It's one fantastic number after another in A Damsel in Distress, one of the Fred Astaire musicals that, for some reason, doesn't really make the top of anyone's list. "Nice Work if You Can Get It", "I Can't Be Bothered Now" and "A Foggy Day" are all Gershwin tunes from this movie!
Perhaps this movie was written off as just a silly B-picture because George Burns and Gracie Allen took up more screen time than Fred's love interest Joan Fontaine. Most of the movie was intended to make the audience laugh and distract them from the Great Depression, rather than to wow them with a fantastic romance. Some of the humor is irritating, but the main storyline is very cute. Joan is wealthy and titled, and the staff who work for her family take bets on whom she will marry. She's supposed to marry a dimwitted cousin, but while on holiday in New York, she falls in love with an American. No one knows who he is, but when she tumbles into a taxi with Fred to outrun her bodyguard, Fred is assumed to be her mystery man.
If you like Burns and Allen humor, you'll be rolling on the floor with laughter. They're at their peak with silly puns and deadpan expressions - and you'll have the added treat of seeing them tap dance alongside the great Fred Astaire! After seeing George as a crotchety old man in Oh, God!, it's endlessly entertaining to see him soft-shoe with the most famous dancer in the world. Rumor has it that Gracie was so nervous to dance with Fred, he intentionally tripped and fell on the first day of rehearsals to make her feel more comfortable. What a gentleman!
There's an extensive sequence at the carnival, since the plot isn't that complicated and needs a bit of filler, and the dancing will blow your mind. From dancing in front of distorted mirrors, to running in place in a spinning tunnel, to balancing their legs on different moving planes, to sliding down escalators, the dance is incredibly imaginative. Even if you hate Joan Fontaine, she's hardly in the movie, so you can definitely stomach her presence and watch all the song and dance entertainment without her. It's very cute, even with some 1930s gags that don't translate to modern times.
DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. During the carnival scene, they go on a spinning teacups ride and the motion might make you sick. Also, during that same scene, there's an extended dance number that takes place on spinning floors, spinning walls, and distorted mirrors., and that will make you sick. In other words, "Don't Look, Mom!"
Perhaps this movie was written off as just a silly B-picture because George Burns and Gracie Allen took up more screen time than Fred's love interest Joan Fontaine. Most of the movie was intended to make the audience laugh and distract them from the Great Depression, rather than to wow them with a fantastic romance. Some of the humor is irritating, but the main storyline is very cute. Joan is wealthy and titled, and the staff who work for her family take bets on whom she will marry. She's supposed to marry a dimwitted cousin, but while on holiday in New York, she falls in love with an American. No one knows who he is, but when she tumbles into a taxi with Fred to outrun her bodyguard, Fred is assumed to be her mystery man.
If you like Burns and Allen humor, you'll be rolling on the floor with laughter. They're at their peak with silly puns and deadpan expressions - and you'll have the added treat of seeing them tap dance alongside the great Fred Astaire! After seeing George as a crotchety old man in Oh, God!, it's endlessly entertaining to see him soft-shoe with the most famous dancer in the world. Rumor has it that Gracie was so nervous to dance with Fred, he intentionally tripped and fell on the first day of rehearsals to make her feel more comfortable. What a gentleman!
There's an extensive sequence at the carnival, since the plot isn't that complicated and needs a bit of filler, and the dancing will blow your mind. From dancing in front of distorted mirrors, to running in place in a spinning tunnel, to balancing their legs on different moving planes, to sliding down escalators, the dance is incredibly imaginative. Even if you hate Joan Fontaine, she's hardly in the movie, so you can definitely stomach her presence and watch all the song and dance entertainment without her. It's very cute, even with some 1930s gags that don't translate to modern times.
DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. During the carnival scene, they go on a spinning teacups ride and the motion might make you sick. Also, during that same scene, there's an extended dance number that takes place on spinning floors, spinning walls, and distorted mirrors., and that will make you sick. In other words, "Don't Look, Mom!"