Today Only The Barkleys of Broadway

After 10 years apart, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers reteam in their final film pairing, cleverly written by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and smoothly directed by Charles Walters. The story, per many sources, mirrors real-life creative tensions the two shared. Astaire plays driven hoofer Josh Barkley. Rogers is his wife, Dinah, who longs to forsake the clackety-clap-tapping of Bouncin’ the Blues for stage dramas. She departs, Josh vies to win her back, and the routines leading to a happy resolution include Fred’s “Shoes with Wings On” and a rhapsodic reprise of a George and Ira Gershwin number from Shall We Dance: “They Can’t Take That Away from Me.” All of which proves they can’t take away the Astaire/Rogers magic either.