Wealthy nightclub owner Eduardo Acuña (Adolphe Menjou) is worried that his daughter Maria (Rita Hayworth) will never marry because she is too picky about the kind of man she wants. So he sends her love letters and flowers from a fictional admirer, intending to find a man to fill that role later. Maria comes to believe dancer Bob Davis (Fred Astaire) is her admirer and falls for him. But Eduardo doesn't think Bob is good enough for her so he offers him a contract with his nightclub if he can make Maria fall out of love.Wonderful musical romantic comedy with the always delightful Fred Astaire and the stunning Rita Hayworth. She was rarely more gorgeous than she is here. The two had great chemistry and their dance scenes are very nice. The cast is a lot of fun. Menjou is terrific. Xavier Cugat is very funny. Loved Adele Mara and Leslie Brooks as Rita's sisters. They stole every scene they were in. Very charming and lovely movie. A must for fans of Astaire and Hayworth.

Too bad this picture wasn't in color. I think it would have enhanced the overall effect, this being a Hollywood musical. It might also have papered over the flimsy storyline, which has been done in similar fashion many times before. Boy meets girl, girl's father dislikes boy, boy persists. Throw in numerous plot contrivances and convenient circumstances and, voila! A cookie-cutter musical.But this one had Rita Hayworth, who was breathtaking and, true to my headline, never looked better. It also had Adolphe Menjou, who by his professional presence lent badly needed substance to the picture. It also had an old chestnut in "I'm Old-Fashioned", which I thought was the best number in the show. Astaire and Hayworth worked and danced well together and the movie was just long enough at 97 minutes. It could have been a more attractive production in color, but it was wartime and the same could be said about many pictures made during this period.

Fred Astaire is Robert "Bob" Davis, an American dancer looking for a job in Buenos Aires after spending all his money on gambling.Adolphe Menjou as Eduardo Acuna is the man he is looking for.But Bob isn't the man he's looking for.This grumpy nightclub owner starts to despise Bob.But Bob starts to like his daughter Maria.She is supposed to be the next of four sisters to get married, but she has no interest on that.Then her father comes up with a plan.He keeps sending romantic notes to his daughter and then later he should get a man to portray the sender of those notes.But one day Bob happens to deliver the note and orchids, and Maria seeing him from the window believes he is the secret admirer.His father wants Bob to act obnoxious to Maria, so she starts hating him.But you can't fight against your feelings...You Were Never Lovelier (1942) is directed by William A. Seiter.Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth shine again as the leading couple.This was their second and last picture they made together.The first was You'll Never Get Rich (1941).Both of these movies have many similarities and are equally good.This was one of Rita's favorite films of her own.Rita's singing was dubbed by Nan Wynn.Adolphe Menjou does quite splendid job as Eduardo.Isobel Elsom is terrific as Maria Castro.Douglas Leavitt plays Juan Castro.Leslie Brooks is lovely as Cecy Acuna.And so is Adele Mara as her sister Lita.Their characters both want to get married, but they don't happen to be the next in line.Catherine Craig plays the sister Julia, who did get married.Barbara Brown is great as their mother Delfina.Gus Schilling is quite funny as Fernando "Fernie", the secretary who hates his boss.Xavier Cugat performs with his orchestra.This movie represents the good old time entertainment.Movies like this took your mind off the war that was going on.Jerome Kern has done a great job in the music department.There is "I'm Old Fashioned", which became a hit.I really enjoyed watching the dancing of Fred and Rita to "The Shorty George".There is some wild energy there! As is in Fred's tap dancing.How did he do it?! Come and enjoy the singing and dancing of Fred and Rita!

Light and frothy Fred Astaire musical paired this time with the young and very lovely Rita Hayworth as his unlikely paramour. Amazing that surrounded by a horde of young hunks in their best bib and tuckers rich ingénue Hayworth falls for old hair-receding lantern-jawed Fred, but hey, hooray for Hollywood, go with the flow and accept this pleasant confection for what it is. Adolphe Menjou enters into the spirit of the piece with an endearing turn as Hayworth's crusty papa who of course eventually relents and accepts Fred into the family. The rest of the cast ditter and fritter about pleasantly, in their fine clothes and slight roles in a narrative replete with the customary ups and downs, coincidences and happy ending of every Fred musical ever made. The interior settings are plush befitting Menjou's part as the richest man, it would appear, in the whole of South America and the direction is brisk - I always find myself watching for the cuts in the dancing sequences, cleverly disguised as usual. The music I found a little ho-hum, all moon-in-June rhyming down Dingly Dell, certainly no Hart or Porter - type witticisms present here. Fred is Fred as usual, a little bit hammy, unbelievable, as I've indicated as Hayworth's love interest but great in his dance routines as ever (shame about his singing). Hayworth is best of all, alluring and sophisticated and already hinting here and there at the depths of future parts such as "Gilda" and "The Lady From Shanghai". Here she is captured, however, in her innocent youth, lighting up the screen, dancing well into the bargain opposite the maestro. In summary, not a movie on a par with the Fred and Ginger classics of the 30's but enjoyable on its own terms for all that.