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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