The Barkleys Of Broadway (1949)

A husband (Fred Astaire) and wife (Ginger Rogers) musical comedy team reach a crisis in their relationship when she feels he takes her talent for granted. When a writer/director (Jacques Francois) pursues her for a dramatic role in his play based on the life of Sarah Bernhardt, she accepts thus causing a rift in their marriage. Directed by Charles Walters (HIGH SOCIETY), this was the tenth and final pairing of the Astaire & Rogers and their only one in color. While it's not on the same level as the greatest of their RKO films, it's still better than their lesser ones (SHALL WE DANCE, STORY OF VERNON AND IRENE CASTLE). The script by Betty Comden and Adolph Green is solid but the songs by Harry Warren and Ira Gershwin, save one, are a lackluster lot. The one gem is They Can't Take That Away From Me (music by George Gershwin) previously performed in SHALL WE DANCE which is the dance highpoint of the film. And whose bright idea was it to place the opening credits over Astaire & Rogers dancing? Curiously, in the dramatic scene where Rogers as Bernhardt supposedly proves her dramatic talents, she's awful! With Oscar Levant doing Oscar Levant, Billie Burke, Gale Robbins, Clinton Sundberg, George Zucco, Hans Conreid and Frank Ferguson.