You’ll Never Get Rich

Romantic misunderstandings and mistaken identity, improved by the Cole Porter songs and the talents of Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth. John Hubbard. Martin: Robert Benchley. Mrs. Cortland: Frieda Inescort. Aunt Louise: Marjorie Gateson. Kewpie: Guinn Williams. Sonia: Osa Massen. Marjorie: Sunny O’Dea. Swivel Tongue: Cliff Nazzaro. Sidney Lanfield directed., You’ll Never Get Rich was the first of two films made by Fred Astaire at Columbia, and also the first in which he was paired with his favorite female dancing partner–not Ginger Rogers or Cyd Charisse, but Rita Hayworth. Fred and Rita play a team of Broadway dancers whose partnership is abruptly rent asunder when Fred is drafted into the Army. Unable to adapt to military routine, Astaire frequently ends up in the guardhouse; during one of these visits, he and the Delta Rhythm Boys collaborate on the lively song-and-dance number “The A-starable Rag.” Back to the plot: Rita shows up on the army base as the girl friend of captain John Hubbard. This leads to more fancy footwork, and, of course, a happy ending for our stars. Though the Cole Porter score yielded no hits, one of the songs, “Since I Kissed My Baby Goodbye”, was nominated for an Academy Award. Robert Benchley provides comic relief, as he would in the subsequent Astaire vehicle The Sky’s the Limit. You’ll Never Get Rich was followed by the even better Astaire-Hayworth pairing You Were Never Lovelier., Cole Porter musical starring Fred Astaire as a Broadway dancer who falls for chorus girl Rita Hayworth when he takes her off the hands of philandering producer Robert Benchley.