This bio-pic about the hugely successful dance team, Vernon and Irene Castle, starts at the time of their meeting and covers the entire breadth of their career, starting just before the advent of WWI. This film was released in 1939, so film audiences had plenty of choices and the competition was strong. Still, this ninth pairing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers experienced modest success.
Irene Castle herself was a technical adviser and helped design the gowns that Ginger wore--which, by the way, are very nice, despite Ginger's protestations.
Because this film covers many years and many happenings, it uses montage quite heavily--something that is usually distracting, but in this case it works well.
The dancing documents a variety of styles, some of which were introduced by Vernon and Irene. At the height of their career, they were trendsetters in dance, fashion, culture and taste. Their first dance in the film is an adaptation of minstrel dancing; later dances include the tango and foxtrot. Astaire must have been familiar with all of these styles and probably had used them in his choreography with sister Adele. Still, his choreography in the film is inspired--showing us the essence of each stage in dance evolution.
Ginger is beautiful and she seems to have a freedom in her performance, as if their relationship had advanced to the point of total trust. I only wish this film--and a few of their others--had been shot in color.
