Barkleys of Broadway The (1949)

Because of Judy Garland’s various problems Fred & Ginger made one more film together 10 years after their last (The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939)) and their only in Technicolor earning Cinematography Harry Stradling Sr. his (first for Color) third (of fourteen) Oscar nomination(s). Ironically its story is about a (married) song & dance team that split because the woman (Rogers) feeling overshadowed by her Svengali-like husband (Astaire) wants to become a dramatic actress. Oscar Levant plays their wisecracking “match making” piano playing friend; Billie Burke a philanthropist. Gale Robbins & Jacques François play an understudy & serious play director respectively that provide “jealousy angles” for the couple in this average Musical the highlight of which is a dance featuring a song (“You Can’t Take That Away From Me”) from their earlier collaboration Shall We Dance (1937).

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