Excellent adaptation.

An absolute waste of money

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

RKO seems to have come up with two basic plots for Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. In one, whose template is THE GAY Divorcée, they are the romantic protagonists caught in a plot of misunderstandings which keep them apart while they are surrounded by comical eccentrics. ROBERTA is an example of the other type of plot, initiated accidentally by FLYING DOWN TO RIO, in which Ginger and Fred play old friends (or lovers) reunited after a period of separation (in ROBERTA and FOLLOW THE FLEET) who rather smoothly re-solidify and strengthen the old feelings mostly by way of dance. In these movies they themselves serve the role of comic relief and they are accompanied by another couple who serve as the romantic protagonists of the story. The bad thing about this is that it takes away from their screen time; the good thing is that it gives them a chance to relax and just have a lot of fun. ROBERTA is about as much fun as a movie can be when they're on the screen, but unfortunately Fred and Ginger are off screen more than in any of their movies other than RIO. It's a film perfectly designed for DVD's and their fast-forwarding option.By my standards, ROBERTA is the first of 5 straight Astaire/Rogers films that are blessed with great, not excellent but great, musical scores, this one by Jerome Kern with some fabulous new lyrics from Dorothy Fields. Unique in the series (and pretty much in film history from 42nd STREET on), the dances are recorded live, which was made possible because they were performed on a hard maple-wood floor (as opposed to the hard plastic that RKO's designers otherwise pushed on them) which enabled the sound of the taps to come through, if not as clearly as when they were dubbed, clearly enough. Perhaps because of this, the routines, always notable for their seeming spontaneity, come across as the most seemingly spontaneous of any routines that I've ever seen. The great 'Hard to Handle' number, interspersed with Fred's growling ejaculations and Ginger's giggling, is supreme in this respect, and is my favorite musical number of all. And as a side note, if you ever wanted to hear Ginger Rogers actually tapping, this and the metal staircase number in ROXIE HART are the two places where you definitely can. Other than in ROBERTA, the dance numbers were dubbed, and since this was a rather tedious process, Hermes Pan famously did the dubbing for Ginger's taps. Sometimes it's concluded from this that Ginger is not actually tap dancing in these routines, but that demonstratively is not the case.The other musical numbers are all of the highest level. 'I Won't Dance' presents Astaire with an opportunity to show just how musically talented he really was. He plays a blazing piano to begin it, charmingly sings the duet with Ginger, then delivers one of his finest dance solos, a veritable tour de force. Then they close the film with an explosive 45 second dance to this song that leaves the audience drooling for more. Before that has come the beautiful, simple duet to 'Smoke Gets In Your Eyes', a particular favorite of Astaire's. The dances of ROBERTA are about as good as any that Fred and Ginger ever did.ROBERTA also gives Ginger Rogers a chance to show off her comical abilities, something that was somewhat squelched in the other musicals with Astaire (Carefree being another exception). Her Countess Scharvenka seems to have been inspired by the idiosyncrasies of its stage originator, Lyda Roberti, and is a wondrous creation.The actual star of ROBERTA, of course, is Irene Dunne, a wonderful actress in her own right. In retrospect, taking time away from Fred and Ginger makes pretty much any role a thankless one, but it did give Irene a chance to sing with her fine operatic voice and also gave her some practice with comical line readings. Her career to this point had mostly consisted of melodramas. In an amazing career twist, it would soon be discovered that Dunne was one of the finest comediennes in Hollywood, and in my opinion the best partner that Cary Grant would ever have. ROBERTA may oh-so-slightly have pointed her in that direction.As for Randolph Scott, one of the greatest of western stars, 'nuff said.

1935 film ruined by the ridiculous plot.Fred Astaire and Randolph Scott land in Paris for a gig only to be turned down. Astaire's friend, Ginger Rogers, gets them and their band a job. Suddenly, we're told that Scott is a football player coming with Astaire to visit his Aunt Roberta, the owner of a fine dress shop with Irene Dunne as her assistant.Dunne's voice was never lovelier. Rogers masquerading as a European lady with an accent does her dance routines with Astaire so admirably well. The story goes down hill once the aunt, Helen Westley, dies in her sleep and Scott inherits the business.Scott falls for Dunne but his old flame appears and that sets the stage for conflict.They both walk out on the business and Astaire is left holding the bag to run it until cooler heads prevail. Yes, the plot is ludicrous, but Can't Dance, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes and other melodies are memorable.Is it any wonder that Scott stuck mostly to westerns after this film?

"Roberta" is one of the best high quality entertainment movies of the first century of film-making. What a delight! It is clean, fun, romantic, clever, colorful and exciting entertainment from start to finish. I agree with the review of trpdean of New York, NY (13 January 2005) – it's captivating! What's not to like?Some critics or reviewers have a penchant for labeling comedy-romance musicals as having "thin" plots. Hmmm! Perhaps they want to be watching a heavy drama or mystery flick instead? Let's face it – entertainment that has half a dozen or more songs, as many dance numbers, some comedic hijinks and romance on the side, doesn't need a heavy, complicated plot. Nor does it have time to develop one. But for the less than two hours that "Roberta" has, its plot is very good and just right for tying together all of these entertainment pieces. I won't give the plot away here, but it does have a different twist. And, it's as believable as any piece of fiction or biography or history one might read. Based on a Broadway Play, this movie delivers laughs, smiles, warmth and a happy feeling throughout. Yes – a guy can even enjoy the one long fashion parade aspect – if for no other reason than to see what the well-to-do fussed over fashion for in the 1930s. Some folks have commented about Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers having second billing. Irene Dunne was certainly a top star at the same time, and as with any film, someone has to be listed first. Usually, "the" star or headliner of a film has the majority or largest part in the movie or play. But this film had nearly equal time for the three main characters – Irene, Fred and Ginger; and Randolph Scott had a considerable amount of time. This was a very unusual role for Scott – we're used to seeing him in Westerns and as aloof and tough in many films; but here he played a good guy from next door, college athlete, and decent and considerate guy. To his ex-girl friend of course, he was a country bumpkin because he wasn't educated in the ways of the world. But, he played the decent, honest, forthright character perfectly. It all worked for the best, and to me, "Roberta" is a great example of a movie that has several stars of equal or near-equal billing for their great talents. The rest of the main supporting cast added to the enjoyment of this film as well. So, this film has some tremendous music numbers and dance routines, two very nice romances that fit snugly, wonderful humor, a fine display of fashion, and a peek at life lived in the upper crust in 1930s Paris. One last word on the very fine plot ("thin" to some others) -- I didn't suspect the true identity of Dunne's character – it was so well hidden from us until toward the end. But then, I suspected that at the end of the movie she would "spill the beans" about knowing the truth about the countess (Rogers) all along. Of course, that didn't happen, so we were fooled again and left with just a great two hours of top entertainment from two handsful of first class performers. "Roberta" is indeed a gem among classic films of the 20th century.

I'm not sure I get the lower-than-usual IMDb voter rating for "Roberta" vs. "Shall We Dance" (1937) and some of the other weaker Astaire & Rogers films. The script and dialog are =far= better than "SWD" and "The Story of Vernon & Irene Castle" (1939) even if the musical numbers are not quite up to say, "A Damsel in Distress" (1937), "Follow the Fleet" (1936), or the remarkable, if somewhat technically inferior, "Flying Down to Rio" (1933).I imagine that R&A fans might have wanted more dancing and less Irene Dunne and Randolph Scott ("Randolph Scott!"), but the lead love story featured two of the =very= hottest stars of the day, much as Gene Raymond and Delores Del Rio (in "FDTR") were in '33. Question: Did Dunne insist on singing in the old "bel canto" style to try to keep up with Rogers? She shouldn't have. Ginger's waaaaay out front here, and no one's going to catch her. In fact, this =is= the best of Rogers's acting performances in the entire series. Dancer, glib wisecracker, foreign accents and comedic timing galore. That, and boy, did Bernie Newman put her in some utterly =breathtaking= art deco outfits.Speaking of fashions, if you're into =that=, Roberta's a film about a fashion designer, and the fashion show scenes are black & white mind blowers.Musically, the memorable tunes include "Lovely to Look At," "I'll be Hard to Handle" and "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," respectively by Eddie Duchin, Gerry Kern and Gerry Kern; not exactly a couple of lightweights... and Al Newman handles them superbly.The digitally restored print they've been showing on TCM is terrific, btw.