Tuesday, May 18, 2021

A Damsel In Distress

RKO, 1937
Starring Fred Astaire, Joan Fontaine, George Burns, and Gracie Allen
Directed by George Stevens
Music by George Gershwin; Lyrics by Ira Gershwin

By the late 30's, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were popular enough for RKO to split them into separate vehicles. Fred's first movie without her is a loose adaptation of a P.G Wodehouse novel from 1919, about a veddy British noblewoman who accidentally ends up in a cab with an American performer, leading half her household and his press agent and secretary to believe she's in love with him. How does this English story work with its American music and sensibilities? Let's begin with the staff at Totney Castle deciding who will pick the eventual beau for Lady Alyce (Fontaine) and find out...

The Story: Jerry Halliday (Astaire) is an American performer traveling through England with his press agent (Burns) and secretary (Allen). He meets Alyce when she ducks into his taxicab while on her way to wait for her real American lover. Albert the young footman (Harry Watson) is convinced that Jerry's the man she loves and asks him to come to the castle. The butler Keggs (Reginald Gardiner) has his money on another suitor and is just as determined to keep Jerry out. Albert manages to sneak Jerry upstairs during a castle tour. Later, Jerry joins Alyce in the Tunnel of Love, but not only does he push too far with her, he doesn't realize her father (Montagu Love) is the head of the castle. It takes a ball at the castle to bring the lovers together and reveal the misunderstandings that separated them.

The Song and Dance: Astaire, Allen, and Burns have a wonderful time romping through some truly creative numbers. The songs may be one of the Gershwins' best film scores; it certainly produced some of their best-known hits, including "Nice Work If You Can Get It" and "Things are Looking Up." Nice supporting cast, too, with Gardiner and Watson as the servants who stir things up with their wager, Love as Alyce's down-to-earth nobleman father, and Constance Collier as her stuffy Aunt Caroline. This is also one of the rare movies where George and Gracie get more to do in the script besides a few supporting bits, including Gracie getting an odd romance of her own with the castle orchestra leader (Ray Noble). 

Favorite Number: We kick off with "I Can't Be Bothered Now." Astaire takes over for a man dancing in the London streets in order to avoid being chased by a bobby, and has a wonderful time literally dancing on the pavement. George, Gracie, and Fred do a goofy dance with whisk brooms (one which Burns and Allen apparently taught Astaire) at the inn where they're staying in "Put Me to the Test." "Things are Looking Up" when Astaire leads Fontaine through a dance around and behind the trees and flora in her family's garden (to masks her limitations as a dancer). Astaire shows twice how it's "Nice Work If You Can Get It," first with the choir at the party, then later in a fast-stepping drum and tap solo.

The big one here is "Stiff Upper Lip." Astaire, Burns and Allen dance this one in a massive Art Deco funhouse, complete with them wiggling in front of wavy mirrors, tapping around moving floors and sidewalks, and slipping down steep slides. It's one of the more creative big chorus numbers I've seen in a 30's movie, and richly deserved its Oscar for Dance Direction in 1937.

What I Don't Like: Fontaine may be more authentically British than Ginger Rogers, but she can't sing or dance worth a darn. She was 19 at the time, and her inexperience shows, especially alongside the much older and more sophisticated Astaire. The story gets very annoying at times, especially with the servants pushing them and pulling them together over a silly bet. You start to wish that Astaire had kicked Alfred and Keggs in the rear long before the end of the movie. 

The Big Finale: Highly recommended for the numbers and music alone if you're a fan of Astaire, Burns & Allen, or the Gershwins and their work. 

Home Media: Easily found on streaming and DVD, the latter from the Warner Archives.

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