Once I reached adulthood I began to realize that Fred Astaire was the finest dancer in films. I don't know if it was because here he was playing a real person in a "bio-pic", but the dancing Astaire did here was "very good", but not up to the usual Astaire performance where one is often tempted to use the phrase "brilliant".
On the other hand, some of the Astair musicals had pretty weak plots, while here we have a real story.
THere's no question that Astaire and Ginger Rogers had great screen chemistry, and it shows here. The story is good enough that I went online to find out more about the Castles.
I've always liked Walter Brennan, but to me he seemed a bit out of place here. One of my favorite character actresses is here, too -- Edna May Oliver -- is here too. Always delightful, but here she didn't have enough to do and she wasn't able to steal scenes the way she often did. Interesting that we see the REAL Lew Fields here, one of the great vaudevillians.
If you're a real Astaire fan...watch it. If you're looking for a couple of Astaire films to watch to see what he was all about...there are better choices (one of my favorites is "Holiday Inn" with Bing Crosby).
This one...it's "good".
On the other hand, some of the Astair musicals had pretty weak plots, while here we have a real story.
THere's no question that Astaire and Ginger Rogers had great screen chemistry, and it shows here. The story is good enough that I went online to find out more about the Castles.
I've always liked Walter Brennan, but to me he seemed a bit out of place here. One of my favorite character actresses is here, too -- Edna May Oliver -- is here too. Always delightful, but here she didn't have enough to do and she wasn't able to steal scenes the way she often did. Interesting that we see the REAL Lew Fields here, one of the great vaudevillians.
If you're a real Astaire fan...watch it. If you're looking for a couple of Astaire films to watch to see what he was all about...there are better choices (one of my favorites is "Holiday Inn" with Bing Crosby).
This one...it's "good".