Rita Hayworth & Fred Astaire movies
Friday-Saturday, Aug. 15–16, highlights on Turner Classic Movies: Since TCM is currently leasing Columbia’s library, this year’s Rita Hayworth Day includes most of the actress’ best films. Gilda (right), of course, is a must for those who’ve never seen it. Although clumsy here and there, Charles Vidor’s romantic film noir features Hayworth at her most goddess-like. As her possessive husband – one who also happens to be in lust with Glenn Ford – George Macready almost (but not quite) steals the show.
I’d also suggest Robert Rossen’s They Came to Cordura, a flawed but curious adventure drama in which tempers, desire, and sweat come to the surface while Hayworth, Gary Cooper, Van Heflin, and Tab Hunter cross a Mexican desert seeking refuge at an American military base. Army heroes have hardly ever looked less heroic in Hollywood films of the period, while They Came to Cordura gave Hayworth one of her few chances to truly shine as a dramatic actress.
Tonight and Every Night looks great, but it’s a monumental (prudish) bore, whereas Down to Earth is enjoyable even if a tad bloated. In any case, Rita Hayworth in color is always worth a look.
Fred Astaire, TCM’s Saturday star, is a great dancer, yes, but I’d rather watch Ann Miller, Cyd Charisse, or Eleanor Powell. Charisse, in fact, can be seen in Rouben Mamoulian’s classy (but somewhat stiff) Silk Stockings, a musicalized version of Ninotchka, while Astaire dances with Powell in the mediocre The Broadway Melody of 1940, one of myriad studio-factory films: great-looking, but without an iota of spontaneity, character, or charm.
Of the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers musicals, my favorites are The Gay Divorcee (Erik Rhodes all but walks away with it) and, especially, Follow the Fleet. The latter has some of the greatest movie songs of the 1930s, several clever dance numbers, and for once I found Astaire a capable actor.
The only thing funnier than the aerial musical number in Flying Down to Rio is Mexican Dolores del Rio’s attempt to pass for a Brazilian socialite. She’s a hoot – but a lovely one at that. Gene Raymond isn’t all that funny (he’s an American playing an American), but he’s lovely to look at as well.
Even though neither Dolores del Rio nor Gene Raymond are anywhere to be found in Roberta, the song “Lovely to Look At” can be heard in this middling Astaire-Rogers vehicle (directed by studio journeyman William A. Seiter) – an Astaire-Rogers vehicle that actually belongs to Irene Dunne.
Rita Hayworth movies
15 Friday
3:00 AM Susan and God (1940)
A flighty socialite neglects her family to promote a new religious group. Cast: Joan Crawford, Fredric March, Rita Hayworth. Ruth Hussey. Nigel Bruce. John Carroll. Rose Hobart. Marjorie Main. Bruce Cabot. Director: George Cukor. Black and white. 117 min.5:00 AM The Loves of Carmen (1948)
A Gypsy temptress seduces an innocent young officer, and then dumps him for another man. Cast: Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, Ron Randell. Director: Charles Vidor. Color. 97 min.6:45 AM Affair in Trinidad (1952)
A nightclub singer enlists her brother-in-law to track down her husband’s killer. Cast: Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, Alexander Scourby. Director: Vincent Sherman. Black and white. 98 min.8:30 AM Fire Down Below (1957)
Partners in a tramp steamer both fall for a mysterious lady passenger. Cast: Rita Hayworth, Robert Mitchum, Jack Lemmon. Director: Robert Parrish. Color. 115 mins. Letterbox Format10:30 AM The Money Trap (1966)
A cop with financial problems turns crooked. Cast: Glenn Ford, Rita Hayworth, Elke Sommer. Director: Burt Kennedy. Black and white. 92 mins. Letterbox Format12:15 PM Music in My Heart (1940)
A chorus girl engaged to a millionaire falls for the star of her latest musical. Cast: Tony Martin, Rita Hayworth, Edith Fellows. Director: Joseph Santley. Black and white. 70 min.1:30 PM Down to Earth (1947)
The goddess of the dance comes to Earth to take over a musical lampooning the gods. Cast: Rita Hayworth, Larry Parks, James Gleason. Adele Jergens. Director: Alexander Hall. Color. 101 min.3:15 PM Tonight and Every Night (1945)
An American girl falls for an RAF pilot while performing at a British music hall. Cast: Rita Hayworth, Lee Bowman, Janet Blair. Director: Victor Saville. Color. 92 min.5:00 PM You’ll Never Get Rich (1941)
A Broadway dancing team splits up when the male dancer is drafted. Cast: Fred Astaire, Rita Hayworth, Robert Benchley. John Hubbard. Osa Massen. Frieda Inescort. Director: Sidney Lanfield. Black and white. 89 min.6:45 PM Gilda (1946)
A gambler discovers an old flame in South America, but she’s married to his new boss. Cast: Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, George Macready. Director: Charles Vidor. Black and white. 110 min.8:45 PM They Came to Cordura (1959)
Six American military heroes in Mexico fight treacherous conditions to get back to their base. Cast: Gary Cooper, Rita Hayworth, Van Heflin. Tab Hunter. Director: Robert Rossen. Color. 123 mins. Letterbox Format11:00 PM Rita (2003)
A documentary on the life story and experiences of Rita Hayworth told through film clips and stills, archival footage, dramatic re-enactments and interviews. Black and white. 58 min.12:00 AM The Lady in Question (1940)
When a jury member takes in the defendant he couldn’t convict, she has a bad influence on his son. Cast: Brian Aherne, Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford. Director: Charles Vidor. Black and white. 80 min.1:30 AM Affectionately Yours (1941)
A foreign correspondent hurries home to stop his wife from getting a divorce. Cast: Merle Oberon, Dennis Morgan, Rita Hayworth. Hattie McDaniel. Director: Lloyd Bacon. Black and white. 88 min.Fred Astaire movies
16 Saturday
3:00 AM Flying Down to Rio (1933)
A dance-band leader finds love and success in Brazil. Cast: Dolores Del Rio, Gene Raymond, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Raoul Roulien. Director: Thornton Freeland. Black and white. 90 min.4:30 AM Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940)
A vaudeville team breaks up when both men fall for the same gorgeous hoofer. Cast: Fred Astaire, Eleanor Powell, George Murphy. Director: Norman Taurog. Black and white. 102 min.6:15 AM The Fred Astaire Songbook (1991)
A loving tribute to Astaire the singer. Director: Carol Burnett, David Heeley. Color. 64 min.7:30 AM Easter Parade (1948)
When his partner leaves him, a vaudeville star trains an untried performer to take her place, finding love in the process. Cast: Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, Ann Miller. Peter Lawford. Director: Charles Walters. Color. 103 min.9:30 AM Silk Stockings (1957)
A straitlaced Soviet agent is seduced by Paris and a high-stepping film producer. Cast: Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Janis Paige. Director: Rouben Mamoulian. Color. 118 mins. Letterbox Format11:30 AM The Barkleys of Broadway (1949)
A married musical team splits up so the wife can become a serious actress. Cast: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Oscar Levant. Director: Charles Walters. Color. 109 min.1:30 PM Shall We Dance (1937)
A ballet dancer and a showgirl fake a marriage for publicity purposes, then fall in love. Cast: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Edward Everett Horton. Director: Mark Sandrich. Black and white. 109 min.3:30 PM Carefree (1938)
A psychiatrist falls in love with the woman he’s supposed to be nudging into marriage with someone else. Cast: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Ralph Bellamy. Director: Mark Sandrich. Black and white. 83 min.5:00 PM Swing Time (1936)
To prove himself worthy of his fiancee, a dancer tries to make it big, only to fall for his dancing partner. Cast: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Victor Moore. Director: George Stevens. Black and white. 104 min.7:00 PM Top Hat (1935)
A woman thinks the man who loves her is her best friend’s husband. Cast: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Edward Everett Horton. Director: Mark Sandrich. Black and white. 100 min.9:00 PM Roberta (1935)
A football player inherits a chic Paris fashion house. Cast: Irene Dunne, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Randolph Scott. Director: William A. Seiter. Black and white. 106 min.11:00 PM Follow the Fleet (1936)
Two sailors on leave romance a dance-hall hostess and her prim sister. Cast: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Randolph Scott, Harriet Hilliard (a.k.a. Harriet Nelson). Director: Mark Sandrich. Black and white. 110 min.1:00 AM The Gay Divorcee (1934)
An unhappily married woman mistakes a suitor for the gigolo hired to end her marriage. Cast: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Edward Everett Horton. Eric Blore. Erik Rhodes. Director: Mark Sandrich. Black and white. 105 min.
Schedule (Pacific Time) and synopses from the TCM website.
4 comments
Follow the Fleet has goood songs, but not as great as Top Hat. It is exceedingly long and slowly paced. The dances are great, but the secondary plot with Randloph Scott is incredibly boring. The Gay Divorcee is one of Fred’s best early films.. Let’s Knock Knees is hysterical and most of the comedy works. One flaw is Fred and Ginger don’t dance enough. Swing Time and Top Hat are their best movies. Shall We Dance isn’t very good with an insipid plot-great songs by the Gershwins were kind of thrown away. Why in the world is Fred dancing with Harriet Hoctor?
Hello,
I’d say that many — actually, probably most — of my top choices when it comes to movies are “unusual.” In other words, most people would disagree with them.
I need to take another look at “The Sky’s the Limit.” I saw it ages ago. And I must admit I still haven’t watched “On the Beach,” though I have it here on DVD. One of these evenings…
As for “You Were Never Lovelier,” I believe that TCM has shown that one — though not on that particular Rita Hayworth Day.
Thanks for sharing that Jerome Robbins info. I was unaware of it.
BTW, I was surprised to notice that TCM did not screen “You Were Never Lovelier”: the second film pairing of Astaire and Hayworth. This is a better constructed movie than “You’ll Never Get Rich”, with more memorable music, and has two dances that so impressed Jerome Robbins that he staged two ballets based on their choreography. One of these “I’m Old Fashioned”, is still being staged regularly by the NY City Ballet. Hayworth has been quoted as saying that her two movies with Astaire and her one with Kelly, were the only movies who could watch without laughing, and that they were the jewels of her movie career.
I was rather surprised that of the Astaire-Rogers movies you picked “The Gay Divorcee” and “Follow the Fleet” as your favorites. While both are enjoyable, each in their own special way, they do not (in my opinion) have the best music. In the Gay Divorcee (which is now 75 years old), the only Cole Porter song that survived from the stage play is the wonderful “Night and Day”, and it is superbly danced and sung in the movie. In “Follow the Fleet” the only song that passed into music memory is “Let’s Face the Music”. Whereas, many more songs from “Top Hat”, “Swing Time” and “Shall We Dance” remain in the American Songbook. As far as Astaire’s acting, I think his best acted comedy role was in “The Sky’s the Limit” and his best dramatic role was in “On the Beach”. He certainly could act extremely subtly and believably when he had the proper director and role.