Film Review
This bittersweet biographical account of the once world-renowned
dancing couple Vernon and Irene Castle feels like an appropriate way to
end the series of musicals that Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers made for
RKO in the 1930s. The legendary pair would appear together one
more time a decade later in
The
Barkleys of Broadway (1949), but this film marked the end of an
era, providing a graceful way for Astaire and Rogers to sign off before
embarking on their solo careers.
The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle
is one of the least well regarded of the films that Astaire and Rogers
made for RKO, probably because it is the least typical and is the only
one to end tragically. The film was not a great commercial
success and indeed lost money at the box office, thereby sealing the
fate of its two stars. It may not be
Top
Hat but it is, all the same, a slick and lively production,
its 90 minute runtime filled with dozens of musical numbers of the
pre-WWI period without the film appearing crammed or losing its
dramatic impetus.
Rogers gives her best performance to date and handles the touching
dramatic scenes with surprising depth and sensitivity, yet there is
also plenty of opportunity for her to show off her dancing skills with
Astaire. The film manages to be entertaining without appearing
slight or fanciful, and moving without sinking too far into the mire of
sentimentality. The shock of the tragic denouement is softened by
a remarkably poignant sequence in which ghosts of the two principal
characters are seen dancing off into eternity. The film may not
match up to the sublime majesty of previous Astaire-Rogers vehicles,
but it is nonetheless an elegant and beguiling production, a warm
tribute to a now forgotten dancing act by another which, through the
medium of cinema, has achieved a well-deserved immortality.
© James Travers 2010
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Film Synopsis
Vernon Castle is a vaudeville comic who makes a big impression on Irene
Foote when he saves her dog from drowning in the sea one day.
Irene has theatrical ambitions herself and mistakes Vernon for a great
actor. When she realises that her new beau is a third rate comic,
she is appalled and persuades him that he should make a career as a
dancer. Irene and Vernon marry and form a dancing couple, but
have difficulty finding work. Their big break comes when, in
Paris, they meet the influential entrepreneuse Maggie Sutton. The
latter lands them a spot at the prestigious Café de Paris and in
no time the couple are the talk of the town. Not only are they
successful as a dancing team but they become fashion
trendsetters. At the height of their fame, Irene and Vernon
decide to settle down and live a quiet life in a small American town,
but before they can do so World War I intervenes. Vernon feels
honour-bound to enlist in the Canadian Flying Corps but is confident
that he will soon return to his beloved Irene...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.