Roberta
Tomorrow, TCM will show Roberta - my favorite of the Rogers/Astaire musicals. Here's an excellent synopsis/review of the film.
I like the film because:
1) The film is about pretense and how it's transcended by talent and effort. Or maybe it's about role confusion. Take your pick. The cafe owner won't hire Fred's band because they're not "Indians" - they're Indianians. He wants a more exotic group. That's why he has Lizzie Gatz singing for him under the nom de chanteuse Countess Sharvenka. As Lizzie puts it, "You've got to have a title to croon over here." As a result of "Sharvenka's" threats - and the band's undoubted ability - Fred and the Indianians wind up performing at the Cafe.
On the other side of the ledger, Stephanie (Irene Dunne) is a Russian aristocrat who is working as the capable assistant and fashion designer at Roberta's. Her cousin - a Russian prince - is the doorman of the establishment. Roberta's, of couse, is simply the most fashionable couturier in all Paris.
Roberta herself is the midwestern-born "Aunt Minnie" of Jack Kent (Randolph Scott). And the film has great fun which the notion that Jack - a football player from the U.S. - must run Roberta's after Aunt Minnie dies and leaves him the place. No one is more scornful of Jack's ability to do this than his erstwhile girlfriend Sophie Teale (Claire Dodd). Of course, Jack has the good sense to dump Sophie (a pretentious twit who aspires to a role she can't attain) and winds up with Stephanie. And Fred and Ginger, who were childhood sweethearts, wind up together, effortlessly.
2) The film features the best dance that Fred and Ginger did together - "I'll Be Hard to Handle". The dance is staged as an improptu contest/courtship between the two in the cafe during rehearsals. Perhaps I like the dance because Ginger is in pants. I don't know what that means on a deeper level, but the absence of elaborate costumes (for either dancer) seems to free the dance to be more joyous, spontaneous and expressive than any of their other work. Of course, the irony is that this occurs in a film where the title establishment is a fashion shop.
3) The film features one of the most swinging numbers in the Astaire/Rogers films - "I Won't Dance". Actually this number wasn't in the play from which the film is adapted. It was interpolated from "The Three Sisters". According to Larry Billman, Astaire wanted to use the song in The Gay Divorcee but RKO would not buy it. He plays the piano at the opening of the song and is later joined by Hal Borne - who often worked as an arranger for Astaire.
Kern was often criticized for his inability to create arrangements that swing. I don't know who arranged "I Won't Dance" but if Kern did so he proved the critics wrong this time. In 1935, when the film was released, swing was just beginning to take off commercially. This song certainly showed its potential.
4) This movie, unlike the two that preceded it - and Top Hat which followed it - has no big dance production number. These extravaganzas are the antithesis of what Astaire and Rogers did best - their eloquence, grace and intimacy. (Although the "Carioca" number in Flying Down to Rio is fun to watch). The film does have a fashion show at the end - featuring an early screen appearance by Lucille Ball. But this is capped by a glorious coda of dance by Astaire and Rogers to "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" and a reprise of "I Won't Dance".
5) The film is based on a book by the aforementioned Alice Duer Miller.
In short, it's a great movie. Watch it!
I like the film because:
1) The film is about pretense and how it's transcended by talent and effort. Or maybe it's about role confusion. Take your pick. The cafe owner won't hire Fred's band because they're not "Indians" - they're Indianians. He wants a more exotic group. That's why he has Lizzie Gatz singing for him under the nom de chanteuse Countess Sharvenka. As Lizzie puts it, "You've got to have a title to croon over here." As a result of "Sharvenka's" threats - and the band's undoubted ability - Fred and the Indianians wind up performing at the Cafe.
On the other side of the ledger, Stephanie (Irene Dunne) is a Russian aristocrat who is working as the capable assistant and fashion designer at Roberta's. Her cousin - a Russian prince - is the doorman of the establishment. Roberta's, of couse, is simply the most fashionable couturier in all Paris.
Roberta herself is the midwestern-born "Aunt Minnie" of Jack Kent (Randolph Scott). And the film has great fun which the notion that Jack - a football player from the U.S. - must run Roberta's after Aunt Minnie dies and leaves him the place. No one is more scornful of Jack's ability to do this than his erstwhile girlfriend Sophie Teale (Claire Dodd). Of course, Jack has the good sense to dump Sophie (a pretentious twit who aspires to a role she can't attain) and winds up with Stephanie. And Fred and Ginger, who were childhood sweethearts, wind up together, effortlessly.
2) The film features the best dance that Fred and Ginger did together - "I'll Be Hard to Handle". The dance is staged as an improptu contest/courtship between the two in the cafe during rehearsals. Perhaps I like the dance because Ginger is in pants. I don't know what that means on a deeper level, but the absence of elaborate costumes (for either dancer) seems to free the dance to be more joyous, spontaneous and expressive than any of their other work. Of course, the irony is that this occurs in a film where the title establishment is a fashion shop.
3) The film features one of the most swinging numbers in the Astaire/Rogers films - "I Won't Dance". Actually this number wasn't in the play from which the film is adapted. It was interpolated from "The Three Sisters". According to Larry Billman, Astaire wanted to use the song in The Gay Divorcee but RKO would not buy it. He plays the piano at the opening of the song and is later joined by Hal Borne - who often worked as an arranger for Astaire.
Kern was often criticized for his inability to create arrangements that swing. I don't know who arranged "I Won't Dance" but if Kern did so he proved the critics wrong this time. In 1935, when the film was released, swing was just beginning to take off commercially. This song certainly showed its potential.
4) This movie, unlike the two that preceded it - and Top Hat which followed it - has no big dance production number. These extravaganzas are the antithesis of what Astaire and Rogers did best - their eloquence, grace and intimacy. (Although the "Carioca" number in Flying Down to Rio is fun to watch). The film does have a fashion show at the end - featuring an early screen appearance by Lucille Ball. But this is capped by a glorious coda of dance by Astaire and Rogers to "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" and a reprise of "I Won't Dance".
5) The film is based on a book by the aforementioned Alice Duer Miller.
In short, it's a great movie. Watch it!
posted by Whistling Dixie at 1:50 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home