The Night without Rock of Love Bus

Last Sunday, in lieu of our normal trash tv (which wasn't on), Sam and I watched a double feature of Fred Astaire/Rita Hayworth movies on TCM. It's interesting to watch Fred Astaire any time, but it's especially interesting to watch him away from Ginger Rogers, because it really makes you evaluate what worked in that partnership that didn't work in others. Astaire was reportedly coy about who his favorite partner was, but in You Were Never Lovelier and You'll Never Get Rich, it's easy to see that he and Rita Hayworth didn't quite gel.



For one thing, he was a friend of her father's. And the plot of You Were Never Lovelier makes that a bit more creepy when Fred Astaire's character must step in as Rita Hayworth's lover only after her father has written her notes from a fictional lover in order to soften her heart.


Still, You'll Never Get Rich rivals that incestous creep-factor with a whole look-how-I-tricked-you-into-marrying-me ending. Maybe Fred and Rita never took off as partners for aesthetic reasons, or maybe it was just the movies they chose.