The Barkleys of Broadway is directed by Charles Walters and written by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. It stars Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Oscar Levant, Billie Burke, Gale Robbins and Jacques François. Music is by Lennie Hayton and cinematography by Harry Stradling Sr.Fred and Ginger play the Barkleys, a successful husband and wife musical comedy team that seems to thrive on feuding. However, one day it goes too far and a break up appears certain when the wife entertains an offer from Jacques François to become a serious actress.Firsts and lasts here as it was the first film Astaire and Rogers did for MGM, their first in colour, and their last they would make together after reconvening after 10 years - Rogers stepping in when Judy Garland fell to her troubled wayside. The screenplay is pretty thin, serving only as a thin piece of meat to the dance and musical numbers sandwich, but with stand-outs like the wonderful "Shoes with Wings On" and the joyous uplift of 'They Can't Take That Away from Me' to spend time with, it's a film to brighten the darkest of days. 7/10

The Barkleys of Broadway (1949)This is the last of the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers movies, and by now there is something familiar about it all. If this is your first exposure to the form, and to these famous two as the leads, it might disappoint you (thought it isn't half bad). But it's worth being specific: to those who are familiar with Top Hat or Swing Time (from the mid 1930s), this will seem like a visit with old friends, which is always wonderful, and to those who haven't seen Astaire and Rogers before, you might start with any of their 1930s films. Barkleys is a decent movie, terrific fun for the initiated, and with a carefree, fun, meaningless, playfully inventive plot. By now it is almost the 1950s, and the color (true Technicolor) as well as the flat, bright MGM filming bring another element to the approach. It's not engrossing, I think, but that's fine, too. There is no pretense at all.All of their musicals have clever, often romance based plots, and these events are part of the escapism. It isn't uncommon to have the leads play characters in show business, so there is a second layer of references to acting and dancing. By the way, Rogers and Astaire can act as well as dance. Luckily. Most of the movie isn't dancing at all. The relationship between the two leads, now utter legends (they are married in the film, but the actors were never, apparently, in a relationship offscreen) is superbly comfortable. They squabble and kiss, argue and harmonize, and dance and sing convincingly. There are few couples like this in the movies--Hepburn and Tracy, Loy and Powell--and even though this is a fantasy genre (the musical), Rogers and Astaire come off maybe the most convincing of all. The dancing is on level of its own, and it hardly needs mentioning, except that a couple of the numbers are great, and great fun. Be patient--the first one doesn't start until almost half an hour in. Sometimes the singing is so dated it will strain a viewer not used to it (it strains me, and I'm used to it). But I actually have come to love Astaire in particular for his unique flavor (ignoring the painful Scotland number). A more classic tap dance by Astaire (alone) pops up at 57 minutes, and it adds an odd non-diagetic layer of Astaire's voice singing (he is not singing or lip synching in the scene). Then, adding to the invention of the scene, a couple pairs of shows show up and start dancing with him (just the shoes), and then a bunch more, until it is practically a Disney animation. This was unusual for Astaire partly because it has no segues with the plot--it's just an insert.You might notice the Gershwin credit for the music, but you might be thinking of composer George, who died in 1937. The lyrics are by older brother Ira, the music by Harry Warren, except one piece, "They Can't Take That Away from Me," which George and Ira wrote in the 1930s (and which Astaire sang to Rogers, without dance, in the 1937 Shall We Dance). I think it is reprised here for all those in the audience who were watching (in 1949) for purely nostalgic reasons. It had been a decade since the pair had danced together, and this old number is like a time machine. The dancing ("ballroom" style on an empty stage) is nothing to write in your diary about, however.One fun addition, purely musical, is Oscar Levant at the piano, which leads to some music straight ahead. And not faked (he was a true pianist). The scenes don't advance the plot, but they make it a musical in another sense.

While I am a big fan of the earlier films teaming Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, this one is a pretty big disappointment. Perhaps it was partly the result of a decade since their last film together, but it is really tough to place film in the same league as fine films such as TOP HAT and SHALL WE DANCE. It was like the original spark and fun was missing from this film. Probably the biggest problem was the script. In most of their more successful films, the plot involves single man Fred meeting and falling for single lady Ginger (or vice-versa). However, in this one they are already married and the bloom has worn off the marriage--realizing they really didn't love each other so much after all! Fans of the team would in many cases be naturally appalled as I was. A bickering and nasty Astaire and Rogers is NOT what we'd come to expect! Apart from the plot, the film was a mixed bag. The songs, in general, were pretty poor and weren't especially memorable (though I did like a few numbers, such as the one with the shoes and the invisible dancers). For support, instead of a best friend for Fred and a best friend for Ginger (the old formula), there is one shared friend in the form of Oscar Levant--who was one of the brighter parts of the film. While I missed Edward Everett Horton or Eric Bloor from the earlier films, Levant was still excellent--with his funny and droll comments as well as his amazing talent at the piano (particularly "The Russian Sabre Dance"--wow).So, overall, the film is pretty good--even slightly better than average, but definitely a step down for the team. Worth seeing, but not a film to rush to see and not at all indicative of the team's earlier work.

"The Barkleys of Broadway" (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1949), directed by Charles Walters, goes down in history as one of Hollywood's biggest events, being the motion picture that reunited the ever popular song and dance team of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, whose nine musicals for RKO Radio from 1933 to 1939, entertained as well as popularized the art of the dance on screen, and whose reputation continues to make this dynamic dual a legendary item.Plot Summary: Josh (Fred Astaire) and Dinah Barkley (Ginger Rogers) are a sensational husband and wife dancing team on Broadway who appear to be the most perfect couple while performing on stage, but in reality, come to arguments after the curtain goes down. It is up to Ezra Millar (Oscar Levant), composer and close friend, to act as their referee. Dinah feels Josh takes her for granted while Josh finds Dinah neglectful towards him, with instances finding Josh literally left out in the cold on a patio during a social function given by Mrs. Livingston Belney (Billie Burke), and later at the golf course waiting for Dinah's arrival only to remain there until he gets himself drenched from a sudden rain storm, each due to Dinah's meetings with playwright (Jacques Francois) who insists she's wasting her time in musical comedy and should pursue a dramatic career and become another legend like Sarah Bernhardt. At first she turns down his offer to star in his latest play, but after Josh belittles her, she decides to take the challenge, splitting up the team and causing the Barkleys partnership to go their separate ways.The Music and Lyrics by Ira Gershwin and Harry Warren: "The Swing Trot" (danced by Astaire and Rogers); "The Sabre Dance" (piano solo by Oscar Levant); "You'd Be Hard to Replace" (sung by Astaire); "Bouncin' the Blues" (instrumental); "My One and Only Highland Fling" (sung by Astaire and Rogers); "A Weekend in the Country" (sung by Astaire, Rogers and Levant); "Shoes With Wings On" (sung and performed by Astaire); "Concerto in "B" Flat Minor" (by Tchaikovsky/piano solo by Levant); "They Can't Take That Away From Me" (sung by Astaire/danced by Astaire and Rogers) by George & Ira Gershwin; "You'd Be Hard to Replace" (sung by Astaire from phonograph record) and "Manhattan Downbeat" (danced by Astaire and Rogers).Supporting casts consists of Gale Robbins as Shirlene May, Dinah's understudy; Clinton Sundberg as Bert; and George Zucco appearing briefly as the judge in the play portion of the film.For their tenth and final collaboration of Astaire and Rogers on screen, "The Barkleys of Broadway" could very well have been a sequel to any one of their earlier efforts, showing what's become of their characters after dancing to a happy conclusion. SHALL WE DANCE? (1937) comes to mind since it introduced one of their signature tunes, "They Can't Take That Away From Me," only this time having Fred and Ginger dancing to it, resulting as being one of the most moving and sentimental dance pieces ever recorded on film, illustrating the chemistry and magic they had over a decade ago is still quite evident in 1949. After many musicals, the genius of Astaire never ceases to amaze with his creativity, particularly the "Shoes With Wings On" number, one of the true classics in movie musical history. As for the dance numbers with Astaire and Rogers during the opening and closing segments, it a wonder why they're so brief.While screen reunions usually fail to recapture the magic of the "good old days," "The Barkleys of Broadway" is no exception. The writers had wisely avoided reliving the past for them with the typical boy meets girl plot that had become standard with most Fred and Ginger musicals. However, the film offers supporting players in the likeness and manner of those who have enacted with the team in the past. Billie Burke and Jacques Francois could easily be true reminders of GAY Divorcée (1934) co-stars Alice Brady and Erik Rhodes, although Hans Conried, seen briefly as a waiter, comes close as the Rhodes prototype. Edward Everett Horton might have been most welcome in the Levant role, but as far as it goes, new and younger faces of MGM players assumed center stage instead.Astaire's character comes as a little sarcastic at times, which he is supposed to be, thus offering him new direction from those easy going dancing guys he's portrayed so well and often. Rogers appears more youthful during the film's latter portion, and although a fine comedienne, her Sarah Bernhardt interpretation reading of "La Marseillaise" comes off as a bit forced. And then there's the droll and dry, yet sometimes amusing humor of Oscar Levant, whose piano solos slow down the pace, making one yearn for Chico Marx in piano playing to these classical compositions with his unique and lively style instead.In spite of its pros and cons, this is a satisfactory conclusion for Astaire and Rogers partnership, offering viewers a chance in seeing them together again, dancing on stage one last time on screen as the Barkleys of Broadway.Displayed on video cassette since the 1980s and later to DVD, "The Barkleys of Broadway" at 109 minutes, is one of the more revised classic films broadcast on Turner Classic Movies. (***1/2)