You Were Never Lovelier (1942)

I love Fred Astaire. I love Rita Hayworth. Their dancing together is uniquely breezy compared to all of Astaire’s other partnerships. This story on the other hand is a feeble rehash of The Taming of the Shrew, set in Argentina. For reasons, Hayworth’s younger sisters aren’t allowed to get married until she does, so her father played by Adolphe Menjou invents a secret admirer to warm her ‘ice princess’ demeanor. The costuming choices are questionable, including oddly placed doily-like details on dresses and hats. Though I did discover that ‘fancy dress’ meant costumes. Apologies to Jerome Kern, but many of the songs felt rather shoehorned in, though I did enjoy the role of Xavier Cugat. It’s all generally harmless, but I really hope the other Astaire-Hayworth pairing is better than this one.

Oscar Nominations: Best Sound, Recording; Best Music, Original Song; Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture