Too much of everything

The Worst Film Ever

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

This forgotten screwball comedy is overlooked because of a certain dance partner that Ms. Rogers was dancing with at the same time, taking her to the top of the box-office charts. Here, she plays a paranoid movie star who disguises herself with over-sized buck teeth, a dark wig and glasses to hide from the public. You can't hide beauty, however, and it is easy to spot that this disguise is a phony. It doesn't take long for people-shy bird watcher George Brent to find out her true identity when he agrees to take her to his cabin in the mountains for a rest. Brent, the popular leading man of practically every leading lady of the 1930's and 40's, is always likable, if not remarkable. Yet, his list of leading ladies consists of women so popular all you need to hear is their last names to know exactly who they are: Stanwyck, Davis, Francis, Oberon, Blondell, Colbert, Arthur, Loy, and Sheridan, to name just a few. Rogers shows great comic spunk here, finally an "A" star after several years of "B" leads and supporting roles in "A's" like "42nd Street' and "Gold Diggers of 1933". She proves she doesn't need that dancer named Mr. Astaire to hold onto a movie, and gets Astaire's choreographer, to handle her one dance number where she uses strings to hold onto each of the male dancers she moves around a nightclub set with.The storyline is a bit preposterous, typical for many screwball comedies of the mid 30's, but fun. Alan Mowbray is the hammy movie star meant to represent Rogers' leading man (overstuffed and full of himself). The songs by Dorothy Fields and Oscar Levant are adequate, but the musical numbers is one of Ginger's best sans Fred, even without high heels or moving backwards.

I actually felt awkward watching this film because I imagined GR felt the same while making it. The plot is thin (a starlet just recovering from having a nervous breakdown from crowds assaulting her because of her fame falls in love while in retreat from the world). Plot holes galore, lousy acting, strange unresolved plot twists. And a dance sequence that must have given GR nightmares for years to come because it was so poorly staged and executed. Full of bad choices all the way around, from the writer to the director to GR agreeing to star in this bomb. Don't add watching this to the list.

I am going to rate this a little higher than some of the other reviewers. The plot here is less awkward than the creaky plot mechanics of the 1936 Astaire/Rogers "Swing Time" (which, despite the artificiality of the "are cuffs on formal trousers in season?" plot device, is nevertheless a masterpiece). Most fans of musicals would agree that "Swing Time" rates a 10. "In Person" has at least one great song-and-dance number -- "Out of Sight, Out of Mind" with music by legendary Oscar Levant and lyrics by Dorothy Fields (among Fields's hundreds of songs is the Oscar-winning "The Way You Look Tonight" in "Swing Time"). Ginger looks sexily charming even with the fake buck teeth and the glasses. This film is not on the level of "Swing Time," but at least it has a less annoying plot.

I was delightfully surprised at how fresh this film is! Ginger Rogers shines and sparkles! The songs in this film are also excellent examples of Dorothy Field's work. The songs, with their intelligent lyrics and as-always-wonderful staging of Hermes Pan, more than make up for Ginger's somewhat flat voice (What happened? She's on key with Astaire...) And believe it or not, dull old George Brent even has a twinkle in his eye or maybe even two--not as good as his early 30's work, but the most lively I've seen him in any of his other films. The plot is typical screwball of the times; no worse, no better. Overall this film is well worth seeing for light, cheerful entertainment.