The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939)

The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle
Directed by H.C. Potter
Written by Richard Sherman, Oscar Hammerstein II, and Dorothy Yost
1939/USA
RKO Radio Pictures
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box]Opening credits: In a fabulous and beloved era, near enough to be warmly remembered, two bright and shining stars, VERNON and IRENE CASTLE, whirled across the horizon with the hearts of all who loved to dance. This is their story.[/box]

Given my lukewarm reaction to some of the later Astaire-Rogers films, I was very pleasantly surprised with this one.

This is a biopic on which Irene Castle was a consultant and a kind of tribute to her late husband Vernon.  At the start, Vernon Castle (Fred Astaire)  is a slapstick comedian on the vaudeville circuit.  He meets Irene (Ginger Rogers) when they both attempt to rescue the same stray dog from drowning.  Irene takes Vernon home to dry off and then “entertains”  him with a very bad comedy song of her own.  Vernon hightails it out of there as fast as possible, but not before revealing that he is a superb dancer.

When she sees Vernon on stage, Irene is appalled and tells him so.  That is enough to hook Vernon.  He starts rehearsing a ballroom dance act with Irene and they rapidly fall in love and marry.  But vaudeville producers believe that no one will pay to see a man dance with his wife.  With the help of manager Maggie Sutton (the wonderful Edna May Oliver) the Castles get work in Paris where they introduce Europe to American ragtime and become major pop culture icons.   Their married bliss is interrupted when the accentless British Vernon feels compelled to enlist in the Canadian Flying Corps at the outbreak of World War I.  Walter Brennan plays a sort of nanny and constant companion to Irene.

The story is sweet and sentimental, without the snappy dialogue usual to Astaire-Rogers films.  It is nonetheless absolutely charming. What hooked me, though, was the beautiful dancing.  The score is made up of old-fashioned tunes and Astaire and Rogers are just divine with this more sedate material.

This was Astaire and Rogers last film together at RKO.  They would not be paired again until ten years later in The Barkeleys of Broadway when Rogers stepped in to replace an ailing Judy Garland..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzYA79fL8HU

Clip – Fred and Ginger waltzing