Review of You Were Never Lovelier (1942) by Mark M — 01 Mar 2009

The first Astaire/Hayworth I've seen and wow, what a pair! I wanted to keep from comparing her to Rogers but she dances so lovely in Astaire's arms one can't help but be at least reminded, and that's a compliment to both Astaire and Rogers.

Hayworth is simply stunning, I'm pretty sure she was an unrivaled beauty at the time, and to top it off the girl has got moves. Some memorables: Astaire's solo "Audition Dance" that started off kind of benign with some okay steps but accelerated into a more physical, room-filling dance with great prop work; the "I'm Old Fashioned" number which was so damn classy; and 'The Shorty George", the fast paced tap number.

Some added bonuses: the Acuna parents who were such a cute couple, ongoing themes like the "air" and "ice" or "refrigerators", the first time I've heard Astaire's voice crack when confessing his love, terribly romantic one liners, the very pretty Lina Romay as the band leader, and Astaire in knight's armor.

Overall, a great dancing movie with a decently entertaining plot to hold it together.