Ballet star Petrov arranges to cross the Atlantic aboard the same ship as the dancer and musical star he's fallen for but barely knows. By the time the ocean liner reaches New York, a little white lie has churned through the rumour mill and turned into a hot gossip item—that the two celebrities are secretly married.
| Tagline | Foot-free Fred and joyous Ginger...in their gayest, gladdest show! |
| Release Date: | May 07, 1937 |
| Genres: | Comedy, Romance |
| Production Company: | RKO Radio Pictures |
| Production Countries: | United States of America |
| Casts: | Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Edward Everett Horton, Eric Blore, Jerome Cowan, Ketti Gallian, William Brisbane, Ann Shoemaker, Harriet Hoctor, Rolfe Sedan, Richard Tucker |
| Status: | Released |
| Budget: | $991000 |
| Revenue: | 2168000 |
“Just Caesar, just Napoleon, only Garbo, so just Petrov is enough... You don’t want to dance with the great Petrov? Don’t be a silly horse.” With an introduction like that, how can “Linda” (Ginger Rogers) possibly decline to dance with this clearly modest and unassuming gent (Fred Astaire) as they embark on an ocean liner bound for New York. As they travel and despite their frosty start, the pair start to bond a little, but nowhere near as much as some gossips assume and before they are halfway across the Atlantic are married! Except, well… She avails herself of the mail aeroplane to disembark but things steadily worsen and the newspapers even start drawing storks above their headlines! “Petrov” - well, “Peter”really knows all along that it’s his publicity people who are stirring things but he is also becoming quite keen on this lady - despite being the centre of the attentions of the recently freed-up “Lady Tarrington” (Ketti Gallian). Amusingly, though, even he is befuddled when photos appear in the papers that even he can’t quite fathom. Who is the dummy now? Making up this chaotic storyline are his dedicated butler “Cecil” (Eric Blore) and his right-hand man “Baird” (Edward Everett Horton) who is in danger of tripping over his own conspiracy cloak! There is a really gorgeous chemistry on display here, with Rogers’s facial expressions speaking volumes of disdain, disbelief and, believe it or not, affection too. There are two stand out musical set-pieces from the Gershwins in “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off” and “They Can’t Take That Away From Me”; the dance routines - especially on the ice rink, are mischievous and naturally choreographed and the whole film effortlessly entertains us with some great comedic timing, a little zany behaviour and a cast of professionals who all look like they were having a good laugh.
