The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

H.C. Potter

Writers:

Irene Castle (stories)
Oscar Hammerstein II (adaptation) ...
(more)

Release Date:

29 March 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Musical | Romance | War

Plot:

This is the film version of Vernon and Irene Castle, sensational ballroom dancers prior to World War I.

Plot Keywords:

Dancer | France | Marriage | Plane Crash | Beautiful Woman

Cast

Fred Astaire	...	Vernon Castle
Ginger Rogers	...	Irene Castle nee Foote
Edna May Oliver	...	Maggie Sutton
Walter Brennan	...	Walter Ash
Lew Fields	...	Lew Fields
Etienne Girardot	...	Papa Aubel
Janet Beecher	...	Mrs. Foote
Rolfe Sedan	...	Emile Aubel
Leonid Kinskey	...	Artist
Robert Strange	...	Dr. Hubert Foote
Douglas Walton	...	Student Pilot
Clarence Derwent	...	Papa Louis
Sonny Lamont	...	Charlie, Tap Dancer
Frances Mercer	...	Claire Ford
Victor Varconi	...	Grand Duke
Donald MacBride	...	Hotel Manager
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Buzz Barton	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Max Barwyn	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Brooks Benedict	...	Stockbroker (uncredited)
Joe Bordeaux	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Eugene Borden	...	Frenchman (uncredited)
Lynton Brent	...	Mechanic (uncredited)
Mary Brodel	...	Irene's Girlfriend (uncredited)
Don Brodie	...	Stage Manager at Benefit (uncredited)
Neal Burns	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Marge Champion	...	Irene's Girlfriend (uncredited)
Tom Chatterton	...	Announcer at Benefit (uncredited)
Willis Clare	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Frank Coghlan Jr.	...	Boy in Montage (uncredited)
James Conaty	...	Man in Montage (uncredited)
Armand Cortes	...	Wardrobe Man at Benefit (uncredited)
Adrienne D'Ambricourt	...	French Landlady (uncredited)
Roy D'Arcy	...	Actor in 'Patria' (uncredited)
Hal K. Dawson	...	Man in Balcony in Fields Audience (uncredited)
Elspeth Dudgeon	...	Lady Bolton (uncredited)
Dick Elliott	...	Train Conductor (uncredited)
Frank Faylen	...	Adjutant (uncredited)
Billy Franey	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Jack Gargan	...	Soldier in Nightclub (uncredited)
Jack George	...	Orchestra Conductor, Paris (uncredited)
Wesley Giraud	...	Newsboy at Train Station (uncredited)
Eleanor Hansen	...	Irene's Girlfriend (uncredited)
Neal Hart	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Ethel Haworth	...	Irene's Girlfriend (uncredited)
Russell Hicks	...	Colonel (uncredited)
Leyland Hodgson	...	British Sergeant (uncredited)
George Irving	...	Colonel's Aide (uncredited)
Tiny Jones	...	Lady in Revolving Door (uncredited)
Jacques Lory	...	French Cab Driver (uncredited)
Dorothy Lovett	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Max Lucke	...	Frenchman in Hotel (uncredited)
Hugh McArthur	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
David Mcdonald	...	Army Pilot (uncredited)
Louis Mercier	...	French Singer (uncredited)
John Meredith	...	Army Pilot (uncredited)
Frank Mills	...	Frank, Stage Manager at Benefit (uncredited)
Bruce Mitchell	...	Movie Director (uncredited)
Edmund Mortimer	...	Nightclub Extra (uncredited)
Leonard Mudie	...	British Officer (uncredited)
Esther Muir	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Emmett O'Brien	...	Drag Dancer at Benefit (uncredited)
Frank O'Connor	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Milton Owen	...	Recruiter (uncredited)
Bill Patton	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Steve Pendleton	...	Adjutant (uncredited)
Jack Perrin	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Joe Polosci	...	Newsboy at Train Station (uncredited)
Jack Richardson	...	Old Man in Montage (uncredited)
Jean Sablon	...	Piano specialty (French version of 'The Darktown Strutters ´ Ball' (uncredited)
Kay Sutton	...	Girl with Stockbrokers (uncredited)
Fred Sweeney	...	Streetcar Conductor (uncredited)
D.H. Turner	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Ellinor Vanderveer	...	Guest with the Grand Duke (uncredited)
Theodore von Eltz	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Allen Wood	...	Flower Delivery Boy on Bus (uncredited)
William Worthington	...	Man reading newspaper (uncredited)
Lillian Yarbo	...	Mary, Claire's Maid (uncredited)

Directed by
H.C. Potter

Writing credits
Irene Castle		(stories My Husband and My Memories of Vernon Castle)
Oscar Hammerstein II		(adaptation) and
Dorothy Yost		(adaptation)
Richard Sherman		(screenplay)

Produced by
George Haight	....	producer

Original Music by
Robert Russell Bennett		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Robert De Grasse		(photographed by) (as Robert de Grasse)

Film Editing by
William Hamilton

Art Direction by
Van Nest Polglase

Set Decoration by
Darrell Silvera

Costume Design by
Edward Stevenson		(uncredited)

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

Production Management
Pandro S. Berman	....	executive in charge of production

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Argyle Nelson	....	assistant director

Art Department
Perry Ferguson	....	associate art director

Sound Department
Richard Van Hessen	....	sound recordist

Special Effects by
Vernon L. Walker	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
John Miehle	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Irene Castle	....	costumes: Miss Ginger Rogers
Walter Plunkett	....	wardrobe and ensembles

Editorial Department
Douglas Travers	....	montage
Robert Wise	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Victor Baravalle	....	musical director
Robert Russell Bennett	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Hugo Friedhofer	....	music arranger (uncredited)
Edward B. Powell	....	music arranger (uncredited)
Leonid Raab	....	music arranger (uncredited)
David Raksin	....	music arranger (uncredited)
Roy Webb	....	music arranger (uncredited)

Other crew
Irene Castle	....	technical advisor
Hermes Pan	....	dance director
Lawrence Grant	....	flight technical advisor (uncredited)
Leigh Jason	....	director: additional scenes (uncredited)

Production Companies

• RKO Radio Pictures

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1939) (USA) (theatrical)
• C&C Television Corporation (1955) (USA) (TV)
• I.V.C. (1999) (Japan) (DVD)
• I.V.C. (1999) (Japan) (VHS)
• I.V.C. (2002) (Japan) (DVD)
• I.V.C. (2003) (Japan) (DVD)
• I.V.C. (2007) (Japan) (DVD)
• Tohokushinsha Film (1994) (Japan) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Certification:

UK:U | Finland:S | Spain:7

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

Last Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers film for 10 years, until The Barkleys of Broadway (1949).

Goofs:

Factual errors: Walter, the Foote's and later the Castle's servant/ factotum, was in reality a black man.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Fred Astaire: Puttin' on His Top Hat (1980) (TV)

Soundtrack:

SMILES

CASTLES IN THE AIR

"Castles in the Air" is the title of Irene's 1958 autobiography but it's also an apt summarization of this robust, poignant tale. Vernon and Irene Castle were far more famous and influential in their day than Fred Astaire or Ginger Rogers were later, though they are less remembered now.

This movie pays glorious tribute to the Castles and their dance repertoire which Astaire and Rogers beautifully replicate. The crazy maze of fame that swirled around the young couple, their great love for each other and their private travail, are sensitively presented. The supporting cast includes the always superb Walter Brennan as the Castles' chaperone-servant, and Edna May Oliver as their agent, a take-off on real-life Elisabeth (Bessy) Marbury. Producer Lew Fields, who gave Vernon Castle his first job on the New York stage, makes a cameo appearance.

Although Irene Castle served as technical advisor and assisted Walter Plunkett with costuming, there were polite clashes on the set (and off) between her and Ginger Rogers who objected, most notably, to Irene's insistence that she dye her hair dark and cut it short to more accurately resemble her. For those familiar with Irene Castle, whose extraordinary looks (particularly the bobbed hair-style she introduced) were so much a part of her image, they will understand Irene's dissatisfaction with long-tressed, blonde Rogers. It says much for Ginger Rogers' capabilities that the story is not hindered by this departure from authenticity (more glaring then than today).

A NOTE ON COSTUMES:

This film gives some idea of Irene's popularity as a fashion trendsetter which was tremendous in the 1910s and 20s. In fact, many of the stunning gowns Ginger Rogers wears are quite faithful adaptations of costumes designed by Lucile (Lady Duff-Gordon) for Irene Castle during her Broadway and silent-movie days. Ginger's dress with the handkerchief hem and huge chiffon sleeves (double-banded in fur) was copied from the original which Irene wore for the premiere of Irving Berlin's "Watch Your Step" in 1914. This original, by Lucile, is now at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A black and white evening gown, a pleated silk day dress, and a striped travelling suit are other Lucile designs reproduced by Plunkett for Rogers in this picture.