Em Pessoa

If you'd like a decent time passer with a few good moments, then IN PERSON is a pretty good bet. It's highly reminiscent of a later Astaire-Rogers film, CAREFREE, though not nearly as charming. Like CAREFREE, the main theme is psychiatry, though with IN PERSON, Ginger isn't faking a mental illness to get a man, in the story she really did have a nervous breakdown. The film begins after she's apparently cured and how she meets George Brent is one of the strangest and most contrived meetings in film history, as she looks initially like the Elephant Man walking down the street and underneath the hood, she's wearing a ridiculous disguise--all as a part of her treatment(?) for agoraphobia! Apparently, she is playing a famous actress (a big stretch) who is suddenly afraid of people--hence the goofy disguises.

The rest of the film is essentially a "boy meets girl and hates girl but by the end they are in love" sort of film--very, very predictable but also kind of cute in a rather absurd way. Frankly, George Brent and Ginger Rogers were better than this material, but since they are such pleasant personalities, it manages to work--though I agree with Arthur Hausner's review when he describes the film as "forced".

I was delightfully surprised at how fresh this film is! Ginger Rogers shines and sparkles! The songs in this film are also excellent examples of Dorothy Field's work. The songs, with their intelligent lyrics and as-always-wonderful staging of Hermes Pan, more than make up for Ginger's somewhat flat voice (What happened? She's on key with Astaire...) And believe it or not, dull old George Brent even has a twinkle in his eye or maybe even two--not as good as his early 30's work, but the most lively I've seen him in any of his other films. The plot is typical screwball of the times; no worse, no better. Overall this film is well worth seeing for light, cheerful entertainment.

Made between TOP HAT and FOLLOW THE FLEET, Ginger Rogers gives a performance far superior to the material of IN PERSON, a comedy/musical with a lame script and three fine songs composed by Oscar Levant and Dorothy Fields, two of them featuring sprightly dances from Ginger. Rogers plays a famous movie actress trying to recover from an attack of agoraphobia. Somehow she winds up at a cabin retreat with George Brent, himself more animated than usual, as he pretends not to know who she is, which apparently is meant to be some sort of a treatment for her mental problem. Most notable is Ginger's disguise, which features the inevitable glasses along with a dark wig and fake teeth. I, at least, found her quite unrecognizable thanks to those teeth, and Ginger does act like an entirely other person in posture and mannerism and even with a subtly different voice. It's a very fine performance.

Unfortunately there's nothing very funny about these scenes. Indeed, other characters treat her quite rudely, reacting to her looks as if she were the Elephant Man or something. Once up at the cabin the plot progresses like a mild I LOVE LUCY episode with the exception of the three musical interludes: 'A New Lease On Life' is a clever, light song accompanied by a clever, cute tap dance, one that might be easily compared with Astaire's 'Needle in a Haystack' routine from THE GAY DIVORCEE. Later Ginger sings 'Don't Mention Love To Me' in a 'movie within a movie' scene, not the sort of number that suited her voice. Finally we get 'Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind' complete with a full male chorus. This one is shot as a film being made on the RKO lot, and the movie will end in Ginger Roger's actual dressing room. The song, dance and setting are much more interesting than the plot twists, silly even by screwball standards and not nearly so funny as the good screwball efforts of the era.

IN PERSON turned a decent profit, probably due to Ginger Rogers' popularity more than anything. It was her first solo billing above the title, and if she wasn't already RKO's most popular star, she soon would be.

The film is just a great escape for the viewer. I love watching Ginger act the part of a spoiled rich movie star-considering she seemed to be very down to earth in her every day life. The costume was so un-movie star like but Ginger shows that she is just more than a pretty face by pulling off that stunt ! She has just a divine comedic touch and this early film of hers illustrates that.

Brent is so-so...he wasn't bad he wasn't fantastic either.

Ginger's co-star and supposed love interest in the film is funny and brings some more hijinks to her vacation.

There is a scene where he is to be involved in an altercation with Brent's character--it's priceless.

I have three fave moments in this film. The first is when Ginger wakes up in the cottage the morning after she gets there ... she sees a bird and decides to take a swim . Something about that scene is so relaxing and carefree.

The second is when she is doing her solo dance scene towards the end of the film. You finally get to see this woman get the limelight doing her own routine instead of sharing it with Astaire ( who was wonderful by the way ).

I can't leave out the third scene which has her dancing to a song on the radio in the cottage living room.

This is a really nice early Ginger movie which all Ginger fans should watch. It is quite a treat.

Thanks Ginger xoxo

I am going to rate this a little higher than some of the other reviewers. The plot here is less awkward than the creaky plot mechanics of the 1936 Astaire/Rogers "Swing Time" (which, despite the artificiality of the "are cuffs on formal trousers in season?" plot device, is nevertheless a masterpiece). Most fans of musicals would agree that "Swing Time" rates a 10. "In Person" has at least one great song-and-dance number -- "Out of Sight, Out of Mind" with music by legendary Oscar Levant and lyrics by Dorothy Fields (among Fields's hundreds of songs is the Oscar-winning "The Way You Look Tonight" in "Swing Time"). Ginger looks sexily charming even with the fake buck teeth and the glasses. This film is not on the level of "Swing Time," but at least it has a less annoying plot.