Damsel in Distress, A (1937) - full review!
They don't make them like this anymore!
Directed by George Stevens, this delightfully funny Musical romantic comedy featuring music & lyrics from George & Ira Gershwin (respectively) stars Fred Astaire, amidst the string of hit films he made with co-star Ginger Rogers, with a different partner, several in fact. Though Astaire's character is again named Jerry, as it was in Top Hat (1935), hilarious comic relief this time is provided by George Burns & Gracie Allen (instead of Edward Everett Horton & Eric Blore), and Fred's love interest is played by Joan Fontaine. The creative "Fun House" dance sequence, performed by Astaire, Burns & Allen (and also includes many others in addition to the specialized set) finally earned Hermes Pan an Academy Award for Dance Direction, on his third and last nomination. Carroll Clark also received a (third) nomination for Art Direction. Reginald Gardiner, Ray Noble, Constance Collier, Montagu Love, and Harry Watson provide memorable support.
The story itself is as light as a feather: Fontaine plays Lady Alyce Marshmorton, who's affections are as flighty as Astaire's Jerry is fleet of foot. In fact, a betting pool has been amassed by the large staff of Lord Marshmorton’s (Love) estate with each member picking a name of one of her "lovers". Headman Keggs (Gardiner) reserves the most likely candidate Reggie (Noble), who's her live-in Aunt Caroline's (Collier) favorite, for himself; boy Albert (Watson) requests & receives "the field", any unknown not included in the drawing. Albert believes Alyce will marry an American she'd met in Switzerland but has been kept from by her Aunt, who believes it was just a schoolgirl crush, for over a year. When she dashes off to London to find him, a series of events leads to Jerry being mistaken for said American by Keggs, Albert and, later, the Lord himself. Hoping to win the ten pound pool, Albert pens a love letter to Jerry on behalf of Alyce, bringing him to the estate where Alyce, who'd only just met him in London, is at first confused by his presence, but is later won over by his affections.
Burns plays showman Jerry's publicity agent, who has falsely played up Jerry as a lovelorn celebrity such that women who recognize him in public chase him relentlessly; Allen plays Jerry's ditzy secretary. The Burns & Allen scenes are priceless, their brand of radio humor banter (Burns as the straight for Allen's literal interpretations & daftness) translating well to this medium. Noble's Reggie is a talented multi-instrument musician who eventually becomes more interested in Gracie than Fontaine's Alyce. Keggs & Albert "battle" over helping their man, lottery pick, win Alyce's affections and even switch horses during the course of events. George's phony publicity for Jerry also figures in the mis-communications. Love's Lord Marshmorton, besides being the ‘victim’ of one of Gracie's funny malapropisms, is in favor of Alyce's affections towards Jerry, and helps to convince his sister Caroline (though Collier isn't given much to do besides feign outrage; her character does insist on upholding the family's proper & formal traditions) of the idea. For her part, Fontaine is breezy and adequately walks through her one "dance" sequence whereas Astaire is marvelous, as always. Two additional dance numbers worth mentioning include Astaire's dancing through London traffic to escape being collared by a police officer and his solo drum sequence near the film's end. The ultimate outcome of the movie's two romances should surprise no one.
Most Recent Additions:
Casanova Brown (1944) - full review!
I Want You (1951) - full review!
A Bill of Divorcement (1932) - full review!
Patterns (1956) - full review!
Last Train from Gun Hill (1959) - full review!
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957) - full review!
Hour of the Gun (1967) - full review!
To Sir, with Love (1967) - full review!
You'll Never Get Rich (1941) - full review!
The Actress (1953) - full review!
Mannequin (1937) - full review!
All My Sons (1948) - full review!
Mourning Becomes Electra (1947) - full review!
State Fair (1945) - full review!
Billy Budd (1962) - full review!
Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. (1951) - full review!
The Bachelor Party (1957) - full review!
The Glenn Miller Story (1954) - full review!
The Southerner (1945) - full review!
The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming (1966)
Never on Sunday (1960) - full review!
The Arrangement (1969) - full review!
A Summer Place (1959) - full review!
Miracle in the Rain (1956) - full review!
Love Letters (1945) - full review!
The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944) - full review!
The Absent Minded Professor (1961)
20000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
Come and Get It (1936) - full review!
The Prize (1963) - full review!
This Is the Army (1943) - full review!
Home from the Hill (1960) - full review!
Hangmen Also Die (1943) - full review!
The Shop on Main Street (1965) - full review!
The Good Guys and the Bad Guys (1969) - full review!
A Gathering of Eagles (1963) - full review!
This Happy Breed (1944) - full review!
Red-Headed Woman (1932) - full review!
Waterloo Bridge (1931) - full review!
Baby Face (1933) - full review!
Titanic (1943) - full review!
Cover Girl (1944) - full review!
Saratoga Trunk (1945) - full review!
Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
The Young Philadelphians (1959) - full review!
Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967)
Pocket Money (1972) - full review!
Week-End at the Waldorf (1945)
Judge Priest (1934) - full review!
Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935) - full review!
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970)
Angel Face (1952) - full review!
The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959) - full review!
Dallas (1950) - full review!
Springfield Rifle (1952) - full review!
Gaslight (1940) - full review!
The Gazebo (1959) - full review!
Passage to Marseille (1944) - full review!
The House on 56th Street (1933) - full review!
Annie Get Your Gun (1950) - full review!
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)
Lonelyhearts (1958) - full review!
Good News (1947) - full review!
Wild Rovers (1971) - full review!
Lovers and Other Strangers (1970) - full review!
[Home] [Hitchcock] [Oscar's Best] [Essays] [Essential Films] [TCM Picks] [Obscure Films] [Links] [Other Reviews] [Academy Awards] [Silent Films] [Movie Index]
