Product Details

• Actors: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Oscar Levant, Billie Burke, Gale Robbins
• Directors: Charles Walters
• Writers: Adolph Green, Betty Comden, Sidney Sheldon
• Producers: Arthur Freed, Roger Edens
• Format: Color, Original recording reissued, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• VHS Release Date: May 2, 2000
• Run Time: 109 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0790749475
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #302,151 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The MGM reunion of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, 10 years after their last RKO picture, happened by accident. The Barkleys of Broadway was meant to pair Astaire with Judy Garland as a follow-up to their 1948 hit Easter Parade. Garland, however, had to drop out due to health problems and was replaced by Ginger, who had gone on to a successful career in nonmusical drama and comedy. As it turned out, the plot probably suited Ginger better than it did Garland. Josh and Dinah Barkley are a veteran song-and-dance couple whose routine bickering turns into a complete breakup when Dinah decides she hasn't received enough credit for her talent and leaves Josh to take a straight dramatic role as Sarah Bernhardt. Fred and Ginger are as charming and comfortable together as a veteran couple should be, but this film is not a return to the RKO days--its elements are trademark MGM: splashy colors, Fred in a gimmicky solo number (playing sorcerer's apprentice to a line of unoccupied shoes), Oscar Levant providing his usual dynamic pianism and acerbic personality, and a score that is at its best when it borrows songs from a previous generation. In fact, Harry Warren, who provided the music for Ira Gershwin's lyrics, was upset that the film's big ballroom number recycled George and Ira Gershwin's "They Can't Take That Away from Me," which Fred and Ginger had introduced (but did not dance to) in 1937's Shall We Dance. Frankly, though, "They Can't Take That Away" not only works well thematically, but is one of the greatest songs ever written for the screen, while Warren's score is merely adequate and unmemorable. All in all, The Barkleys of Broadway is a warm, welcome, and not completely satisfying reunion. Watch it, then watch Swing Time again. --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It's MGM, by way of variety television., November 19, 2002

By 

Chris Aldridge (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Barkleys of Broadway [VHS] (VHS Tape)

It's weird the things that get stuck in your memory. I never thought of this as an inferior film just because the formula separates itself from the RKO depression-era 30's (the film was made in 1949), though I seem to be hearing this a lot from critics. In fact, when I first saw the dance of 'They Can't Take That Away from Me,' I actually thought it was a performance from a TV special, not a movie. The performance is an exhibit, not a love scene. There's something almost- I don't know- *cold* about the way they move on that bare, heavily draped, stage. It's also the first and only adagio they perform in color- which, in itself has a sense of an era ending. Nevertheless, they have the same emotional connection to each other, and at the ages of 38 and 50 respectively, they still carry off the grace and elegance. When they saunter off the stage, an excited audience breaks into applause- like they've been watching an act from THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW. It's extrordinary that ten years after Rogers remade herself doing straight award-winning drama and Astaire remade himself as a solo performer and a man who could dance with just about anyone, they could settle back into one more film and not have one strain of foot or hair out of place. MGM formula and Oscar Levant aside, it's a very nice way to end a professional marriage.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Warners day off, May 21, 2006

By 

Michael Thomas (Australia) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Barkleys of Broadway (DVD)

I am a huge fan of the old MGM musicals and have been more that happy with the restoration quality on every DVD transfer issued by Warners in the MGM library. The release of the "Dream Factory" collection is a fine example. These films could have been photographed yesterday ("Summer Stock" is a pure delight to watch in terms of picture quality). "Barkleys of B'way" unfortnately does not live of to the exceptional quality acheived on other films of this genre.

The DVD picture quality is very poor and dull and the sound is very muted. I was so dissappointed in this treatment. The DVD appears to have simply transfered the Video to DVD. No restoration to the picture is at all apparent. Even the trailer looks better than the movie.

The extras are fine and I can't complain here but hey Warners, what were you thinking when you tackled this gem. Someone must have been taking a sickie!

Sorry Fred and Ginger.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fred and Ginger in Technicolor (DVD Review), August 22, 2005

By 

N. Lim (Santa Clara, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Barkleys of Broadway (DVD)

After a ten-year absence, Fred and Ginger (F&G) are dancing as a pair one last time in their only Technicolor movie. It's not your typical F&G movie. Their acting has matured so much so that you forget that they dance, too. It has a little more drama and a little less comedy. Instead of boy meeting and chasing girl, their characters are already married, which provides a different relationship on screen. Also, Ezra Miller (Oscar Levant) is superb in his piano playing.

The featurette "Reunited at MGM: Astaire and Rogers Together Again" explains how F&G pair up for this film by accident, their continuous chemistry, and Fred's perfection. It includes interviews with Ava Astaire McKenzie (daughter), archivists, and biographers with a mix of F&G photographs and film clips. Broadway choreographers and performers also appreciate how F&G have inspired them. (Run time 13:53)

The vintage short "Annie Was a Wonder" is a narrated docudrama about the Scandinavian working immigrant girl. It's a heart-warming, almost tear-jerker of a time gone by. (1938, B&W, Run time 10:51)

The MGM 1949 cartoon "Wags to Riches" stars Droopy the dog, who inherits his owner's estate but has to contend with a rival dog trying to get rid of him. (Run time 7:11)

Theatrical Trailer (Run time 2:30)