Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers are probably the most famous dance partners in film history. Their nine musicals together during the 1930s were very successful, although much more lightweight than their current reputation.
But Rogers had ambitions to be a dramatic actress, and she split the team up in 1939. She was promptly rewarded with an Oscar for Best Actress, for Kitty Foyle (1940). Meanwhile, Astaire found a home with MGM, a studio which turned out one big budget musical after another until the late 1950s.
Astaire was teamed in the box office smash Easter Parade (1948) with MGM's biggest star, Judy Garland. The Barkleys of Broadway was intended to be a follow-up, also starring Astaire and Garland. But Garland's addictions and neuroses led to the termination of her contract. Her replacement was Ginger Rogers.
The Barkleys of Broadway was the first Astaire-Rogers musical in ten years, and their own technicolor film. Curiously, the script and story seems tailor-made for Rogers rather than Garland. Rogers was best as a light comedienne, while Garland was a knockout singer. But in the film, Rogers has much more opportunity for the former than the latter.
Which is a good thing, since the screenplay was written by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. They were MGM's best musical playwrights, with their future masterpiece to be Singin' in the Rain (1952). The humor was further helped by the presence of Oscar Levant, whose laconic, deadpan delivery is always on target. He certainly gets more clever lines than he would in An American in Paris (1951) two years hence.
The story for The Barkleys of Broadway has many elements that were true to life. Levant, an accomplished pianist, composer and wit, practically plays himself, even performing a few thunderous classical arrangements on the piano. Also in familiar territory is Astaire, playing an actor and dancer in musicals. The script seems to satirize the legend of Astaire and Rogers, with Astaire's character labelled a Svengali shaping Rogers' career, and Rogers' character longing for dramatic roles.
The film is not highly regarded today. Reviews tend to sneer at the thin plot, and especially at Rogers' unintentionally comic reading of the French national anthem. Rogers was most natural as a comic actress, and her enthusiasm and exaggerated gestures during this 'dramatic' performance only make her look silly.
Still, there is so much talent and production values behind the film. The supporting characters are also deeper than usual. Levant plays the indifferent escort to a bevy of young beauties, while the overly serious French director Barredout (Jacques Francois) is not merely a cardboard prop to make Astaire jealous. Best of all is the Comden-Green script, which has the promise that they would later deliver with Singin' in the Rain. (70/100)
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