You Were Never Lovelier (1942)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Did you people see the same film I saw?

A Masterpiece!

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Jerome Kern lovely music is what gives this film LIFE! And the fact that Rita Hayworth and Fred Astaire are fantastic in this film. Fred Astaire was one of the best dancers in motion picture history. But, not a lot of people know that, Rita Hayworth was a very talented dancer too. And believe me, she puts her skills to work in this film.Now...I'm not going to lie, it's not the best storyline and the acting isn't the best. Although (Adolphe Menjou) really keeps the film going with his short temper and wit.Robert Davis (Fred Astaire) is a well known dancer who tries to get a contract at Eduardo Acuna (Adolphe Menjou) night club, but he's not having any luck at all.Through some very insane events Robert and Maria Acuna (Rita Hayworth) begin to have feeling for one another. But her father Eduardo Acuna doesn't want his daughter messing around with a dancer. But with a number of wonderful tunes and some great moves 'Love' wins-out in the end.It's a fun little film that all of you will enjoy...You Were Never Lovelier.

I can't add much to what's been said, only that it seems to me it's Astaire's best comic acting role and that Rita is adorable, magnificent, talented, and beyond compare. When they dance, it's magic. What did strike me as curious was the fact that the film was set in Argentina for no apparent reason, and its version of "Argentina" seems to be any wealthy American suburb in America, New Canaan possibly, or maybe Kenilworth or Chevy Chase? It's as "Argentinian" as your aunt's patootie, whatever that means. Was it a response to FDR's "Good Neighbor" policy back in '42 perhaps? Or perhaps the South American stylings, as mild as they were, were to justify Xavier Cougat's presence in the pic, although he's characterized as "coming down from New York". His Latin-themed orchestrations are the only verifiably "hispanic" touch. Very strange. The Acunas are a wealthy family who speak perfect upper-class yankee patois and only show the remotest familiarity with hispanic culture. Mr. Acuna's secretary is one of those flitty, maybe gay fussbudgets always breaking down into hysterics or bumping into the furniture. Nobody speaks Spanish, nobody tries an accent, and nothing in the design or culture of the picture suggest Buenos Aires. Seen today, it seems quite odd, maybe even crazily charming in an anthropological sort of way.

As a kid growing up in the 1950s I had heard of Rita Hayworth but knew nothing about her or her acting. So I have been watching select DVDs of her movies. This one, with Fred Astaire, was made 4 years before her famous role as "Gilda". Astaire was already is his 40s, while Hayworth was just past 20. Still, they made a nice pair on screen.Hayworth was a trained dancer, and she does fine with Astaire, but when you watch the dance sequences in 1/8 speed slow motion is when you realize how much better Astaire was. He was one of a kind, and he made it look so easy.In this movie Fred Astaire is Robert 'Bob' Davis, nightclub singer and dancer who makes his way down to Argentina. His weakness is horse racing, and he finds himself broke when he happens on his old bandsman fiend, Xavier Cugat as himself, with his band, playing at a club called Acuna. So he sets out to get work there. But Adolphe Menjou as the difficult, hard-headed Eduardo Acuña, wealthy owner of the club, won't even give Bob the time of day, but Bob is persistent. But there is a much bigger issue, Mr Acuna's daughters. The two youngest ones have men and are ready to get married, but their family tradition is to have the daughters marry in order from eldest to youngest. The problem is with Maria, who just seems to cold to fall for a man.Rita Hayworth is that daughter, Maria Acuña. When dad hatches a plan which involves a fictitious anonymous admirer sending Orchids and notes every day, Bob accidentally gets in the picture as a delivery boy and Maria thinks he is the admirer. Dad does not approve of Bob, but his younger daughters are putting pressure on the situation. What is a dad to do? So the rest of the movie is to see who wins, will dad dispatch Bob back to New York, or will he and Maria get together in the end? Easy guess.I really enjoyed this movie. The story is all fluff, for sure, but it was great fun seeing the three lead actors. The production numbers are all fun, with songs by Jerome Kern. Now that I have seen several of her early movies it is easy to see why she became such a star.

I assume the title is referring to Rita Hayworth and not dancin' Fred; it has to be said that Hayworth really is enjoying the luminous beauty and healthy sheen of a creature in their absolute prime here. Beside her, Astaire - who, had he attempted a career in movies without those flashing feet, would have been consigned to the role of gawky comedy sidekick instead of elegant leading man - looks skinny and prematurely old. Until he starts dancing, of course, and then they look like they were made for each other.When the two of them aren't dancing, Adolphe Menjou keeps stealing the picture as Rita's over-protective father who writes anonymous love letter to his own daughter in the hope that she will fall in love with her fictitious beau. Yeah, it's one of those ridiculous Hollywood plots that the studios felt obliged to squeeze in between the musical numbers. I wonder if audiences in the 40s found them as crass as we do today? Anyway, the plot - what there is of it - follows it's predictable course, but nobody really watches these movies for its plot, and this film's greatest strength today is that it transports us back to a Hollywood that no longer exists; a Hollywood that oozes chic glamour and style, and offers escape to those romantics to whom plot and characterisation are secondary concerns.