mark.waltz It's a reunion for Ginger, With director Sam Wood ("Kitty Doyle", with Adolph Menjou ("Stage Door "). Then why is it such a fiasco? Ahead of its time? Perhaps, but that doesn't make it good. Out of the ordinary for Ginger Rogers' usual works? Definitely as well, because her character is like nails down a chalkboard, and not really likable. Ginger's other side of the track characters at least had some class and knew when to shut up. Another major issue is that she's about 15 years too old for this part, a young waif out of reform school becomes a professional pickpocket, trained by Basil Rathbone, and later taken in by the suave Menjou whose really out for no good as well. Along comes Jean Pierre Aumont to sweep her off her feet, and it's on the path to reform for the out of her element Ginger who wasn't having much success in films in the mid 1940's in spite of still being considered an A lister.This seems to be striving for the European style of films, not the Italian or French new wave, but an operatic elegance that was present in the films of Cocteau but seems forced and overstuffed here, ultimately seeming pretentious. Indeed, it is a remake of a French film. Ginger has one scene where she gets to screech like a teenager, making me wonder if dogs were barking in the San Fernando valley as she filmed this scene in Hollywood. She's forced to speak like a much younger character and dresses closer to how "I'll Be Seeing You" co-star Shirley Temple did. Menjou seems like he's still acting in the romantic comedies of the early 1930's, as if he was in another film altogether. This is pretty much an almost fiasco, but it looked so good in its lavishness that I just couldn't bear to give this a bomb. I give Ginger credit for wanting to try something different, but with all her talent and grace, she just wasn't right for this part.

Dimitri44 To be successful, there has to be close coordination between the script writer, the cinematographer, and the director, and this movie has it. It was the golden age that gave us scripts that those with some education could understand and admire. The supporting facial expressions, the expert camera work, alas, where are they now?The reviewers from the American side of the Atlantic always seem to have a strange fixation on the ages of the performers. For me, Ginger Rogers fit the role most admirably, and so, please, her true age here is irrelevant. The only thing I noticed is that this film was set to take place in Europe, although many actresses, such as Ginger Rogers, have American faces. You can often tell a European face, but too bad, Audrey Hepburn was then below 18, not good for the Hayes office. It could be that those on the European side of the Atlantic might notice such things, and otherwise, no problem. No such problem, in fact, for Adolphe Menjou, who, perhaps surprisingly, was from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Snow Leopard Despite having some talent and material to work with, this feature produces just a few good moments, and it never really comes together the way it might have. The cast, headed by Ginger Rogers and including some fine supporting actors, certainly supplied plenty of talent. The story idea was only mildly imaginative, but it had the potential for some decent comedy and entertaining romantic mix-ups. But it seems to go in too many different directions at different times, and perhaps as a result, it has a few stretches of good material packed amidst some longer, less interesting parts.Rogers was easily one of the more attractive and talented actresses of her era, but the role of Arlette just doesn't seem to work for her. The character is not really as interesting as the situation, and Rogers often seems to be trying too hard. In any case, the character never quite rings true.The story starts with Arlette, a reluctant enrollee in a school for petty criminals, getting roped into a scheme by an unscrupulous aristocrat that plunges her into a series of romantic and personal complications, as she develops a tangled relationship with a diplomat played by Jean-Pierre Aumont. The story is pure fluff, deliberately implausible but with some good possibilities, and it would likely have worked better with a lighter, more farcical touch all around.Basil Rathbone is well cast as the 'professor' at the crime school, and there are some amusing details in his classes and teaching methods, but all of the sequences in the 'school' are essentially just elaborations on the basic gag idea. Adolphe Menjou was an ideal choice for the unprincipled nobleman, but he has to contend with some clunky dialogue in his part. For all of these and other reasons, "Heartbeat" - though probably worth seeing - never hits its stride, and it delivers less than it could have.

moi-23 As much as I like Ginger Rogers (and so many other members of the cast) it was impossible for me to relate to her at age 35 and wearing a dreadful part "fright wig" passing for an 18 year old reform school delinquent; it was just too big a stretch for this viewer's imagination and I thought in general the film lacked verve. In relation to Ginger playing a much younger character than her years how can one forget her in "The Major and The Minor" at age 32 passing herself off as a 12 year old? With the softest focuses available at the time this was still an incredible piece of casting! I believe this film was a remake of a French film entitled "Battement De Coeur" made in 1939 which I intend to track down for comparison purposes.