In Person

The funniest thing about this movie is Ginger Rogers' disguise: buck teeth and glasses, reminding me of Jerry Lewis in The Nutty Professor (1963). She's a famous actress who got a bad case of agoraphobia when she was mobbed by adoring fans. To get away, she practically invites herself to go with George Brent to a mountain cabin retreat after she overhears that he was going there. Once there the comedy is predictable and routine. You do get to hear Rogers sing three songs and do a neat tap dance, all very enjoyable, but not enough to make up for the flat script.

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".

George Brent is imported from Warner Brothers to co-star with Ginger Rogers in In Person. Ginger is a movie star who is craving a little peace and quiet away from her adoring public. She gets that, but she also gets psychologist Brent along for the ride. All without her knowing of course. She just thinks of Brent as a he man outdoors type and he pretends he doesn't know she's a big movie star.

Ginger has some good scenes learning how to rough it in the woods, but the film overall is rather silly. The best thing it has going for it are some musical numbers for her in it without Fred Astaire. Alan Mowbray as her leading man and a stuffed shirt to boot stands out in the supporting cast.

Ginger's legion of fans should like this.

Movie star Carol Corliss (Ginger Rogers) has developed a fear of large crowds. She starts putting on her buck teeth plain Jane disguise to hide her identity. Emory Muir (George Brent) saves her from a crowd, but only knows her from her false identity.

Ginger Rogers shows that she can do more than dance backwards in heels with Fred Astaire. This starts with a great premise, but gets a bit convoluted in the cabin. The whole therapy thing is a mess. It seems to be an excuse to be stupid. Anyways, the movie needs to end with two specific scenes. It does neither. Instead, she solves her condition and the movie loses that part of the tension. The bickering just feels manufactured and then there are the hillbillies.

Beautiful, multitalented Ginger Rogers is -guess what - a beautiful and multitalented movie star in In Person from 1935, also starring George Brent.

After a nervous collapse, a popular film star, Carol Corliss, goes into hiding, donning an ugly duckling disguise. Her psychiatrist thinks time in a mountain cabin will do her good, and asks a outdoorsman (Brent) to accompany her.

At first he doesn't know who she is, but he discovers her identity soon enough.

Then her frequent costar (Alan Mowbray) shows up, declaring his love and wanting her to return to Hollywood.

Pleasant enough, but Ginger's singing and dancing really are the highlights. She and Brent have good chemistry.