l_rawjalaurence Viewers expecting a reprise of some of the great Astaire/Rogers vehicles of the mid-Thirties are likely to be disappointed with H. C. Potter's biopic. This is a low-key retelling of the life of two great ballroom dancers, with the emphasis placed on their life after marriage. There are a few incongruities: Astaire makes no attempt to portray Vernon as an Englishman (who was actually born in Norwich in the east of the country), even though he is shown to be joining the army during the First World War. Their general factotum Walter (Walter Brennan) was in reality an African American, but in Potter's film the role has been transformed into a comic foil for Astaire and Rogers, rather like that of Edward Everett Horton in their musicals earlier on in the decade.The dance-sequences are low-key, but reveal Astaire and Rogers' talent for taking on all types of dance. They glide across the screen like sylphs - as with all of their movies, they ooze style. One wonders why the comic Lew Fields (playing himself in the movie) declined to take them on in his show early on in their careers; and why he believed (quite erroneously) that Vernon was a better comedian than he was a dancer.Director Potter makes considerable use of dissolves, as well as superimposed sequences where the couple are shown rather like phantoms dancing across the screen. This is especially evident at the end, where Irene remembers those wonderful days when the two of them were performing in Paris, just after her husband's unfortunate death in an air crash has been announced. Rogers' performance is especially memorable at this point, as she battles to keep calm, despite her emotional traumas.Astaire seems a little constricted in this film - although he has one or two moments of comic repartee with Brennan, he does not appear especially comfortable in the flying sequences, either in the air or on the ground. It's obvious that he misses his dancing shoes. As other reviewers have remarked, THE STORY OF VERNON AND IRENE CASTLE takes certain liberties with the truth about their biographical subjects' lives. But then perhaps we should see it not as a biopic, but as a deliberate coda to Astaire and Rogers' career at RKO - as the two of them are seen dancing into the distance at the end of the film, we realize that this is the end of an era. Although the two of them were reunited in MGM's THE BARKLEYS OF Broadway a decade later, they could never recapture the magic of their RKO canon.

hot_in_pink_hate_red What I loved about this movie was how funny, talented, sweet, and genuine Vernon Castle and Irene Castle were in real life. Along how very much in love they were. This films chronicles their life together along with the love they had for one another. From their struggle to becoming renown dancing sensations to them wanted to have a normal life after their rise to fame.Fred Astaire is just wonderful in this Musical Biopic and gives a very wonderful and touching dramatic role as well. Ginger Rogers is lovely in this movie and also gives a touching dramatic role too. Walter Brennan is funny as their friend Walter Ashe and does quite well in being dramatic also. Edna May Oliver is excellent portraying their agent Maggie Sutton as well.The dancing numbers in this movie are lovely and so romantic. Just watching Fred and Ginger dance is like being hypnotized. The way these two were in the ten films they did in truly enjoyable to watch. They knew how to capture an audience attention.If you love seeing a movie about actual dancers/actors, being portray by REAL dancers/actors. I suggest you see this wonderful movie with the late Astaire and Rogers.

Robert J. Maxwell Vernon and Irene Castle were genuine historical figures whose dancing, and whose other commercial enterprises, became a craze in 1911 and lasted for some years. Vernon's contribution ended with his death in a flying accident during World War I.From what I can gather, this film sticks fairly closely to the facts, not only as regards their dance steps but other incidents in their lives, given the necessity for inventing some events and telescoping others. Irene Castle is credited as Technical Adviser and she evidently made something of a nuisance of herself on the set. She was displeased by Fred Astaire's idiosyncratic touches in the dances but reserved most of her criticism for Ginger Rogers. Rogers' gowns weren't exact enough replicas of her own. They were, said Irene Castle, "too plunketty," a reference to Walter Plunkett who designed them. Moreover, when Vernon and Irene meet in the film, Ginger Rogers dives awkwardly into the water, and Castle complained that she herself dived and swam much better than Rogers. How would you like to live with somebody like Irene Castle? However, all but one of the songs are from the period, and they are orchestrated accurately -- banjos instead of guitars, and no saxophones. And the dance steps were taken as often as practicable from Irene Vernon's own published book of instructions. In one of them -- "Too Much Mustard" -- the feminist plaint is fully justified. Ginger Rogers does everything Fred Astaire does, only she does it backwards and in high heels.This was the last of seven or so movies that Fred and Ginger did together at RKO in the 1930s and they're both as charming and talented as ever. But the popularity of the Astaire/Rogers musicals had been waning and this example differs rather drastically from all the others.It's not just that this is their only period movie, and not just that it's based more or less on fact. It lacks the silly grace of their earlier films. There are no mixed identities, no misunderstandings. Neither star is compelled to pursue the other. They pretty much are together right from the start.And the film has a darker tone. When the couple are married and poor, they don't brush it off with a couple of wisecracks -- "Here are some peanuts. I only wish they were diamonds." Their jokes about poverty have a feel of desperation about them. And the couple -- Rogers in particular -- have some scenes of genuine drama. It's more of a Hollywood biography than a romantic comedy.For my dough, there should have been more dances, and more romance in the dances we see. Dancing was a suspect activity in the pre-war period, viewed by bluenoses as couples snuggling together in a simulacrum of sexual activity. The Castles promoted dance as a non-sensual, even healthy way to stay fit. It deflected any tendency towards alcohol use, too. And that's what's missing from these numbers. Not the alcohol, but the sensuality. Give me "Let's Face the Music and Dance" any day. These dances look too much like part of the German water cure. As if to make up for it, Astaire gets to kiss Rogers for the first time on screen -- twice.The duo went their separate ways after this effort. The decision was a joint one. Rogers had ambitions of becoming an actress and indeed won an Academy Award for her performance in "Kitty Foyle." She was a cute blue-eyed blond from the Midwest and a competent actress but not an outstanding one, and she was beginning a new career while approaching 30. Astaire was even older, 40, but stuck to dancing with other partners. He was as antic in "The Bandwagon" with Cyd Charisse, playing an aging hoofer, as he had been with Rogers fifteen years earlier. The team were reunited in 1949 at MGM for "The Barkleys of Broadway," but the story was weak and there was something sad about the whole thing.Their RKO pictures had a throw-away charm and an enchantment that seems to endure though, and this was the final entry. Nice while it lasted.

MartinHafer BEWARE--SPOILER AHEAD--READ AT YOUR OWN RISKThis film is one of the most unusual Astaire-Rogers musicals because for once the story is about a real couple, Vernon and Irene Castle--famous dancers in the early part of the 20th century. So we have a musical bio-pic, though in many other ways it's very similar to the rest of the films Astaire and Rogers made together. Once again, there are strong supporting comic players (Edna May Oliver and Walter Brennan) and plenty of ballroom-style and tap dancing. But what truly makes this different is that the film is forced to stick to the main facts about the people they are portraying, so there is no fairy tale happy ending, since Vernon was killed towards the end of WWI. Those who want the happy ending and demand the Astaire-Rogers formula remain intact will be disappointed, but I was actually pretty impressed that the story DIDN'T include some sort of sappy ending or ended on a cliché. While not a great film, the acting, dancing, direction and writing were just fine and I do respect the fact that it is not just the "same old story".