Review of Lady Be Good (1941) by Laura G — 12 Oct 2004

This film is better than many people say. The dancing alone is reason enough to own it. There are many phenomenal performances in this film, and people who criticize the acting or the story are IMHO completely missing the point.

Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance! Eleanor Powell has a famous big Busby Berkley number in this one, but less famous is her brilliant dance with a dog (she trained the dog herself!), and that's nothing compared to the three Berry brothers who have a couple of numbers that are impossible to describe and almost impossible to believe. Holy COW! That's some dancin', I am telling you!

This movie obviously exists to showcase the dancers, and you know what? There's some darn good singing it it, too. There are some really great songs in this film, and the title song is only one of them.

Robert Young plays the male half of a husband/wife songwriting team who are successful at the songwriting but who are failures at the marriage part. Young as usual is adorable, but his character is clearly a jerk. Ann Sothern plays the wife. Red Skelton plays an amusing sidekick pal. Eleanor Powell plays a gal-pal.

Look, you either like this sort of thing, or you don't. This particular film isn't in all ways perfect, but it has many incredible, sensational performances in it and it deserves to be dusted off and enjoyed.