MonsterPerfect Good idea lost in the noise

BroadcastChic Excellent, a Must See

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Yash Wade Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

gkeith_1 Spoilers. Observations. Opinions. Excellent. Biopic of pre Great War famous dancing couple. Who else better to portray them than Fred and Ginger?Maggie and Walter were excellent. I always love Zowie and the other dogs. Good to see the real Lew Fields. Ginger's costumes were divine. I hated to see all of the hair cutting, however. Postwar period may have been bad for theatricals, so Vernon's and Irene's careers may not have survived, anyway. Changing tastes may have had a great effect, but in a bad way. The Castles were correct for the time, however, and they introduced a lot of great dances. I am a degreed historian, actress, singer, dancer, fashion designer, film critic and movie reviewer. I am very interested in theatrical history.

richard-1787 I can see how fans of the previous Astaire - Rogers musicals would have been disappointed with this movie. It's really barely a musical - virtually no new musical numbers - and there isn't that much dancing in it. Most of what there is isn't of the sweepingly romantic style that the couple had done so well in their previous movies. This is more of a drama with an occasional dance step and, frankly, not a particularly interesting one, as the Castles, at least as presented here, didn't have any interesting problems in their lives.What I did find interesting was the end, the part devoted to World War I. If you put it in the context of its era - the movie was released in 1939, as war loomed up once again over Europe - the last part can be seen as part of the interventionist propaganda that Hollywood produced from 1939 until Pearl Harbor, and which included such much better pictures as Casablanca, some of Erol Flynn's movies, and even Mrs. Miniver. The joy of the French when America enters the war "because now it will come to a quick end" was certainly meant to suggest that if America only intervened in any new European conflict, it too would end quickly. (That's not how it worked out, but who could have known that in 1939?) There isn't a single memorable number in this movie, either in terms of the music or the dancing. And the story just isn't that interesting. Astaire - Rogers fans could skip this one, as could others, and feel that they have missed very little.

ackstasis The partnership between Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers was, by and large, a great success for RKO, with six of their nine collaborations proving big money-makers {the tenth, 'The Barkleys of Broadway (1949),' was made at MGM}. However, though the pair always got along terrific, there was an underlying friction about their teaming. Fred, having only recently lived down a vaudeville partnership with sister Adele, was anxious to strike out solo for once, though his first attempt –'Damsel in Distress (1937),' opposite Joan Fontaine – didn't quite live up to expectations. Ginger, likewise, was eager to move into dramatic roles, an opportunity not viable while her partnership with Astaire was in full swing. 'The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939)' effectively provided this opportunity, or, at least, it was the closest that an Astaire-Rogers musical was ever going to get to being a serious drama. What starts out as an easy-going musical romance biopic soon becomes a touching and teary war melodrama, and both stars rise excellently to the occasion.The pair's previous film 'Carefree (1938)' had been mildly successful at the box-office, but ultimately lost money due to increased production costs. The decision was made to take their partnership in a new direction, and what better subject matter than a biopic of Vernon and Irene Castle. The Castles were a husband-and-wife team of ballroom dancers, often credited with kick-starting the popularity of modern dance. They were, if you will, the Fred and Ginger of the 1910s. The story begins with Vernon, a second-tier stage comedian, who falls for the Irene, a clumsy would-be dancer whose style can only be described as "ham." Following their marriage, the pair travels to Paris, and, penniless, tries to survive on their unwanted dance skills. Needless to say, good luck eventually finds them, and the Castles become the premiere ballroom team in Europe and America, literally dancing across a map of the United States. Then World War One rears its ugly head, and their lives will never be the same again.The film's musical numbers are dominated by the ballroom dances that made the Castles such household names – including the fox-trot and tango – and so Fred and Ginger must eschew their favoured tap dances. Irene Castle (1893-1969) served as a technical consultant on the film, but there are nevertheless numerous factual inconsistencies with which she had issues. For one, Rogers refused to die her hair brown for the role – this is one trademark from which she was unwilling to part. Additionally, as entertaining as Walter Brennan is as servant Walter, the real Walter was actually African-American, as was the duo's personal orchestra. Their agent Maggie Sutton (Edna May Oliver) was also openly gay in real life, something very unusual for her time. Of course, for RKO, Fred and Ginger were too valuable assets to be potentially jeopardised by such forward-thinking details. In any case, Astaire subsequently left the studio to pursue other ambitions, but Rogers stayed on, becoming a prized actress in her own right and snagging an Oscar the following year.

bkoganbing For their last film at RKO, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers co-starred in The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle. It was the only time the team ever played real people. It was also the only time that no original score was written for them in a film. And of course it was the only screen death for either of them in their team history.Vernon Castle and the former Irene Foote met and wed before the beginning of World War I in what we call the Ragtime era. As an act they popularized ballroom dancing and influenced many other performers including a man who was doing his own act in vaudeville at the time with his sister. That of course being Fred Astaire with his sister Adele. I'm sure doing this film must have in and of itself been a labor of love for the dancing master.In addition Irene Castle set style for women's clothes and hair. When she cut her hair and put in a short bob, women everywhere copied her and the style really took off in the Twenties. With the arrival of World War I, Vernon Castle enlisted and managed to survive the war only to get killed in a training accident after Armistice Day in the USA. Irene kept her career going, appearing in many silent films and she married three more times. She survived her husband by about forty years.The film gave Ginger Rogers her first really dramatic role. The following year Ginger would get the ultimate accolade from her peers with a Best Actress Oscar for Kitty Foyle. I've a feeling that it was on the strength of this film that she got cast in Kitty Foyle.The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle boasts two strong supporting performances by Walter Brennan and Edna May Oliver. In real life, the part that Brennan has as a family retainer for the Foote family was black. But given how blacks were portrayed back in the day, it's probably just as well a black actor didn't play the part.This was a good film for Astaire and Rogers to finish their association with RKO studios. They would team up again in The Barkleys of Broadway ten years later for MGM, but that's a whole other story.