Let's be realistic.

Good concept, poorly executed.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Spoilers. Observations. Opinions. Excellent. Biopic of pre Great War famous dancing couple. Who else better to portray them than Fred and Ginger?Maggie and Walter were excellent. I always love Zowie and the other dogs. Good to see the real Lew Fields. Ginger's costumes were divine. I hated to see all of the hair cutting, however. Postwar period may have been bad for theatricals, so Vernon's and Irene's careers may not have survived, anyway. Changing tastes may have had a great effect, but in a bad way. The Castles were correct for the time, however, and they introduced a lot of great dances. I am a degreed historian, actress, singer, dancer, fashion designer, film critic and movie reviewer. I am very interested in theatrical history.

While this may be more famous for being Fred and Ginger's last RKO movie (and the real Irene Castle watching every move Ginger made while on the set), "The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle" is a decent musical biography that doesn't depend on songs (there are only a few) but the love story of the most famous dance couple prior to the one that portrayed them here. In the early 20th Century, vaudeville reigned, and comic Vernon Castle didn't have a future until he added Irene to his act and became a dancer instead. They become the toast of Broadway and the world, having influences in practically every segment of culture-fashion, dance steps, and even cigars! But there is a sudden nasty interruption, namely the first World War, and the two lovers are separated.If not the best of their 10 movies (which includes "The Barkley's of Broadway", made 10 years later at MGM), this is one of the most romantic, and the least to focus on wisecracks by Ginger and his efforts to give her class. Fred and Ginger seem to be playing no one other than Fred and Ginger, but that isn't important. They do all of the famous steps that their predecessors do, and in a fantastic montage (where they dance across a map of the United States), the viewer gets to see most of them. The musical highlight is "Too Much Mustard", a bouncy tune set in a nightclub that sets them up for success. Wonderful comic moments are provided by Edna May Oliver and Walter Brennan. "Too Much Mustard" wasn't forgotten with this movie; A rather obscure Liza Minnelli film called "Lucky Lady" would pick it up 35 years later for its opening credits music.

I can see how fans of the previous Astaire - Rogers musicals would have been disappointed with this movie. It's really barely a musical - virtually no new musical numbers - and there isn't that much dancing in it. Most of what there is isn't of the sweepingly romantic style that the couple had done so well in their previous movies. This is more of a drama with an occasional dance step and, frankly, not a particularly interesting one, as the Castles, at least as presented here, didn't have any interesting problems in their lives.What I did find interesting was the end, the part devoted to World War I. If you put it in the context of its era - the movie was released in 1939, as war loomed up once again over Europe - the last part can be seen as part of the interventionist propaganda that Hollywood produced from 1939 until Pearl Harbor, and which included such much better pictures as Casablanca, some of Erol Flynn's movies, and even Mrs. Miniver. The joy of the French when America enters the war "because now it will come to a quick end" was certainly meant to suggest that if America only intervened in any new European conflict, it too would end quickly. (That's not how it worked out, but who could have known that in 1939?) There isn't a single memorable number in this movie, either in terms of the music or the dancing. And the story just isn't that interesting. Astaire - Rogers fans could skip this one, as could others, and feel that they have missed very little.

This is a worthy tribute to Irene and Vernon Castle who really were the Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire Dance sensation for their own time 1913-1917. This was the ninth and last RKO musical for Fred and Ginger, although they did a reunion picture in 1949. Consider that they started dancing on-screen together in Dec 1933 with "Flying Down to Rio" and this film came out in March of 1939, so Fred and Ginger mania really lasted only 5 1/2 years, not much more than the Castles' time at the top of popular American culture. The Beatles lasted about the same 1964-1970. Social Icons have a limited shelf life before they are replaced, but the fan base does continue for many decades and even into new generations.The first half of the film is quite hilarious and really typical Fred and Ginger. Ginger's "The Yama Yama Man" is the highlight for me. The second half does become more serious. This is appropriate, as they were honoring two dancers who really paved the way for all popular dancers in the century. I loved the great special effect shot here of the couple dancing across a map of the United States and hundreds of tiny dancers suddenly popping up where ever they went.Some people have commented that Irene Castle was unhappy about some things in the production. I think she was probably trying to make the production as truthful as possible and largely succeeded. The fact that her black friend and companion was portrayed as a white man would have upset anyone who was not a racist. This is, in fact the only problem that I have with the film. Hollywood missed a great opportunity to show a case of real interracial harmony. It was a sad misjudgment on the part of RKO management. Irene Castle was entirely correct to criticize the decision.Walter Brennan and Edna May Oliver do a good job of providing the sidekick laughs, allowing Fred and Ginger to stick more to the romance. Oliver received a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nomination that same year for "Drums Along the Mohawk." Oliver played Maggie Sutton, a character based on Elizabeth Marbury, one of the most famous lesbians of the her time. She was one of the first literary and theatrical agents who included Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw and Jerome Kern among her clients. Sadly, the Hayes Codes made it impossible to show any suggestion that she was gay. If there was a remake today, I'm sure that would be a major point.So far I have watched six of the ten Fred and Ginger movies. Each of them has been a joy. This one was a joy, but I also shed a tear. I hope to watch the other four in the coming weeks.