Story Of Vernon And Irene Castle (1939)

A young dancer (Ginger Rogers) convinces a vaudeville second banana comic (Fred Astaire) to switch to dancing. He does and eventually they become a famous dancing couple, first in France then in America. Directed by H.C. Potter (MR. BLANDINGS BUILDS HIS DREAM HOUSE), this is by far the weakest of the ten movies Astaire and Rogers made together. Based on the lives of a popular married ballroom dancers in the early 20th century who also appeared on Broadway and silent movies, the film is on the dull side. The dance numbers, usually the highlight of any Astaire and Rogers film, are remarkably listless and the screenplay lacks the sparkle and wit that their best vehicles bubbled over with. The few songs in the film are unmemorable and sentimentality is the order of the day, something you wouldn't call their other movies. Some lively support arrives in the form of two supporting characters played by Edna May Oliver and Walter Brennan doing their specialties, bossy spinster and cantankerous coot respectively. With Lew Fields, Janet Beecher, Leonid Kinskey, Donald MacBride and Frank Faylen.