This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

One of Fred Astaire's lesser musicals from the Forties is Yolanda And The Thief. A charming film in spots, but somehow the whole package just doesn't ignite.Part of the problem is Lucille Bremer. After a few films in the Forties she never caught the fancy of the movie going public. She sang beautifully with Trudy Erwin's voice in this film and was a graceful partner for Fred. But when not dancing and singing she was too cloying as the naive young girl from the convent and heir to the Aquaviva fortune.Fred Astaire and Frank Morgan are a pair of likable grifters traveling by train through the South American country of Patria. They read about Bremer returning home from the convent where she was raised since her parents died. They decide she's an easy mark.But what a scam they work, they hear Lucille in the garden praying for her guardian angel and Fred assumes the guise. But something works on his conscience and even more so on his libido. He's falling for the sweet young thing. Yolanda And The Thief came from the Arthur Freed unit at MGM and Freed supplied the lyrics to a most forgettable score with Harry Warren's music. I will say the sets and color cinematography have an Oz like quality to them. I expected to see Judy Garland's companions pop up any minute. Another good thing about the film is the portrayal of Leon Ames as another stranger in this strange land who seems to be constantly popping up.But Yolanda And The Thief ain't anything close to the Wizard Of Oz.

An interesting film -- a mixture of light comedy, romance, and fantasy, with a dream sequence of very modernistic music and a surreal dance number. Astaire accompanies himself on a harp in one scene and in another dances on a floor with wavy lines that create a three-dimensional optical illusion effect which is almost disconcerting. Frank Morgan (the Wizard of Oz) and Mildred Natwick give excellent supporting performances, as does Leon Ames, who appeared in many movies of the 1940's. It's one of Astaire's better dance movies, but completely different from his earlier ones in tone, creativity, and romantic expression, and it's in color. Worth seeing again.

I'd always been curious about this one, especially considering its rather unhappy reputation as a major disappointment in the Fred Astaire/Vincente Minnelli canon, and it's fairly easy to see why. Turner Classic Movies scheduled it recently and I tuned in to watch something that certainly made me glad Technicolor was invented but which fell somewhat short of its intended mark.The story is absolute piffle, almost redeemed by Mildred Natwick's genuinely funny portrayal of a dotty aunt. (Check out the sequence where she welcomes Yolanda home from her years at a convent school.) M-G-M stalwarts Leon Ames and Frank Morgan (Was he in every single class "A" Metro production from the late Thirties through the early Fifties?) lend reliable support with the little they're given to do. And Fred Astaire and Lucille Bremer get (only) two opportunities to display their dancing compatibility. Astaire, of course, managed to complement all of his dancing partners with his patented style and grace (even the miscast Joan Fontaine in "A Damsel in Distress") but, as a matter of personal opinion, I think that Ms. Bremer runs a very close second to the gorgeous Cyd Charisse as one of his most elegant and beautiful co-stars. She's too old for her role in this one, admittedly, but she's nevertheless quite charming and a prime object for the luscious Technicolor cinematography of Charles Rosher.The real star of this misbegotten show, however, is the opulence of the very artificial art direction, set decoration, and costuming. It's Hollywood at its most baroque and Minnelli keeps his cameras gliding through it all as if on angels' wings. If you're not looking for one of the Arthur Freed's unit's bona fide musical classics, this one will provide a phantasmagoria of color and motion that's rarely been equaled.

Fred Astaire established such a reputation as a "good guy" (i.e. "Daddy Longlegs"), it is a bit of a shock at first to see him playing a scoundrel. In "Yolanda and The Thief", Astaire (45) plays Johnny Riggs, a second rate con man. But he gets more than he bargained for in this light, formulaic romantic comedy with a nice twist at the end. I had not heard before of Lucille Bremer who plays Yolanda Aquaviva, just turning "of age" (probably 18 or 21, even though she was 28 here), and leaving the convent and orphanage run by the nuns, to travel to the fictitious Hispanic country where she was to assume oversight of her inheritance, land and a beautiful home with an old aunt and a full staff. As she was leaving the old Mother Superior gave her a talk, and warned of the "dishonest" people she might encounter. So sheltered and naive was Yolanda, she had a bit of trouble comprehending the idea of "dishonest" people. This movie came out in 1945, the year I was born. It was shot in color, and is very natural looking. Not a great movie, but a fun movie for fans of Astaire, and he does a couple of dance numbers with Bremer, who also was a gifted dancer and an adequate singer.The rest of my comments contain SPOILERS, BE WARNED. As Johnny and his sidekick Victor Trout (Frank Morgan, who earlier played the Wizard in Oz) were looking over a wall for an opportunity, he heard Yolanda praying in the garden to her guardian angel, for help managing the money and business of her estate. Johnny decided to play "Mr Brown", her guardian angel, meets her, she takes it all in, and agrees to sign papers to give Johnny power of attorney over all her wealth as her sign of trust in him. He and Victor plan to run away and cash out the $Million in bonds that they lifted from her residence, but keep running into Mr. Candle, who just won't get out of their way. Also, it seems that the custom in this small country is, signing over power of attorney is a sign that the two are getting married. As Johnny and Victor try to leave the country by train, Mr. Candle is there again. It turns out that Mr. Candle really is Yolanda's guardian angel, and insists that Johnny marry her, which he does, knowing that he had better treat her right, because Mr. Candle would always be watching!