Thu 6/5 @ 7PM
The partnership of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers was truly one of the most legendary pairings in all of movie history. They danced and sang their way through the 1930s, entertaining audiences struggling with the economic depressing by providing them with a dose of glamor and romance in a series of improbable escapist films.
1938’s Carefree was the eighth of a series of nine that began with 1933’s Follow the Fleet and included classic highlights The Gay Divorcee (1934) and Top Hat (1935). (The Story of Irene and Vernon Castle in 1939 was the last except for a 1949 reunion film, The Barkleys of Broadway.)
Carefree was a little less packed with memorable song-and-dance numbers than most of their films, although “Change Partners” was topnotch. The music was written by Irving Berlin; the issue is there wasn’t that much of it. And the plot was a little more farfetched even for these two — Astaire plays a psychiatrist and Rogers is his patient and yeah, they’re not supposed to be getting together due to professional ethics, but hey, it’s a Fred and Ginger film.
Or a Ginger & Fred film, according to Bill Rudman, artistic director for Cleveland’s The Musical Theater Project, which is hosting the Movies at Home discussion featuring Carefree this month.
Of the nine musicals made for RKO by our greatest-of-all dance teams, this is the only one that justifiably can be called ‘her’ film,” he says. “It’s quite a piece of work from a performer hellbent on becoming a dramatic actress, and in Carefree she’s right on the cusp.”
Rudman and dancer/choreographer Liz Baumgartner will co-host the discussion on Zoom. As usual, Rudman has posted an intro on YouTube telling you what to watch for when you watch the film. Then go watch it. Finally join Bill, Liz and other film fanatics on Zoom to talk about it here.
One Response to “Movies at Home Looks at One of the Last Astaire/Rogers Musicals, “Carefree””
susan alcorn
Thanks for allowing us to enjoy this again.