Yolanda e o Ladrão

I'd always been curious about this one, especially considering its rather unhappy reputation as a major disappointment in the Fred Astaire/Vincente Minnelli canon, and it's fairly easy to see why. Turner Classic Movies scheduled it recently and I tuned in to watch something that certainly made me glad Technicolor was invented but which fell somewhat short of its intended mark.

The story is absolute piffle, almost redeemed by Mildred Natwick's genuinely funny portrayal of a dotty aunt. (Check out the sequence where she welcomes Yolanda home from her years at a convent school.) M-G-M stalwarts Leon Ames and Frank Morgan (Was he in every single class "A" Metro production from the late Thirties through the early Fifties?) lend reliable support with the little they're given to do. And Fred Astaire and Lucille Bremer get (only) two opportunities to display their dancing compatibility. Astaire, of course, managed to complement all of his dancing partners with his patented style and grace (even the miscast Joan Fontaine in "A Damsel in Distress") but, as a matter of personal opinion, I think that Ms. Bremer runs a very close second to the gorgeous Cyd Charisse as one of his most elegant and beautiful co-stars. She's too old for her role in this one, admittedly, but she's nevertheless quite charming and a prime object for the luscious Technicolor cinematography of Charles Rosher.

The real star of this misbegotten show, however, is the opulence of the very artificial art direction, set decoration, and costuming. It's Hollywood at its most baroque and Minnelli keeps his cameras gliding through it all as if on angels' wings. If you're not looking for one of the Arthur Freed's unit's bona fide musical classics, this one will provide a phantasmagoria of color and motion that's rarely been equaled.

It was shown on TCM this past weekend. It's a fantasy musical which has sort of unanimously been regarded as a mild stinker-- but amazingly has been amalgamated with a cult following over the years. (What're you gonna do?) It's not a serious piece of movie- not even in the Hollywood-attempting-a-certain-atmosphere vain. One look at the artificial sets, the candy-box Technicolor, and the performances and you need- I repeat NEED- to suspend yourself for 106 minutes and just let go. Lucille Bremer was actually a fine dancer (if you watched her and Fred Astaire in ZIEGFELD FOLLIES), but her abilities are not put to best use here. Record it (as I did), and just fast-forward to "Coffee Time," a sensational, four-minute hand-clapping dance performed in a Latin Carnival, on a floor of swirling black-and-white zebra stripes, easily the best thing in the movie.

When Yolanda and the Thief is good it is great, but when it is not so good it does significantly underwhelm, a case of having a lot of style and not enough substance. Like The Belle of New York, Yolanda and the Thief is one of Astaire's weakest films, but has a number of virtues that is enough for one to stick with it.

Yolanda and the Thief does look glorious, with positively exotic colours, lavish cinematography and opulent costumes. In this regard, the best and most interesting scene visually is the dream sequence, which looks really stunning. The songs are not enough and they are not the most memorable in the world, but they are pleasant and fun and don't drag the film down too much, the best song being the riotous Coffee Time.

Vincente Minnelli directs very imaginatively, his sense for storytelling has been much stronger in his other films but in terms of style and visual imagination he triumphs. Choreographically, Yolanda and the Thief dazzles as much as the visuals, especially in the dream sequence, which is very colourfully and elegantly choreographed and superbly danced, and Coffee Time, which has the most energy the film ever gets. Fred Astaire is in a different role to usual(very like Three Little Words, except his performance is better in that) and while it does seem like an ill fit at first, he plays it with real grace, suavity and charm while his dancing is magnificent as always. Lucille Bremer proves herself one of his most elegant partners and she dances exquisitely, while Mildred Natwick has fun as the Aunt.

The story however struggles to sustain the running time, is very predictable even for a 40s musical and strains credibility quite badly. The opening sequence is unnecessary and clumsily handled and the ending felt abrupt and under-explained. The script manages to be even thinner and the attempts at humour are leaden and unfunny, while the film shamefully wastes Frank Morgan and Leon Ames, two very reliable actors when with good material but their roles here do nothing for their talents at all. Outside of the musical numbers the film also struggles maintaining momentum, and while her dancing is delightful Bremer seemed very overtaxed and cold in her acting.

All in all, one of Astaire's weakest but has enough to partially recommend it. 6/10 Bethany Cox

This is an extraordinary film for 1945. The story, a fantasy, is sort of sappy and the music is forgettable. Frank Morgan and Fred Astaire play themselves. And yet there is an overall quality about the film, a box office disaster, that makes it highly enjoyable. Perhaps it's the way Vincent Minelli handled the production. Perhaps it's Lucille Bremer's almost dazzling beauty. The dance numbers are a whole cut above the usual tap dance routines we expect with Astaire. The special effects are haunting at times.

It's Astaire's "Invitation to the Dance." Well worth watching.

Vincent Minnelli loves pure beauty, and in "Yolanda and the Thief" he's in heaven.

Here he has the unbridled luxury of reveling in rich colors, stylish costumes, imaginative dream sequences, and a carnival dance scene that's breathtaking.

With Arthur Freed and Harry Warren's tuneful songs, music supervision by Roger Edens and direction by Lennie Hayton, the score simply glows.

Right from the start, "This is a Day for Love" spans a colorful countryside, moving into a processional and to a lovely convent setting. At midpoint, there's a fantasy through cobblestone streets, to a "magical" pond (from which a remarkable "apparition" emerges) to a multileveled plane with assorted choreographic groupings.

This complex fantasy undoubtedly inspired Gene Kelly six years later in developing his great ballet sequence of "An American in Paris." The expansive MGM sound stages are fully utilized in both executions to their fullest.

Then the show-stopping "Coffee Time" choreography by Eugen Loring, and deftly danced by Fred Astaire, Lucille Bremer and company, is a masterpiece of concept and execution.

Starting off with a lone female trio stepping and clapping off-beat in 5/4, a startling 4/4 song is suddenly superimposed upon the "ground"--with dance and clap movements clearly continuing in 5/4. To add to the "tour de force, a slower pas de deux emerges in the irregular meter, only to be followed by the corps' return to the regular, with everything "taken out" in combined meters.

It's really something to see this dance, which is obviously the result of many weeks of painstaking work from a number of departments, so smoothly executed. Astaire is on top of his form, with Bremer right there every step of the way. They make as beautiful a pair here as in the lovely "This Heart of Mine" number from "Ziegfield Follies."

As for Minnelli, he must have been ecstatic throughout this picturesque production. Mildred Natwick shines in her hilarious role as Aunt, and Frank Morgan and Leon Ames provide able support.

The script itself is a serviceable backdrop for the art departments' joining the music team in having a field day crafting a very beautiful production.

As for Minnelli, this was certainly among his happiest hours in filmmaking.