I wonder what kind of press campaign THE STORY OF VERNON AND IRENE CASTLE was given back in 1939? Many customers knew the fate of Vernon Castle before they ever entered the theaters, but there's no doubt that many did not (Astaire mentions that his own wife had no idea who Vernon and Irene were). For them the tragic ending may have been something of a shock, even a cheat as advertisements are virtually never downbeat, and such reactions are unlikely to help a film's reputation. The Castle film is so different from the rest of the Rogers/Astaire series that I fear it's continued to be unfairly slated by audiences and critics alike.
How is THE STORY OF VERNON AND IRENE CASTLE different? Let us count the ways. We have a new director, H. C. Potter. We have a true story, a biography, to present rather than a fictional bedroom farce or screwball comedy. Consequently, our stars are playing real, non-wisecracking people rather than fictional characters. The Art Deco sets are gone, replaced with historically realistic trappings. Ditto for the costuming. Rather than the brilliant new musical scores to which we've become accustomed, we get a brilliant use of period musical pieces, and the choreography likewise is derivative rather than original. The comedy tends to be gentle and situational rather than verbal and brittle. And most different of all, in the end we're not dealing with comedy, but with a tragedy. When you come to think of it, that's a lot to take in for an unprepared audience.
There were many biographies made in Hollywood around this time, and among the musical ones THE STORY OF VERNON AND IRENE CASTLE strikes me as one of the most successful, perhaps even the most successful (I'm not a fan of YANKEE DOODLE DANDY, and most of the rest hardly bear mentioning). We receive a genuine history lesson regarding the popularization of ballroom dancing in America and Europe, and I, for one, was very surprised at the commercialization accompanying the rising fame of these pre-World War One dancers. Not many dancing couples have the acting chops to successfully take on roles that branch out from romantic comedy all the way to tragedy (Kelly and Garland?) but Astaire and Rogers prove well up to the task. And while Fred probably doesn't rise above the level of competent, Ginger has the opportunity to make an actual character journey from gawky but talented teenager to loving and serious young wife. She may have pressed a bit at the beginning to play ten years younger than her actual self but it seems to me that she hit the ball perfectly during the second half of the picture.
There's more dancing in VERNON AND IRENE CASTLE than it's usually given credit for. Fred has his usual solo, pleasant but unspectacular, Ginger has a tricky specialty number meant to show her character off as gauche yet talented which she pulls off nicely, there's a lively rehearsal number to 'Waiting for the Robert E. Lee', and there are the various examples of the Castles' dances, with perhaps 'The Maxixe' being outstanding among them. They are all performed brilliantly by Fred and Ginger, and their final waltz, the last dance they did for RKO, gives us one last beautiful image to admire and one final emotional rush to feel. It was a great run.
CASTLE provided RKO with approximately the same revenue as had FLYING DOWN TO RIO, but the expenses were now far greater and the film suffered a small net loss. As a result, Astaire was offered a new contract at about half the old salary, but he felt (correctly so) that he could command his old figure on a picture by picture basis with other studios. Such was the un-romantic ending to the famous Astaire/Rogers partnership at RKO. They would both go on to have enormous success separately but are probably destined to always remain best known together. There are worse fates.
How is THE STORY OF VERNON AND IRENE CASTLE different? Let us count the ways. We have a new director, H. C. Potter. We have a true story, a biography, to present rather than a fictional bedroom farce or screwball comedy. Consequently, our stars are playing real, non-wisecracking people rather than fictional characters. The Art Deco sets are gone, replaced with historically realistic trappings. Ditto for the costuming. Rather than the brilliant new musical scores to which we've become accustomed, we get a brilliant use of period musical pieces, and the choreography likewise is derivative rather than original. The comedy tends to be gentle and situational rather than verbal and brittle. And most different of all, in the end we're not dealing with comedy, but with a tragedy. When you come to think of it, that's a lot to take in for an unprepared audience.
There were many biographies made in Hollywood around this time, and among the musical ones THE STORY OF VERNON AND IRENE CASTLE strikes me as one of the most successful, perhaps even the most successful (I'm not a fan of YANKEE DOODLE DANDY, and most of the rest hardly bear mentioning). We receive a genuine history lesson regarding the popularization of ballroom dancing in America and Europe, and I, for one, was very surprised at the commercialization accompanying the rising fame of these pre-World War One dancers. Not many dancing couples have the acting chops to successfully take on roles that branch out from romantic comedy all the way to tragedy (Kelly and Garland?) but Astaire and Rogers prove well up to the task. And while Fred probably doesn't rise above the level of competent, Ginger has the opportunity to make an actual character journey from gawky but talented teenager to loving and serious young wife. She may have pressed a bit at the beginning to play ten years younger than her actual self but it seems to me that she hit the ball perfectly during the second half of the picture.
There's more dancing in VERNON AND IRENE CASTLE than it's usually given credit for. Fred has his usual solo, pleasant but unspectacular, Ginger has a tricky specialty number meant to show her character off as gauche yet talented which she pulls off nicely, there's a lively rehearsal number to 'Waiting for the Robert E. Lee', and there are the various examples of the Castles' dances, with perhaps 'The Maxixe' being outstanding among them. They are all performed brilliantly by Fred and Ginger, and their final waltz, the last dance they did for RKO, gives us one last beautiful image to admire and one final emotional rush to feel. It was a great run.
CASTLE provided RKO with approximately the same revenue as had FLYING DOWN TO RIO, but the expenses were now far greater and the film suffered a small net loss. As a result, Astaire was offered a new contract at about half the old salary, but he felt (correctly so) that he could command his old figure on a picture by picture basis with other studios. Such was the un-romantic ending to the famous Astaire/Rogers partnership at RKO. They would both go on to have enormous success separately but are probably destined to always remain best known together. There are worse fates.