The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939) User Reviews

Fred and Ginger as Vernon and Irene

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 30 July 2005]

How strange to contemplate the enormous popularity of Vernon and Irene Castle before World War I and to realize that, without this film, no one would know who they are today. I hope the same is never true of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers' teaming. Because of their presence on film in ten movies, it shouldn't.

Based on two Irene Castle books, this movie has more plot and more drama than the other Fred and Ginger pairings, and if you can accept that it isn't "Flying Down to Rio," "Top Hat," or "Swing Time," you'll enjoy it. Ginger Rogers does a great job as Irene, in the more dramatic of the two roles, proving again what a wonderful actress she was. The dancing was, of course, great. Ginger's gowns were actually copies of Irene's trendsetting gowns. Irene's hairstyle was well-known as well, and she wanted Ginger to dye her hair dark to match her own. But Rogers refused.

Vernon and Irene, during their short pairing, introduced many dances to the public, including the "Castle Walk" and the fox trot.

The movie's ending is a sad one, but I can't agree with another poster than the final visual was trite. I kind of liked it.

Ragtime Trendsetters

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 14 February 2007]

For their last film at RKO, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers co-starred in The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle. It was the only time the team ever played real people. It was also the only time that no original score was written for them in a film. And of course it was the only screen death for either of them in their team history.

Vernon Castle and the former Irene Foote met and wed before the beginning of World War I in what we call the Ragtime era. As an act they popularized ballroom dancing and influenced many other performers including a man who was doing his own act in vaudeville at the time with his sister. That of course being Fred Astaire with his sister Adele. I'm sure doing this film must have in and of itself been a labor of love for the dancing master.

In addition Irene Castle set style for women's clothes and hair. When she cut her hair and put in a short bob, women everywhere copied her and the style really took off in the Twenties.

With the arrival of World War I, Vernon Castle enlisted and managed to survive the war only to get killed in a training accident after Armistice Day in the USA. Irene kept her career going, appearing in many silent films and she married three more times. She survived her husband by about forty years.

The film gave Ginger Rogers her first really dramatic role. The following year Ginger would get the ultimate accolade from her peers with a Best Actress Oscar for Kitty Foyle. I've a feeling that it was on the strength of this film that she got cast in Kitty Foyle.

The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle boasts two strong supporting performances by Walter Brennan and Edna May Oliver. In real life, the part that Brennan has as a family retainer for the Foote family was black. But given how blacks were portrayed back in the day, it's probably just as well a black actor didn't play the part.

This was a good film for Astaire and Rogers to finish their association with RKO studios. They would team up again in The Barkleys of Broadway ten years later for MGM, but that's a whole other story.

Nice, Underrated Astaire-Rogers Musical

[ccthemovieman-1 · 8/10 · 17 March 2006]

Here's one of those rare films that I like where there are no villains, just a nice, old-fashioned story with good people.

Of all the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers films, I would guess this gets the least amount of publicity and if that's true, it's a shame.

There are plenty of dance scenes in here. I prefer the tap dancing to ballroom, but that's just my personal tastes. The famous dancing duo are great with any style. I like Walter Brennan, so it's nice to see him in this film and it also was nice to see Edna May Oliver play a nice character, for a change.

The only complaint was the ending was so predictable. You see it coming a mile away. How true this story is, I can't say, but overall it's one of my favorite Astaire-Rogers movies. I am sorry it gets so little attention.

CASTLES IN THE AIR

[randybigham · 6 November 2001]

"Castles in the Air" is the title of Irene's 1958 autobiography but it's also an apt summarization of this robust, poignant tale. Vernon and Irene Castle were far more famous and influential in their day than Fred Astaire or Ginger Rogers were later, though they are less remembered now.

This movie pays glorious tribute to the Castles and their dance repertoire which Astaire and Rogers beautifully replicate. The crazy maze of fame that swirled around the young couple, their great love for each other and their private travail, are sensitively presented. The supporting cast includes the always superb Walter Brennan as the Castles' chaperone-servant, and Edna May Oliver as their agent, a take-off on real-life Elisabeth (Bessy) Marbury. Producer Lew Fields, who gave Vernon Castle his first job on the New York stage, makes a cameo appearance.

Although Irene Castle served as technical advisor and assisted Walter Plunkett with costuming, there were polite clashes on the set (and off) between her and Ginger Rogers who objected, most notably, to Irene's insistence that she dye her hair dark and cut it short to more accurately resemble her. For those familiar with Irene Castle, whose extraordinary looks (particularly the bobbed hair-style she introduced) were so much a part of her image, they will understand Irene's dissatisfaction with long-tressed, blonde Rogers. It says much for Ginger Rogers' capabilities that the story is not hindered by this departure from authenticity (more glaring then than today).

A NOTE ON COSTUMES:

This film gives some idea of Irene's popularity as a fashion trendsetter which was tremendous in the 1910s and 20s. In fact, many of the stunning gowns Ginger Rogers wears are quite faithful adaptations of costumes designed by Lucile (Lady Duff-Gordon) for Irene Castle during her Broadway and silent-movie days. Ginger's dress with the handkerchief hem and huge chiffon sleeves (double-banded in fur) was copied from the original which Irene wore for the premiere of Irving Berlin's "Watch Your Step" in 1914. This original, by Lucile, is now at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A black and white evening gown, a pleated silk day dress, and a striped travelling suit are other Lucile designs reproduced by Plunkett for Rogers in this picture.

The last of Fred and Ginger together at RKO

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 25 June 2015]

The great irony here is that today, if the professional dancing team of Vernon and Irene Castle is remembered at all, it is because Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers played them in a movie. Plus,many people don't like "The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle", and just find it lacking something. This is probably because there is virtually no romantic conflict between the two in this film. Astaire & Rogers spend practically the entire film either allied or happily married. Because the two are happily married in the film, you're missing all of the fun of the misunderstandings, squabbling, and sexual tension of their other RKO starring vehicles. The conflict is first economic and professional as the pair struggled to get recognized as great dancers, and then there is World War I in which Vernon Castle, as an English native, feels compelled to enlist. The film is quite good, but it is very sentimental and atypical of Astaire & Rogers' other films. This was intended to be the pair's last film together, and was their last film together at RKO. It was just a series of accidental recasting decisions that led them to reunite in "The Barkleys of Broadway" at MGM ten years later, which was a big splash musical in the big splashy MGM tradition, quite different from their earlier films together.

A Smart Film About An Iconic Dance Team

[atlasmb · 7/10 · 24 June 2017]

This bio-pic about the hugely successful dance team, Vernon and Irene Castle, starts at the time of their meeting and covers the entire breadth of their career, starting just before the advent of WWI. This film was released in 1939, so film audiences had plenty of choices and the competition was strong. Still, this ninth pairing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers experienced modest success.

Irene Castle herself was a technical adviser and helped design the gowns that Ginger wore--which, by the way, are very nice, despite Ginger's protestations.

Because this film covers many years and many happenings, it uses montage quite heavily--something that is usually distracting, but in this case it works well.

The dancing documents a variety of styles, some of which were introduced by Vernon and Irene. At the height of their career, they were trendsetters in dance, fashion, culture and taste. Their first dance in the film is an adaptation of minstrel dancing; later dances include the tango and foxtrot. Astaire must have been familiar with all of these styles and probably had used them in his choreography with sister Adele. Still, his choreography in the film is inspired--showing us the essence of each stage in dance evolution.

Ginger is beautiful and she seems to have a freedom in her performance, as if their relationship had advanced to the point of total trust. I only wish this film--and a few of their others--had been shot in color.

A fine war-time bio-pic

[catmydogs · 7/10 · 9 November 2006]

The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle is the last of the 9 RKO musicals Astaire did with Rogers. However, from a story point-of-view, it is their best film by a mile. The contest isn't even close, IMO.

It's not their best musical. This film is really a drama with a few musical interludes, whereas most of the other Astaire-Rogers films were musical comedies. Those other films had flimsy plots at best and were saved only by their songs and dances. BUT - "Vernon and Irene" could easily stands alone without any songs or dances. It even has some action sequences as is typical of war-time films (WWI, in this case).

The film is a bio-pic about the Castles, who in their heyday were even bigger than Astaire and Rogers. The choreography is more attuned to 1910's sensibilities than the usual Astaire and Rogers film, but that's okay. Astaire and Rogers dance just well as always.

As the dancing duo's last RKO film, V&C is quite classy and a fine close to a great RKO dancing career for the two.

An added poignancy with the years

[theowinthrop · 10/10 · 24 October 2005]

Do people watch Astaire and Rogers films for more than the pleasure of their dancing and singing? Both performed the dialog parts in their musical comedies well too, but most people think of their movies as a series of opportunities to see great dance numbers and to hear music by Gershwin, Kern, Berlin, Porter, or Youmans. I doubt if they recall the plots.

"Flying Down To Rio" deals with a traveling orchestra that assists in advertising a hotel in Rio De Janairo. Nobody recalls that, but they recall Youmans' melody "Orchids in the Moonlight" and his dance (for Astaire and Rogers) "The Carioca". They also remember the big production number of the young women on the airplane wing ("Ah, Rio, Rio by the Sea - Oh!"). Except for that, few recall the hero is Gene Raymond and the heroine is Delores Del Rio. The running gag of the three agents of the bank that is trying to sabotage the new hotel (and who are only seen as top hatted shadows) may be recalled - but it isn't really worth recalling.

In the later musicals the same problems exist. The story of "Gay Divorcée" (originally "Gay Divorce" on Broadway) is how Rogers hires Eric Rhodes to be found with her at a resort hotel so her husband can have grounds for divorce. The Porter score including "Night and Day" and "The Continental" was good - but who recalls the plot (though Rhodes is very funny as the perpetual hired "other man" for instant divorces. The final irony of the plot (almost like a flat joke's punch line) is that Eric Blore knows a nasty secret about the husband, who (for his own reasons) does not want a divorce.

The series did try to tie the couple down to more than frivolous plots dealing with mistaken identities or fake personalities. FOLLOW THE FLEET and CAREFREE tried to have plots dealing with sailors putting on a show and with a psychologist falling in love with a patient who was engaged to his best friend (Ralph Bellamy, of course). Both were amusing, but rather slapdash. CAREFREE had a curious concluding moment, when a hypnotized Rogers is literally slapped out of her state of hypnosis. Rogers looks like she has been the victim of domestic violence as she is married.

By 1939 Astaire and Rogers were tired of the series, and wanted to go their separate ways. The public was also getting tired of the series. So finally they were given a property that reversed the formula. Instead of the music and dancing ornamenting a bare plot, the plot incorporated the music and dance by telling the story of the greatest ballroom dance team of the first half of the 20th Century, Vernon and Irene Castle.

I have often felt that had Vernon Castle lived beyond 1917 into the period of talkie movies, and stayed married to Irene, they might have been in some of the Astaire Rogers films (the choreography of two rival couples dancing would have been fascinating). Vernon might have played a mentor or rival or father to Fred. But it wasn't to be. As the film shows Vernon (who was English-born) enlisted in the Air Corps in 1917, and was killed in a freak accident saving the life of a pilot he was training (the scene in the film is quite savage in showing the crash).

In the four years (1913 - 1917) when they swept the world with their mastery of dancing, Vernon and Irene Castle became leading celebrities. The film follows the slow steps to fame they took, including getting stuck for awhile in Paris because Vernon was hired only to be a comic actor, not to be a dancer. It shows how Edna Mae Oliver (as their agent and friend) gets them the breaks they deserve, and how they end as figures of social change (ballroom dancing regained popularity, and they did create not only fashions for men and women but also "the Castle Walk" dance step). That this all happened in four years suggests what their impact would have been if they lived into the 1940s together (Irene Castle died in the 1960s).

There are some delightful moments in the film: Ginger Rogers auditioning for her date Fred Astaire by doing "Yama Yama Man" complete with a costume in her parlor. She is imitating the originator of the song, Bessie McCoy. Walter Brennan trying to protect Rogers from Astaire (whose intentions he constantly suspects). Watch him in a small scene watering the grass of the lawn, and ignoring Astaire's questions. Oliver noticing the rhythmic swaying of the overhead lamp in her apartment due to the dancing going on upstairs (where Fred and Ginger are dancing). But what is best is the feeling of impending doom over the couple. We know Vernon is going to die so that means their success and their life together will end soon.

This sense of doom makes "The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle" unique among the Astaire - Rogers films - it is a downer. There is no getting away from the loss of happiness Irene Castle suffered, nor the loss of talent the theater and dance world suffered. The concluding moment of the film always haunted me - Irene and Vernon dancing in spirit together, twirling in a never-ending, eventually disappearing embrace. When I saw the film the first time, Irene Castle was still alive. The second time she was gone but the two stars were still living. Now Fred and Ginger are gone too. That final ghostly dance manages to encompass two sets of dance legends, and increases the sadness that surrounds this - to me - best of their films.

Unexpected Verisimilitude.

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 6 February 2009]

Vernon and Irene Castle were genuine historical figures whose dancing, and whose other commercial enterprises, became a craze in 1911 and lasted for some years. Vernon's contribution ended with his death in a flying accident during World War I.

From what I can gather, this film sticks fairly closely to the facts, not only as regards their dance steps but other incidents in their lives, given the necessity for inventing some events and telescoping others. Irene Castle is credited as Technical Adviser and she evidently made something of a nuisance of herself on the set. She was displeased by Fred Astaire's idiosyncratic touches in the dances but reserved most of her criticism for Ginger Rogers. Rogers' gowns weren't exact enough replicas of her own. They were, said Irene Castle, "too plunketty," a reference to Walter Plunkett who designed them. Moreover, when Vernon and Irene meet in the film, Ginger Rogers dives awkwardly into the water, and Castle complained that she herself dived and swam much better than Rogers. How would you like to live with somebody like Irene Castle? However, all but one of the songs are from the period, and they are orchestrated accurately -- banjos instead of guitars, and no saxophones. And the dance steps were taken as often as practicable from Irene Vernon's own published book of instructions. In one of them -- "Too Much Mustard" -- the feminist plaint is fully justified. Ginger Rogers does everything Fred Astaire does, only she does it backwards and in high heels.

This was the last of seven or so movies that Fred and Ginger did together at RKO in the 1930s and they're both as charming and talented as ever. But the popularity of the Astaire/Rogers musicals had been waning and this example differs rather drastically from all the others.

It's not just that this is their only period movie, and not just that it's based more or less on fact. It lacks the silly grace of their earlier films. There are no mixed identities, no misunderstandings. Neither star is compelled to pursue the other. They pretty much are together right from the start.

And the film has a darker tone. When the couple are married and poor, they don't brush it off with a couple of wisecracks -- "Here are some peanuts. I only wish they were diamonds." Their jokes about poverty have a feel of desperation about them. And the couple -- Rogers in particular -- have some scenes of genuine drama. It's more of a Hollywood biography than a romantic comedy.

For my dough, there should have been more dances, and more romance in the dances we see. Dancing was a suspect activity in the pre-war period, viewed by bluenoses as couples snuggling together in a simulacrum of sexual activity. The Castles promoted dance as a non-sensual, even healthy way to stay fit. It deflected any tendency towards alcohol use, too. And that's what's missing from these numbers. Not the alcohol, but the sensuality. Give me "Let's Face the Music and Dance" any day. These dances look too much like part of the German water cure. As if to make up for it, Astaire gets to kiss Rogers for the first time on screen -- twice.

The duo went their separate ways after this effort. The decision was a joint one. Rogers had ambitions of becoming an actress and indeed won an Academy Award for her performance in "Kitty Foyle." She was a cute blue-eyed blond from the Midwest and a competent actress but not an outstanding one, and she was beginning a new career while approaching 30. Astaire was even older, 40, but stuck to dancing with other partners. He was as antic in "The Bandwagon" with Cyd Charisse, playing an aging hoofer, as he had been with Rogers fifteen years earlier. The team were reunited in 1949 at MGM for "The Barkleys of Broadway," but the story was weak and there was something sad about the whole thing.

Their RKO pictures had a throw-away charm and an enchantment that seems to endure though, and this was the final entry. Nice while it lasted.

A Musical with a Plot

[consortpinguin · 9/10 · 7 June 2001]

"The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle" was the last of the major Fred Astaire - Ginger Rogers musicals of the 1930s. And it was different in many ways from the others, namely that the story was more important than the songs and dances.

Really, is "Top Hat" with its emphasis on production numbers linked by a thin plot of mistaken identity really a lot different than today's action movies with endless car chases and pyrotechnic special effects linked by a very thin story about a hit man or the earth getting hit by a comet? Sorry about that analogy, I'll take the great musicals over the "actions" any day! "Yo" is not great dialog.

My parents tell me that at the time, this film was panned by the critics and did not make it as big at the box office. Could it be that everyone wanted another "Top Hat" or Swing Time?" I enjoyed those lovely musicals with their big production numbers. Could it be the emphasis on Vernon's patriotic service with the RAF in World War I might have offended many people's "isolationism" in 1939 about the growing World War II?

Fred and Ginger wanted to do a movie with more substance, and they pulled it off in grand style. The songs and dances were nice, with only one very brief "production number." But they did a great job of showing how two young entertainers met, fell in love, became famous, and made a sacrifice in the war. In 1911, young Irene Castle "discovers" Vernon, a second-rate vaudeville comic when she sees him dancing at an evening outing. She shows Vernon her not ready for prime time dance number "The Yama Yama Men." The two fall in love and marry, and with a lot of self-taught dance technique, suddenly hit the big time in France by dancing their famous "Castle Walk." The Castles' fame grew and grew and they toured Europe and America, and made a lot of money through merchandising things like Irene Castle hats. Long before Michael Jordan's basketball shoes. In fact, you will see entries for both Vernon and Irene here in the Movie Database. Irene went on to star in a few silent films, but never made a "talkie." You'll be glad to know that Irene served as an advisor for the Rogers -Astaire film, enhancing its accuracy.

As always, they had some great character actors. I never knew Walter Brennan was ever that young. Fred and Ginger really showed a depth to their acting. From there, of course, Ginger moved into dramatic movies, including her Oscar-winning "Kitty Foyle." I think Fred's later movies matured too.

In short, I think you will like this movie, but don't expect to see a clone of "Swing Time."

It's pretty good but not like their previous films

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 7 March 2007]

BEWARE--SPOILER AHEAD--READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

This film is one of the most unusual Astaire-Rogers musicals because for once the story is about a real couple, Vernon and Irene Castle--famous dancers in the early part of the 20th century. So we have a musical bio-pic, though in many other ways it's very similar to the rest of the films Astaire and Rogers made together. Once again, there are strong supporting comic players (Edna May Oliver and Walter Brennan) and plenty of ballroom-style and tap dancing. But what truly makes this different is that the film is forced to stick to the main facts about the people they are portraying, so there is no fairy tale happy ending, since Vernon was killed towards the end of WWI. Those who want the happy ending and demand the Astaire-Rogers formula remain intact will be disappointed, but I was actually pretty impressed that the story DIDN'T include some sort of sappy ending or ended on a cliché. While not a great film, the acting, dancing, direction and writing were just fine and I do respect the fact that it is not just the "same old story".

End of the RKO Series

[vert001 · 9/10 · 22 May 2016]

I wonder what kind of press campaign THE STORY OF VERNON AND IRENE CASTLE was given back in 1939? Many customers knew the fate of Vernon Castle before they ever entered the theaters, but there's no doubt that many did not (Astaire mentions that his own wife had no idea who Vernon and Irene were). For them the tragic ending may have been something of a shock, even a cheat as advertisements are virtually never downbeat, and such reactions are unlikely to help a film's reputation. The Castle film is so different from the rest of the Rogers/Astaire series that I fear it's continued to be unfairly slated by audiences and critics alike.

How is THE STORY OF VERNON AND IRENE CASTLE different? Let us count the ways. We have a new director, H. C. Potter. We have a true story, a biography, to present rather than a fictional bedroom farce or screwball comedy. Consequently, our stars are playing real, non-wisecracking people rather than fictional characters. The Art Deco sets are gone, replaced with historically realistic trappings. Ditto for the costuming. Rather than the brilliant new musical scores to which we've become accustomed, we get a brilliant use of period musical pieces, and the choreography likewise is derivative rather than original. The comedy tends to be gentle and situational rather than verbal and brittle. And most different of all, in the end we're not dealing with comedy, but with a tragedy. When you come to think of it, that's a lot to take in for an unprepared audience.

There were many biographies made in Hollywood around this time, and among the musical ones THE STORY OF VERNON AND IRENE CASTLE strikes me as one of the most successful, perhaps even the most successful (I'm not a fan of YANKEE DOODLE DANDY, and most of the rest hardly bear mentioning). We receive a genuine history lesson regarding the popularization of ballroom dancing in America and Europe, and I, for one, was very surprised at the commercialization accompanying the rising fame of these pre-World War One dancers. Not many dancing couples have the acting chops to successfully take on roles that branch out from romantic comedy all the way to tragedy (Kelly and Garland?) but Astaire and Rogers prove well up to the task. And while Fred probably doesn't rise above the level of competent, Ginger has the opportunity to make an actual character journey from gawky but talented teenager to loving and serious young wife. She may have pressed a bit at the beginning to play ten years younger than her actual self but it seems to me that she hit the ball perfectly during the second half of the picture.

There's more dancing in VERNON AND IRENE CASTLE than it's usually given credit for. Fred has his usual solo, pleasant but unspectacular, Ginger has a tricky specialty number meant to show her character off as gauche yet talented which she pulls off nicely, there's a lively rehearsal number to 'Waiting for the Robert E. Lee', and there are the various examples of the Castles' dances, with perhaps 'The Maxixe' being outstanding among them. They are all performed brilliantly by Fred and Ginger, and their final waltz, the last dance they did for RKO, gives us one last beautiful image to admire and one final emotional rush to feel. It was a great run.

CASTLE provided RKO with approximately the same revenue as had FLYING DOWN TO RIO, but the expenses were now far greater and the film suffered a small net loss. As a result, Astaire was offered a new contract at about half the old salary, but he felt (correctly so) that he could command his old figure on a picture by picture basis with other studios. Such was the un-romantic ending to the famous Astaire/Rogers partnership at RKO. They would both go on to have enormous success separately but are probably destined to always remain best known together. There are worse fates.

A goof which caused hilarity in UK cinemas

[pdiamond-3 · 7/10 · 14 August 2006]

There is one hilarious goof in this delightful film. When Irene and Vernon are having dinner in the Parisian restaurant in which they are to make their debut Irene is wearing her wedding dress as they are too broke to afford to buy her a new evening dress, She is also wearing a little lacy winged hat of the type worn in the national costume of Holland.

In England there were gales of laughter when Irene says "I feel just like a bride again in my wedding dress and my little Dutch cap." In the UK a Dutch cap is a female contraceptive device which I believe is called a "diaphragm" in USA.

The musical to end all musicals

[HotToastyRag · 4/10 · 27 January 2022]

There are two reasons why The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle was Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers's last RKO musical. If you haven't seen it, you don't know what they are. The duo play a real life dance couple, and it could have been very entertaining to watch. But the dances featured in the film mirror the real Castles' style, rather than Fred and Ginger's. By comparison to the delightful and impressive numbers audiences were used to, they saw small dances of the cakewalk and the two-step. The second reason it wasn't well received and put a screeching halt to the beloved duo's musical pairings was because of the ending. I won't spoil it, but I also wouldn't recommend watching this one.

If you do decide to watch it, you'll hear lots of old-fashioned songs to put you in the mood of the turn of the century. "Oh, You Beautiful Doll," "By the Light of the Silvery Moon," and "Little Brown Jug" are cute, but they're not the schmaltzy 1930s songs we're used to. It feels like the two leads are holding back - which they are. The romance is forced and "Hollywood" to give audiences a Cliffs Notes version of the Castles' courtship. For the first time, Fred and Ginger play a married couple, and we can't even enjoy it! They spend most of their time perfecting their vaudeville act, rather than showing their love for each other. The whole film feels watered down.

An excellent, but also sad drama. Also the most romantic of the RKO musicals.

[KatharineTheGreat · 30 June 2001]

I LOVE THIS MOVIE!!! First of all, Fred and Ginger are where it's at in my opinion, so my feelings about this movie are not all that surprising. I own all the Astaire/Rogers movies, and this one is my second favorite. (the Barkleys of broadway rules) The dancing is great even if it is not really what we'd expect F&G to be doing. I am a romantic-type-person, so I absolutley love all the "sweethearts" and "darlings" and (possible spoiler here)"Irene, I'm terribly in love w/ you. I never thought I'd fall in love, but I have, and I'm glad I have, and will you please marry me?" That makes me cry every time. 2 KISSES!!! Many pecks. YEA! The end is sooooooo sad. I absolutley hate seeing Ginger cry-it just about breaks my heart. (don't mind me, I'm obsessed.)Anyway-this is a great movie-SEE IT if you possibly can. I thought it was great.

Better when Astaire plays Astaire

[vincentlynch-moonoi · 7/10 · 25 July 2020]

Once I reached adulthood I began to realize that Fred Astaire was the finest dancer in films. I don't know if it was because here he was playing a real person in a "bio-pic", but the dancing Astaire did here was "very good", but not up to the usual Astaire performance where one is often tempted to use the phrase "brilliant".

On the other hand, some of the Astair musicals had pretty weak plots, while here we have a real story.

THere's no question that Astaire and Ginger Rogers had great screen chemistry, and it shows here. The story is good enough that I went online to find out more about the Castles.

I've always liked Walter Brennan, but to me he seemed a bit out of place here. One of my favorite character actresses is here, too -- Edna May Oliver -- is here too. Always delightful, but here she didn't have enough to do and she wasn't able to steal scenes the way she often did. Interesting that we see the REAL Lew Fields here, one of the great vaudevillians.

If you're a real Astaire fan...watch it. If you're looking for a couple of Astaire films to watch to see what he was all about...there are better choices (one of my favorites is "Holiday Inn" with Bing Crosby).

This one...it's "good".

Lovely Biopic about the Castles and good performances

[hot_in_pink_hate_red · 7/10 · 15 November 2011]

What I loved about this movie was how funny, talented, sweet, and genuine Vernon Castle and Irene Castle were in real life. Along how very much in love they were. This films chronicles their life together along with the love they had for one another. From their struggle to becoming renown dancing sensations to them wanted to have a normal life after their rise to fame.

Fred Astaire is just wonderful in this Musical Biopic and gives a very wonderful and touching dramatic role as well. Ginger Rogers is lovely in this movie and also gives a touching dramatic role too. Walter Brennan is funny as their friend Walter Ashe and does quite well in being dramatic also. Edna May Oliver is excellent portraying their agent Maggie Sutton as well.

The dancing numbers in this movie are lovely and so romantic. Just watching Fred and Ginger dance is like being hypnotized. The way these two were in the ten films they did in truly enjoyable to watch. They knew how to capture an audience attention.

If you love seeing a movie about actual dancers/actors, being portray by REAL dancers/actors. I suggest you see this wonderful movie with the late Astaire and Rogers.

sad ending

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 1 January 2023]

Vernon Castle (Fred Astaire) jumps into the harbor to rescue a dog. He is soon joined by Irene (Ginger Rogers) who would later become his wife and dancing partner.

Ginger and Fred are at their appealing best. The dancing is cool, but it's representative of the turn of the century. It's classical without anything groundbreaking. This is more compelling for being a biography of a real couple. The dancing duo uses all their on-screen chemistry. The most striking is the sad ending. It hits on the dangers of the real world as the war approaches. It's downright predictive in Irene's emotional turmoil.

Myths, Legends, and Facts

[OldieMovieFan · 10/10 · 9 December 2022]

Irene Castle was a paid consultant for this movie. Pandro Berman, Rogers and Astaire were unfailingly polite about her but the fact is, she displayed extreme unprofessionalism throughout the entire episode.

Castle loudly wanted someone other than Rogers to perform as Irene had been when she was much younger - as she had been 20 years before. She complained about dresses, shoes, and hairstyle. Rogers, who had been a flapper in Vaudeville and Broadway in the 1920s with hairstyles to match, had used scores of different styles including wigs in her forty films. She understood her audiences so completely that she was a fashion icon for nearly fifty years. Her views were completely supported by director, producer, and executives. In interviews much later Berman said he believed these disruptions by Castle were a ploy so that she herself could play the role, an idea which he dismissed out of hand. If Castle couldn't understand that Ginger Rogers was enormously more influential, stylish, and popular than Irene had ever been, the studio and the public certainly did.

Castle also didn't understand the dynamics at RKO or those between Rogers and Astaire.

Astaire, who in spite of his shy personality had an enormous ego (rightly so, his dancing is still unparalleled), probably agreed with Irene about a different partner, but for different reasons. Rogers had shown Fred the ropes of acting before a camera, and had always been much the better actor. Her effortless shifts from one character to the next (Honey Hale to Countess Sharwenka to Amanda Cooper and Irene Castle) are quite beyond Astaire's ability and indeed are unmatched by ANY actor in musical film history.

By 1935, Rogers had surpassed Astaire in popularity; by 1936's "Swing Time," she was carrying their films. Fred Astaire got critical acclaim for their movies, but it was Ginger Rogers who received the standing ovations of arenas and stadiums in Dallas and Chicago and New York. By 1937 her solo career was more successful, and more important, than was her partnership with Fred. For 1938's "Carefree" the studio wasn't using Astaire because he was the best actor for the part but because he was under contract and they had nothing else for him. That film would have been much better - and probably would have actually made money - as a straight screwball comedy with the dances dropped and Astaire replaced with a leading actor of Ginger's ability and charisma (put Cary Grant or Jimmy Cagney across from Ginger Rogers in "Carefree" and it would have instantly become one of the greatest films ever produced). It is a famous legend that Astaire's one-word telegram to Ginger - Ouch - was sent after she won a Best Actress award. Actually as the trade journals reported at the time, Astaire sent it in 1938, after seeing the box office numbers and profits of "Carefree" compared to "Vivacious Lady."

So it was that by 1939 Astaire's career arc looked like the flight of an arrow shot almost vertically into the air; straight up, a teeter at the top, and plunging rapidly back to earth. He'd been labeled box office poison by Time magazine and, while he recovered and made many more great films, from first to last Fred Astaire never had a hit without a top flight star above the title with him. By comparison, Ginger's career arc looked like a space ship that had already escaped gravity and was leaving the solar system. Her solo movies were carrying not only Astaire but, through block-booking, almost all of RKO Studios. Her hits from 1940 to 1945 were bigger than any Rogers-Astaire movie.

Beyond these simple box office mathematics and trajectories, Ginger Rogers was the only actress, certainly in Hollywood and possibly in America, who was capable of performing the role. Dancing with Astaire was never an easy task. With Joan Fantaine in the flop "Damsel in Distress" Astaire had already satisfied studio, critics and public that he couldn't carry a movie even with a fine actress. He had to have a full partner. At a stroke, this fact ruled out almost all of the talent in Hollywood. Actresses such as Alice Faye, Jeannette MacDonald, or Irene Dunne, were fine actors with great voices but were only average dancers, if they danced at all; Eleanor Powell was a fine dancer but didn't sing and was a mediocre actress; Betty Grable was far too young for the already middle-aged Astaire. It had to be Ginger, and everybody knew it.

In the last analysis, Irene Castle's complaints reflect poorly upon nobody but Irene Castle.

They Capture The Castles

[writers_reign · 7/10 · 26 February 2007]

There was probably a good reason why RKO put these top-rated stars into a vehicle that was alien to everything they had done before; it's interesting to speculate that perhaps the studio felt the franchise was winding down and needed kick-starting in a new direction, or maybe the studio felt the partnership was growing too demanding and wanted to 'teach them a lesson' or, to explore another avenue, maybe they HAD been unable to persuade Astaire to sign another contract and decided his last contractual obligation would be in a movie weighted towards Ginger. Whatever, they came up with a bio-pic of two dancers who had revolutionized ballroom dancing a quarter of a century earlier but were, at the time of filming, virtually forgotten. Unlike the others in the franchise this time around there would be no mistaken identity ploys to keep the couple apart until the last reel, no new score (just a single new number) from the likes of Berling, Kern or Gershwin AND for good measure an unhappy ending.

Vernon Castle was an Englishman from Norwich who moved to America and appeared in a dozen or so Broadway shows before forming a dance partnership with his wife, Irene, which brought them fame and fortune. He enlisted soon after the outbreak of World War I and was killed in February, 1918, and the film more or less follows that outline. This time around there is virtually no chasing the girl; they meet and marry within two reels, spend another reel starving then become an overnight sensation, enjoy it for five or six years until Vernon dies in an airplane accident.

Fred and Ginger do what they did best, sing and dance but this time in a completely different style to the one fans were used to and expected. Nevertheless they still manage to charm and captivate and actually carry much more of the film with no Eric Blore, Edward Everett Horton, Erik Rhodes or Helen Broderick to share the load. In lieu of these comic stalwarts we get Walter Brennan (playing the part of a man who, in real life, was Black) and Edna May Oliver, both of whom are up to the little they get to do. Apparently it disappointed fans on its initial release but today it stands up well and reminds us just what our grandparents, parents, and even ourselves loved about Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

My favorite musical!

[Elizabeth-328 · 10/10 · 13 July 1999]

This movie is great! Not only do Rogers and Astaire display their fabulous dancing skills, but I think their acting is great too! I love to look at Ginger's dresses...especially Irene's trademark fox pieces when they do the 'Fox Trot'. The ending always moves me to tears; it's wonderful. If you haven't seen "The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle", and are a Rogers and Astaire fan, you need to. This is my favorite movie featuring the dynamic duo. It gets a 10 out of 10!!

not of their best

[KyleFurr2 · 7/10 · 8 September 2005]

This was the last movie Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers made together in the 1930's and they would only make one more in 1949. This is easily one of the lessor efforts and it's easy to see why they only made one more after this one. For a musical there are hardly any song and dance numbers compared to their other films and there isn't too much comedy in here compared to other films like Carefree. The movie starts out in 1911 with Astaire playing a low ranking comedian who in the skits basically gets beat up. Astaire meets Rogers and Walter Brennan is her servant and they wind up getting married. They try to get hired as dancing partners but no one will take them until Edna May Oliver gets them a spot at a top restaurant. Then World War I starts and it's hard to see Fred Astaire was a war hero but this movie has him as one. This isn't one of their best and you should watch one of their other ones first.

The Dance of Life

[lugonian · 9/10 · 2 November 2002]

THE STORY OF VERNON AND IRENE CASTLE (RKO Radio, 1939), directed by H.C. Potter, marked the ninth screen teaming of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, and what a better way to end their cycle of successful musical comedies together than in having the most popular dance team of the 1930s in an autobiographical film portraying the most famous dancers of twenty years ago. The couple who made "The Continental" a dancing craze of the 1930s, were now reintroducing once popular dances such as "The Fox Trot." Based on the books "My Husband" and "My Memories of Vernon Castle" by Irene Castle, who was technical adviser of this production, the movie itself centers on an ordinary girl named Irene Foote of New Rochelle and her marriage to a dancer named Vernon Castle of England who was content into playing a comic stooge on the American stage.

The story begins in 1911. Vaudeville was at its height. Vernon Castle (Fred Astaire) is an stage performer working as part of "The Barber Shop" comedy act with the legendary Lew Fields (Lew Fields). He's in love with Claire Ford (Frances Mercer), a leading lady who shows no interest in him. After being stood up on a Coney Island beach, he encounters a dog that immediately links him to Irene Foote (Ginger Rogers) and her servant, Walter Ashe (Walter Brennan) in a row boat. After a brief courtship, and the meeting with her parents (Robert Strange and Janet Beecher), they marry. Taking her advise by giving up low comedy towards dancing, they eventually make a success in Paris, thanks to Maggie Sutton (Edna May Oliver), their discoverer who offers them their first tryout at the Cafe de Paree. Their success as King and Queen of barroom dancing is cut short with the outbreak of the World War.

The songs selected in this production from the 1911-1917 era, whether as background music or dance numbers performed by Astaire and Rogers, include: "Glow Little Glow Worm," "By the Beautiful Sea," "Row, Row, Row," "The Yama, Yama Man" (Sung by Ginger Rogers); "Come Josephine in My Flying Machine," "By the Light of the Silvery Moon," "Oh, You Beautiful Doll" (reprise); "Cuddle Up a Little Closer," "Waiting for the Robert E. Lee," "The Darktown Strutters Ball" (sung in French); "Too Much Mustard," "Rose Room/The Tango," "Tres Jolie Waltz," "When They Were Dancing Around," "Little Brown Jug," "Maxine Dengozo," "You're Here and I'm Here," "Chicago," "Hello, Frisco, Hello," "Way Down Yonder in New Orleans," "Take Me Back to New York Town," "It's a Long Way to Tipperary," "Who's Your Lady Friend" (sung and danced by Fred Astaire); "The Destiny Waltz," "Nights of Gladness," and "The Missouri Waltz." Of the songs used, only one, "Only When You're in My Arms," was a an original written for the film, sung by Astaire to Rogers.

While THE STORY OF VERNON AND IRENE CASTLE was reportedly not a successful film when released, it has gained some status in later years. Thanks to this movie alone, the names of Vernon and Irene Castle would definitely be forgotten. While they're almost virtually forgotten, their names in the title would help them remain somewhat notable to future generations to come, for as long as this movie continues to be available for viewing. THE STORY OF VERNON AND IRENE CASTLE is not only part of the Astaire and Rogers series, it's also a part of them. A sad film in many ways, particularly with its unhappy ending, it was an end of the Astaire and Rogers era, and they knew it. One can actually feel it by watching their performance. Astaire and Rogers show warmth in their infrequent kissing scenes, and Rogers herself is altogether excellent in her performance from a youngster in the early portion of the story to her devoted and mature wife towards the end. The costumes and everything else used in this production, as close to accuracy as possible, recaptured the bygone 1910 era. The musical interludes, while plentiful, are actually brief, with one segment done in a ten minute montage featuring a handful of instrumental dance music. All this and many more help this production another one of the best presented by Astaire and Rogers. While not their last, the team would be reunited in one more musical ten years later, THE BARKLEYS OF Broadway (MGM, 1949), once again playing a husband and wife dance team, but this time as fictional characters.

Also seen in the supporting cast are Etienne Girardot as Papa Aubel; Victor Varconi as The Grand Duke; Rolfe Sedal as Emil Aubel; Donald MacBride as the Hotel Manager; and in cameo, actor Roy D'Arcy as himself, appearing in the Hollywood segment in which Irene Castle stars in a silent motion picture, PATRIA. Walter Brennan and Edna May Oliver are an added asset in both tender moments and comedy as the middle-aged other couple acting part as both friends and agents to the Castles.

THE STORY OF VERNON AND IRENE CASTLE, available on video cassette, later on DVD, and once shown on American Movie Classics, occasionally plays on Turner Classic Movies. In recent years, deleted scenes including French vocalist singing and sounding like Maurice Chevalier to the tune "Darktown Strutters Ball," have been restored, along with the original RKO Radio logo and closing credits replacing the sold to television logo of MOVIETIME or C&C Television that were used for commercial TV prior to 1984, along with its closing cast credits.

While not 100 percent accurate, with some character names being fictitious, the movie itself is straight forward, right to the point, and at 94 minutes, hardly has any time to bore its viewers. (****)

Fred and Ginger's Farewell to RKO

[fugazzi49 · 7/10 · 10 March 2024]

Fred Astaire and Ginger Roger's final film at RKO, "The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle" is so atypical of their other films that it is usually seen as a curiosity or to complete a personal goal of seeing all ten. By no means should it be the first as it's a historical biopic where the characters and dances are based on historic originals. It is, of course, a good picture on its own merits. I was originally disappointed when I first saw this film years ago, that Fred and Ginger were unable to be the characters they had developed over the years and could not dance in their usual way. This was only because it was their last film of their legendary run at RKO and I would have preferred that it be more typical. Had it been made somewhere in the middle there would have been no issue at all. Seeing it several times since then I find that they aren't too far from their usual personas and their joy and perfection when dancing even in historic styles is as wonderful as ever. In fact, it's really interesting to see them dance differently. Ginger's comic solo "Clown Dance" is remarkably athletic with its high kicks., deep bends and cartwheels. The usual romantic dance is made up for by an exquisite dance at the Cafe de Paris with Fred in a military uniform and Ginger in a flowing dress.

After six spectacular successes beginning with 1933's "Flying Down to Rio ", the duo's films began to stumble after "Swing Time". I don't believe, as some do, that the public was tired of them, though that may be a partial factor. The times were changing, and sophisticated dance orchestras were giving way to brassy BIg Bands. "Shall We Dance" made only half the usual profit, but it had replaced the traditional exquisite romantic dance with a muddled and overcrowded finale in which the two danced together for less than two minutes. "Carefree " tried them as a screwball comedy team, but Astaire was no Cary Grant in this respect, and the psychiatric theme and dream sequence seemed kooky to many fans. Among their films, it alone actually lost money. Thus RKO decided to try them in a period picture to give the public something different.

The natural subject was the great dance team before Fred and Ginger, Vernon and Irene Castle, who were an absolute sensation in the 1911-1918 era that saw the peak of Ragtime and the beginning of the Jazz Age. The Castles helped popularize both styles and also styles of and dress. As a happily married and respectable couple, they popularized close dancing with the Two-step, Turkey Trot, Tango and most notably the Fox Trot, which was still being danced in the 1950s. They appeared in silent films and wrote a wildly popular dance instruction book, "Modern Dancing". Irene became a fashion icon in Vogue and introduced more flowing dresses and in 1913, "The Bob", a short, almost boyish hairstyle that caught on until it became all the rage of the Twenties. Goodbye to stiff brocades, tight corsets and long hair worn with large and elaborate hats. They had their own dancing school and nightclub and, as shown in a clever montage, gave their names to everything from Cigars to cosmetics and clothes. They were also early "Moderns" with both in favor of women's suffrage.

RKO went all out for the picture giving it a lavish production which shows in every scene which is fully mounted with elaborate sets, full of extras. This puts it in a different world than the usual Astaire/Rogers pictures, which operates more like a fantasy world. Here the world portrayed is the one we normally inhabit. The plot is more important as well. Usually the plot is some delightfully silly thing to fill in time between dances. Here it is the story of ballroom dancing's first superstar couple and it requires sincere acting which both Astaire and Rogers deliver. They had already agreed that this would be their last film and Rogers was looking forward to an acting career which would start with a bang the following year with "Kitty Foyle", her Academy Award winning role.

RKO gave the film not to Mark Sandrich, the usual director of the Astaire/Rogers films, but to H. C. Potter, who had been a successful director on Broadway who had only begun directing films in 1936. He did a good job managing the often crowded scenes and keeping everything moving along briskly (almost too briskly - the film seemed a bit short to me, as I didn't feel I knew the Castles that well). All the dancing was in the actual style of the Castles so there's no jumping out of the era to dance in a more current style. (This was popular in biopics of the 40s and 50s where period and dancing rarely match). The script is more faithful than usual to the actual events of the Castles' lives and careers with some leeway given for a cute meeting and a rougher time in Paris than they actually had. As a movie not a book, it requires a certain amount of drama. The central cast is Astaire and Rogers assisted by Edna May Oliver and Walter Brennan. Oliver plays the Castles' agent-manager, Maggie Sutton in her usual authoritative and commanding way, but here she gets to play nice, a change from Miss Prost or Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Her character is based on actual manager Elisabeth Marbury, an important literary and theatrical agent who opened the way for women in this area and whose clients included Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw. The film simplifies her as simply a strong and determined woman, notably changing the character name so as not to portray an actual person.

Walter Brennan is the Castles' friend and manservant, Walter. This early in his career he was less identified with Westerns but still is Walter Brennan, a bit countryish and cantankerous in a comic role. He doesn't lay it on too thick here as he did in later days. In a neat bit of casting, Lew Fields, famous comic and theater producer plays his younger self. He had been one of the biggest names in vaudeville teamed with Joe Weber. Age 72 when the film was made, he gave Vernon Castle his first break, a small role on stage which Castle built into an act. Irene Castle herself was brought onboard as a consultant for the film and she rivals the situation Disney had with P. L. Travers consulting on "Mary Poppins". She made the naive assumption that the film, based on her book, was about her, a natural mistake. This was Hollywood. The film was a vehicle for Fred and Ginger, not a documentary. Once Hollywood gets ahold of a property, it can turn it into anything. In this case RKO was very accurate in most respects, but she wanted every detail to be accurate. She approved of Astaire but not of Rogers.

Ginger, an actress, knew what she needed, which most of all was to be recognizable. She refused to dye her hair brunette like Castle's or to truly bob it (they restyled her hair to a mass of curls in back, not really a bob). Irene hated the costumes worn in the non-dance segments, which Ginger had insisted be updated to look more Thirties, while the dance costumes were recreations of costumes actually worn by Irene. She also objected to Ginger not wearing a hat in one scene where she had actually worn one and seriously wanted it reshot. She took a larger paycheck in compensation but disowned the film. The film was very popular in the end, but the production costs, which included scenes with biplanes, ate up much of what would have been profits in the usual Astaire/Rogers film. Despite that it did make a profit. A historical picture made an odd swan song for cinema's great dance partnership, but it wasn't the very end. They would make a final film together for MGM in 1949.

Not as enjoyable as other Astaire/Rogers films managed to be...

[Doylenf · 5/10 · 9 November 2006]

Despite participation of the then still living Irene Castle on the costumes and the script (and acting as Technical Adviser), this is a typically Hollywoodized version of the lives of the famous dancing couple who started the craze for ballroom dancing, including the Fox Trot, the Tango, the Castle Walk.

Even having pros like EDNA MAY OLIVER and WALTER BRENNAN in the supporting cast, can't conceal the fact that the screenplay is a trite affair, however accurate some of the incidents may be.

Fans of FRED ASTAIRE and GINGER ROGERS are hardly likely to count this among the dancing couple's best films. Beginning with the dreadful "Yama Yama" number Ginger does in clown suit and make-up, none of the subsequent musical numbers have any of the style and class associated with Astaire and Rogers when they're being themselves.

They both give it the old try, but Ginger has been seen to better advantage in any number of other musical comedy roles, as has Fred. Some of the familiar old-time songs ("You Great Big Beautiful Doll") and others are sprinkled throughout to give the story the needed period atmosphere, but even that period glow seems ineffective.

Summing up: A misfire as both a biography of the Castles and an old-fashioned song and dance show. Something went very wrong.