Skip to Content

The story of Vernon and Irene Castle []

book-jacket

view/request

Based upon the true story of the celebrated husband and wife dancing team who popularized ballroom dance, this film is the most realistic, the most tragic, and the most touching of the Astaire-Rogers films. The film takes place in the years between 1911 and 1918, and the costumes and music are largely appropriate to that era. Most of the dance sequences emulate the Castle’s distinctive style—Astaire tap dances in only one number and Rogers not at all—and the musical numbers are fewer and more tightly integrated into the plot than in other Astaire films. Of course, the film still delivers what you expect from an Astaire-Rogers collaboration: Astaire is charming, the music is great, the dancing better, and the two stars may have better on-screen chemistry in this film than in any other.

Tagged: , , ,