dzizwheel Many have described this movie as a screwball comedy. It is far too lumbering in it's pace, dialog and timing to be any such thing.It has a few good musical numbers in it that break up the tedium, but wastes a fine cast in beyond ridiculous situations. Ginger Rogers looks fantastic but her attempts at comedy while her character is under anesthesia look like a community theater amateur trying to be funny. Embarrassing. Same thing in her scene with Fred Astaire, as a psychiatrist, where she invents a dream to convince him she needs her help. The lines aren't funny,Rogers looks as if the director told her to improvise and the audience gets the message that her improvisational skills are all in her feet.Not good. And not amusing in any way.For prime examples of screwball comedy seek out My Man Godfrey, Bombshell. or more recently What's Up Doc. Any earlier Astaire/Rogers movie will do as well.The musical numbers are what one would expect and certainly up to the pair's skills. The rest of it could have used a good editor. Or writer. Your fast forward button will have to do.Better than many but a stinker for these two.

mmallon4 On my first viewing of Carefree, I experienced something I never thought I would with Fred and Ginger, boredom. Initially I was expecting another spectacular musical showcase, however the film is on a smaller scale (their shortest at only 80 minutes) than their previous outings and only contains a mere four musical numbers; making it more of a comedy with some singing and dancing than a full fledged musical. With several movies behind them following a similar formula, if they were going to make another then they had to do something different or things would have become stale. I wished though that Fred Astaire could have done straight comedies during his career; Carefree is the closest thing to that.None of the musical numbers in Carefree stand out as being among the best in the series. Fred Astaire's number in which he plays golf while tap dancing sounds better on paper than it does in execution. I'm sure what he's doing is no easy task yet it doesn't look all that impressive to watch. The Yam on the other hand is a pretty standard number, but heck, it's still Fred and Ginger dancing. I find the film's most interest musical number is 'I Used to be Color Blind', the most experimental in the film, shot in slow motion and allowing the viewer to see Fred and Ginger's grace in every detail.For the only time in the series, Astaire plays a character who is not a dancer by profession, but rather a psychiatrist (although they do make sure to mention he once had aspirations of becoming a dancer). I don't completely buy Astaire as a psychiatrist, but realism is not what these movies are about. Plus I'm sure the psychology on display here is of the "you are getting sleepy" variety as seen in movies. He doesn't break his professional ethics though by pursuing his patient like his stalkerish attitude towards Ginger in other films in the series, instead she wants him.Carefree belongs to Ginger, playing a character whom has been put under hypnosis, giving her the opportunity to completely goof around in a child like manner with big wide eyes, and it's pretty funny stuff. How many movies do you get to see Ginger Rogers wielding a shot gun? Everyone needs at least one movie where they get to act stupid. The comedic assets of Ralph Bellamy and Jack Carson are a big benefits to the film's witty dialogue, where much of the film's strength lies. Even if the dance numbers don't fully exceed, as a screwball comedy, Carefree grows on me, of course I am a sucker for these movies and the Astaire/Rodgers name, so good enough for me!

TheLittleSongbird Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were/are an iconic dance duo and hugely talented performers. Their ten films together did have silly stories but they had so much to compensate like the songs, choreography and dancing in particular. Carefree is one of their weakest- Top Hat, Swing Time, The Gay Divorcée, Shall We Dance and Follow the Fleet to me have always been better films- but that doesn't mean that there isn't anything to enjoy, because there definitely is. Excluding the story, which is silly and thin- as with Fred and Ginger's films you know that the story is never going to be the best asset- the faults lie with one song and some of the supporting cast. The Yam is not a memorable song at all and has some truly inane lyrics, though the dancing and choreography admittedly is delightful. The supporting cast don't bring the sparkle that Fred and Ginger bring to the lead roles, players like Eric Blore, Edward Everett Horton and even Erik Rhodes are missed. Ralph Bellamy is rather one-note and his character is never likable, while Luella Gear is ill-at-ease and saddled with some rather repetitive running comedy. The best of the supporting cast is Jack Carsen who is very good. The script mostly is warm-hearted and witty, if lacking the sophistication and charm of Top Hat and Swing Time. The costume and set design are wonderful, and the photography shimmers while not trying to do anything ambitious. The score fits the screwball-like nature of Carefree ideally, and apart from The Yam the songs are great with Changing Partners faring best. The choreography dazzles even in The Yam, though much more so in Changing Partners and the wonderfully surreal dream sequence as part of the song I Used to Be Colour Blind. What delights the most choreographically though is Fred Astaire's golfing routine. The dancing is athletic, poised and elegant, and the chemistry between Fred and Ginger is still strong. Astaire is his usual charming self getting more comfortable as the film progresses, while Rogers' elegant and effortlessly sassy performance is even more consistent. All in all, not a great film but a good one for the choreography, the songs(apart from one) and the dancing of Fred and Ginger. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Steffi_P As with most movie franchises, the later Astaire-Rogers vehicles are repeated attempts to keep the formula fresh without losing the original magic. With its altered settings and characterisations, and an emphasis on comedy over music, Carefree was the biggest departure of the series thus far.This was the first of these pictures in which the duo do not play the part of dancers, Fred being a psychiatrist and Ginger his patient. Psychoanalysis was then vogue-ish, and the idea of the female patient falling for the doctor was already something of a cliché. And yes, it is Ginger this time who goes chasing after a hard-to-get Fred. It shows a marked shift from the usual harassment-cum-romance which usually stood in for a love angle in these movies, something which was particularly odious and unnatural in the first proper Ginger and Fred movie, The Gay Divorcée. Having said that, the final image of Ginger going up the aisle with a black eye is rather sickening even though its context is more innocent than it appears.Both Astaire and Rogers adapt competently to their new types and these are some very fine performances from them both. Astaire shows his finest dramatic nuances to date, and Rogers brings out a flair for comedy. The opportunities for dancing are sadly fewer here, but choreographer Hermes Pan has eschewed the increasing spectacle of the last few movies for numbers that are more intimate yet still inventive. Fred's golf routine is simply delightful, and the dream sequence for "I Used to Be Color Blind" is the one touch of classic Fred and Ginger beauty, with an elegant slow-motion segment that works surprisingly well. It's a pity the number wasn't shot in Technicolor as was originally intended – that would have made it even more special.The very look of Carefree is different – gone are the Big White Sets and in their place are offices, studios and even the open countryside. This was the last Fred and Ginger movie handled by their most frequent director, Mark Sandrich. Sandrich's forte in these pictures was the smoothness with which he segued dialogue scenes into musical numbers, but the way the songs fit into the narrative here there's hardly any call for that. I am however very impressed with the tenderness he brings to the hypnosis scene.Carefree was a decent attempt to reinvigorate a series that had more or less run its course. It's not a bad little movie on its own terms, but its just doesn't feel quite like a Fred and Ginger movie should. For example, the lack of any Edward Everett Horton or Eric Blore is glaring. There is a small part by a young (and surprisingly slim) Jack Carson, who is rather funny and seems slightly more in tune with this setting, but the point is, Fred Astaire was always magnificently in tune with Horton and Blore. It demonstrates perhaps, more than anything, that top hats, tails, swanky hotels and butlers were now outdated in the musical (as they certainly were in romantic comedy as a whole). Carefree is kind of a noble effort of a transition movie, but it isn't really anything more than that, and it doesn't represent any kind of mould that Fred or Ginger could now settle into.