Roberta (1935)

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:

The third (of ten) dancing partnership of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

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:

John Kent: You don't appreciate her. I know she seems a little hard and sophisticated, but underneath she's a pearl.
Huckleberry Haines: And a pearl so I'm told, is the result of a chronic irritation on an oyster.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "You Bet Your Life: (#6.8)" (1955)

Soundtrack:

Lovely to Look At

"Gee, that'll be swell"

'Roberta (1935)' marked the third teaming of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, and, like 'Flying Down to Rio (1933),' it suffers from a studio oversight: RKO hadn't yet realized that Fred and Ginger were the main attraction. This, of course, is to take nothing away from Irene Dunne, who is first-billed, a talented actress and a genuine box-office draw, but, with the apology of hindsight, it's not Dunne for whom I'm watching this film {just out of interest, this was my eighth Astaire/Rogers film – now I need only to track down 'The Gay Divorcée (1934)' and 'Carefree (1938)'}. The main plot concerns All-American football player John Kent (Randolph Scott), who has arrived in Paris with his friend Huckleberry Haines (Astaire), who has brought along his orchestra, the Wabash Indianians. While John falls in love with fashion designer Stephaine (Dunne), Haines reacquaints with childhood sweetheart Lizzie Gatz (Rogers), who is now, for show-business purposes, sporting a fake European accent and the prestigious title of Countess Scharwenka.

Randolph Scott appeared with Astaire in two 1930s musicals, and it's interesting to observe how their respective roles changed in such a short time. In 'Roberta,' he is clearly the leading man, and makes a good go at it, too – John Kent is sincere, likable and slightly naive in that Frank Capra All-American sense. Astaire is there to provide slightly goofy comedic support, and his musical routines help obscure the fact that Scott has no musical talents to complement Irene Dunne's incredible singing voice. Just one year later in 'Follow the Fleet (1936)' – after 'Top Hat (1935)' had made box-office gold of Fred and Ginger – Scott is similarly relegated to a romantic supporting role, having to settle for Ginger's nondescript sister (Harriet Hilliard). The bulk of the plot in 'Roberta' concerns John's complicated romance with Stephanie, and it occasionally gets bogged down by it. Still, whenever Fred and Ginger get tapping they kick up a storm, with memorable musical numbers including "I'll Be Hard to Handle," "Lovely to Look At" and "I Won't Dance."

Though Dunne certainly has an excellent singing voice (and it is, indeed, her own voice), the contrast between her solemn, operatic songs, and Fred and Ginger's playful vaudeville routines is too great to sit comfortably together. This, and the over-dependence on a central love story, makes the film enjoyable but uneven. As did many of the Astaire/Rogers films, 'Roberta' proved successful with audiences because it consciously defied the woeful economic conditions in which the United States still found itself. Aside from an elevator that doesn't quite get there, the hotels and nightclubs of Paris are glittering hot-spots of class and high fashion. Much effort was evidently spent designing the range of outfits that appeared in the film, and, had I cared one bit about fashion, I might have found myself in Heaven – as it were, the fashion show itself proved a little tedious. In any case, it's fascinating to note how times have changed since the 1930s. That controversial dress that Randolph Scott dismissed as "vulgar?" I thought it was a knockout!