The Barkleys of Broadway

After 10 years apart, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers reunite for their only Technicolor film, playing a husband and wife Broadway team with marital difficulties.  It’s no Scenes from a Marriage, but you don’t expect that (nor would you really want it) from a musical comedy.  Although, it’s actually handled quite well, with some honesty about the ups and downs of marriage and a relationship you care about.  Of course you care… it’s Fred and Ginger!  They play off each other so wonderfully.  And as expected, dance together wonderfully.  There are few cinematic delights as pleasurable as the ease with which they match each other’s steps.  And what a joy to hear them reprise “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” (one of my favorite ditties), and in a superior version to the one from Shall We Dance.  There’s also an unusual solo Astaire number, “Shoes With Wings On,” a riff on the “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” segment from Fantasia, with dancing shoes instead of broomsticks.

There are two stumbling blocks, though.  The first is “My One and Only Highland Fling”… a dumb pastiche of Scottish stereotypes, although once they shut up and dance it’s not bad.  The other is Oscar Levant’s Tchaikovsky performance.  Levant is otherwise terrific throughout the movie as the Barkleys’ friend and composer, with some great little comic relief moments.  His other solo number, a lively “Sabre Dance,” is a lot of fun.  But the Tchaikovsky just grinds everything to a halt, much like his solo in An American in Paris.  Okay, the guy can tickle the ivories, but in this context it’s a buzzkill.

Those gripes aside, however, it’s a very fun movie with an engaging plot, great song and dance, and characters who are just flawed enough to be interesting without diminishing their natural charm and chemistry.  Rating: Very Good

IMDb