Roberta (1935)

Roberta - 1935

Coming up next is 1935's "Roberta", starring Irene Dunne, Fred Astaire, and Ginger Rogers.  A man and his band come to Paris seeking employment.  Unexpectedly, he inherits a dress shop and must find a way to run it while also romancing the company's lead designer.

The film's supporting cast includes Randolph Scott, Helen Westley, Claire Dodd, Victor Varconi, Ferdinand Munier, and Lucille Ball.

The film opens with Huck Haines (Astaire) and his band trying to get a job in Paris.  Huck's friend John has traveled with them.  When the job they thought they had falls through, the band is out of luck and out of money.

Huck and John put their heads together to try and come up with some job leads.  Huck has a friend named Lizzie Gatz in Paris who might be able to help if only he could find her.  John has an aunt in Paris, Aunt Minnie, who runs the extremely successful couture dress shop Roberta.  Thinking Aunt Minnie might be the better idea, they head for Roberta's.

Once their, John gets stuck in the elevator and meets Stephanie for the first time.  We find she is Aunt Minnie's assistant.  They're both charmed by each other.

Aunt Minnie is thrilled to see John.  They talk over old times while Stephanie goes to assist a difficult and screaming client.

John goes in to see if he can help.  The client, Countess Scharwenka (Rogers), is giving Stephanie a hard time.  A cat fight starts and John intervenes.

The Countess is quite taken with John and instantly her attitude changes.

Meanwhile, Huck and his band start a little preview for Aunt Minnie's benefit, to see if she'll be able to hire them.

The Countess goes onto the balcony to listen.  When Huck looks up to see her, an expression of recognition comes across his face.  He hurries inside and upstairs.

Once they're alone, he finds out that the "Countess" is really his childhood friend Lizzie Gatz, who's using the title as a stage name so she can sing.  She agrees to get them an audition at the nightclub where she works.

We cut back to Aunt Minnie, where we find she is being put down for a nap by Stephanie and Ladislaw, a displaced Russian prince.  (We also find out that Stephanie is a princess, but John doesn't know this.)  She sings Aunt Minnie to sleep.

John watches Stephanie as she sings and starts to develop feelings for her.

The Countess does get the job for Huck and his band at the club the Cafe Russe.  She sings a rendition of "I'll Be Hard To Handle", and she and Huck do a dance routine.  (This song and dance routine was filmed in one take.)

In time, we learn that Aunt Minnie is not a well woman.  One day after she is put down for a nap and everyone has exited the room, she draws her last breath and dies.  She leaves her dress shop to John.

Stephanie is extremely sad as she walks through the rooms for what she believes is the last time.

When she meets up with John, he tells her he doesn't know how to run a dress shop and offers it to her.  She says she won't accept anything except in partnership.  He agrees, and they become business partners.

She shows John some of the things she's been working on for the latest collection and asks for his input.  He's pleased with everything he sees, except for one thing.

He feels this dress is too immodest and revealing.  He asks Stephanie to take it out of the collection, which she does without hesitation.

Stephanie also agrees to go on a date with John on the night that Huck and his band open at the Cafe Russe.

Those plans are all forgotten for John when a former girlfriend Sophie comes in to town after hearing that he owns the most famous dress shop in Paris.  She's a horrible woman, only interested in John for what he can give her.

At Huck's insistence, Stephanie shows Sophie the gown that John had ordered out of the collection.  Sophie loves it, but Stephanie is hesitant to sell it to her because of John's dislike for it.  When Sophie starts to give herself airs and insult the dress shop, Stephanie sells it to her gladly.

When John sees it on Huck's opening night, he's furious.  He tells Sophie that it's a horrible dress.  She breaks things off with him.  John starts to stew as he sits at the bar.

Just about that time, Huck and the Countess start to sing "I Won't Dance, Don't Ask Me".  The crowds loves them and they are a hit.

John takes the opportunity to get drunk and orders several rounds of drinks.  He's surprised when, at the sound of some music, everyone in the room snaps to attention.

A glamorous Stephanie comes into the room with her cousin Ladislaw.  Figuring that they are dating, John gets even more upset.

Stephanie sings a beautiful version of "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" for the guests after she is caught humming the tune by Ladislaw.

During the song, John stands and glares at her as she sings.  This causes her to stumble over the words.

She goes to him.  He tells her how horrible he thinks she was because she sold that dress to Sophie.  Stephanie asks him to talk with her about it later, but he persists.

She tells him that he shouldn't count on her at Roberta's anymore.  She's quitting the business.  As he storms off, Stephanie goes back to her party and continues to sing with tears in her eyes.

When Stephanie visits Roberta's later, we find that John has abandoned the business, too.  In his stead, Huck has been running it, and according to the Countess, he's been running it into the ground.  They ask Stephanie to help them with an upcoming show.  She gets a sparkle in her eye and agrees to help them.

It takes places in the main salon of Roberta's.  Huck and his band are playing as the models move through the guests.

The show gets underway with Huck narrating a few lines about the sports/day collection.

The narration is very witty.  "‘Tis the hour for dry martinis.  The park is full of little Fords and Isotta Faschinis.  The Ritz bar is serving caviar and weenies.  Madame is there.  And from Roberta she has something that’s too divine on.  The sort of thing your jealous friends would love to spill their wine on.  For your inspection, our cocktail collection."

The guests look around in awe as the cocktail collection is presented.

It's at this time that John sneaks into the showroom to view the proceedings.

Stephanie comes onto the balcony modeling a gown from the evening collection, and sings a very beautiful "Lovely To Look At".

As the audience applauds, John overhears two ladies saying that this is Stephanie's last night in Paris, as she is leaving for Rome with Ladislaw immediately after the show.

Huck comes back on with some more witty sayings.  "At night when Madame leaves the quiet of her hallroom to drag her very weary feet around the ballroom, her clothes and jewels must be a monument of power.  I mean, the monument they call the Eiffel Tower.  We’ll show you the gown we made Marie, Queen of Romania.  We also ran up three of these for Mrs. Smudge, Pennsylvania.  The lights are low.  Here we go."

The gowns are lovely, and so are the models.  (Look for a young, blonde Lucille Ball in the third photo.)

When the Countess emerges, Huck sings a reprise of "Lovely To Look At".

They also do a very lovely waltz around the room.

Meanwhile, John has gone to find Stephanie.  He confronts her about her dating Ladislaw.  She tells him he's her cousin and she was born with her title.  He smiles big and embraces her through the elevator bars as they tell each other "I love you".

Huck and the Countess dance to "I Won't Dance, Don't Ask Me".  We also find out they they are going to be married, as well.

Cast rundown:

   Irene Dunne..................................Princess Stephanie

   Fred Astaire...................................Huck Haines

   Ginger Rogers................................Countess Scharwenka

   Randolph Scott..............................John Kent

   Helen Westley................................Aunt Minnie

   Claire Dodd...................................Sophie Teale

   Victor Varconi................................Prince Ladislaw

   Ferdinand Munier............................Lord Henry Delves

   Lucille Ball.....................................Fashion Model

And that's all for Roberta.  When it was released, the film was tremendously popular, and time has not diminished its charm.  The models used in the fashion show had all previously modeled gowns at Bergdorf Goodman.  Lucille Ball, however, had only participated in a fashion show put on by a promoter at Bergdorf.  This film is notable also because it had one of the largest sets at the time of filming: the three story elevator.

As always, if you wish to leave a comment, please remember our posting rules.