Roberta (1935)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

William A. Seiter

Writers:

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

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)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lucille Ball	...	Fashion model (uncredited)
Hal Borne	...	Wabash Indianian (uncredited)
Halbert Brown	...	Wabash Indianian (uncredited)
Candy Candido	...	Trick-voiced Wabash Indianian (uncredited)
William Carey	...	Wabash Indianian (uncredited)
Virginia Carroll	...	Fashion model (uncredited)
Lynne Carver	...	Fashion model (uncredited)
Diane Cook	...	Fashion model (uncredited)
Phil Cuthbert	...	Wabash Indianian (uncredited)
William B. Davidson	...	Ship's officer (uncredited)
Delmon Davis	...	Wabash Indianian (uncredited)
Lorraine DeSart	...	Fashion model (uncredited)
Ivan Dow	...	Wabash Indianian (uncredited)
Betty Dumbries	...	Fashion model (uncredited)
William R. Dunn	...	Wabash Indianian (uncredited)
Mary Forbes	...	Mrs. Teale (uncredited)
William Frawley	...	Bartender (uncredited)
Rita Gould	...	Woman (uncredited)
Jane Hamilton	...	Liane, a fashion model (uncredited)
Grace Hayle	...	Newspaper reporter (uncredited)
Maxine Jennings	...	Fashion model (uncredited)
Howard Lally	...	Wabash Indianian (uncredited)
Mike Lally	...	Bar customer (uncredited)
Lorna Low	...	Fashion model (uncredited)
Muzzy Marcellino	...	Wabash Indianian (uncredited)
Margaret McChrystal	...	Fashion model (uncredited)
Paul McLarind	...	Wabash Indianian (uncredited)
Marie Osborne	...	Fashion model (uncredited)
Wanda Perry	...	Fashion model (uncredited)
Donna Mae Roberts	...	Fashion model (uncredited)
Zena Savine	...	Woman (uncredited)
Sam Savitsky	...	Cossack (uncredited)
Charles Sharpe	...	Wabash Indianian (uncredited)
Gene Sheldon	...	Banjo-playing Wabash Indianian (uncredited)
Kay Sutton	...	Fashion model (uncredited)
Mike Tellegen	...	Cossack (uncredited)
Dale Van Sickel	...	Cossack (uncredited)
Michael Visaroff	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Judith Vosselli	...	Woman (uncredited)

Directed by
William A. Seiter

Writing credits
Jerome Kern		(play "Roberta") and
Otto A. Harbach		(play "Roberta")
Jane Murfin		(screenplay) and
Sam Mintz		(screenplay) and
Allan Scott		(screenplay)
Glenn Tryon		(additional dialogue)
Alice Duer Miller		novel "Gowns by Roberta"
Dorothy Yost		uncredited (treatment)

Produced by
Pandro S. Berman	....	producer

Cinematography by
Edward Cronjager		(photographed by)

Film Editing by
William Hamilton

Art Direction by
Van Nest Polglase

Costume Design by
Bernard Newman		(gowns)

Makeup Department
Mel Berns	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Kenneth Holmes	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Edward Killy	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Argyle Nelson	....	second assistant director (uncredited)
C.C. Thompson	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Sam White	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Carroll Clark	....	associate art director
Thomas Little	....	set dresser (as Thomas K. Little)

Sound Department
George Marsh	....	sound editor
John E. Tribby	....	sound recordist (as John Tribby)

Special Effects by
Harry Redmond Sr.	....	special effects supervisor (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Robert De Grasse	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Music Department
Philip Faulkner Jr.	....	music recordist (as P.J. Faulkner Jr.)
Max Steiner	....	musical director
Wayne Allen	....	music arranger (uncredited)
Gene Rose	....	music arranger (uncredited)
Max Steiner	....	composer: incidental music (uncredited)

Other crew
Fred Astaire	....	dance arranger
Zion Myers	....	production associate
Hermes Pan	....	assistant dance director

Production Companies

• RKO Radio Pictures

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1935) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (197?) (USA) (TV)
• MGM Home Entertainment (198?) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• RKO Radio Pictures  presents (as Radio Pictures)

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:

During "I Won't Dance," Ginger Rogers sings to Fred Astaire: "But when you dance you're charming and you're gentle/ Especially when you do the Continental," referring to the dance in their previous film, The Gay Divorcee (1934). The two then strike a pose from that number while the band plays a riff.

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:

Comtesse Scharwenka: You may call me Tanka.
Huckleberry Haines: Tanka.
Comtesse Scharwenka: You're welcome.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)

Soundtrack:

I Won't Dance

Perfection

I have been lucky enough to have this fashion parade comedy musical film in my life since the mid 70s when New Zealand TV stations sent all their old 16mm prints to Australia for junking. Instead, most of these 500 prints were found be in mint full length condition. As a result they were hired out, and I operated a cinema and ran dozens and dozens of them.

Among this incredible library was ROBERTA which seemed to always be programmed every other month or two. So my first viewing was in a lovely old cinema with a perfect print and a big audience. I have never recovered and never want to. Every time I see ROBERTA I swoon from the sheer beauty of every part of this gorgeous film. 30 years later I can watch it on tape on TV and still get the same overwhelming emotional bliss knowing what it is doing to me. I admire the fashionable production and the team so much because they knew what they were doing to the audience too: presenting a sublime musical confection that is exquisite enough to make the viewer pass out from aching satisfaction. Find it, see it, love it. Have this film in your life and just absorb every second of its absolute perfection.