Roberta

Once upon a time, audiences went to see musicals like this expecting melodies you could whistle on the way out of the theater, and American composers delivered. It seemed songs you could sing were a dime a dozen back then -- it was called "Tin Pan Alley." But now they are enshrined in "The Great American Songbook," a list of the greatest American songwriters and their works from the 1920s to 1950s, whose posthumous rolls seem to expand every year.

"Roberta," a musical largely forgotten today, was the cradle of some of those classics, including "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," "Lovely to Look At," and "I Won't Dance" (which was wonderfully reinterpreted in "Warm Springs), plus some forgettable but amusing 1930s novelty numbers, such as playing an organ made up of the band members' gloves.

Audiences went to Fred Astaire - Ginger Rogers movies to see great dancing to great music. A great plot and great acting would be nice (such as in "Top Hat") but weren't essential. Hollywood kept trying to come up with new vehicles for this duo, with varying success, but always with fine music and dancing. "Roberta"'s plot is about average for the genre, and is worth seeing -- once. If you took the music and dancing out, how many stars would it get?

The songs here are not as closely integrated into the plot as they would be in later musicals beginning with Rodgers and Hammerstein, although "Showboat" of 1936 by Kern and Hammerstein was more successful in this regard. But in both "Showboat" and "Roberta" we have musical performers in the plot as an excuse for the music.

Irene Dunne's superb singing was one of the surprises of "Roberta." It turns out she was a thoroughly trained singer; she also sings in "Showboat." Sadly, she did not get to use her fine voice more, but she was an older actress by the time of the great musicals of the late 1940s and 1950s. Unlike some musical stars, she was able to easily transition to straight dramatic parts, such as "I Remember Mama."

I was also surprised to see some hot piano keyboard action by Fred Astaire. I think one reason audiences adored Astaire is that although he was a multi-talented singer, dancer, actor (and sometimes musician), he made it look so effortless and had an innate modesty.

Check out Candy Candido, the band member whose voice keeps changing registers. He was the voice of the angry apple tree in "The Wizard of Oz," and did some voices for Disney. And keep an eye out for an anonymous Lucille Ball, who is one of the fashion models.

This is a movie you will probably only want to see once, unless you wait long enough, in which case you probably won't remember any of the plot, anyway.

It seems really bizarre that after starring in "The Gay Divorcée," Rodgers and Astaire went back to playing supporting roles in this one. Leads Randolph Scott are Irene Dunne are fine, but Rodgers and Astaire are on blazing whenever they're on screen, so Scott and Dunne get pushed into the background.

The story is contrived and theatrical and not a particularly exciting one. However, four great songs and dances lift it into the must see category: "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," "Lovely to Look At," "I Won't Dance," and I'll Be Hard to Handle." Please note that the last three have lyrics by Dorothy Fields. She may have been the greatest lyricist of the 20th century with songs like "Sunnyside of the Street," "A Fine Romance," "I'm in the Mood for Love" and "Big Spender" to her credit.

The movie is a little dated and tedious at an hour and forty minutes, but, at least 30 of those minutes with Ginger and Fred are enchanting.

"Nous Sommes étonné." as Fred says in the movie.

... because when it was made Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire were still supporting players. The real stars of the film are Randolph Scott in modern dress not western garb,and queen and songbird of the RKO lot at the time, Irene Dunne. A somewhat musical rom-com, it has Huck Haines (Fred Astaire) and his big band arriving in France only to learn that their promised gig has fallen through. Huck's best friend John Kent (Randolph Scott) decides to look up his aunt, a dressmaker named Roberta (Helen Westley) to see if she has any advice on work for the band.

John ends up inheriting the dressmaking firm with Roberta's death, and he falls for lead designer Stephanie (Irene Dunne), while Huck meets up with Lizzie Gatz (Ginger Rogers) a neighborhood gal pretending to be European aristocracy.

Give this one a chance. I All four leads are charming and on top of their game. The costumes are elaborate, and the models are stunning, including a young blonde Lucille Ball. The songs are good, too, including the standard "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes".

What's not to like - Astaire-Rogers dancing to "I Don't Dance, Don't Ask Me", ocean liners crossing the Atlantic, trains racing across northern France, jazz bands rehearsing in Paris clubs, stupendous art deco sets, a couturier's elegant salon, serenading to balalaikas, stunning models privately displaying satin gowns, Russian princes, "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" sung by the beautiful Irene Dunne, an elegant Old Russian restaurant with its frescoes, fashion show that incorporates Astaire and Rogers dancing, Irene Dunne's warmth, a witty script, a Broadway smash hit brought to the screen - geez, what a movie! It is only recently that I've begun to enjoy musicals. The ones I like are the light ones - not the ones incorporating social issues which I feel musicals are ill-equipped to handle.

But a light musical comedy - with exquisite dancing, charming leads, swank clothes, elegant sets, witty dialogue - WOW! And this is definitely such a musical - absolutely charming.

The four leads are wonderfully cast. Irene Dunne reminds me of Greer Garson in having a certain soulfulness combined with innate gentility and enormous warmth - Dunne also happens to have had a world-class operatic singing voice (that in later movies, as operettas ceased to be appealing, was seldom heard). There is something so very vulnerable about a wounded Irene Dunne character - and she is wonderful in this part.

Randolph Scott has a big, clean, very handsome, American quality that is also wonderfully suited to this part - one in which his character is candid, straightforward, easily swayed by others who are sophisticated -but at a certain point will act decisively when he comes to realize his judgment has been mistaken.

Fred Astaire's subordinate comic supporting role is suited well by the enormous difference in size between himself and Scott - and obviously his dancing and his easy way with humorous lines is just wonderful.

The 24 year old Ginger Rogers may be the biggest revelation to me - it's not just that she can dance astonishingly well, that she is wonderful (and wonderfully funny) with accents, that she can sing songs equally comically or romantically (and with great gestures), that she is very VERY funny, whip-smart with dialogue,, but she perfectly suits the job of one hustling for jobs, adapting to all circumstances, rough and ready -- and extremely aware at all times.

I think studio heads really saw Rogers' amazing abilities through the end of World War II (after which she was shamefully abandoned) - she seldom played the "classy woman" and we instead find her as a shop girl, prisoner on furlough, society wannabe, entertainer. I would like to have seen her play in her career, a part in which she more deliberately seductive (like Barbara Stanwyck or Joan Crawford, Miriam Hopkins or Bette Davis often did) but alas.

You'll like this - just relax and feel yourself enthralled.

Huckleberry Haines (Fred Astaire) and his band, the Wabash Indianians, arrive at Le Havre, in France, for a season in a Russian nightclub. However, the owner Alexander Petrovitch Moskovich Voyda (Luis Alberni) expects the arrival of an Indian band and he calls off their contract.

Haines and the band head to Paris, and his friend John Kent (Randolph Scott) decides to visit his Aunt Minnie (Helen Westley), who owns the fashion house Roberta, to use her influence to find a work for the band. John meets the manager Stephanie (Irene Dunne) and they immediately feel attracted for each other. Huck Haines meets in the Roberta's salon his old friend Liz with the artistic identity of Comtesse Scharwenka (Ginger Rogers) and she helps him to get a job with Voyda.

When Aunt Minnie passes away, John Kent is the heir of her fortune and also Roberta. However he decides to give the fashion house for Stephanie, but she proposes a partnership between them two. But when John's old passion, the gold digger Sophie Teale (Claire Dodd) seeks out John, the infatuated Stephanie decides to leave the business and travel abroad with the Russian Prince Ladislaw (Victor Varconi).

"Roberta" is an adorable musical with one of the most beautiful songs of the cinema ever. With music by Jerome Kern and lyrics by Otto A. Harbach, "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" is performed by Irene Dunne. The plot is naive, but the musical numbers, the dances and the fashion parade are delightful. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Roberta"