The Sky's the Limit

Fred Astaire returned to RKO Studios, scene of his classic films with Ginger Rogers for this last film The Sky's The Limit where he plays a a Flying Tiger pilot on a furlough in the USA doing a bond tour.

Of course this bond tour isn't exactly his idea of R&R so he goes AWOL on it and quite incognito embarks on a romance with Joan Leslie. She's an entertainer and also works for publisher Robert Benchley who's kind of stuck on her himself.

The Sky's The Limit is the one and only time Harold Arlen wrote a score for Fred Astaire and in this case it was in collaboration with Johnny Mercer. My Shining Hour which was sung by Sally Sweetland and lipsynched by Joan Leslie got an Oscar nomination for Best Song, but lost to You'll Never Know.

But it took another eleven years for One For My Baby to gain enduring popularity through Frank Sinatra singing it in Young At Heart. The song gained such popularity as a requested Sinatra item that a lot of people forget Fred Astaire introduced it.

When Sinatra sang One For My Baby it was in a sequence in Young At Heart that involved him accompanying himself on a piano in a crowded bar where nobody but the movie audience is paying any attention. But in The Sky's The Limit the number serves as the main dance number for Fred Astaire. It involves a real bartender named Joe who's anxious to close played by Victor Potel. It's nicely staged and it's the main reason one should see My Shining Hour.

Astaire and Leslie as leads really don't come off that good and I had a hard time believing Fred as an ace pilot. But the music is grand so watch this one once more for the road.