Reviews now on YouTube! | Watch here

Larsen On Film

  • Review Library
  • Subscribe
  • Why I’m Wrong
  • About
  • Books

Roberta

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers are particularly shoved to the side in this outing, as Roberta primarily concerns itself with the love affair between an American football player (Randolph Scott) and the fashion designer (Irene Dunne) who runs his aunt’s clothing business in Paris. Scott’s a dud and no comparison to one of Dunne’s frequent costars, Cary Grant. Meanwhile, her plaintive solo numbers are no comparison to the few times Astaire and Rogers get to share the screen together. He plays Scott’s bandleader friend, looking to set up a regular gig in Paris, while she’s a Midwest girl from his past who’s posing as a European countess. Roberta turns on all sorts of culture clashes — much of the action takes place at a Russian-themed nightclub — but it all feels unimaginatively hermetic. Still, there is pleasure in Astaire and Rogers floating, a foot apart, to “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,” as well as the elaborate, heavily furred gowns that the fashion setting allows.

Recent Reviews

Stray Dog (1949)

Drama Rated NR

“… a portrait of national trauma in the wake of World War II.”

Ne Zha II (2025)

Action/Adventure Rated NR

“… magically maximizes nature to awesomely cosmic proportions.”

High and Low (1963)

Thriller Rated NR

“… begins as a one-room morality play before opening up into a tense police procedural.”


Search Review Library

Sponsored by the following | become a sponsor



SUBSCRIBE


Sign up to receive emails

Sign up to get new reviews and updates delivered to your inbox!

Please wait...

Thank you for signing up!




FOLLOW ONLINE



All rights reserved. All Content ©2024 J. Larsen
maintained by Big Ocean Studios

TOP