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A young girl( a lively Ginger Rogers) escaped from a reformatory, becomes the best student in a Parisian school for pickpockets(ruled by Basil Rathbone). At the beginning she attempts out her skills on an old man(Adolphe Menjou). Later when she tries to rob an attractive diplomat(Jean Pierre Aumont) they fall in love instead.

This fresh and funny farce is one the last works where director Sam Wood shows an increasing blandness in a lighthearted love story with comedy touches. Main and support cast is frankly outstanding. Top-notch, virtuoso acting by Ginger Rogers, she was the number one as dancer actress and a fascinating comedian: ¨Monkey business¨ and won an Oscar for her portrayal in ¨Kitty Foyle: natural story of a woman¨. Remaining cast formed by the French young Jean Pierre Aumont as dashing diplomat, the classic Sherlock Holmes, Basil Rathbone, the memorable Adolphe Menjou, Henry Stephenson as veteran Ambassador and the Italian Eduardo Ciannelli. Sam Wood was a good filmmaker, an expert director of actresses, almost all the magnificent acting in his movies were given by ladies, with the exceptions of the Marx Brothers in ¨Night at the Opera¨, and ¨A day at the races¨ and Robert Donat in ¨Goodbye Mr Chips¨; as are extraordinaries, Ann Sheridan and Betty Field in ¨King Row¨, it is Ingrid Bergman, marvelous when we remember her in ¨For whom the bells tolls¨, and of course Ginger Rogers in ¨Heartbeat¨ and ¨Kitty Foyle¨; these outstanding Rogers'performances are matched by Joan Fontaine's ¨Ivy¨, Gladys George's ¨Madame X¨ and Jean Arthur's ¨The devil and Miss Jones¨. Plus the picture packs a very high standard cinematography by Joseph Valentine.From the late 1920s Sam Wood was with MGM, where he remained until his death at 1966 with some exception as ¨Heartbeat¨ with RKO. Sam Wood angered the acting community by his work for Joseph McCarthy and his House UnAmerican Activities Committee.

Despite having some talent and material to work with, this feature produces just a few good moments, and it never really comes together the way it might have. The cast, headed by Ginger Rogers and including some fine supporting actors, certainly supplied plenty of talent. The story idea was only mildly imaginative, but it had the potential for some decent comedy and entertaining romantic mix-ups. But it seems to go in too many different directions at different times, and perhaps as a result, it has a few stretches of good material packed amidst some longer, less interesting parts.

Rogers was easily one of the more attractive and talented actresses of her era, but the role of Arlette just doesn't seem to work for her. The character is not really as interesting as the situation, and Rogers often seems to be trying too hard. In any case, the character never quite rings true.

The story starts with Arlette, a reluctant enrollee in a school for petty criminals, getting roped into a scheme by an unscrupulous aristocrat that plunges her into a series of romantic and personal complications, as she develops a tangled relationship with a diplomat played by Jean-Pierre Aumont. The story is pure fluff, deliberately implausible but with some good possibilities, and it would likely have worked better with a lighter, more farcical touch all around.

Basil Rathbone is well cast as the 'professor' at the crime school, and there are some amusing details in his classes and teaching methods, but all of the sequences in the 'school' are essentially just elaborations on the basic gag idea. Adolphe Menjou was an ideal choice for the unprincipled nobleman, but he has to contend with some clunky dialogue in his part. For all of these and other reasons, "Heartbeat" - though probably worth seeing - never hits its stride, and it delivers less than it could have.

GINGER ROGERS again is photographed in soft focus so that she can fool the camera lens into having us believe her as an 18 year-old girl who is taught to be a pick-pocket at a crime school run by no less than BASIL RATHBONE. Encouraged to become a petty thief, she is sent off to ply her trade and soon finds herself caught up in a romantic liaison with a wealthy Frenchman JEAN-PIEREE AMOUNT.

In outline, the story sounds like it would have a lot of potential as a charming romantic comedy. And sometimes it almost works. Rathbone does a smoothly professional job as her crime school mentor and ADOLPHE MENJOU adds sophistication to the supporting cast. But Ginger remains unconvincing throughout, sadly miscast in a role that could only have been carried off by an actress who was young enough to assume such a role.

Whatever tricks of photography were needed to photograph Rogers in a soft glow are simply wasted. She's never for a moment convincing as an ingénue and the film should have been scrapped once it was revealed that the casting mistake would ruin the story. Alas, another misfire for Rogers during a period which alternated between good and bad roles in some films that ranged from mediocre to excellent.

Summing up: Hardly worth your time.

I waited to view 'Heartbeat' until I had first managed to watch the French original from 1940 that this movie is derived from. I felt that to see them in chronological order offered the best chance to appraise them relatively.

I thoroughly enjoyed 'Battement de coeur', finding it possessed a lightness of touch and was full of sparkling wit. Despite watching it on a SECAM tape that didn't play terribly well in my PAL VCR, the French original bowled me over with its zest and sprightly charm. The inestimable Danielle Darrieux shines as only she can.

After such a pleasing viewing experience, I was rather intrigued to discover how the story would play out under different auspices, but with Max Kolpe again contributing to the writing. It really proved to be a bad case of deja-vu when a week later I watched the DVD of 'Heartbeat'. I honestly don't know who decided that it should be a scene-by-scene remake. Constrained by adhering rigidly to the scenes from 'Battement de coeur', 'Heartbeat' was always going to struggle to be anything other than forced in areas to persons who had already viewed the 1940 movie. For example, the scene where Ginger Rogers kicks the floor in adolescent frustration at being detained just falls flat, whereas the scene in 'Battement de coeur' exhibited buckets of vitality and flouncing joie de vivre. The half-hearted reenactment of scenes and characters' movements was eerie and strange to observe.

Up to about two-thirds of the way through, I wasn't particularly held by the script or by the performances. For me, the early scenes in the pick-pocket school are uninspired recreations of those in 'Battement de coeur'. Even the dummy they practice on is exactly the same! Luckily though, it gradually grew on me and began to charm me somewhat. In contrast to many reviewers, I feel that the romantic elements of the second half aid the movie considerably. The scenes in the last reel of Rogers and Aumont dancing contain more spontaneity and zest than those that have gone before.

'Heartbeat' is inoffensive and contains some reasonably funny moments involving watches. Despite being over-aged for her role, I thought Rogers was appealing and displayed a nice mix of teenage shyness and spunkiness. Adolphe Menjou and Basil Rathbone appear fleetingly but are good value as always. As the teacher, Rathbone is watchable but he cannot quite equal the menacing and imposing performance of Saturnin Fabre in 'Battement de coeur'. Menjou does well and is at the centre of many of the funniest intrigues. Overall, the movie is relatively likable but considerably hamstrung by its aping of the French original. Do attempt to take in 'Battement de coeur' before seeing this, for goodness' sake!

Lets get this out of the way right off the top, Ginger Rogers is too old for her part in this film! True she looks very lovely and far younger than the 35 years she was when this was made, perhaps 25 or 26, but she is supposed to be an 18 year old escapee from a reform school and there is no amount of soft focus that could make that believable.

As far as the rest of the film its a mediocre effort wasting the other two assets it has on hand, Adolph Menjou and Basil Rathbone, in small parts. The story itself is rather ridiculous held up by the talent involved but it's wasted effort. A forgettable enterprise, all the stars have made better films that should be sought out instead.