteurs Associés (France)
Tobis (West Germany)

}}

| released = {{Film date|df=yes|1986|1|13|Paris|1986|1|22|France and Italy|1986|2|20|West Germany}}

| runtime = 125 minutes

| country = Italy
France
West Germany

| language = Italian
English

| gross = $837,623{{Cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=gingerandfred.htm|title = Ginger & Fred}}

}}

Ginger and Fred ({{langx|it|Ginger e Fred}}) is a 1986 comedy-drama film written and directed by Federico Fellini and starring Marcello Mastroianni and Giulietta Masina.{{cite web |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/19783/Ginger-et-Fred/details |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091223231244/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/19783/Ginger-et-Fred/details |url-status=dead |archive-date=2009-12-23 |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=The New York Times |date=2009 |title=NY Times: Ginger and Fred |access-date=2009-04-01}}

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.Rogers v. Grimaldi, 875 F.2d 994 (2d Cir. 1989). 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."Rogers v. Grimaldi, 875 F.2d 994, at 1001.

Plot

Amelia Bonetti, whose stage name is "Ginger", and Pippo Botticella, whose stage name is "Fred", were a famous dancing team known for imitating Ginger Rogers' and Fred Astaire's dance routines, and have retired for close to thirty years. They have been chosen for a televised reunion on a Christmas special for the variety show We Are Proud to Present.

Amelia, now a widowed grandmother, accepts as another moment in the limelight while Pippo needs the money. As she waits for Pippo to arrive, she dines with a transvestite who has a divination for visiting men in prison. She returns to her hotel room, and as she tries to sleep, she eventually learns Pippo has arrived. The next morning, they board a bus in destination to the television studio, along with a lineup of various acts including a troupe of bolero-dancing midgets, a plastic surgeon, and a couple who tape-records ghost voices.

Amelia and Pippo arrive at the studio where they do their dance rehearsal and have their makeup and hairstyling done. As they wait in the wings, various guests appear on the special, including the transvestite, a man who has left the monastery and proposes to his fiancée, a manufacturer of edible underwear, and a miracle-performing monk. When Amelia and Pippo begin their number, the television station experiences a blackout. During the outage, Pippo confesses he was institutionalized for a mental breakdown after they had broken up. They accept the outage as a bad omen and attempt to sneak out, but the lights return before they do. They proceed with their dance number, and despite one mishap, they finish their number gracefully.

At the train station, Amelia and Pippo kiss and bid their farewells.

Cast

Giulietta Masina as Amelia Bonetti (Ginger)
Marcello Mastroianni as Pippo Botticella (Fred)
Franco Fabrizi as Show host
Friedrich von Ledebur as Admiral Aulenti
Augusto Poderosi as transvestite
Martin Maria Blau as assistant director
Jacques Henri Lartigue as Brother Gerolamo
Totò Mignone as Totò
Ezio Marano as the intellectual
Antoine Saint-John as bandaged man
Friedrich von Thun as kidnapped tycoon
Antonino Iuorio as TV inspector
Barbara Scoppa as journalist
Elisabetta Flumeri as journalist
Salvatore Billa as Clark Gable
Caterina Vertova

Release

The film opened the 36th Berlin Film Festival on 14 February 1986.{{cite magazine|magazine=Screen International|date=6 January 1986|page=1|title=Fellini's Ginger And Fred to open Berlin Film Festival|last=Sutherland|first=Alex}}

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.{{cite web | url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ginger_and_fred | title=Ginger and Fred | Rotten Tomatoes | website=Rotten Tomatoes }}

=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,{{Cite web |url=http://www.nationalboardofreview.org/award-years/1986/ |title=1986 Award Winners |date=2016 |publisher=National Board of Review of Motion Pictures |access-date=October 31, 2016 }} as well as the 1987 Golden Globes and BAFTA. Masina received a David di Donatello for Best Actress award for her role (1986).