Roberta (1935) |
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Roberta Cast |
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On-Screen Couples |
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Fred Astaire
(as Huckleberry Haines)
with Ginger Rogers
(as Comtesse Scharwenka)
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Movie Highlights |
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Other InformationAwardsBest Music, Original Song Academy Awards [1936] (Won/Nominated: Nominated) Plot SummaryAlice Duer Miller`s novel Gowns by Roberta was adapted into the 1933 Broadway musical Roberta, with music by Jerome Kern and Otto Harbach. The 1935 filmization of Roberta was slightly adapted to accommodate the dancing talents of Fred Astaire and Gin... TaglineJerome Kern`s Queen of Musical Romances! A Heart-Load of Maddening Beauties.. In Gasping Gowns.. A Fortune in Furs.. A Ransom in Jewels.. In a Song-Studded Romance of Paris in Lovetime! Related MoviesRoberta [Remade as] (Year of movie: 1969) Lovely to Look at [Remade as] (Year of movie: 1952) DiscographySinglesLovely to Look At Smoke Gets in Your Eyes I Won`t Dance Yesterdays I`ll Be Hard to Handle Russian Lullaby Let`s Begin (Back Home Again In) Indiana |
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Full Cast and Crew |
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Actor CreditsNon Actor Credits |
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Photo Gallery |
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Fans |
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Trivia |
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Trivia and QuotesQuotes Huckleberry Haines: John, everyday you act worse, but today you`re acting like tomorrow. Huckleberry Haines: How long ya gonna stay?
Sophie Teale: Oh hello, Huckleberry.
Huckleberry Haines: Hello, Soph.
Sophie Teale: Mother and I are going to Switzerland on Saturday.
Huckleberry Haines: Goodbye, John, I`ll see ya Sunday. John Kent: Where ya goin`?
Stephanie: Down.
John Kent: Why?
Stephanie: Because I pushed the button.
John Kent: But I want to talk to you.
Stephanie: That`s what you`re doing.
John Kent: I just like to tell you I love you. John Kent: You don`t appreciate her. I know she seems a little hard and sophisticated, but underneath she`s a pearl.
Huckleberry Haines: And a pearl so I`m told, is the result of a chronic irritation on an oyster. Huckleberry Haines: What`s the racket Liz? Did you marry the title or just lift it? Comtesse Scharwenka: You may call me Tanka.
Huckleberry Haines: Tanka.
Comtesse Scharwenka: You`re welcome. John Kent: Gee, I think it`s swell!
Trivia The original Broadway production featured such actors as Bob Hope, Fred MacMurray, Sydney Greenstreet and George Murphy. In the film, Fred Astaire`s role is a combination of Hope`s and Murphy`s roles, and Greenstreet`s role is played by Ferdinand Munier. RKO sold the rights to the play "Roberta" to MGM. MGM then remade the film under the title to Lovely to Look at (1952). This kept the film "Roberta" from being shown for many years, since MGM did not want any competition between the two pictures. A pre-stardom, pre-red-headed Lucille Ball (who was then a contract player at RKO) is one of the models in the fashion show finale. She is most recognizable during the third sequence when the models descend a staircase. She is the third woman to come down the stairs. She`s blonde and wearing the large, fluffy feather cape. The songs "I Won`t Dance" and "Lovely to Look At" were not in the original stage production of "Roberta". "I Won`t Dance", from the flop Jerome Kern musical "Three Sisters", was inserted into the 1935 film version of "Roberta" to give Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers an extra dance number, and "Lovely to Look At" was especially written for the film to give Irene Dunne a new song to sing. Both songs became so popular, however, that most later revivals of "Roberta", including the remake Lovely to Look at (1952), have included them in the score. This is one of only two Astaire/Rogers films (along with The Gay Divorcee (1934)), which is based on a Broadway musical. The Broadway stage version of "The Gay Divorcee" (titled "Gay Divorce") starred Fred Astaire in the same role he played on film, however, while the stage version of "Roberta" starred neither Astaire nor Ginger Rogers. RKO`s reluctant studio chief Pandro S. Berman insisted the studio pay whatever it took to acquire the rights to "Roberta", which was a huge Broadway smash. The gamble paid off, netting the studio $770,000 and was largely responsible for RKO posting it`s first annual profit since 1930. The original lyrics to "Let`s Begin" include the lines "We have necked / Till we`re wrecked", but the censors demanded that this be changed. During "I Won`t Dance," Ginger Rogers sings to Fred Astaire: "But when you dance you`re charming and you`re gentle/ Especially when you do the Continental," referring to the dance in their previous film, The Gay Divorcee (1934). The two then strike a pose from that number while the band plays a riff. Ginger Rogers` accent is a homage to the Polish-born actress Lyda Roberti, who played the role on Broadway. | ||
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