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The Barkleys of Broadway [DVD] [1949]

Fred Astaire (Actor), Ginger Rogers (Actor), Charles Walters (Director) | Rated: Universal, suitable for all | Format: DVD

3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)

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Product details

Actors: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Oscar Levant, Billie Burke, Jacques Francois
Directors: Charles Walters
Format: Colour, Full Screen, PAL, Subtitled
Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
Aspect Ratio: 4:3 - 1.33:1
Number of discs: 1
Classification: U
Studio: DeAgostini
Run Time: 104 minutes

Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)

ASIN: B003IQUZ80
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 163,851 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)

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Customer Reviews

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 60 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great final performances from Fred and Ginger 14 Jan 2006

By pointone TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:DVD

When this film was released in 1949 ten years after the last of the great Fred and Ginger musicals of the 1930s it was considered a disappointment, however fifty seven years later it is a wonderful farewell to this immortal dance duo, and with DVD enabling us to fast forward through the less than inspired background story we can enjoy the wonderful dancing again and again.

Apart from Fred and Ginger as the squabbling married dance team we have Oscar Levant a prominent concert pianist of the time who also acted in films giving exciting iron fisted performances of “Sabre Dance” and “Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto excerpts” in the robust virtuoso manner of the time.

Beautifully digitally restored and with good mono sound this is a must DVD for fans of great dancing.

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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars The Barkleys of Broadway film review 19 Oct 2009

By Dr. H. A. Jones TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:DVD

This is a rare treat: we have an Astaire-Rodgers film - their tenth and last together - in colour. The dancing is as effortless as always, which is a measure of their talent and professionalism for, after making one or two films every year for seven years (1933-39), there had been a hiatus of ten years before they got together again on screen. The plot is insubstantial - a husband and wife dance team squabbling over whether or not they should stay together or go their separate ways. The screenplay was by Betty Comden and Adolph Green.
The supporting cast is headed by composer, pianist, and actor Oscar Levant who is his usual laconic, slightly cynical but always witty self; in the movie Levant gives sparkling performances of Khachaturian's Sabre Dance and a much edited first movement from Tchaikovsky's 1st Piano Concerto.
The original film music is by Harry Warren with lyrics by Ira Gershwin or Arthur Freed. The hit song is `This heart of mine' with, as a finale, a reprise from the film Shall We Dance of the Gershwins' `They can't take that away from me'.
Despite its shortcomings judged from the standards of more modern musicals, an Astaire-Rogers musical, in colour yet, is always entertaining.

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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The old ones are the best! 2 July 2009

By james Caulfield

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is a joy of a DVD. The great Fred and Ginger doing what they do best, and Oscar Levant doing what he does best - wisecracking and playing the piano. I had never seen this film and it came as a beautiful surprise. I keep watching it time after time.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars They can't take that away from me 8 Aug 2009

By Adele Winston

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

Astaire & Rogers reunited ten years or so after their glory years making musicals together. This is not their best film, but Comden & Green and Oscar Levant are reliable as ever, and the duet "They can't take that away from me" is vintage Gershwin and simply gorgeous.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great! 22 Feb 2011

By Sunshine Girl

Format:DVD

If you love Astaire you'll love this! Great dvd to watch time and time again. He's in a class of his own and completely timeless. Good quality.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Barkleys of Broadway 23 Dec 2009

By Peggy Berkelouw

Format:DVD

Absolutely lovely and a very good quality. A perfect feel good movie from the good old days.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Their Last Picture Together Reminds Us Of Why We Loved Them 3 Dec 2011

By Stephanie DePue TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:DVD

"The Barkleys of Broadway," a musical comedy/romance, (postwar, 1949) was, unexpectedly, the tenth and last film Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers made together. It finds Astaire 50 years old, and Rogers, 38, and was made, after a ten-year hiatus, during which they each did their own things, and Rogers won an Oscar for her serious work in Kitty Foyle [DVD]. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios made it, rather than the pair's original studio, Radio Pictures(later RKO). Famed MGM producer Arthur Freed, working in his prestigious music unit, gave it a no-expense spared gloss; it's the dancing couple's first and only picture together in color, full, saturated Technicolor, no less.

The somewhat slow, stagebound script was by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and it is witty: at one point, Astaire says, "I've been sneezing and coughing like a Model T." As is widely known, Astaire, having stepped successfully into the dancing shoes that were meant for Gene Kelly in Easter Parade [DVD] [1948], and worked happily with Judy Garland, was expected to reteam with Garland here. But Garland had been fired, she was ill, although she was apparently well enough to show up on the set, without invitation, and harass Rogers, who had been invited to take her part. Most sources say that Comden and Green therefore had to rewrite the part for Rogers. Most sources also point out that the scriptwriters somewhat followed real life, in that Astaire wanted to be the best song and dance man ever, whereas Rogers yearned for the respect given a serious actress, see KITTY FOYLE.... However, let's remember that Garland also yearned for the respect given a serious actress, and eventually made Judgement At Nuremberg [1961] [DVD], and A Star Is Born - 2 Disc Special Edition [DVD] [1954]. So whose life were the scriptwriters really thinking about, from the beginning, anyway?

At any rate, this movie differs from the stars' previous work in that they start out already married, (they are quite middle-aged by now) and bickering, rather than courting, and they are portrayed as being already at the height of their careers, enjoying a Broadway hit. They are Josh and Dinah Barkley in this one, and Rogers is tired of being made to feel that Astaire has been her Svengali; she wants a hit of her own, preferably a serious one. The script also differs from their other work in that it provides them with no individual foils. Instead we have the talented piano player and acerbic wit Oscar Levant An American In Paris [DVD] [1951], as their mutual best friend; and Billie Burke, Dinner At Eight [1933] (REGION 2) (PAL) [Dutch Import], in her usual scattered society hostess role. Charles Waters directed; Cedric Gibbons art directed, giving the film its lively look.

Nobody in this house knows quite what to make of Rogers' way over the top, out of the blue, reading of "La Marseillaise." My only theory is that perhaps it was meant as an homage to the then fairly recent wartime CASABLANCA. If you can stop crying long enough during that film's "Marseillaise" scene, you'll notice that it, too, is a bit overwrought. However....

The film's original music was composed by the well-known Harry Warren, with lyrics by George Gershwin, who had died, shockingly young, and most agree the music's nice, but not up to the dancers' earlier great material. However, the pair get a spirited, entertaining, rhythmic workout to "Bouncing The Blues." Their Scottish "Highland Fling" number is enjoyable. "Manhattan Downbeat" just doesn't work. Astaire's favorite, famed choreographer, Hermes Pan, comes back to work on the big, well-known "Shoes with Wings." But the evocative, emotional highpoint of the film has to be the reprise of "They Can't Take That Away From Me," from "Shall We Dance," on which both Ira and George Gershwin worked. It reminds us of every reason we loved the earlier pictures. Read more ›

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Song and Dance 30 April 2011

By Denbow

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

Still the same old magic is still there with Fred and Ginger, the song title 'They Can't Take That Away From Me' sums up the performance of our pair in this film, very enjoyable.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Music

Very much enjoyed by the older people that it was bought for. Not sure if the younger generation would enjoy it though.

Published 1 month ago by Mauray

5.0 out of 5 stars emotional

now my ginger rogers and fred astaire collection of all their films is complete. after 10 years waiting for this film to come out on dvd it was worth the wait to see the george and... Read more

Published 11 months ago by wayne

1.0 out of 5 stars Dreadful

If the critics thought this a disappointment when the film first came out, who are we to disagree? It doesn't have any plot, for a start. Read more

Published 18 months ago by J. Buckingham

4.0 out of 5 stars The Barkleys of Bradway

I got the DVD for my mother who has a lot of time on her hands and in her younger days did a lot of danceing she might not be able to do all the steps now but this kept her feet... Read more

Published on 28 Jun 2009 by Mrs. M. Beason

4.0 out of 5 stars Classic man v woman = common grounds (or so the other thinks!)

If only people did make the effort to sort their problems in real life! but this is funny, classic, entertaining and of its tpye for the era...

Published on 12 Mar 2009 by Ms. Andrea Reid

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