For most people Ginger Rogers is most remembered from this cast, of course, as one of the biggest stars of the Golden Age. But in the early 1930s it was Janet Gaynor who was the superstar, one of the biggest box office draws of the 1920s, unfairly forgotten today because her greatest work was in silent film. Her partnership with Farrell had been a great success but by this time their popularity had faded and this was the last. Gaynor wanted better roles and she wanted to move away from the ingenue characters which she knew were behind her, but her studio continued to put her in the same typecast role with the same typecast and faded partner. Rogers was to suffer a similar problem a few years later, when she had become a much bigger star than *her faded and typecasted partner, but the studio kept putting box office poison Fred Astaire in her movies because, as Pandro Berman said, they didn't have anything else for him and it was a waste of time and money teaming him with anybody else.
Both Gaynor and Rogers had outgrown Farrell and Astaire and everyone from the public to the studio executives knew it but they struggled to find suitable roles. Rogers through force of will, luck, and a stronger, more mature film industry, was able to break out of her typecasting with a series of amazing films. Gaynor, an earlier star and a superb actress, did not have the same luck with roles and retired at just 33.
While it wasn't a box office success, 'Change of Heart' is perfectly watchable if rather forgettable. But 'Change of Heart' was a big break for Rogers, playing across from one of the biggest movie stars in the world. Just like 'Upperworld' where Ginger completely outperforms and outshines Mary Astor, it is very easy to imagine her luring Charles Farrell away in 'Change of Heart.' The two actresses became great friends during this movie, Gaynor teaching Rogers acting tricks and Rogers teaching Gaynor how to draw and paint. Janet became a very fine artist in later life and was a frequent visitor at Ginger's home for many years,
Merion C. Cooper had seen Ginger's potential, brought her in to RKO, and set her course to stardom, so that by May 1934, Rogers movies were playing everywhere - Finishing School, Upperworld, Twenty Million Sweethearts, and Change of Heart, all four were playing in theatres at the same time. RKO had run a shrewd marketing campaign, timing her films to roll out that summer and the public and critical responses were very strong. Ginger's memory was that her career wasn't going as well as she wanted at this time, but in fact as Variety reported, Ginger got a new contract while 'Change of Heart' was playing in May of 1934, and her salary was tripled. She got another raise a few months later when she signed up for 'Gay Divorcee.' That is an all-time essential movie, of course, but it was the marketing blitz and hard work of the previous eighteen months that made the public love her.
'Change of Heart' is Ginger's last film before she went supernova with 'Gay Divorcee,' and it is the last supporting role of Ginger's career.
