You'll Never Get Rich [HD]

Lucky Fred
Not only did Fred Astaire get Ginger and Cyd, he also got Rita Hayworth. But he is so charming in this, you believe he can get Rita, and she is stunning as ever.
Fred starred in two movies with Rita Hayworth, this and "You were Never Lovelier." The second beats this margially, just by having that cute matchmaker plot. But in a lot of ways this movie is almost the better one. The songs in this one don't come almost out of nowhere and the lipsyncing isn't downright obvious.
The writing in this movie was superb, witty lines all over the place. Not forced lines, hoping to be quotable, like you see in the movies today. The doghouse part in the movie was so lovable, didn't seem to look too much like punishment to me.
Martha Tilton sings a song at the end as well and definitely stands out. She didn't seem to be a miscelleanous musical singer...too professional.

Definitely worth a look or two
I'm one of those for whom a second tier Fred Astaire film is still more enjoyable than just about anything without him. And there is no question that Fred is at his best in this one. Unfortunately, he just isn't given first-rate musical material around which to wrap his massive dancing abilities. His partner is the extraordinarily capable Rita Hayworth, who spent her teenage years as her father's dance partner in the years when she was both abused by him and when she looked completely Hispanic (plastic surgery, skin lightening, and dying her hair transformed Rita Cansino into Rita Hayworth). They really do make a nice couple, though Fred had the rare ability to make almost anyone look like they were born to dance with him.

The plot is fairly silly, but anyone who loves thirties and forties movies knows when to cut a film a bit of slack. The cast is not outstanding beyond Fred and Rita, with the notable exception of Robert Benchley. This was actually a crucial point in...

You'll never get rich
The best of two pairings of Astaire and Hayworth on film. Though Astaire and Rogers claim primacy amongst dancing partners, it is hard to imagine any actress who generates more heat and incandescent charm onscreen than Hayworth. As lovely as he is talented, she holds her own surprisingly well in a film that finds Astaire spending most of his time in a stockade for going AWOL or somnabulent mishaps and mayhem. His centerpiece number "since I kissed my baby goodbye" by Cole Porter might be his greatest solo number of the 40's, beginning as a sly and ingenious bit of improvisation. The film also benefits from a superb supporting cast with Robert Benchley as Astaire's unctuous boss who attempts to pursue Hayworth while covering his adultery by passing off an unwilling (bold plot device for the breathing world) Astaire as her boyfriend. Astair e was eager to work with Hayworth due to his friendship with her father (a fellow choreographer) and it's not at all...

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