jacobs-greenwood
Pretty good Fred (Astaire) and Ginger (Rogers) film featuring Randolph Scott and Irene Dunne as its romantic leads. Directed by William Seiter, this comedy Musical includes the Oscar nominated song "Lovely to Look at", though I think the highlight is Dunne's singing of "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes".Helen Westley is a businesswoman in Paris who also happens to be Scott's aunt. Dunne's character is the "behind the scenes" designer (and, unknown to Scott until the end, a Russian countess) for Westley's titled character. Rogers is an "American in Paris" pretending to be a countess to get work as a singer. Astaire is the leader of a band who's surprised to find his former Indianian girlfriend (Rogers) there, after he and his band (which includes Scott) is hired, fired, and then hired again by Luis Alberni's character.When Westley dies without a will, the fashion business becomes her (former football halfback) nephew's. Scott and Dunne then form a partnership to carry it on until his ex-girlfriend (Claire Dodd) arrives, upsetting their budding romance. Dunne had helped Scott transform from a hayseed to at least mildly sophisticated, despite his saying "swell" all the time, such that Dodd's character finds him interesting once again.
seasoningspice
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. To most, the names conjure up certain films: Top Hat, Swing Time, Shall We Dance. FG have a surprisingly large amount of "unknown" films, some of which arguably deserve their status, some of which arguably don't. Roberta is one of the latter. To me, it's the most undeservedly underrated of the FG films.Roberta doesn't emphasize the FG partnership. They are, like Follow the Fleet, the "second fiddle" couple. It could be called only technically a FG film; however, in the limited screen time they have, Fred and Ginger create a believable relationship, breathing life into their characters. That's the most important part of Roberta - its characters, as frothy as they may be, feel alive.Roberta is not like any of the popular FG films. It's not a silly confection brimming with antics. It has no Edward Everett Horton, Victor Moore, or Erik Blore. Of course, there isn't anything wrong with the silly confections - I enjoy them myself - but the added dimensions of Roberta give it that special life. It has poignancy, for all its fluffy subject matter. Like milk chocolate sprinkled with salt, it doesn't leave an overly sweet aftertaste; instead it leaves a sense of warmth because its happy ending feels real.On to the actors, starting with Irene Dunne. Roberta is the only film with Irene I've watched, and she impressed me. Apparently, she's known as a talented comedienne; however, her dramatic moments were what left an impact. The way she handled herself spoke volumes about her character, and never verged on the stereotypical. I sympathized with and liked her. She held her own but wasn't painted as disagreeable or illogical. Her singing was sweet, fit the songs, and didn't seem unrealistic (since it was her real voice!).Randolph Scott was also a pleasant surprise. My first exposure to him was in Follow the Fleet, where I disliked him, and so I was expecting the worst from his character in Roberta; but he was, as the script says, a big goofy Newfoundland. He played the role well! His character is a naive, somewhat sheltered man from inland America, and it shows. His opinions and behavior make sense given his background. Even in his more disagreeable moments I wasn't annoyed with him - rather, he was endearing.As a couple, John and Stephanie have more chemistry than might be expected. At their first meeting you can easily see their interest in each other. He's naive while she's sophisticated, and their personalities do clash eventually, but it's not fueled by blatant clichés. Even their reconciliation takes a bit of time. I also never got the feeling that either would control the relationship: they felt like equals.Fred plays, as he often did, a musical character, and does it with his usual aplomb. There's never much to say about his characters, but I will say that his sass comes across brilliantly - he gets many snappy lines and delivers them beautifully.Ginger is proof of how Roberta veers away from the usual storytelling clichés. At first glance, she's playing a Polish countess; very early on, Fred discovers she's an old friend of his, but this is never exploited for any hijinks. Ginger retains her persona, drops her guard around Fred, does a great job with both roles, and that's that. She has a chance to play both broad (as the countess) and subtler (as herself) comedy, which gives her more detail than the accented comedic hothead she at first appears to be.FG utilize the old-acquaintance part of their characters to great effect. One of the greatest numbers in the film is I'll Be Hard To Handle, which begins with FG chatting humorously about growing up back in the US. You feel they really did know each other, really are getting reacquainted. Both of them speak frankly about the relationship, and when things develop further, it feels entirely natural. What's more, there are no dramatic kisses or embraces - the relationship feels real. It's different than the main relationship but equally plausible.There aren't many supporting characters, outside from John's aunt Millie, his old flame the rich society girl, and a few others. None of them get much to do, but there's really only one character who stands out as being particularly stereotypical - the owner of a Parisian nightclub, who invited Fred's band over thinking they were (Native American) Indians rather than "Indianians" and yells about this almost every time he appears. But hey, the rest of the film makes up for his antics.Outside of the cast, the score is the main highlight. Jerome Kern's songs provide almost all of the film's poignancy. Even Lovely To Look At has a soft, fond edge. Yesterdays, sung by Irene in a pivotal scene, is one of the saddest songs found in an F&G movie: about the tragedies of lost youth, time, innocence and joys, it isn't at all overdramatic. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes is similar; the arrangement that plays during the penultimate FG dance number is one of my favorite instrumentals in a film. One of the weaker songs is actually an upbeat one, Let's Begin, performed by Fred; but the film doesn't lack good upbeat numbers. I'll Be Hard To Handle is catchy, cute, and leads into a lovely number, while I Won't Dance is enjoyable too.It's difficult to sum up my love for Roberta. It's like comfort food, but without that guilty-pleasure edge. It's got a witty dialogue; pretty sets given life by the acting; FG, both playful and romantic in dancing; a sympathetic main relationship that steers clear of clichés; humor balanced by poignancy, tragedy balanced by success, heartbreak balanced by romance. It's got lovely music, beautiful people, a world you want to live in. It glows. Roberta is unique and underrated.
mark.waltz
This is a dream come true for lovers of those opulent 1930's musicals filled with romance, light comedy, beautiful songs, costumes, sets, and very attractive people. Slightly overlooked in the cannon of 1930's musicals, because of the greater popularity of the same year's "Top Hat" and the 1936 version of "Show Boat", this film adaption of the 1933 Broadway musical (by many of "Show Boat's" creators, including composer Jerome Kern) is a shear delight. While Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers are billed over the title (along with Irene Dunne), they are secondary to the plot which focuses on Randolph Scott's romance with Dunne after he inherits the most prestigious house of fashion in Paris from his late Aunt. Dunne, who would star in the 1936 version of "Show Boat", is gorgeous as the right-hand woman to the aunt (Helen Westley) and must face changes when Scott takes over. She sings the show's ballads most beautifully, most notably "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes".Fred and Ginger ably handle the dance numbers (which includes "I Won't Dance" and Rogers' solo, "I'll Be Hard to Handle") and provide strong comic support. That wonderful grand dame Helen Westley is both funny and touching as Scott's aunt, and her final scene (with Dunne singing the beautiful "Yesterdays") is tear-jerking. Water, not smoke, gets in your eyes. Top it off with an opulent fashion show (featuring a certain future TV redhead named Lucy) for an art deco lover's dream come true, and you end up with one of the most outstanding movie musicals of the 1930's. It lacks the influence of the ground-breaking "Show Boat" in the history of musical theater, but provides so much more in other areas.
eyesour
Fashions change. If you only thought so once, you'd know it after seeing this. Let's be frank, honest and earnest: it's a totally unco-ordinated weird and utterly ghastly mess. I amazed myself by sitting through the whole thing from beginning to end. I'm certainly not going to do so again. But I may, nevertheless, pick out all the bits with delightful, adorable, heart-warming Ginger, who is just the most wonderful gal that ever was. She always makes me feel good within seconds of her appearance. Astaire would be much, much less without her. Not that anyone would admit it. I had to look up Irene Dunne on Wikipedia, and was stunned at the career she'd had. Almost as stunned as to discover that she'd had any career at all. The clothes in the fashion parades were slightly astonishing, I'll give them that. I expect to see some of them next season, worn by Gaga, however, or Bonkers, or someone similar. Just a word on the story: perfectly and completely idiotic. Dialogue script and acting: wooden and dreadful. Direction: which way did it go? Rogers and Astaire? Heroic. Great, against all odds. Roberta? Flag Hippo?
