Customer Reviews

You'll Never Get Rich

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Not only did Fred Astaire get Ginger and Cyd, he also got Rita Hayworth. But he is so charming in this, you believe he can get Rita, and she is stunning as ever.
Fred starred in two movies with Rita Hayworth, this and "You were Never Lovelier." The second beats this margially, just by having that cute matchmaker plot. But in a lot of ways this movie is almost the better one. The songs in this one don't come almost out of nowhere and the lipsyncing isn't downright obvious.
The writing in this movie was superb, witty lines all over the place. Not forced lines, hoping to be quotable, like you see in the movies today. The doghouse part in the movie was so lovable, didn't seem to look too much like punishment to me.
Martha Tilton sings a song at the end as well and definitely stands out. She didn't seem to be a miscelleanous musical singer...too professional.

I'm one of those for whom a second tier Fred Astaire film is still more enjoyable than just about anything without him. And there is no question that Fred is at his best in this one. Unfortunately, he just isn't given first-rate musical material around which to wrap his massive dancing abilities. His partner is the extraordinarily capable Rita Hayworth, who spent her teenage years as her father's dance partner in the years when she was both abused by him and when she looked completely Hispanic (plastic surgery, skin lightening, and dying her hair transformed Rita Cansino into Rita Hayworth). They really do make a nice couple, though Fred had the rare ability to make almost anyone look like they were born to dance with him.

The plot is fairly silly, but anyone who loves thirties and forties movies knows when to cut a film a bit of slack. The cast is not outstanding beyond Fred and Rita, with the notable exception of Robert Benchley. This was actually a crucial point in Benchley's career. He had throughout the thirties maintained a dual movie career as the star of a string of hysterically funny one reelers, in which Benchley instructed the public on "How to" do things, such as "How to Vote" or "How to Read." He actually made one of the first talking shorts still to be seen occasionally, "The Sex Life of a Polyp" (1928, a short that obviously couldn't have been made after 1934 and the imposition of the Code). Benchley also made a host of appearances in rather unimportant films during the decade. Starting with Hitchcock's FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT, however, Benchley began appearing in much higher quality films, including such gems as THE MAJOR AND THE MINOR (in which he plays Ginger Rogers's nemesis) and I MARRIED A WITCH. Unfortunately, he died in 1945.

The film was also extremely crucial for the career of Fred Astaire. He had ended his mythic partnership with Ginger Rogers only two years earlier, and his two following films were both disappointments. SECOND CHORUS was probably the worst film in Astaire's career, and BROADWAY MELODY OF 1940, while containing many wonderful moments, teamed him with legendary tap dancer Eleanor Powell. Emending my statement above, these two did not mesh as dance partners. Powell was too individual a performer, and excelled as a solo dancer, not as part of a team. They also failed to generate any romantic chemistry. YOU'LL NEVER GET RICH, while not a massive success, nonetheless reestablished him as a romantic dance star, and made six more films before his "retirement" in 1946 (he broke it as a favor to Gene Kelly in 1948 when Kelly broke his leg and was unable to film EASTER PARADE--the film "unretired" Astaire and he went on to make ten more musicals before retiring as a dancer).

So, this won't be the greatest musical anyone has ever seen, but it certainly won't be the worst. No Astaire fan would dare to miss it.

The best of two pairings of Astaire and Hayworth on film. Though Astaire and Rogers claim primacy amongst dancing partners, it is hard to imagine any actress who generates more heat and incandescent charm onscreen than Hayworth. As lovely as he is talented, she holds her own surprisingly well in a film that finds Astaire spending most of his time in a stockade for going AWOL or somnabulent mishaps and mayhem. His centerpiece number "since I kissed my baby goodbye" by Cole Porter might be his greatest solo number of the 40's, beginning as a sly and ingenious bit of improvisation. The film also benefits from a superb supporting cast with Robert Benchley as Astaire's unctuous boss who attempts to pursue Hayworth while covering his adultery by passing off an unwilling (bold plot device for the breathing world) Astaire as her boyfriend. Astair e was eager to work with Hayworth due to his friendship with her father (a fellow choreographer) and it's not at all hard to discover why. A goofy mid-war comedy well worth using to stave off any rainy day.

"You'll Never Get Rich" is the first of two musicals Fred Astaire made with Columbia's resident bombshell - Rita Hayworth and although it's light, breezy and brimming to the ceiling with comedy and music - ironically, there's not much for the lovely Ms. Hayworth to do, except tap one solo and dance all too briefly in a contrived song with Astaire. The plot focuses on Astaire's employer - Robert Benchley, whose roving eye gets him in perpetual hot water with his wife. Currently, his eye is on Sheila (Hayworth). But an unlikely affair begins, then stops, then starts up again when Sheila realizes she's falling in love - not with Benchley, but Astaire. How's it end? - with music, fun and good humor; all main staples of the Hollywood film musical at its zenith.
TRANSFER: Well, considering the pure garbage Columbia has been giving classic film buffs of late (Talk of the Town, You Can't Take It With You, The Awful Truth) this DVD is looking pretty snappy! The gray scale is accurately rendered - though several scenes look as though second or third generation film elements were used instead of an original camera negative. There is a definite grain structure to this presentation. Apart from that, the usual aliasing, edge enhancement and pixelization that has accompanied many Columbia titles is thankfully absent herein. The audio is MONO but very nicely balanced and - for its vintage - natural sounding.
EXTRAS: ONLY A COUPLE OF THEATRICAL TRAILERS!!!
BOTTOM LINE: The follow up to this movie (You Were Never Lovelier) is far more engaging musical entertainment but this film showcases Astaire's tapping at some of its very best and it's refreshing to see the lovely Ms. Hayworth in fine comedic and dancing form! Recommended.

YNGR is the first of two films which paired Astaire and Hayworth as dancers, and I initially thought it was the lesser of the two pairings. But I have to admit this film- which puts its audience squarely into the start of World War II- is quite sharp, script-wise, and quite lyrical, music-wise. Astaire's dance director shows an early but distant attraction to chorus dancer Hayworth (and vice-versa), but is drafted into the Army (not to mention repeatedly banished to the guardhouse for various insubordinations) before they can live happily ever after. They were a sweet coupling (despite their 19-year age difference) and Hayworth, as others have mentioned, was quite a revelation as a tap and ballroom dancer. All of their dances are performances only, not love scenes (which are the duets I have always preferred), but they are sensational. The requisite 'big number' is the finale, the "Wedding Cake Walk" (you'll do a double-take at the last image of the tank-shaped wedding cake), and there is an ensemble dance at the start of the film called "Boogie Barcarolle." But two numbers stand out: Astaire's solo dance in the guardhouse, sung by a black jazz chorus (uncredited, but I believe called the Delta Rhythm Boys) and entitled "Since I Kissed My Baby Goodbye." It has a marvelous grace and elegance, not to mention a sensational vocal by lead Delta man Lucius Brooks. The other number is Astaire and Hayworth's dress rehearsal "So Near and Yet So Far," a stunning rhumba which shows off Hayworth in a sheer black gown and expands into intricate layers of choreography. This is one of the last films to show Ms. Hayworth as a brunette; shortly after this outing she began doing Technicolor films, and her tresses went red forever after. Their follow-up film, "You Were Never Lovelier," had more of the standard romantic shenanigans and more lyrical dance numbers, but this first one was more screwball comedy and, in a sense, more of a challenge to pull off. See. Buy.

There can only be one Ginger Rogers. But after her, Rita Hayworth is an excelent partner for Fred Astaire. I have never been a fan of the "military" comedies or dramas, but this one is full of good moments. Ritas' performance is incredible and her timing is marvelous. They could have easily become the new duet for musicals in the fortys. It is a shame they only made two movies together.

In a few words, an excelent movie, beautifull dancing and a great chemistry between Rita and Fred. I truly recomend this film.

If you are a committed Fred Astaire fan and, with his movies, an Astaire completist, you'll want to have You'll Never Get Rich. It's the story of Robert Curtis (Astaire), a Broadway choreographer and dance star, who gets involved in the love-nest machinations of his married producer, Martin Cortland (Robert Benchley), and a chorus girl, Sheila Winthrop (Rita Hayworth). This results in Sheila and Robert mixing up each other's motives, Robert going into the Army and then spending the rest of the movie in boot camp. There's one romantic misunderstanding after another, visits from Sheila, two comic side kicks and an exasperated top sergeant. There also are six Cole Porter numbers and a romantic resolution that has Robert and Sheila tap dancing in wedding clothes on top of a white tank. The movie only takes 88 minutes and, I'm sorry to say, it seems twice as long.

What it has going for it, of course, are Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth. Astaire was an extraordinary dancer, a uniquely gifted singer and had a winning personality. Hayworth was a gorgeous creature and, as a dancer, was one of the best around. Based on talent, personality and just plain grace, she probably was Astaire's best partner

The screenplay of this 1941 service romantic-comedy, however, is simply not very funny and not very romantic. The movie's comic relief is provided by two fellow recruits, played by a double-talking comic, Cliff "Swivel Tongue" Nazarro, who sounds like an incomprehensible Joe Pesci, and Guin "Big Boy" Williams. The two just don't bring much to the party. Nazarro's shtick gets tiresome quickly. Two genuinely funny actors follow along in their trail, Donald MacBride as the exasperated sergeant, and Robert Benchley as Cortland. Considering Cole Porter's phenomenal output of luscious melodies and clever lyrics, his work in this movie is just workmanlike. He was incomparable when writing sophisticated songs for clever people, and part of his genius was in making these songs so attractive to everyone else. But when he tried to write "soldier" songs, as he did in the early Forties, or "hip" songs, as he did in the Fifties, in an effort to stay contemporary, I think his instincts sometimes failed him. In my view, of the six songs in this movie only one begins to reach what Porter was capable of.

With an Astaire movie that features Cole Porter songs, what do we have?
--"Boogie Barcarolle." Here Astaire works briefly with Hayworth to show her some steps, then leads all the dancers in a rehearsal of a big number. It moves from fast tap to awkward ballet and back to tap. Astaire was one of the best tap dancers around, perhaps the best, and anything that has his feet moving fast is worth watching.
--"Shooting the Works for Uncle Sam." Astaire is at Grand Central Station waiting for the train that will take him to boot camp. Suddenly, all the dancers arrive in taxis, throw off their coats, form up and start marching in this send-off number. Astaire leads them in the dance and sings the song.
--"Since I Kissed My Baby Goodbye." Astaire is in the brig. A group of soldiers plays and sings this easygoing song of longing, then Astaire picks it up with a fast tap routine that, for me, doesn't quite match the tone of the song.
--"A-stairable Rag." Astaire, still in the brig, does one of the fastest extended tap routines he ever filmed.
--"So Near and Yet So Far." Astaire and Hayworth perform this lovely song of romance with a latin beat. Astaire sings it to Hayworth and off they go into an expert dance where the two are matched perfectly. It should have had a much better production background than it receives.
--"The Wedding Cake Walk." This is the finale to the movie and to the show which Cortland has brought to boot camp and Robert, now out of the brig, and Sheila headline for the soldiers. The song isn't much to speak of, but it provides lots of opportunities for the dancers. It finishes in an endearingly awkward Hollywood idea of love and patriotism, with Robert and Sheila in their formal wedding attire tapping away on the movie designer's idea of a tank turret.

For an Astaire fan, any of his movies is worth having. I even have a VHS tape of him and Betty Hutton in Let's Dance. If in doubt about this one...go ahead and get it. And be sure to get the second and last movie Astaire and Hayworth co-starred in, You Were Never Lovelier. It's a gem.

The black and white DVD transfer is first rate. There are no extras.

Barely five minutes into the film and only thirty seconds long, a small jewel is not to be missed in this vintage 1941 musical, as it ranks among the best dance numbers to be seen from the golden age of Hollywood. It's where Fred Astaire casually asks Rita Hayworth to follow him on a complex tap routine set to Cole Porter's "Boogie Barcarole". That Astaire performs flawlessly is to be expected, but the stunning 23-year old Hayworth is startling in her precision and élan. Not only is she absurdly beautiful in her crisp rehearsal togs, but she matches Astaire step for step with unbridled confidence and with her long, gorgeous gams perfectly synchronized with his. The rest of the number, performed with an army of similarly dressed dancers, is not nearly as exhilarating especially since the fusion between boogie-woogie and classical feels forced.

The movie itself, directed by Sidney Lanfield and written by Michael Fessier and Ernest Pagano, is a silly mistaken identity affair that feels lifted from one of Astaire's earlier pairings with Ginger Rogers and then retrofitted into a military theme. Hardly a stretch, he plays Bob Curtis, a Broadway dancer and choreographer who works for philandering producer Martin Cortland, played by Algonquin wit Robert Benchley. Cortland has his eyes on chorus dancer Sheila Winthrop and attempts to give her a diamond bracelet until his wife Julia mistakes the gift for her. He pretends the bracelet is from Curtis, which of course, leads to larger complications, especially when Curtis gets drafted and his superior officer turns out to be Sheila's intended fiancé. Off the dance floor and in her first leading role, Hayworth, already in her 38th film, is charming as Sheila, although Frieda Inescort easily steals all her scenes as the deadpan Julia, a perfect match to the acerbic Benchley.

Lowbrow comic shenanigans are interspersed with the Robert Alton-choreographed musical numbers. The highlights are an impressive Astaire tap solo set to "Since I Kissed My Baby Goodbye" and two more duets with Hayworth - the alluring rumba, "So Near and Yet So Far", and the infectious "Wedding Cake Walk" where the pair get married amid a dress-alike chorus, do a mean Harlem shuffle and tap-dance atop a white cake shaped like a tank. In fact, opening two months before Pearl Harbor, the film portends the upcoming war with similarly patriotic ensemble numbers like "Shootin' the Works for Uncle Sam". The 2003 DVD includes trailers for this film as well as two classic Hayworth vehicles, the career-defining Gilda, and future husband Orson Welles' pulp classic, The Lady from Shanghai. The movie is very lightweight, but Astaire's artistry is always worthwhile in any setting, and it's easy to see why Hayworth became the fantasy figure of many an American soldier.

The picture quality on this dvd is excellent, much better than the video; it's well worth the price.

I have always enjoyed this film. It steps away from the elegance of the Fred and Ginger classics, yet it's breezy style is refreshing.
Fred's character is less high society...he enlists in the army as a private! That gives him a chance to engage in some wonderful Three Stooges-type comedy and gags with his supporting cast, including Robert Benchley....all the while Fred's being pursued by that luscious love goddess Rita Hayworth!!

Just the footage of Rita in this dvd is worth the price! A vibrant, sexy, beautiful woman. I also consider her to be Hollywood's best female dancer, i've never seen anyone so graceful.

Astaire and Hayworth are a stunning match on the dance floor, and you can actually see the joy between these two as they dance together effortlessly. Check out that first wham-bam Fred-Rita tap duet WOW!! then there's their soaring, sensuous latin themed dance to Cole Porter's "So Near and Yet So Far". Nothing is more fun than watching incredible choreography being danced with full abandon!!

Fred also has TWO great tap solos and a couple of dances with the chorus. Wall to wall dancing throughout!! For musical fans who love dancing this film has tons of it!! It's a must have!!

Fred Astaire meets the draft in this pre-war comedy, featuring Rita Hayworth as a chorine who capures his heart, although she naturally already has a beau, presenting Fred with a challenge he must overcome between stints in the stockade for going AWOL and various other infractions of military law. This tart, well-scripted comedy is a little light on the dancing, but features some of the best, briskest dialogue that came Astaire's way, and a fine supporting cast, including the famous Hollywood "double-talker," Cliff Nazarro, going through his routine in numerous scenes. Hayworth dazzles, as usual, and Fred is in top form. Cole Porter's compositions for this film are not his best work (in fact, I don't think a single tune stuck in my head after watching this one), but they don't detract from the overall charm of this super-fun, class act classic film. Definitely recommended!