Roberta on film

Ol' fashioned American operetta meets new-fangled Hollywood movie musical with a dash of Borscht-belt humor thrown in for good measure in the 1935 film version of Jerome Kern's 1933 Roberta.

The title character is not the focus of the story, but the starting point. Roberta is a Parisian couturier, producing high-end women's fashion. When her nephew, John Kent (Randolph Scott, pictured) inherits the business upon Roberta's death, shop manager Stephanie (Irene Dunn) must learn to work with the former football player. Love blossoms among the swatches.

The comedic couple is band leader Huck Haines (Fred Astaire) with Ginger Rogers playing an American "faking it" as Comtesse Scharwenka. The comtesse's first name is Tanka, so she is Tanka Scharwenka. How long had this joke been used in the Catskills?

The score includes some of the best songs Jerome Kern ever wrote: "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes", "I Won't Dance, Don't Ask Me" and "I'll Be Hard To Handle". If the songs don't really move the story along, be forgiving, this was before that was part of the plan for a musical. It is nice to know that Kern had a more swinging period of his song-writing; this was after Showboat.

The Broadway cast was really interesting, but I'm sure their performances were lost to the ages. Bob Hope originated the Astaire role. Ray Middleton, who would go on to originate Frank Butler in Annie Get Your Gun, played John Kent. It appears that the story of the stage play has been altered a bit in translation to film, so I'll look for a recording of a stage version to see if I can learn more.

Ginger Rogers is delightful in this film, singing, dancing and striking the right chords with the schticky humor. Astaire feels a bit heavy-handed at times with the humor, but has a tap routine that is not to be equalled. Irene Dunn has the waivery soprano voice that this era seemed to prefer--similar to Jeannette McDonald. Since Randolph Scott just stands around looking gorgeous, he doesn't sing. That's okay, too.

I think Lucille Ball has a brief appearance on screen as one of the "mannequins" in the big finale fashion show. She's a blonde.

Roberta
Music by Jerome Kern
Book and Lyrics by Otto Harbach
Film by RKO Pictures released in 1935

Based on the stage musical produced in 1933
Cast: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Randolph Scott, Irene Dunn