Since mostly leaving Ginger Rogers behind as his standard leading lady and musical partner, he had been paired with a number of actresses, some good at dancing, others with little dancing training. This was his only pairing with 18yo Irish, dark redhead Joan Leslie. I didn't realize that she had long had dancing talent, and used to sing professionally, although she was usually dubbed in films. She had already demonstrated gymnastic dancing ability in the just completed noir/musical hybrid "The Hard Way". She would demonstrate she was a good dancing partner for Astaire, in 2 dances.. As usual in the past, she was paired with a costar more than twice her age. Apparently, this didn't bother Hollywood casting directors. She demonstrated a degree of poise well beyond her chronological years. In this, she resembled the also very precocious Linda Darnell. This film is more famous for Astaire's single solo dance, in which he first sings "One for my Baby, and One more for the Road", in which he tap dances at supersonic speed on a bar countertop or on the floor, between breaking drinking glasses with his arms or feet. There's nobody to watch him.
I didn't much care for the non-dancing portions of the screen play. It's basically a stereotypical boy meets girl, girl hates boy, girl gradually warms up to boy and, by the ending, they are in love. I didn't like the personality of Fred's character. He tries to gain Joan's attention by messing up her job as a photographer, by keep getting in the picture at the last second. In other words, he's behaving like a cad. Sure enough, this gains her attention, but....... She should have dropped him there, but he manages to worm his way into her life, taking up residence in the same rooming house. He's a Flying Tiger pilot in western China, on a 10 day leave. He ditched his buddies to look around on his own. He's ditched his uniform, putting on western civvies, and refuses to let on to Joan that he's in the military, for fear if she knows that, she will want him to mostly talk about his war experiences, instead of them as a potential couple. Hence, he claims he's an unemployed drifter, who has no ambition to get a job. Naturally, this is a turnoff for Joan, who spends much of the film trying to find him a job, despite his protests. Finally, she's had enough and says goodbye for good. His ploy didn't work! But, very luckily for him, she sees him, while on a photoshoot, as he's in uniform, about to board a plane. All of a sudden, she tells him that she loves him, and they kiss and hug, he promising to eventually return to her.
Robert Benchley plays Joan's boss. He's proposed to her, but been turned down. Nonetheless, they are on good terms. He's the perpetrator of the most ill-prepared, disorganized, boring banquet speech I've ever heard!
Since all 3 dances are available as outtakes at YouTube, my suggestion is to look these up and forget about seeing the entire film. However, the entire film is available free at YouTube, or you can buy the DVD........ Joan sort of reminds me of a plainer version of Rita Hayworth: one of Astaire's recent dance partners. Rita had a sexier-looking face, hair(usually artificially reddened), and body, and tried to look more glamorous, so why she was a favorite pinup of the GIs. Either one was a great dance partner for Fred. Joan would continue being cast mostly in musicals over the next several years. In her later film years, she was often cast as a cowboy's sweetheart.
I didn't much care for the non-dancing portions of the screen play. It's basically a stereotypical boy meets girl, girl hates boy, girl gradually warms up to boy and, by the ending, they are in love. I didn't like the personality of Fred's character. He tries to gain Joan's attention by messing up her job as a photographer, by keep getting in the picture at the last second. In other words, he's behaving like a cad. Sure enough, this gains her attention, but....... She should have dropped him there, but he manages to worm his way into her life, taking up residence in the same rooming house. He's a Flying Tiger pilot in western China, on a 10 day leave. He ditched his buddies to look around on his own. He's ditched his uniform, putting on western civvies, and refuses to let on to Joan that he's in the military, for fear if she knows that, she will want him to mostly talk about his war experiences, instead of them as a potential couple. Hence, he claims he's an unemployed drifter, who has no ambition to get a job. Naturally, this is a turnoff for Joan, who spends much of the film trying to find him a job, despite his protests. Finally, she's had enough and says goodbye for good. His ploy didn't work! But, very luckily for him, she sees him, while on a photoshoot, as he's in uniform, about to board a plane. All of a sudden, she tells him that she loves him, and they kiss and hug, he promising to eventually return to her.
Robert Benchley plays Joan's boss. He's proposed to her, but been turned down. Nonetheless, they are on good terms. He's the perpetrator of the most ill-prepared, disorganized, boring banquet speech I've ever heard!
Since all 3 dances are available as outtakes at YouTube, my suggestion is to look these up and forget about seeing the entire film. However, the entire film is available free at YouTube, or you can buy the DVD........ Joan sort of reminds me of a plainer version of Rita Hayworth: one of Astaire's recent dance partners. Rita had a sexier-looking face, hair(usually artificially reddened), and body, and tried to look more glamorous, so why she was a favorite pinup of the GIs. Either one was a great dance partner for Fred. Joan would continue being cast mostly in musicals over the next several years. In her later film years, she was often cast as a cowboy's sweetheart.