When such formidable talents like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers are together on screen, that could easily elevate films that otherwise wouldn’t be particularly good or memorable. This can be seen in Carefree, a 1938 musical comedy directed by Mark Sandrich, known as one of the lesser Astaire-Rogers pairings. In the film, Astaire plays Dr. Tony Flagg, a psychotherapist who was once an aspiring dancer. His old friend Stephen Arden (played by Ralph Bellamy) brings Amanda Cooper (played by Rogers), a radio singer and his fiancée, to Tony’s office, hoping that Tony would help with her reluctance to actually marry him. Amanda isn’t enthusiastic about Tony because she considers him a charlatan and very reluctantly takes part in therapy that involves recalling her dreams. When she, during her dream, realises that she is actually attracted to Tony, she is scared and invents dreams that Tony interprets as symptoms of serious psychological problems. He tries to solve them by subjecting Amanda to hypnosis, but the effects of that procedure cause Amanda to behave irrationally, cause mayhem, and ultimately get both her and Tony into trouble.
Carefree was the eighth film that Astaire and Rogers made together in five years. By that time, RKO Pictures executives were probably aware that the audience might tire even of such a formidable screen couple, so they tried to bring something new to the formula. The biggest decision was to make Carefree less of a musical and more of a screwball comedy. That meant that Irving Berlin would provide only four musical numbers, none of them particularly memorable, at least compared with much bigger hits like those featured in Top Hat and Swing Time.
The comedy plot, despite having a somewhat refreshing theme of psychoanalysis which was quite in vogue in Hollywood at the time, is just as weak in this film as in other Astaire-Rogers films. On the other hand, it allows for a few funny gags and provides Rogers, especially in scenes when her character is under hypnotic suggestion, with ample opportunity to show her formidable comedic skills. Astaire, who again choreographed most of the dance scenes together with Hermes Pan, again shows great dance skills, but here he is obviously overshadowed by Rogers.
RKO originally wanted to make this film at least partially in Technicolor, and the dream sequence that features the aptly titled song “I Used to Be Color Blind” was written for that purpose. However, technical issues forced RKO to abandon that idea, but the dream sequence is still slightly otherworldly thanks to the unusual use of slow motion. It also amplified the detail most people remember this film for – the first and only actual kiss Astaire and Rogers shared on screen. This was supposed to compensate for the lack of on-screen kisses in a previous film in which Astaire and Rogers had played lovers and to quash persistent rumours that they couldn’t stand each other in real life. This minor detail, however, didn’t help at the box office, and Carefree became the first actual flop among Astaire-Rogers films. Those viewers who are already accustomed to and appreciate Astaire and Rogers would probably like this film, despite it not being among their best.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
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