Dateline: July 16, 2023
In honor of Ginger Rogers' birthday, let's talk about the movie with her first real glamour shots - 1933's 'Sitting Pretty.'
When many people think of the 1930s they naturally think of Jean Harlow or Carole Lombard. But Ginger was actually more popular than either of them at the box office and in the fan polls and was, even in the beginning, a far greater actress, with apparently limitless talent. The careers of Harlow and Rogers had a lot in common; they both hailed from the Kansas City, Missouri area; they were born just a few months apart in 1911; both showed up in Hollywood about age 19, both had strong mothers (although Harlow's was a true stage mother, while Rogers' mother was simply a powerful woman); both of them wrestled their way through a lot of programmers, and both of them rose to the heights with a great partner - Ginger with the great dancer Fred Astaire, and Jean Harlow with the incomparable Clark Gable. In the early 1930s, Jean struck the country like a bolt of lightning, with her lurid character portrayals and tragic life. Rogers, though, was building the beginning of a body of work that remains unmatched in its range and talent. Arguably the greatest triple threat in history, Ginger stands at or near the peak in multiple fields - dance, drama, romance, musicals, stage, melodrama, and comedy. She's truly an American icon.
Sitting Pretty stars Oakie and Haley, with Rogers billed third, but it's actually Ginger's movie. Everything revolves around Ginger, from the first shot of her when she turns around after that kick in the pants, to the high point of the film, those glorious closeups of her onstage as a superstar. She even closes the movie, with the two erstwhile stars of the show standing around her in attendance. She dominates the film with a screen presence that is impossible to ignore.
Merion C Cooper signed Rogers with the specific idea that she had star quality and talent and he launched RKO's publicity campaign for her. He recognized that her successes in vaudeville and on Broadway were no flukes. She'd already gotten rave reviews in a series of films, too. Rogers had made three movies on her RKO contract before this one, and up next for her was 'Flying Down to Rio' and worldwide fame. But it is when she walks slowly up the stairs and onto the stage in 'Sitting Pretty,' that Ginger Rogers makes her grand entrance as a movie star.
If ever there were a film that should be carefully restored, it is 'Sitting Pretty.'
