This 1949 musical signals the last pairing of Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers in this yarn of a married couple in the throes of putting on their latest show. On stage they're the best of friends but off, she starting to resent his annoying tendencies to micro manage her. Enter a French playwright who's mounting a play about actress Sarah Bernhardt which he feels Rogers would be perfect for since it would stretch her dramatic muscles. Things seem bleak when this opportunity breaks the duo up (Astaire enlists the understudy to fill in) while their mutual friend Oscar Levant (an accomplished pianist in his own right who gets a couple of solos in the film to shine) has to conspire behind the scenes to get them back as one. The auditions for the Bernhardt play aren't smooth sailing (the director & Rogers don't see eye to eye) but secretly Astaire has seen some of the rehearsals & decides to give Rogers advice (via phone) pretending he's the Frenchmen. I enjoyed this film immensely since we see the vaulted duo perform their numbers effortlessly w/Levant's wiseguy quips salted throughout the film like a welcome garnish.
Review of The Barkleys of Broadway
