The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle

RKO, 1939

Starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Walter Brennan, and Edna Mae Oliver

Directed by H.C Potter

Music and Lyrics by various

Story of Vernon & Irene Castle is unique in Fred and Ginger's filmography in many respects. It's their last RKO film, their last film together until Barkleys of Broadway a decade later, the only time they played real people in one of their movies, their only historical film, and their only film to have a tragic ending. Vernon and Irene Castle were celebrity ballroom dancers of an earlier era, and many people at the time compared Astaire and Rogers to them. How does all of this look nowadays? Let's begin with Irene Foote (Rogers) in 1911, as she meets him on a boat near her native New Rochelle, and find out...

The Story: Irene and her family are excited when they learn British actor Vernon is in vaudeville. After Irene sees him dance for a group of young people returning from a picnic, she thinks he's a great dancer. Turns out he's only the stooge in a slapstick comedy act. Incensed, she convinces him to give up the slapstick and dance with her. They love dancing - and each other - so much, they ultimately get married. 

After trying - and failing - to find a job in New York, they think they have luck when two men offer them a show in Paris. The show doesn't happen, and they almost get thrown out of their rooms when grouchy theatrical agent Maggie Sutton (Oliver) hears their act. Irene's friend and manservant Walter (Brennan) isn't fond of Maggie, but she does manage to land them an audition at the Cafe de Paris. Their performance of "The Castle Walk" is such a sensation, they first become the darlings of Paris society, then American.

By the time they open on Broadway in 1914, they're two of the most beloved entertainers on the planet. Their names are lent to everything from hats to cigars, their book on ballroom dancing is a best-seller, and their tours are sold-out. Irene even causes a sensation when she bobs her hair, inspiring millions of women to do the same. Vernon, however, has more patriotic matters on his mind. He joins the Royal Air Corps in World War I and becomes a flying ace. Irene does her part with propaganda serials. She's delighted when Vernon's moved to training new pilots in Texas, but it's not as safe of a job as she thinks...

The Song and Dance: The older numbers on display here are, for the most part, as much fun as the original routines in their other films. It's fascinating to watch Astaire and Rogers demonstrate the dances of an earlier era. For the most part, they do really well with it. Ginger may not have loved the costumes Irene Castle designed herself, but I think they're gorgeous and fairly accurate to the era, especially the fur-trimmed ensemble she wears during the "rise to fame" dance montage midway through and that adorable Dutch-inspired sequined cap. Astaire not only enjoys playing Vernon Castle, he actually looked quite a bit like him, too. Oliver and Brennan have some of the funniest lines of the film as the Castles' crotchety agent who gets them out of the gutter in Paris and Irene's loyal valet.

And honestly...as cliched as the plot is, I do appreciate that the biography here makes it slightly stronger than in most of the Astaire-Rogers films. You really feel Irene's devastation in the end, making that last, haunting image of two ghostly dancers whirling off together even more poignant. 

Favorite Number: We kick off with what would be Rogers' second and last solo in one of her films with Astaire. "The Yama Yama Man" is based on Broadway star of the time Bessie McCoy, complete with her trademark Pierrot clown costume and floppy dance. Astaire does an instrumental tap routine to "By the Light of the Silvery Moon" with - and eventually outdoing - portly Sonny Lamont at the train station in New Rochelle. It's good enough to prove to Irene that he's a better dancer than a comedian. "Oh You Beautiful Doll" is a number at the vaudeville theater where Vernon works for female dance Frances Mercer and the male chorus, an example of the type of dancing you'd see at a vaudeville show then.

The Castles first show off their daring ragtime style in an instrumental "King Chanticleer" at rehearsals. They do a spirited two-step to "Waiting for the Robert E. Lee" at an audition, but the manager isn't nearly as impressed as the audience likely is by this point. They finally hit the big time with their delightful "Too Much Mustard (Tres Moutarde)" at the Cafe de Paris. We next get a series of dances from them, including a slightly awkward tango and a far more appropriate polka. A montage shows how their constant touring and best-selling book made headlines...and left dancing feet wherever they went; a second medley shows how their final dance together to a series of waltzes. 

The only song written for the film is "Only When You're In My Arms." It's heard twice. Vernon sings it to Irene right before they announce their engagement...and then, it's heard in the last shot as Irene looks up, and sees an image of them dancing together, forever, in the garden...

Trivia: Vernon and Irene Castle popularized couples dancing in the early 1910's when it was still considered to be sinful. Much of what you see in the film actually happened, from how Irene and Vernon met to their being stranded in Paris to how wildly popular they were between 1911 and 1916. Patria, the war propaganda serial Irene Castle is seen filming in the movie, was also real. Episodes 2, 3, 4, and 10 exist today. Sadly, Vernon's death is also portrayed accurately. He was the only one who died; the student (and Vernon's pet monkey) survived. Irene became an animal activist later in life, which explains all the dogs and horses seen in the movie. She retired and married three more times, finally passing away in 1969.

What I Don't Like: Irene Castle later disowned the film for several inaccuracies, from her real manservant Walter being black to Rogers' costumes being too thirties. The real problem here is it's a bit dark compared to their other movies. In some ways, despite the usual down-and-up cliches, it has more in common with later stories like Love Me or Leave Me that sought to give a more accurate assessment of the character and era than fluff like 'Till the Clouds Roll By. It's not for those looking for a more typical Fred and Ginger vehicle, with their usually assortment of wacky supporting actors and dramatic numbers set to jazz standards.

The Big Finale: I consider this to be Astaire and Rogers' most underrated film together. If you love older styles of dance and are willing to give something different from them a chance, this is a charming and bittersweet look at a bygone era. 

Home Media: Like all of Fred and Ginger's movies, this is easily found on DVD and streaming. 

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Swing Time (1936)

RKO, 1936

Starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Victor Moore, and Eric Blore

Directed by George Stevens

Music by Jerome Kern; Lyrics by Dorothy Fields

Let's dance into the holiday season with the two Fred and Ginger films I haven't gotten to yet, starting with the one widely considered to be their best. Unlike their previous film Follow the Fleet, this one puts them front and center, with no secondary romance to distract the audience. How does the breezy tale of a gambler who tries to win the money to marry his sweetheart, only to fall for a dance teacher, look nowadays? Let's begin backstage with John "Lucky" Garrett (Astaire) and his dance troupe at the end of a number and find out...

The Story: Lucky wants to marry his fiancee Margaret (Betty Furness), but he keeps losing his money on gambling. Her father Judge Watson (Landers Stevens) insists they can marry if he can make $25,000. He thinks he can, but his troupe takes most of it after they bet he won't get married. They end up riding a freight car to New York. Lucky encounters Penny Carroll (Rogers) when he tries to make change for his quarter. She's a dance teacher, and he's so smitten, he immediately takes lessons from her. He makes it look like he can't dance, until her boss Mr. Gordon (Blore) fires her. Lucky immediately shows that she did teach him to dance, and well. 

Mr. Gibson is so impressed, he not only rehires her, he sets up an audition for them at the Silver Sandal nightclub. Lucky is unable to win a tuxedo and misses the first audition, but he finally convinces Penny to join him for a second. That's almost derailed when the bandleader, Penny's own fiancee Ricky Romero (Georges Metaxa), won't play for them. Lucky wins his contract in a poker game and makes sure he doesn't have any choice. Lucky's friend Pop (Moore) first loses the contract, then lets it slip to Penny that Lucky's engaged. After she walks away, Lucky finally admits the truth that Margaret isn't the lady who owns his heart anymore...and he may end up losing both the women he loves.

The Song and Dance: Everyone is on top of their game in this sparkling confection, from Astaire and Rogers having a ball with the comedy to fussy Moore as Lucky's manager and Helen Broderick as Rogers' tart-tongued best friend and Mr. Gibson's former secretary. The Art Deco sets are incredible, too. Check out the mirrored backdrop for "Bojangles of Harlem" or the long stairway of the Silver Sandal for "Never Gonna Dance." There's also those gorgeous gowns for Broderick and Rogers (especially Rogers' simple but glittery "Never Gonna Dance" outfit), and the details on the cozy snow-laden inn for "A Fine Romance."

Favorite Number: Our first real number is "Pick Yourself Up" at the dance studio. Lucky first tries to make it look like he's not learning anything to spend more time with Penny. When Mr. Gibson fires her, he breaks out his moves to show he may have learned a thing or two after all. "The Way You Look Tonight" won the Oscar in 1936. This gorgeously simple ballad appropriately has an equally simple introduction, just Lucky playing the song as Penny washes her hair, but it's so effective, she changes her mind about  him. Penny complains at the country inn that it's not "A Fine Romance" like she wants when Lucky remembers his fiancee and pulls away. Lucky sings a reprise after Pop lets it slip about his fiancee and Penny's the one avoiding him. 

The reason this is so well-regarded comes down to the three main dance routines. The instrumental "Waltz In Swing Time" is really a non-vocal "Way You Look Tonight," with Lucky and Penny swirling around the Silver Sandal ballroom in glowing elegance. Astaire honors "Bojangles of Harlem" in blackface, first dancing with chorus girls in black and white, then hoofing with his own shadows in a still-nifty bit of trick photography. "Never Gonna Dance" takes us back to the Silver Sandal as Lucky admits that he may have lost Penny, their elegance now replaced by a gentle sadness.

Trivia: A stage version of Swing Time, Never Gonna Dance, premiered on Broadway in December 2003. Alas, it barely ran for two and a half months and received mixed reviews. The production used all of the songs from Swing Time but "Bojangles of Harlem," plus songs from other Jerome Kern shows. 

What I Don't Like: First of all, this has the same problem as most of Fred and Ginger's other films. If you're looking for a stronger plot, you won't find it here. It's about as light of a frappe as you can imagine. 

Second, let's discuss "Bojangles of Harlem." Astaire admired Bill Robinson and had learned tap from several black entertainers, including John W. Bubbles. He meant no offense then, but the dark makeup on him and some of the mildly condescending lyrics may not sit well with some folks nowadays. 

The Big Finale: This and Top Hat are Fred and Ginger's best movies, and probably the best places to start if you want to know what their vehicles are all about. A must-see for fans of Astaire, Rogers, musicals, or dance in film.

Home Media: The Criterion Collection released it on DVD and Blu-Ray in 2019; it's also easy to find on streaming.

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Blu-Ray

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The Gay Divorcee

RKO, 1934

Starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Alice Brady, and Edward Everett Horton

Directed by Mark Sandrich

Music and Lyrics by various 

Astaire and Rogers were such a sensation in Flying Down to Rio, they were rushed into an adaptation of a stage hit Astaire also starred in...and this time, they were the leads. It was called Gay Divorce on Broadway in 1932, but by the time this was in production, stricter censorship standards were already coming into effect. A divorce could never be light and carefree...but a divorcee could. (Nowadays, I don't think either title would work.) Under any title, how does this light-as-air confection look today? Let's begin in at a nightclub in London and find out...

The Story: Dancer Guy Bolton (Astaire) first encounters Mimi Glossop (Rogers) at a hotel in Brighton, England. Mimi's looking for a divorce from her rarely-seen husband Cyril (William Austin), an archeologist. Guy's best friend Egbert (Horton) happens to the the lawyer for her and her Aunt Hortense (Brady). He hires co-correspondent Rodolfo Tonetti (Erik Rhodes), or someone who aids in a legal proceeding, to make it look like he's having an affair with Mimi and have photos taken by private detectives. 

Not only do the detectives never arrive, but Mimi thinks Guy is the co-correspondent. When Tonetti turns up, he holds them in the room, but they escape. Even after that, there's still trouble...until the waiter at the nightclub under their room (Eric Blore) reveals that Cyril isn't as blameless as previously suspected.

The Song and Dance: And with a plot that lightweight, "song and dance" are the operative words here. Astaire and Rogers are a delight in their first starring showcase together. This comes a lot closer to their later movies than Flying Down to Rio, with a sparkling supporting cast, impressive Art Deco sets (check out the huge multi-level nightclub!), and terrific dance numbers. I also appreciate that they kept most of the original plot of the Broadway show (which Astaire also starred in), changing Guy's career from writer of smutty novels to dancer.

Favorite Number: We open with the very strange "Don't Let It Bother You" at the nightclub. Chorus girls in stockings, garter bows, and not a lot else make little finger dolls in tutus "dance." Astaire and Horton try it next. Astaire can get it; Horton has more trouble. Astaire finishes the number with a quick tap routine for the audience. A very young Betty Grable insists to Horton "Let's Knock Knees" at the resort's restaurant. Soon, they have the whole dining room knocking knees - and occasionally, into each other. Astaire's other big solo in his room when he's looking for Mimi is "Needle In a Haystack."

The big one - in every sense of the word - is "The Continental." At almost 18 minutes, the number is the longest in film history until Gene Kelly's ballet in American In Paris. Dancers in black and white whirl over those long staircases and across curving balconies, until they come down in black and white gowns. Among all this are singer Lillian Miles, who takes the song over from Erik Rhodes, and Fred and Ginger, who start things off with a great comic tap routine and do a quick one to end it. 

But the one most associated with Fred and Ginger nowadays is also the only Cole Porter song retained from the original show. Fred sweeps Ginger into "Night and Day" when she still thinks he's a co-correspondent. By the end of the song, she's thoroughly enchanted and in love...and so are we, thanks to their fine footwork and off-the charts chemistry.

Trivia: Ginger Rogers drives her own 1929 Duesenberg during the chase scene. It still exists and has turned up in car shows. 

Gay Divorce first appeared on Broadway in 1932. It went over equally well in London, with most of the original cast, including Astaire. Like many older shows, it's only New York runs since then has been in off-Broadway concerts.

"The Continental" won the first Academy Award for best song. It was nominated for Best Picture, Sound, and Art Direction. 

What I Don't Like: Too bad the story is so annoying. The whole co-correspondent thing is more than a little confusing. Not mention, divorce and adultery tend to be taken a lot less lightly nowadays. And why on Earth didn't they keep Cole Porter's original score, which also includes the standard "After You, Who?" The other songs by Harry Revel and Mack Gordon are ok, but certainly not at the level of "Night and Day." 

The Big Finale: As the first Astaire-Rogers film to really show their later style, this is a must for fans of them, Grable, or the big musicals of the 1930's. 

Home Media: DVD and streaming in the US. It's on HBO Max with a subscription. 

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HBO Max

Flying Down to Rio

RKO, 1933

Starring Dolores Del Rio, Gene Raymond, Fred Astaire, and Ginger Rogers

Directed by Thorton Freeland

Music by Vincent Youmans; Lyrics by Gus Kahn and Edward Eliscu

We return to the bubbly Art Deco dance world of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers this week with their first two vehicles. Astaire's only making his second film, but he's as at ease before the camera as Rogers, who had been appearing in films since 1929...but they're not the main couple here. That honor goes to fiery Latin movie temptress Del Rio and up-and-comer Raymond. How well do Fred and Ginger fit in this south-of-the-border backstage tale? Let's head to Miami, where Roger Bond (Raymond) and his orchestra are being scolded for their untidiness by fussy Hammerstein the hotel manager (Franklin Pangborn), and find out...

The Story: Bond sees the beautiful Belinha De Rezende (Del Rio) while leading the orchestra. He leaves his post to dance with her, but despite his assistant leader and accordionist Fred Ayres (Astaire) trying to warn him, Hammerstein and her chaperon Dona Elena (Blanche Friderici) catches him and fires the band. Bond is so crazy about her, he gets the band a gig in Brazil at the Hotel Atlantico just to find her. 

Turns out that her father (Walter Walker) owns the hotel and is having problems with gangsters who want him to sell it. Bond takes her out in his plane to find out more, but they end up stranded on a deserted island. She does say she loves him...but she's also engaged. And not only that, but engaged to his best friend Julio (Raul Roulien). The orchestra is out on its ear anyway when the gangsters convince the Mayor (Paul Porcasi) to deny the hotel an entertainment license...which convinces Roger to take the show to the air!

The Song and Dance: No wonder Fred and Ginger became major stars here. They really liven up this unusual South American romance. Fred has a few funny bits in addition his song sequences, including his attempt to tell Belinha how his buddy felt about her and how they were fired at Miami that leads to him being thrown out. Del Rio isn't bad as the flirtatious beauty and certainly looks the part, especially on that desert island. The lavish sets and costumes are redolent of Rio and Brazil, with their ruffled dresses and flowered outfits in "The Carioca" number and old Portuguese architecture and palm trees everywhere. 

Favorite Number: We don't get our first number until almost ten minutes in, but it's "Music Makes Me." Ginger Rogers has a great time shimmying for the orchestra in a see-through gown that definitely screams "pre-Code." The big hit was the ballad "Orchids In the Moonlight." Roulien sings this to Del Rio as backdrops of orchids fall around them. Astaire sings the title song on the ground, but it's Rogers and the chorus who do the death-defying dance stunts on the wings. One girl even falls and is caught by a plane under her. Astaire also gets a short but memorable tap solo earlier, when he's teaching the chorus how to dance.

The big one here - literally and figuratively - is "The Carioca." Fred and Ginger introduce the Latin dance craze that involves touching heads...and even here, we can see sparks flying. They dance like they've been together for years, and indeed, Fred did teach Ginger a dance for the Broadway Girl Crazy the year before. The chorus, wearing see-through gowns, pick up the dance all around that massive hotel set. Then opera singer Etta Motten, dressed as a local in a floral dress and Carmen Miranda fruit headgear, comes in to lead a similar dance with chorus members in native dress. It's big, bold, and goes on for too long...but Astaire and Rogers are what you remember.

What I Don't Like: Raymond's a little stiff as Roger, but at least he has a few good moments in his plane and on the desert island. Roulien is dull in a thankless "other man" role. Wish we could have seen more of Pangborn and Blore, who have some fun gags in the first half in Miami. And while Fred does get a few good moments of his own and the solo tap routine, other than her numbers, Rogers has a lot less to do as the band's sassy singer. 

The Big Finale: Fred and Ginger may not dominate this to the extent of some of their other films, but it still has things to recommend it for fans of theirs, Del Rio, or the Busby Berkeley imitation backstage movies of the early-mid 30's. 

Home Media: Like all of the Fred and Ginger films, easily found in most formats. The solo DVD is from the Warner Archives.

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Musical Documentaries - That's Dancing!

MGM, 1985

Hosted by Gene Kelly, Ray Bolger, Liza Minnelli, Sammy Davis Jr, and many others

Directed by Jack Haley Jr.

Music and Lyrics by various

When I was six, this used to appear with some frequency on cable. It gave me my first glimpse of Shirley Temple, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Gene Kelly, and ballet, and I was entranced. It's one of several older films and more recent musicals I saw as a child that helped make me the musical film fan I am today. How does this summation of the history of dance on the big screen look nowadays, with most of these films easily found on home media and no longer limited to cable showings and rare big-screen revivals? Let's start with a man who certainly knows something about dance on-screen, Gene Kelly, as he explains to us about primitive dance around the world, and find out...

The Story: Some of the most popular musical stars and dancers to ever appear on the big screen relate to us the history of dance via segments from movies made by MGM...and for once, other studios as well.

Kelly discusses the origins of filmed dance, dance on the silent screen, and how Busby Berkley's surreal choreography revolutionized chorus numbers on film.

Sammy Davis Jr. talks about solo and couple dance on film, via Fred Astaire, who insisted on the camera remaining on his full figure while he danced and his frequent partner Ginger Rogers. He also goes into Shirley Temple, whose mixed-race tap routines with Bill Robinson broke barriers in the 30's, Robinson's graceful style as a solo act in shorts, and solo stars Eleanor Powell and Ray Bolger and the amazing duo the Nicholas Brothers. 

Russian ballet star Mikhail Baryshnikov gives us the history of ballet on film, from Anna Palova on the silent screen to major international ballet greats of the 60's and 70's Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn, as well as screen ballerinas Vera Zorina and Moira Shearer. 

Liza Minelli discusses screen adaptations of classic Broadway dance routines, from James Cagney demonstrating what George M Cohan's style looked like in Yankee Doodle Dandy to the explosive "Cool" from the original 1961 West Side Story. 

Ray Bolger gives us the (then) future of dance on the screen, including the "What a Feeling!" finale of Flashdance and Michael Jackson's influential and much-parodied "Beat It" music video. 

The Song and Dance: If That's Dancing does one thing right, it's expanding its net to include a truly wide variety of dance...including acknowledging that dancers came from studios other than MGM. We get the Yankee Doodle Dandy and Busby Berkley footage from Warners, the Shirley Temple/Bill Robinson, Nicholas Brothers, and Rogers and Hammerstein dances from 20th Century Fox, Universal's release of Sweet Charity, Flashdance from Paramount, The Red Shoes from England, and the MTV Michael Jackson footage. We also get our first glimpse of cut songs in an incredible extension of Bolger's "If I Only Had a Brain" solo from The Wizard of Oz. They even wrote two original songs. It's also nice to see sequences from musicals made after the 50's as the hosts point out that dance on the screen continues to evolve. There's also the extremely rare footage of early silent dancers, some of it going far back as 1897. 

Favorite Number: As mentioned, we begin with footage, some of it rare, of primitive dances from around the globe, from African tribal ritual to native dances in Mexico and China. Of the Busby Berkley routines shown here, none continue to amaze more than the Oscar-winning "Lullaby of Broadway" from Gold Diggers of 1935, with its thousands of tap dancers who all manage to move in perfect unison. 

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers have a lot more fun with two of their best routines, the romantic "Night and Day" from The Gay Divorcee and comic "Pick Yourself Up" from Swing Time. A decidedly different duo, Shirley Temple and Bill Robison, show off their "Organ Grinder's Swing" from The Littlest Rebel. Robison goes it alone and shows off his light-as-air footwork in two numbers from the short King for a Day. A very young Sammy Davis Jr. gets in on his own short, Rufus Jones for President, and gives us a delightful and adorable tap routine. Fred goes it solo as well with "I Won't Dance" from Roberta and later, "A Shine On Your Shoes," making brilliant use of an arcade on Broadway in The Band Wagon. Eleanor Powell manages to combine tap and graceful hula and make it work in the peculiar "Hola E Pae" from Honolulu. 

Vera Zorina demonstrates grace of a different sort with Charles Laskey in "La Princesse Zenobia Ballet" from On Your Toes. Delicate Moira Shearer is haunted by her scarlet footwear, which stands out like a beacon in the sherbet tones of The Red Shoes. Ray Bolger does death-defying leaps after crows (with the help of MGM's special effects department) in a delightful extension of his "If I Only Had a Brain" from The Wizard of Oz. 

Astaire this time joins an unusually tough Jane Powell for the colorful tropical chorus routine "I Left My Hat In Hati" from Royal Wedding. Anne Miller joins Bob Fosse, Bobby Van, and the late Tommy Rall for their big tap number "Tom Dick and Harry" from Kiss Me Kate. We get a glimpse at a more spontaneous chorus routine with the teens dancing in the streets and stopping traffic to the tune of the Oscar-winning title song from Fame. The dancers of the original West Side Story show why they're still "Cool" with their stylized, finger-snapping dance moves. "Cool" inspired much of Michael Jackson's "Beat It"; song and video were smash hits in 1983, and we get to see why here, with their equally dramatic moves. We also get Kim Carnes' pop song "Invitation to Dance" over the end credits. 

Trivia: The use of the rare Ray Bolger/Wizard of Oz footage was so well-received, it inspired MGM to dig in its vaults for more deleted numbers to use in That's Entertainment III a decade later. 

Final film appearance of Ray Bolger. 

Bolger and Minnelli's sequences were to have been much longer and feature more numbers from other studios, but many were dropped in the interest of time and expense, as was the sequence with Fred and Ginger. Which brings me to...

What I Don't Like: It's pretty obvious that MGM chopped this up since before release. There's even less rhyme and reason to this than there is to the Kelly and Astaire-hosted That's Entertainment Part 2. Liza Minnelli's segment from Cabaret was dropped, leaving her as the only host without a dance routine in the film and making many audiences wonder what she's doing there. Many of the MGM numbers seem to be scraping the bottom of the barrel after three films and makes you really wish the other studios had cooperated more. 

There's problems with the other hosts, too. Their narration is just as stiff as the first That's Entertainment film, and mostly of interest to real dance aficionados. Casual audiences will likely be bored and wish they'd get out of the way and let the footage speak for itself. Baryshnikov in particular lacks the charm and intensity he usually shows when dancing. (And he's not helped by his thick Russian accent.) The five hosts often seem spread too thin as well, with Davis Jr. and Kelly covering more than half the film. 

Let's talk about that final "modern" segment. Breakdancing was a huge fad in 1985, but it's barely remembered today by anyone but fans of 80's dance. I understand they wanted to convey the evolution of dance, from primitive times to modern times, but the emphasis on 80's fads like breakdancing and music videos dates this in a way the That's Entertainment films, with their use of mostly older footage, manages to avoid. 

The Big Finale: Mainly of interest to fans of dance on the screen, dance history, or the That's Entertainment documentary series. 

Home Media: Finally got its first solo release on Warner Archive DVD in October 2020; can be found easily for streaming as well. 

DVD

Amazon Prime

The Barkleys of Broadway

MGM, 1949

Starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Oscar Levant, and Billie Burke

Directed by Charles Walters

Music by Harry Warren and George Gershwin; Lyrics by Ira Gershwin

MGM originally intended to reunite Astaire and Judy Garland in this movie after the success of Easter Parade, but Garland's ongoing problems caused her to drop out. Rogers came in at the last minute. That makes this the the last of the ten movies she and Astaire made together...and one that hit a little close to home, so to speak. How does the story of married dancers who split when the wife wants to do drama look today? The best way to answer that is to go right into our very first number over the credits and see the most famous dancing pair in Hollywood history in action...

The Story: Dinah (Rogers) and Josh (Astaire) Barkley are the toast of New York in their hit show Manhattan Down Beat, but Dinah's tired of Josh criticizing her acting and taking credit for both their successes. She's flattered and interested when French playwright Jacques Barrendout (Jacques Francois) suggests she could be a wonderful dramatic actress. Dinah tries to keep Josh from figuring out her new interest, but he finds the script for Jacques' play and jumps to conclusions. She finally leaves him and the show, but is too nervous to do well in rehearsals. After their grumpy friend Ezra (Levant) tries to help, Josh steps in, playing Jacques on the phone to give her acting tips. It works too well, and now Josh wonders if he's lost his wife and favorite partner for good.

The Song and Dance: Astaire and Rogers have as much fun here as they did the decade before at RKO, with the benefit of MGM's unstinting production. The color in the copy at TCM is glowing, and the costumes are gorgeous, especially Rogers' gowns. It's interesting that the story was originally intended for Garland and Astaire. Rogers gave up doing musicals briefly in the early 40's to focus on drama and get away from her Astaire films, and was a success at it...but she too ultimately returned to musicals.

Favorite Number: We start right off with Fred and Ginger doing what they do best as the credits roll over "The Swing Trot," a big chorus routine with them tapping in the thick of it. Josh tells Dinah "You'd Be Hard to Replace" at their home. They have fun "Bouncin' the Blues" and challenging each other to a delightful duet at rehearsals. "My One and Only Highland Fling" spoofs Scottish courtship as Astaire and Rogers attempt bad accents and swirl around in plaid kilts. They try to convince Ezra that a "Weekend In the Country" would be fun, but he's a creature of the city and is having none of it. Astaire dances a duel with shoes that tap on their own in the nifty special-effects-laden "Shoes With Wings On."

Astaire and Rogers reprise "They Can't Take That Away From Me" from Shall We Dance, this time doing a graceful and thoughtful pas de deux to it as Josh believes he's lost Dinah to drama and Jacques for good. Of all the numbers, it most recalls their beautiful duets from the films at RKO, with their elegant steps and fluid motion.

What I Don't Like: First of all, why not wait until after the credits for "The Swing Trot?" We can barely see it, and it's one of the best numbers in the film. (MGM finally rectified this by showing the number without the credits during That's Entertainment III.) Second, the supporting cast isn't nearly as much fun as their RKO films. Billie Burke is all right as the dithery arts supporter, but Levant can come off as pushy and annoying, and Francois is so dull, you wonder why Dinah's mesmerized by him. And that story can be pretty fluffy at times, despite its relation to the stars' careers.

The Big Finale: The musical numbers alone are enough to make this a must-see if you love the Astaire-Rogers movies or musicals of the 1940's. 

Home Media: Like all the Astaire-Rogers films, it's easily found on DVD and streaming; the DVD is currently released by the Warner Archives.

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Amazon Prime

Shall We Dance (1937)

RKO, 1937

Starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Edward Everett Horton, and Eric Blore

Directed by Mark Sandrich

Music by George Gershwin; Lyrics by Ira Gershwin

With their last three movies having been among the biggest hits of the mid-30's, RKO went all-out for their next vehicle. They enlisted the Gershwins, who rarely worked in Hollywood, and went all out with enormous Art Deco sets and glittering costumes. Pitting jazz and pop against classical music was all the rage in 30's. The popularity of jazz, swing, and other forms of pop music began to supersede older musical forms, to the frustration and disappointment of those who championed those forms. How does this battle look in Fred and Ginger's breezy world? Let's begin with a ballet class accompanied by one of Gershwin's symphonic pieces and find out...

The Story: Petrov, aka Pete Peters (Astaire), has passed himself as a Russian ballet dancer. What he really wants to do is blend tap and ballet under his own name, but he's the star of a company owned by fuddy-duddy Jeffery Baird (Horton). He falls hard for a photo of jazz dancer Linda Keene (Rogers), but she's put off by his "Petrov" persona. He finally arranges to meet her onboard an ocean liner with his own name and personality. Linda's beginning to like him, until journalists on the boat get photos of them, jump to the wrong conclusions, and claim they're married. 

Linda's horrified, but her manager Arthur Miller (Jerome Cowan) thinks the idea is wonderful publicity. Linda's fiancée Jim Montgomery (William Brisbane) would disagree. Fed up with being hounded over the scandal, Pete and Linda decide to get married, and then divorced. They start to fall for each other and decide that calling the whole thing off isn't a good idea...until it turns out Pete has a fiancé (Ketti Gallan) of his own.

The Song and Dance: This wasn't a huge hit at the time, but nowadays, it has one of the most enduring scores from any Astaire-Rogers movie. Almost every song here is a standard, and two of Gershwin's background music and instrumental pieces turn up in concert halls occasionally, too. The Art Deco sets here are a marvel, especially the massive boiler room setting for "Slap That Bass" and the mirror finale with the many dancing Gingers. Blore and Cowan have the most fun of the supporting cast as the fussy butler who has a hard time keeping up with who's married and who isn't and the slick manager who wants to get the most publicity he can out of the marriage mix-up.

Favorite Number: Astaire sings "Slap That Bass" with Dudley Dickerson and the black workers in the oddly pristine Art Deco boiler room, his quick taps done in time to the rhythm of the boiler machinery. "They All Laughed" brings the two together in a nightclub, first with Fred spoofing his ballet reputation, then together as they swirl around the floor and end up on a piano. 

They insist "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" while doing a delightfully goofy tap dance on roller skates in the park. The Oscar-nominated ballad "They Can't Take That Away From Me" was a personal favorite of Rogers and Astaire, perfectly accompanying their departure from the boat when they think they're getting a divorce. The title number is the big mirrors routine, with Astaire pursuing Rogers imitators in masks...until the real thing decides to dance back into his life.

What I Don't Like: As with most of the Astaire-Rogers vehicles, the plot is pretty much piffle. Cecil isn't the only one who may get confused by who's engaged to whom and who's married to whom and who isn't after a while. It's also a bit more abrasive than some of their films; Arthur's lucky Linda and Pete didn't slap him silly for messing around with both their lives. 

The Big Finale: A must-see if you're a fan of the Gershwins or the stars for the musical numbers alone.

Home Media: As with all the Astaire-Rogers films, it's easily found on DVD and streaming.

DVD

Amazon Prime

Cult Flops - Carefree

RKO, 1938
Starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Ralph Bellamy, and Luella Gear
Directed by Mark Sandrich
Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin

By the late 30's, Rogers had become one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, as adept with drama as she was with comedy. This began to seep into her vehicles with Astaire in this screwball comedy about a psychiatrist who tries to convince a woman she isn't in love with him, then changes her mind back when he realizes that he loves her. How does this screwball comedy work out? Let's begin just outside of the office of psychoanalyst Dr. Tony Flagg (Astaire) as he's talking to one of his patients and find out...

The Story: Stephan Arden (Bellamy) has been drinking because his singer girlfriend Amanda Cooper (Rogers) keeps breaking their engagement. He enlists his psychiatrist Tony to try to get her to agree to marry him. Tony finally gets her to eat a huge meal and dream...but her dream is about dancing with Tony. Horrified when she realizes she's fallen in love with him, she makes up a wild dream instead that makes Tony and his colleague Dr. Powers (Walter Kingston) believe she got enough psychiatric problems to fill a mental institution. Tony gives her drugs to make her act on her impulses...which leads to her breaking windows, kicking cops, and insulting her sponsor on the air.

At a party the next evening, Amanda gets Tony to dance with her, but she can't get him to see her as more than a patient. When he does realize she's fallen for him, he hypnotizes her to believe she loves Stephan and hates him. Trouble is, now he's in love with her. Tony and his nurse Tom (Jack Carson) have to figure out how to stop Amanda and Stephan's wedding, before she marries the wrong man.

The Song and Dance: Rogers has a great deal of fun as the seeming sensible young woman who is really looking for someone a lot more elegant than her overbearing fiancee. She's especially fun after she's been drugged and has let go of her inhibitions. The look on her face when she kicks the cop is priceless. Luella Gear and Clarence Kolb have their own fun as Amanda's sassy aunt who helps pair Tony with her niece and the judge flummoxed by all the lunacy.

Favorite Number: Fred and Ginger get their first on-screen kiss in Amanda's dream world, dancing through their fantasies in "I Used to Be Color Blind." Tony does some fancy golf moves to show off in front of Amanda in "Since They Turned Loch Lomond to Swing." "The Yam" is the big Fred-Ginger dance number with the chorus as Amanda tries to get together with Fred at the party. Tony brings Amanda out to hypnotize her again and get her to "Change Partners" in a duet the night before the wedding.

Trivia: Fred filmed the "Loch Lomond" number three weeks before the rest of the movie began shooting.

"Change Partners" was nominated for an Oscar.

The film was a minor flop at the box office in 1938 and became the first Astaire-Rogers film to lose money.

What I Don't Like: "Change Partners" aside, the score isn't one of Irving Berlin's better ones. Even Fred Astaire thought "The Yam" was silly, which is why Ginger Rogers sings it. I wish RKO filmed "Color Blind" in color, like they'd originally planned. It would have added to the number being "just a dream" and went along with the lyrics.

Psychoanalysis has long been controversial, leaving Tony's theories and claims about Amanda's behavior sounding like so much gobblety-gook today. Neither Tony nor Stephan particularly treat Amanda that well. Tony claiming he's in love with her seems a little sudden, considering he's spent the movie ignoring her other than as a test subject.

The Big Finale: Despite some good numbers, this is mainly for big Astaire/Rogers fans and fans of 30's comedy or musicals.

Home Media: Easily found on DVD from the Warner Archives and as part of several Astaire and Rogers sets.

DVD
DVD - Silver Screen Icons: Astaire & Rogers Vol. 1

In Person

RKO, 1935
Starring Ginger Rogers, George Brent, Alan Mowbray, and Grant Mitchell
Directed by William A. Seiter and James Anderson
Music by Oscar Levant; Lyrics by Dorothy Fields

By 1935, Ginger Rogers was popular enough to appear in musicals without Fred Astaire or the Busby Berkeley-Warners crew. This romantic comedy with music tested the waters with non-singing George Brent playing alongside Rogers as a neurotic movie star to see if she could, indeed, carry a film. How well doe she do? Let's head to a hotel in San Francisco, where bird enthusiast Emery Muir (Brent) is getting on a crowded elevator with a mysterious veiled woman, and find out...

The Story: The mystery woman is Carol Corliss (Rogers), a movie star who is hiding from her fans after a mob nearly trampled her. Emery saves her from another crowd after she faints and accompanies her to her hotel. He convinces her psychiatrist Dr. Sylvester (Samuel S. Hinds) and Sylvester's friend Judge Parks (Mitchell) to let him take her out to a remote cabin in the mountains to work her fears out there. He makes her clean and cook for him as he goes out and fishes. She resents him at first, until she begins to realize that she likes the simple life. Trouble is, her fussy costar Jay Holmes (Mowbray) wants her back on the set, and the local hillbillies are convinced that there's salacious things going on between those unmarried folks in that cabin!

The Song and Dance: Sweet and simple romance gives Rogers a chance to really shine. She gets to play (mild) drama when she's overwhelmed by the crowds in the beginning and getting between her two beaus towards the end. She shows herself to be an adept comedienne during the scene when she's trying to make the ancient stove at the cabin work, and even does two great tap routines. Brent ably abets her as the tough guy who isn't going to put up with either her glamour-girl image or her hiding forever.

Favorite Number: We don't get our first actual number until more than half-way in, but it's the peppy "Got a New Lease On Life." Carol sings and dances along with her recording on the radio to convince Emery she's the real star. The sole large-scale production number is "Out of Sight, Out of Mind" near end. Carol's filming her next big movie in a bizarre number where she taps while literally holding strings around the male chorus.

What I Don't Like: The whole movie is pretty cliched. If you've seen other romantic comedies (then and now), you probably have some idea of how it'll all work out. This is also a pretty low-key movie, and barely a musical. It's not the place for people looking for big Astaire-Rogers dance routines or elaborate Berkeley spectacles.

The Big Finale: If you love Rogers or small-scale romantic comedies, you may want to check this one out "in person" as well.

Home Media: The Warner Archives finally released it on DVD in late July.

DVD

Saluting Our Troops - Follow the Fleet

RKO, 1936
Starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Harriet Hillard, and Randolph Scott
Directed by Mark Sandrich
Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin

This year's Veteran's Day review returns us to the glittering romantic comedy world of Astaire and Rogers. Scott's joining them again, this time for the tale of two gobs and their girls based the old play Shore Leave. How well does this nautical-themed backstage story hold up now? Let's head to a ship coming into port to find out...

The Story: Navy sailor Bake Baker (Astaire) is thrilled to be on shore leave with his buddy Bilge Smith (Scott). His former partner Sherry Martin (Rogers) wrote him and told him she was dancing in a fancy club. Turns out she's really a singer at a dime-a-dance hall. Her shy school teacher sister Connie (Hillard) is also seeking her. Bilge thinks she's cute but bland, until Kitty (Lucille Ball), one of the dance hall girls, finds her a gown and gets rid of her glasses. Now they're both attracted to each other. Connie claim she'll salvage her father's old sailing ship for him, even though it'll cost a bundle.

A few months later, Bilge is now being pursued by a glamorous widow (Astrid Allwyn) with a crush on him. Connie wants marriage, and he's afraid of commitment. Meanwhile, Bake attempted to set Sherry up with a job in a Broadway show, but a series of mistaken identities leaves her without a job and angry at him. He does a better with setting up a benefit show to earn the remaining money needed to raise the girls' ship...but he not only has to jump ship to do so, he needs to convince Bilge to help him do it.

The Song and Dance: The stars and the Irving Berlin score are the things here. Scott, while still a tad out of place, at least seems more comfortable as a seaman than he did as a football player in Roberta. Astaire and Rogers have a great time with their numbers, and Rogers even gets a rare solo dance routine. Lucille Ball has a short but fun role as the sarcastic dancer who gives Connie a dress, and later dealing with a sailor who tries to hit on her.

Favorite Number: Astaire and Rogers get three great duets here. "Let Yourself Go" at the Paradise Club begins with them competing with another couple, only to explode into a lot of kicks and prancing that's a lot of fun to watch. "I'm Putting All My Eggs In One Basket" is similar, only this time, they're challenging one another to keep up with their moves. Rogers gets her only solo in any of her movies with Astaire in an instrumental version of "Let Yourself Go" that shows she's no slouch in the dance department herself. Astaire challenges the entire fleet in his solo, "I'd Rather Lead a Band."

The big one is "Let's Face the Music and Dance." A mini-story within a story has Fred and Ginger as gamblers about to end it all before they find - and dance with - each other. It's by far the most dramatic number in any of the Astaire-Rogers films, and it comes off as a dark moment floating in a sea of fluffiness.

Trivia: Harriet Hillard became far better known when she married bandleader Ozzie Nelson and had two sons named Ricky and David with him. The four appeared on the radio and TV show The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet for over a decade.

What I Don't Like: The plot is even more ridiculous than Top Hat and lacks that movie's hilarious supporting cast. The entire side plot with Hillard and Scott is cliched and very dated. Scott may be happier in the Navy, but Astaire isn't. He never really worked very well in uniform. The down-to-Earth setting makes things feel a little grittier than usual. Fancy costumes are limited to the nightclub scenes and the finale, and there's none of the elaborate sets that mark many of their other films.

The Big Finale: Worth sitting through the silly plot if you love Astaire and Rogers or the musicals of the 1930's.

Home Media: Available for streaming and on DVD solo or packaged with other Astaire/Rogers films.

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DVD - Silver Screen Icons: Astaire & Rogers Vol. 2
Amazon Prime

Gold Diggers of 1933

Warner Bros, 1933
Starring Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell, Joan Blondell, and Aline MacMahon
Directed by Mervyn LeRoy
Music by Harry Warren; Lyrics by Al Dubin

This was Warners' second major musical after the tremendous success of 42nd Street and is a remake of their huge (and now mostly lost) blockbuster Gold Diggers of Broadway. It proved to be just as big of a hit as 42nd Street, with an even zestier cast and a more Depression-soaked story. How does the tale of three showgirls who pose as gold diggers to help their friend look now? Let's head to a theater in New York, just as one of the most famous songs from this score, "We're In the Money," is in progress...

The Story: Polly (Keeler), Trixie (MacMahon), and Carol (Blondell) are roommates and chorus girls who just lost a job after the producer, Barney Hopkins (Ned Sparks), couldn't pay his bills. Fellow chorus girl Fay Fortune (Ginger Rogers) announces that Hopkins has gotten his show back together. He has...everything but the money. Turns out the guy across the way that Polly's been flirting with, Brad Roberts (Powell), is not only a great songwriter, but is able to cough up the money in cash to finance the show. Despite being a good singer, he won't appear onstage, at least until the male juvenile can't move and he has to take his place.

That's when we learn that he's really the son of a rich Boston family that threatens to cut him off without a penny. His brother J. Lawrence Bradford (Warren William) and family lawyer Fanuel "Fanny" Peabody (Guy Kibbee) mistake Carol for Polly and try to get her away from Brad. In an attempt to help their friend and teach the snobbish duo a lesson, Trixie and Carol make them think Carol is Polly and vamp them for all they're worth...but their plans backfire when they actually fall in love with them.

The Song and Dance: It's Powell and the ladies who shine here. Powell and Keeler have almost switched roles from 42nd Street; this time, she's the slightly more wordly one, and he's the one who'll come back a star. Powell in particular comes off as a bit less stiff than he did in the earlier movie. Blondell and MacMahon hav a blast as the wisecracking dancers, and Ginger Rogers is a lot of fun as the only real gold-digger to be found. There's also a lot of references to the early Depression era - including "Forgotten Man" - that helps ground it in the era now.

Favorite Number: We kick off the movie in high style with my favorite song from this score, "We're In the Money." Ginger Rogers and the chorus girls romp in costumes made of coins, and Rogers even gets a solo in Pig Latin...until the creditors arrive and take it all away. "Pettin' In the Park" is a catchy little romp that shows girls and their beaus (and randy baby Billy Barty) chasing each other through three seasons. Check out the segment where Barty lifts the screen, revealing their tin costumes! "Shadow Waltz" is more romantic, with its girls in hoop skirts and neon violins forming violin shapes.

"Remember My Forgotten Man" is one of the most dramatic numbers in Busby Berkley's career. The "forgotten men" are the World War I veterans who marched on Washington the year before, trying to get their bonus pay. The gritty sets were inspired by German Expressionism, and they give an almost frighteningly surreal feel to the scenes of poverty and determination. The number was so moving, when studio head Jack L. Warner saw it, he ordered it be swapped to the end in place of "Petting In the Park."

Trivia: There was originally supposed to be a fifth big number performed by Blondell, "I've Got to Sing a Torch Song," but it was cut before release. The song is only heard performed briefly by Powell in the beginning.

An earthquake hit while they filmed "Shadow Waltz" and nearly electrocuted the dancers.

What I Don't Like: While MacMahon is having fun flirting with Kibbee, Blondell is completely mismatched with the erudite William. You'd never believe he'd change his mind about her so quickly, especially after being fooled like that. I also wish they'd focused more on that "putting on the show" in the second half and less on the rather convoluted and silly gold-digging plot.

The Big Finale: I don't like it as much as 42nd Street, but it does have its own charms, including some classic numbers. If you love the musicals of the 30's in general or the Busby Berkley musicals in particular, you'll want to look for this one.

Home Media: DVD is currently released by the Warner Archives. It's available with several streaming companies as well.

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Amazon Prime

Roberta

RKO, 1935
Starring Randolph Scott, Fred Astaire, Irene Dunne, and Ginger Rogers
Directed by William A. Seiter
Music by Jerome Kern; Lyrics by Otto Haurbach and Dorothy Fields

First of all, Musical Dreams Reviews will be on hiatus from May 15th to the 22nd for vacation. I'll be doing one extra review a week for the remaining weeks of the month to make up with it, starting with tomorrow's review. Now that we have the announcement out of the way, let's move on to today's review...

This is the first of two versions of the story of a couple of guys who inherit a Parisian fashion house we'll be doing this week. Roberta was one of the biggest hits on Broadway in 1933, combining Jerome Kern's operetta sensibilities with gorgeous gowns, a frothy plot, and an up-and-coming cast. RKO turned it into a vehicle for their own up-and-coming stars Astaire and Rogers, along with singer Dunne and romantic leading man Scott. Is it as elegant and romantic as a fine Paris gown? Let's head to Paris with Astaire and his orchestra to find out...

The Story: Huck Haines (Astaire), his best friend John Kent (Scott), and Haines' dance band the Wabash Indianans are stranded in Paris with barely a franc to their names. Cafe owner Alexandre Voyda (Luis Alberni) booked them, but mistook them for actual Native Americans, rather than a Midwestern orchestra and a former football player, and fired them. John does know one person in Paris to ask for help, his Aunt Minnie, the owner of the Roberta fashion house.

On his arrival, John finds himself stuck in the aging and cranky elevator. He's helped out by Stephanie (Dunne), Roberta's assistant. He's instantly smitten with her, but she's not as impressed by him. Meanwhile, Huck's met a girl of his own, the glamorous Countess Scharwenka (Rogers). Turns out she's actually his ex-girlfriend Lizzie Gatz. She's able to finally get Voyda to relent and hire them.

Shortly after their arrival, Aunt Minnie passes away. As she left no will, her dress salon goes to John by default. He knows nothing about designing gowns and asks Stephanie to stay on as his partner. Their collaboration is in trouble from the get-go. He rejects one of her more daring designs, and is pursued by his spoiled fiancee Sophie (Clarice Dodd), who is after his money. Huck and Lizzie convince Stephanie to sell Sophie that "vulgar" dress. It upsets John, who complains to Stephanie. She's so angry, she quits. It's up to Huck, Lizzie, and a cartload of couture gowns to bring these two lovers back together.

The Song and Dance: This was Astaire and Rogers' third musical together, and along with the lovely music and stunning 30's gowns, they're the main reason to see it today. They're just having so much fun together as the witty orchestra leader and the demanding "countess" who isn't as glamorous or aristocratic as she seems.

Those gorgeous gowns are worth the fuss Stephanie and John made over them. The backless number that she sold Sophie would probably barely turn heads today, but it's actually quite attractive. My favorite is the ruffly black and dot gown in the big fashion show in the finale. The Art Deco sets are almost as beautifully designed, including the elevator that keeps sticking.

Favorite Number: Two of Ginger and Fred's best dance routines can be found here. Ginger starts off "I'll Be Hard to Handle," but it quickly turns into a really fun comic duet. They also get to dance to "Lovely to Look At" performed by Irene Dunne in the finale. Dunne also scores with probably this score's best-known standard, the ballad "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes."

Trivia: Yes, that is a young and very blonde Lucille Ball among the models in the fashion show finale. She's the one in the layered white feather cape with the dress trimmed with feathers.

The movie drops three hits from the original Broadway show - "The Touch of Your Hand," "Something Had to Happen," and "You're Devestating" - and adds "I Won't Dance" from the flop stage show Three Sisters and the newly written "Lovely to Look At." The latter was nominated for an Oscar in 1935.

What I Don't Like: Some of the numbers sans Rogers are really strange. Both the routine in the opening where the Indianans turn themselves into a human organ that Astaire "plays" and the too-goofy "Let's Begin" in drag look more ridiculous than funny. No wonder Volya refused to hire them.

When the movie focuses on Astaire and Rogers and their dances and relationship, it's a lot of fun. It's the main plot involving Scott, Dunne, and Roberta's that flounders. Scott is stiff as a board and not terribly happy; his stoic demeanor looks better on the wide open plains than in a musical. Dunne only comes off a little better, helped by her beautiful renditions of "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" and "Lovely to Look At."

The Big Finale: The stunning costumes and a couple of great Astaire-Rogers numbers makes this worth a look for their fans or lovers of dance or vintage fashion.

Home Media: Easy to find on DVD and streaming, both in its original release and as part of the Warner Archives.

DVD
DVD - Silver Screen Icons: Astaire & Rogers, Vol. 2
Amazon Prime

42nd Street

Warner Bros, 1933
Starring Ruby Keeler, Warner Baxter, Dick Powell, and Ginger Rogers
Directed by Lloyd Bacon; Musical Numbers Directed by Busby Berkeley
Music by Harry Warren; Lyrics by Al Dubin

We're going way back tonight to what is not only considered to be the archetypal backstage musical, but the movie that helped revive the genre on the big screen. Musicals - especially backstage musicals - were huge when sound came in, but the studios tossed out too many frivolous pieces of nonsense. Warners got around this by giving 42nd Street a slightly darker story that was more in line with the tastes of Depression audiences and employing an all-star cast. Let's head to a theater in New York to see if it really "goes out there a nobody and comes back a star!"

The Story: In the depths of the Great Depression, almost everyone on Broadway is thrilled when popular producers Jones (Robert McWade) and Barry (Ned Sparks) announce that they're putting on a new musical, Pretty Baby, with popular star Dorothy Brock (Bebe Daniels). Brock is stringing along a backer, kiddie car magnate Abner Diller (Guy Kibbe) while seeing her former vaudeville partner Pat Denning (George Brent) on the side. They hire notoriously tough Julian Marsh (Baxter) as the director. Marsh has to make this a hit in order to recoup his losses from the Stock Market Crash and have enough to retire on.

Among the ladies who make it through the audition are ditzy Lorraine Fleming (Una Merkel), brassy Ann "Anytime Annie" Lowell (Rogers), and sweet newcomer Peggy Saywer (Keeler). Singer Billy Lawler (Powell) has taken a shine to Peggy...but so has Pat. Marsh continues to berate and push and shove the entire cast through rehearsals and right up through the day before the out-of-town opening in Philadelphia. Brock finally learns about Pat's interest in Peggy during the cast party, where she throws a fit that ends with her breaking her ankle.

The show is about to close when Annie suggests that Peggy, while not the best singer, can certainly dance rings around Brock. Now inexperienced Peggy has to carry an entire show on her poofy-sleeved shoulders. She's not so sure she can do it, but Marsh reminds her that she has to do her best in one of the most famous lines in any musical, "You're going out there a youngster, but you're coming back a star!"

The Song and Dance: Keeler and Powell may have been the ones who became stars, but honestly, my favorite thing about this along with the famous Busby Berkley dance routines are the supporting cast and the snappy script. Merkel and Rogers get some of the movie's funniest lines as New York's sassiest chorus girls, with dour Ned Sparks getting a few good lines in as the more pessimistic of the two producers. Baxter, on the other hand, puts in one of his best dramatic performances as the director desperate to make one last stand on Broadway.

Favorite Number: Although "You're Getting to Be a Habit With Me" for Bebe Daniels and the chorus boys early on is pretty fun, most of the movie's most famous numbers turn up in the finale. Merkel and Rogers' wisecracks liven the slightly cutesy "Shuffle Off to Buffalo," while "Young and Healthy" shows off Powell's light tenor and some of Berkley's most famous camera and dance formations (not to mention the "under the legs" shot that has turned up in many other Berkley homages).

They save the best for last here. Keeler may not be a great singer, but her dancing in the title number is pretty darn good, enough to understand why this movie really did make her a star. We also get an attempt at drama far above the norm for a 30's musical, including glimpses of abuse and a murder, along with more Berkley camera-driven formations.

Trivia: This was one of the earliest movie musicals transferred to the stage. The Broadway version debuted in 1980, with Jerry Orbach as Julian Marsh and Tammy Grimes as Dorothy Brock. It was a huge hit, both in its original cast and in a 2001 revival. In fact, an equally popular revival just wound down a few weeks ago on London's West End.

The movie got two Oscar nods for Best Picture and Best Sound.

Warren and Dubin themselves can briefly be seen as the show's songwriters.

What I Don't Like: Keeler's only passable as the nice girl among the wolves when she's not dancing, while Powell comes off as way too coy. I almost kind of wish the film had gone the route of the Broadway version and had her end up with Marsh instead of Billy. (In the original book, Billy actually ended up with Marsh, which definitely wasn't going to happen in the movies in 1933.) Some of the Depression references may fly over the heads of those who don't understand the era.

The Big Finale: A funny, fast-paced, and fairly gritty script, Berkeley's oft-imitated kaleidoscope musical numbers, and some nice performances from the supporting cast make this a landmark musical and a must-see for anyone who loves the genre or wants to check out what made Berkeley and his movies famous.

Home Media: The solo DVD is out of print, but the Warner Archives Blu-Ray is available, and it can be found on several collections of Busby Berkeley musicals of the 1930's. (And I highly recommend both the original and 2001 revival Broadway casts on CD as well - they're both fun.)

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Blu-Ray
DVD - Busby Berkeley Collection: The 10 Pack

Top Hat

RKO, 1935
Starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Helen Broderick, and Edward Everett Horton
Directed by Mark Sandrich
Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin

Our last musical before my vacation hiatus is a true classic, and probably the most famous of the ten movies Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers made together. Will this feather-light confection keep us dancing cheek to cheek, or should it be slapped back into those Venetian waters? Let's find out...

The Story: American dancer Jerry Travers (Astaire) is in London to star in a new show produced by his friend Horace Hardwick (Horton). While rehearsing his new tap routine in his hotel room, he awakens fashion model Dale Tremont (Rogers). When she comes to his room to complain, he's smitten with her beauty and spunk. He softens the routine so she can sleep. The next day, he follows her around London, including in a rainstorm, trying to get her attention. It works too well. She thinks he's Hardwick, who happens to be the husband of her sarcastic best friend Madge (Broderick). He follows her to Venice, where she's modeling the gowns of fussy Italian fashion designer Alberto Beddini (Erik Rhodes). Jerry tries again, but his attempt at proposing doesn't go over well with Dale. It'll take intervention from Horace's sly manservant Bates (Eric Blore) to bring these two together and clear up the confusion.

The Song and Dance: This was the first movie written expressively as a vehicle for Astaire and Rogers, and RKO went all-out. The massive sets recreate a fantasy London and Venice, with Rogers and Broderick costumed in gorgeous gowns and every man in a tux. Both of the stars have some great moments; Astaire in particular makes Jerry's constant pursuit of Dale seem more romantic than creepy. Horton and Blore are hilarious together, especially in the second half in Venice when Blore disguises himself as a priest and a gondolier. I adore Helen Broderick, who steals every scenes she's in with her wisecracks about the opposite sex and how to deal with them.

Favorite Number: Irving Berlin wrote one of his best movie songs for this film. Fred and Ginger's big duet "Cheek to Cheek," with Ginger moving like a swan in her feather dress, is probably the most famous routine (check out Ginger's amazing back bend towards the end), but there's also the big ensemble number "The Piccolno" in the finale, Fred's tap dance with the chorus to the title song, and the less formal "Isn't It a Lovely Day?" as Fred flirts with Ginger in a gazebo in the rain.

Trivia: As nifty as Ginger's feathered dress looked in the "Cheek to Cheek" duet, it kept molting and getting in Fred's mouth. He nicknamed her "Feathers" after that.

Top Hat was the second-biggest hit of 1935. Only the massively popular Clark Gable-Charles Laughton version of Mutiny on the Bounty was bigger at the box office that year.

It's been made into a stage musical in England that played the West End (though it doesn't seem to have made it to the States yet). The stage version added songs from other Irving Berlin films and shows.

It was nominated for four Oscars, including Art Direction.

What I Don't Like: As with most musicals of the 1930's (and most of Fred and Ginger's vehicles), the plot is basically a light-as-air romantic comedy with musical interludes. This obviously isn't for people looking for something more dramatic or substantial. All the drama is in the duets.

The Big Finale: If you ever wanted to check out Fred and Ginger's starring vehicles, this is a good place to start. It has many of their most famous routines and a great cast bolstering a thin but fun plot.

Home Media: Doesn't look like it's on Blu-Ray at press time, but the DVD copy I have is still in print, and it's on Amazon Prime.
DVD
Amazon Prime