Expected more

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Dance arranger escapes to the army after his daffy boss can't seem to keep his women properly sorted.Expert mix of comedy, dance, and glamour. The glamour's supplied by Hayworth who's—in a word—simply dazzling (okay, two words). Her appearance in Gilda (1946) may have supplied the smoldering sex appeal, but this one supplies the sheer beauty. Plus she cuts a pretty good rug with the incomparable Astaire who turns in his usual nimble footed magic. Of course, putting the rail-thin danceman in the army is a stretch, but the script doctors manage to turn his weight trick into a chuckle.Then there's the terminally befuddled Robert Benchley (Mr. Cortland) who can't seem to tell a backscratcher from a bracelet or his wife from a chorus girl. Pairing his nonsense with the classy, no-nonsense Inescort (Mrs. Cortland) is a comedic masterstroke. I love his I'm-caught-again stammer as he withers under her glare. Then too, the chorus girls send-off for the soldier boys in the train station is a real eye-catcher and masterpiece of staging. It may not be the dance centerpiece, but it does brim over with genial high spirits.If I didn't know better (release date, Sept. 1941), I would have guessed this was a WWII morale booster. But clearly the big one is on the horizon, and I'll bet this 90-minutes of escape played in a ton of overseas bases. After all, what GI would not fight to keep the Hayworths back home safe and secure. But happily you don't need to be a GI or his girl to enjoy this expert blend of dance and whimsy, courtesy a stellar cast, a clever script, and Columbia studios.

I'm sorry, but even a musical with stars like FRED ASTAIRE and RITA HAYWORTH ought to have a plot. What little plot this one has is enough to drive you nuts. None of the comedy seems a bit believable, especially once Astaire joins the Army and gets into trouble with all of his Army buddies. It's just one stale joke after another and none of the service humor comes off as the least bit amusing--irritating is more like it.However, the musical sequences save the picture from being a complete zero in the entertainment department. Whether dancing alone or with Rita, Astaire shows that he is a master of his trade. And Rita, still with dark hair before she became more famous as a red-head, flashes that smile and puts her lush body into some torrid dance routines that show why she would soon be labeled "The Love Goddess" by the Hollywood press.ROBERT BENCHLEY has some lame comedy moments, and JOHN HUBBARD and OSA MASSEN are pleasant enough in supporting roles, as is DONALD MacBRIDE as an exasperated Top Sergeant--an exasperation that's sure to be shared by the audience at certain cringe inducing moments.

I initially thought this one was the lesser of the two pairings. But I have to admit this film- which puts its audience squarely into the start of World War II- is quite sharp, script-wise, and quite lyrical, music-wise. Astaire's dance director shows an early but distant attraction to chorus dancer Hayworth (and vice-versa), but is drafted into the Army (not to mention repeatedly banished to the guardhouse for various insubordination) before they can live happily ever after. They were a sweet coupling, despite their 19-year age difference, and Hayworth, as others have mentioned, was quite a revelation as a tap and ballroom dancer. All of their dances are performances only, not love scenes (which are the duets I have always preferred), but they are sensational. The requisite 'big number' is the finale, the "Wedding Cake Walk" (you'll do a double-take at the last image of the tank-shaped wedding cake), and there is an ensemble dance at the start of the film called "Boogie Barcarolle." But two numbers stand out: Astaire's solo dance in the guardhouse, sung by a black jazz chorus (uncredited, called the Delta Rhythm Boys) and entitled "Since I Kissed My Baby Goodbye." Elegant tapping by Astaire is blended with a rich bass vocal by Lucius Brooks. The other number is Astaire and Hayworth's dress rehearsal "So Near and Yet So Far," a stunning rumba which shows off Hayworth in a sheer black gown and expands into intricate layers of choreography. This is one of the last films to show Ms. Hayworth as a brunette; her hair is no longer black, but it is not yet red either, but shortly after this outing her tresses went completely red as she began doing doing Technicolor films. Their follow-up film, "You Were Never Lovelier," had more of the standard romantic shenanigans and more lyrical dance numbers, but this first one was more screwball comedy and, in a sense, more of a challenge to pull off.

This under-rated film in the Astaire canon deserves another look. Not for its mediocre merits as a musical comedy or its sparkleless gaucheness as a romantic comedy. No. This is one of the great explorations of the Astaire persona. Mr. Top Hat and Tails is put in a squalid army environment, and roundly subverts it with lies and disguises, injecting the surreal, and having startling homoerotic dreams. Furthermore, the 'gentleman' persona is exposed in primitive conditions, exposed as mendacious, cynical, cowardly, downright unpatriotic! Extraordinary.