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The Barkleys of Broadway is directed by Charles Walters and written by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. It stars Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Oscar Levant, Billie Burke, Gale Robbins and Jacques François. Music is by Lennie Hayton and cinematography by Harry Stradling Sr.

Fred and Ginger play the Barkleys, a successful husband and wife musical comedy team that seems to thrive on feuding. However, one day it goes too far and a break up appears certain when the wife entertains an offer from Jacques François to become a serious actress.

Firsts and lasts here as it was the first film Astaire and Rogers did for MGM, their first in colour, and their last they would make together after reconvening after 10 years - Rogers stepping in when Judy Garland fell to her troubled wayside. The screenplay is pretty thin, serving only as a thin piece of meat to the dance and musical numbers sandwich, but with stand-outs like the wonderful "Shoes with Wings On" and the joyous uplift of 'They Can't Take That Away from Me' to spend time with, it's a film to brighten the darkest of days. 7/10

"The Barkleys of Broadway" holds up well as a fun musical, especially significant as Fred and Ginger's final re-teaming effort. It's just downright good fun to see them together again, singing and dancing as only they can. What a delightful screen pair they are!

Except this vehicle is nothing like their other films at RKO. This is a MGM musical in the big MGM tradition. The whole thing was an accident. Judy Garland was supposed to have Ginger Rogers' role, but her chronic illness made a replacement necessary. Rogers and Astaire have the same old chemistry even if it is a different studio. They play feuding song and dance team Josh and Dinah Barkeley who break up personally and professionally over Dinah's desire to do dramatic acting and Josh's jealousy over who the author of the play is - a flirty Frenchman, Jacques.

At first Josh says he wants Dinah to fall on her face. But when he sees her actually stumble in rehearsals when he sneaks in to catch a peek, he blames it all on Jacques, who he says does not know how to direct her. So Josh comes up with a ruse in which he calls Dinah after rehearsals and pretends to be Jacques, complete with fake French accent, giving her cues on how to improve her performance based on what he has seen. Unfortunately it works too well. Dinah thinks even more of Jacques since he is helping her out with great tips, and Jacques is bowled over by Dinah's inexplicable improvement. How will this work out? Watch and find out.

Of course MGM spared no expense in the late 40s with the Arthur Freed unit, which made this film. There is beautiful Technicolor, comedy and masterful piano work from Oscar Levant, a great piece of special effects work by MGM and dancing by Astaire in the number "Shoes with Wings On" in which Astaire seems to be dancing side by side with pairs of tap shoes, and a ballroom number in which Fred and Ginger dance to "They Can't Take That Away From Me". Fred sang it to Ginger but the two did not dance to it in 1937's "Shall We Dance". Finally, Ginger's recitation of "La Marseillaise" when she plays "Young Sarah Bernhardt" in Jacques' play is a (probably) unintentional camp classic. Fortunately the French are forgiving people.

It was an unexpected reunion, but for fans of the big MGM musicals of the period and of Fred and Ginger in particular, I would highly recommend it.

The couple Josh (Fred Astaire) and Dinah Barkley (Ginger Rogers) are successful musical comedy artists in Broadway and perfect on stage. However, they frequently argue with each other backstage and at home and the perfectionist Josh usually questions the performance of his wife. Their close friend and pianist Ezra Millar (Oscar Levant) usually calms them down.

When Dinah is introduced to the playwright and director Jacques Pierre Barredout (Jacques Francois), he believes that she is a great dramatic actress and offers a lead role in his play to her. After an argument with Josh, Dinah splits up with her husband and decides to pursue the career of actress. The stubborn Josh misses Dinah and secretly helps her in her new career but none of them seems to give in.

"The Barkleys of Broadway" is another musical comedy with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, but in Technicolor. This time, in addition to the beautiful numbers of Fred and Ginger, Oscar Levant wonderfully plays Tchaikovsky. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Ciúme, Sinal de Amor" ("Jealousy, Sign of Love")

THE BARKLEYS OF Broadway was originally written to reunite Fred Astaire and Judy Garland after their smash hit EASTER PARADE; however, Judy was having a lot of health problems at the time and was unable to do the film, which paved the way for Ginger Rogers to reunite with her former film partner for the first time in ten years and for the first time in color. Sadly, this would also be their last film together but it is quite the send off for these dancing legends. The film, written by Betty Comden and Aldoph Green (SINGIN IN THE RAIN)follows a Broadway song and dance team named Josh and Dinah Barkley, who are at the peak of their careers, but Dinah feels like she's suffocating from Josh's Svengali-like grip on her career and decides she wants to become a serious actress. Of course, this story does parallel what happened with Astaire and Rogers ten years earlier when Rogers yearned to become a dramatic actress and actually won an Oscar the following year for KITTY FOYLE. The road to their inevitable reunion is predictable (and as for Ginger's interpretation of some French play, the less said the better)but the team;s dancing is still spectacular even after ten years away from each other. Their comic duet in Scottish kilts "Me One and Only Highland Fling" is a delight and Fred's solo "Shoes with Wings On" is brilliant, even though realistically, this number would be physically impossible to do in a theater as it is presented here, but I digress. And their final dance to "They Can't Take That Away From Me" is one of the loveliest pas de deuxs ever filmed. Not up to par with SINGIN IN THE RAIN or THE BAND WAGON, but classy entertainment with that beloved MGM gloss.