Here is a movie musical what is a movie musical! Forget the story! It is slight at best, involving a he-man (Scott) inheriting a designing house in Paris. It comes complete with assistant (Dunne) and a phony countess (Rogers) and a band (complete with Astaire as leader) which has come to Paris with him. Why he is traveling with the band, or why Rogers is getting away with the phony royalty bit is never really explained. To be honest, the first half of the movie is totally missable and rather confusing. Scott as a love interest? Unable to see it. Dunne as a singer? Hard to take. Having said that, then, there is the dancing of Astaire and Rogers, unmatched by anyone before or since. No wonder tap and ballroom dancing has gone somewhat out of vogue. Once you see these two perform, everything and everyone else is a letdown. The music of Jerome Kern is some of the best ever put out for a movie. If you're under 35, you may never have had the opportunity to listen to "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", "I Won't Dance" and the rest. Do yourself a favor - watch this movie just for the music and dancing. A wag once said that Fred Astaire looked so good in a tuxedo that he rented himself out to them. No one else looks so at ease in top hat and tails. The clothes are dated, maybe, but you get an idea of what real glamour can be. Yards and yards of exotic looking material draped over some delicious looking models, including a brief glimpse of the redoubtable Lucille Ball! Well worth the time it takes to watch!!
