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This movie begins well with Betty Hutton singing a fast brassy comedic song that is very much in her style. Unfortunately that's the only really notable song in the movie. Also unfortunately Hutton and Astaire don't have a lot of chemistry; her energetic brassiness just doesn't mesh well with his casual stylishness.

The high point of the movie is a very funny Astaire dance number on a piano. I promptly found it on Youtube and posted it on Facebook for all my dancer friends.

The story is rather uncomfortable, covering too long a period of time, feeling a little convoluted and requiring sudden, inexplicable changes of heart to keep it going. It's still kind of fun, but the lack of good musical numbers and the weak story keep it from being as much fun as it should be.

Let's Dance finds Fred Astaire teamed with Betty Hutton professionally in an act. And the plot of the story revolves around Astaire trying to make it a romantic partnership as well.

In fact he announces to the audience at a USO show during World War II that he'd like to marry his partner. Small problem though Hutton tells Astaire in the dressing room. She's already slightly married some months earlier in a whirlwind romance. The act gets broken up as well.

Flash forward to five years later. Hutton is a war widow raising her young son Gregory Moffett in some affluent Boston surroundings presided over by her husband's mother Lucile Watson. Watson is a wealthy WASP dowager who's just about gotten used to the fact that her son married an entertainer, but she insists that her grand kid be raised as a proper Bostonian. Not for Betty who's bored stiff with polite society. She takes off with Moffett.

In New York she hooks up again with Fred, but it's romantic rocky road with a couple of detours for Fred it's Ruth Warrick and for Betty, Sheppard Strudwick.

I don't think that there was any surprise that there was no demand for the return of the team of Astaire and Hutton. They perform their numbers well although I agree with other reviewers that the film is tilted for Betty from the gitgo. The fact that this was her home studio of Paramount no doubt helped there. I do agree that composer Frank Loesser having dealt with Betty before wrote for her. He had already given her I Wish I Didn't Love You So from The Perils of Pauline. Loesser himself was getting his songwriting career into high gear. He had just had a big Broadway smash in Where's Charley and would the following year have his biggest hit of all with Guys and Dolls.

Nothing here was nominated for an Academy Award. Can't Stop Talking About Him is Betty's best number, definitely in her style. Fred looks a little silly trying to keep up with her. He's shown to best advantage in the piano dance, dancing on a Steinway and in a hoedown western style dance number with Betty in Them Dudes Were Doing Our Dance.

Some interesting casting here. Two guys who usually were villains in films play good guys with Barton MacLane as the gruff, but kindly club owner where Astaire and Hutton are playing and George Zucco as the judge before whom the custody battle is fought. Lucile Watson is her usual imperious self and has a crack legal team at her disposal with Roland Young and Melville Cooper.

Let's Dance was a good film for Betty Hutton. It didn't do too much for Fred Astaire however.

I don't know what movie others are watching BUT! Just watch the opening number and you can see the chemistry between Astaire and Hutton! Them dudes will blow you away at how original it is and I do not see anyone doing this number today. Sure it's not hard drama but Astaire movies usually are not meant to be so. Astaire is and will be one of the greatest dancers ever! Not my opinion but fact. Perhaps those who trash this movie just like it because Hutton has top billing, coming off her success in Annie get your gun. Your either a Hutton fan or not and for me this is one of those hidden jems! Watch it and judge for yourself and at a very reasonable price on a certain jungle site it is worth the money! TRUST ME!

Maybe this film was never going to pick up an Oscar, but for plain entertainment value it's pretty hard to beat. You've got to remember that this film is over fifty years old and, although the quality of the video is very good, they did things a little differently back then. What was funny or topical at that time might well go over our heads today. The plot isn't gripping, but it will keep you amused, and the film really buzzes in places. Astaire dances to his usual excellent standard, with some unusual and snappy routines, but for the first time, he really has to compete for the stage with his partner. Miss Hutton not only keeps up with Astaire, she actually manages to upstage the 'Master' in the dance routines. You'll have to watch the film four or five times before you start to look at Astaire when they dance together. Betty Hutton is totally magnetic; you can't stop watching her for a moment. Although she may not have quite the technical abilities of some of Astaire's previous partners, she more than makes up for that with her enthusiasm and dynamic personality. It's like tossing a grenade into a vat of champagne - an explosion of sparkle and fizz. And make no mistake about it...That gal can dance! Well worth seeing.

The movie only gives us about five musical numbers, but they are each wonderful. "Them Dudes Are Stealing Our Dance" has to rank in the top ten of best musical numbers for both of them. There really isn't any romantic chemistry between Astaire and Hutton. She was 30 years old and Astaire was 51. I suspect the age difference was the problem, he really was old enough to be her father. The plot is a little too simplistic and there aren't many surprises. Betty is more interested in keeping her child from the hands of a vindictive mother-in-law than in her romance with stock broker-entertainer Astaire. What is great in the film is Betty Hutton's performance. She is hilarious, energetic and in super form dancing and singing. She did it between "Annie Get Your Gun" and "The Greatest Show on Earth". If you liked her in those movies, you'll like her here. The film is light and fluffy and entertaining as hell.