By the time of this release, 1938, the studio was having trouble finding fresh stories for the dancing duo. They'd just tried putting Fred and Ginger into swabby uniforms in "Follow the Fleet." Here, Fred is back in his tux and Ginger in her ballroom gowns. The usual plot is reversed. Instead of his pursuing her, we have Fred as the initially disinterested psychiatrist and Ginger as the patient who experiences major transference. She pursues him until the end, when he begins to pursue her. The chief agent of confusion is hypnosis. It's all pretty silly. Of course the original plots were silly too but they were obviously meant to be throwaways, just excuses for the two to dance. In this case, it's a little embarrassing because one feels some effort went into constructing a semi-serious plot that turned, unwittingly, into the usual nonsense.
Nevertheless, the Irving Berlin songs are easy to listen to and the lyrics are sometimes clever. Fred is his usual affable self. Ginger Rogers is a peach in short shorts riding a bicycle. And there's certainly nothing wrong with the dancing. "The Yam" was one of those attempts to create a fictional new dance craze that was almost obligatory by now, following the Carioca and the Piccolino and whatnot. At any rate, the two of them seem to be having genuine fun during the up-tempo Yam. The last number, "Change Partners", is simple but exquisitely done.
If there's a problem with the film it's that there aren't in fact many musical numbers. That's okay in something like Fred's later "The Bandwagon" that has a reasonably good story line going for it, but it hurts this film.
It would be tempting to zip through the mindless plot and just watch the dances, set against Van Nest Polglase's blindingly blanched, Art Deco sets. Even the telephones are white. I always thought Polglase was an Italian with a funny first name but recently learned he was Welsh and had a drinking problem. Well, some of us do.
Nevertheless, the Irving Berlin songs are easy to listen to and the lyrics are sometimes clever. Fred is his usual affable self. Ginger Rogers is a peach in short shorts riding a bicycle. And there's certainly nothing wrong with the dancing. "The Yam" was one of those attempts to create a fictional new dance craze that was almost obligatory by now, following the Carioca and the Piccolino and whatnot. At any rate, the two of them seem to be having genuine fun during the up-tempo Yam. The last number, "Change Partners", is simple but exquisitely done.
If there's a problem with the film it's that there aren't in fact many musical numbers. That's okay in something like Fred's later "The Bandwagon" that has a reasonably good story line going for it, but it hurts this film.
It would be tempting to zip through the mindless plot and just watch the dances, set against Van Nest Polglase's blindingly blanched, Art Deco sets. Even the telephones are white. I always thought Polglase was an Italian with a funny first name but recently learned he was Welsh and had a drinking problem. Well, some of us do.