Roberta (1935)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

William A. Seiter

Writers:

Jerome Kern (play) and
Otto A. Harbach (play) ...

Release Date:

8 March 1935 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

A Heart-Load of Maddening Beauties.. In Gasping Gowns.. A Fortune in Furs.. A Ransom in Jewels.. In a Song-Studded Romance of Paris in Lovetime!

Plot:

Football player John Kent tags along as Huck Haines and the Wabash Indianians travel to an engagement in Paris...

Plot Keywords:

Fashion | Jazz Band | Trapped In Elevator | Dancer | Dress Making

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Irene Dunne	...	Stephanie
Fred Astaire	...	Huckleberry Haines
Ginger Rogers	...	Comtesse Scharwenka
Randolph Scott	...	John Kent
Helen Westley	...	Roberta / Aunt Minnie
Claire Dodd	...	Sophie Teale
Victor Varconi	...	Prince Ladislaw
Luis Alberni	...	Alexander Petrovitch Moskovich Voyda
Ferdinand Munier	...	Lord Henry Delves
Torben Meyer	...	Albert
Adrian Rosley	...	Professor
Bodil Rosing	...	Fernande (maid)

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French | Russian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #601) | Australia:G

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

Ginger Rogers' accent is a homage to the Polish-born actress Lyda Roberti, who played the role on Broadway.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: When John Kent arrives in Paris and goes to the building where Roberta lives, the doorman tells him that she is on the "troisième étage " and indicates that John should press the corresponding button. John is eventually taken to Roberta on the third floor, which is incorrect since the "troisième étage " corresponds to the fourth floor. In France, the "premiere étage" (first floor) is not the ground floor but the next one up.

Quotes:

Huckleberry Haines: What's the racket Liz? Did you marry the title or just lift it?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)

Soundtrack:

I'll Be Hard to Handle

Captivating

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.