In Person

I was delightfully surprised at how fresh this film is! Ginger Rogers shines and sparkles! The songs in this film are also excellent examples of Dorothy Field's work. The songs, with their intelligent lyrics and as-always-wonderful staging of Hermes Pan, more than make up for Ginger's somewhat flat voice (What happened? She's on key with Astaire...) And believe it or not, dull old George Brent even has a twinkle in his eye or maybe even two--not as good as his early 30's work, but the most lively I've seen him in any of his other films. The plot is typical screwball of the times; no worse, no better. Overall this film is well worth seeing for light, cheerful entertainment.

This simple rom-com has to do with a popular actress, Carol Corliss (Ginger Rogers), who has been traumatized by overworking and an unruly mob, and so goes out in public in disguise. Her psychiatrist is trying to overcome her agoraphobia by gradually exposing her to the outside world. When she meets Emory Muir (George Brent) by happenstance, and overhears that he is taking a vacation at a remote cabin, she asks him to take her along. He agrees, not knowing of her stardom.

When they get to the cabin, he treats her indifferently, even when he discovers her true identity. Though she resists at first, she falls into a domesticity, obviously concerned about his feelings toward her. The romance hinges on believing that there is a spark between them, but there is little heat on the screen. Later, when they return to "civilization", they are forced to confront their feelings.

Ginger sings three songs and dances within the context of her stardom, but the core of the film is her portrayal of the non-star, when she uses the pseudonym Clara Colfax. There is a wackiness to the storyline that suggests screwball, but it never really rises to that level.

For my money, the best part of the film is her final song and dance, which is part of a film within the film. And it's not even a great song. There is the glamour that she exudes with virtually every film with Astaire.

As for George Brent, his character deprives him of any real chance to be adorable or dashing. He does a fine job, but one wonders how much difference it would make if the role were in the hands of someone like Astaire or even Jack Carson.

Made between TOP HAT and FOLLOW THE FLEET, Ginger Rogers gives a performance far superior to the material of IN PERSON, a comedy/musical with a lame script and three fine songs composed by Oscar Levant and Dorothy Fields, two of them featuring sprightly dances from Ginger. Rogers plays a famous movie actress trying to recover from an attack of agoraphobia. Somehow she winds up at a cabin retreat with George Brent, himself more animated than usual, as he pretends not to know who she is, which apparently is meant to be some sort of a treatment for her mental problem. Most notable is Ginger's disguise, which features the inevitable glasses along with a dark wig and fake teeth. I, at least, found her quite unrecognizable thanks to those teeth, and Ginger does act like an entirely other person in posture and mannerism and even with a subtly different voice. It's a very fine performance.

Unfortunately there's nothing very funny about these scenes. Indeed, other characters treat her quite rudely, reacting to her looks as if she were the Elephant Man or something. Once up at the cabin the plot progresses like a mild I LOVE LUCY episode with the exception of the three musical interludes: 'A New Lease On Life' is a clever, light song accompanied by a clever, cute tap dance, one that might be easily compared with Astaire's 'Needle in a Haystack' routine from THE GAY DIVORCEE. Later Ginger sings 'Don't Mention Love To Me' in a 'movie within a movie' scene, not the sort of number that suited her voice. Finally we get 'Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind' complete with a full male chorus. This one is shot as a film being made on the RKO lot, and the movie will end in Ginger Roger's actual dressing room. The song, dance and setting are much more interesting than the plot twists, silly even by screwball standards and not nearly so funny as the good screwball efforts of the era.

IN PERSON turned a decent profit, probably due to Ginger Rogers' popularity more than anything. It was her first solo billing above the title, and if she wasn't already RKO's most popular star, she soon would be.

I am going to rate this a little higher than some of the other reviewers. The plot here is less awkward than the creaky plot mechanics of the 1936 Astaire/Rogers "Swing Time" (which, despite the artificiality of the "are cuffs on formal trousers in season?" plot device, is nevertheless a masterpiece). Most fans of musicals would agree that "Swing Time" rates a 10. "In Person" has at least one great song-and-dance number -- "Out of Sight, Out of Mind" with music by legendary Oscar Levant and lyrics by Dorothy Fields (among Fields's hundreds of songs is the Oscar-winning "The Way You Look Tonight" in "Swing Time"). Ginger looks sexily charming even with the fake buck teeth and the glasses. This film is not on the level of "Swing Time," but at least it has a less annoying plot.

I've always wanted to see this movie, because it contains two extremely obscure and fabulous songs, "Don't Mention Love To Me" and "Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind", written for this film by Oscar Lavant and Dorothy Fields. There's a 1935 Brunswick 78 by Kay Thompson of these two rare tunes, and they're just about as good as any songs of the depression era.

I finally got a VHS of this rather rare movie, and I was floored by how wonderfully mediocre it is. It moves at a fast pace and the acting is just fine. The screenplay is more than a bit silly.

If I have a vote, I would get Warner Bros to include this in a Ginger Rogers DVD collection.

It's absolutely a worthwhile film to watch and own.