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Of all the dancing partners Fred Astaire had over his film career, Rita
Hayworth was certainly the loveliest, not to mention being quite a good
dancer in her own right. Astaire first danced with Hayworth on the
delightful Columbia Pictures production YOU'LL NEVER GET RICH,
which the studio quickly followed with the equally delightful YOU WERE
NEVER LOVELIER ($25). The plot of YOU WERE NEVER LOVELIER is
the merest of romantic comedy trifles, supported by frothy musical
numbers, Fred Astaire’s fabulous footwork, plus appearances by Xavier
Cugat and his Orchestra.
Set
in Argentina, Astaire portrays (not surprisingly) a song and dance man
named Bob Davis, who finds it virtually impossible to get booked into the
posh hotel nightclub owned and managed by Eduardo Acuna (Adolphe Menjou).
In addition to rebuffing the persistent dancer, Acuna has a problem with
his second daughter Maria (Rita Hayworth), whose disinterest in romance is
adversely affecting the love lives her two younger sisters. Of course,
Acuna decides that he know’s what is best for everyone, so invents a
secret admirer for Maria- a plot that blows up in the old man’s face,
when Maria mistakes Bob Davis for her (nonexistent) secret admirer. The
cast of YOU WERE NEVER LOVELIER also includes Isobel Elsom, Leslie
Brooks, Adele Mara, Gus Schilling, Barbara Brown and Douglas Leavitt.
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Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment has made YOU WERE NEVER LOVELIER
available on DVD in a very fine looking full screen transfer that frames
the movie in its proper 1.37:1 aspect ratio. Despite being over six
decades old, the black and white film elements are in very good shape,
thus display only modest blemishes and an occasional scratch. There is
some noticeable film grain, but it is negligible, when one considers the
crisp and rather nicely detailed image. Blacks are true, whites are clean
and stable, plus the picture produces a varied grayscale and a nice sense
of depth. Digital compression artifacts are never a cause for concern.
YOU
WERE NEVER LOVELIER comes with a perfectly fine Dolby Digital monaural
soundtrack. Most instances of background hiss and surface noise have been
cleaned up in the mastering process, which leaves the track with a more
than respectable sonic quality. One will find that the track has all the
expected limitations in fidelity, but fortunately, the sound is never
comes across as thin, harsh or distorted. Voices are cleanly rendered and
the dialogue is generally easy to understand. Although no other language
tracks are included on the DVD, subtitles have been provided in English
and Japanese. The basic interactive menus allow one access to the standard
scene selection and set up features, as well as theatrical trailers for A
MAN FOR ALL SEASONS, GILDA, THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI.
YOU
WERE NEVER LOVELIER is a fine musical comedy treat that has been given
a very nice presentation on DVD by the folks at Columbia TriStar. If you
are a fan of either Fred Astaire or Rita Hayworth, or a movie buff in
general, you’ll want to add YOU WERE NEVER LOVELIER to your DVD
collection. Recommended.
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Set
in Argentina, Astaire portrays (not surprisingly) a song and dance man
named Bob Davis, who finds it virtually impossible to get booked into the
posh hotel nightclub owned and managed by Eduardo Acuna (Adolphe Menjou).
In addition to rebuffing the persistent dancer, Acuna has a problem with
his second daughter Maria (Rita Hayworth), whose disinterest in romance is
adversely affecting the love lives her two younger sisters. Of course,
Acuna decides that he know’s what is best for everyone, so invents a
secret admirer for Maria- a plot that blows up in the old man’s face,
when Maria mistakes Bob Davis for her (nonexistent) secret admirer. The
cast of YOU WERE NEVER LOVELIER also includes Isobel Elsom, Leslie
Brooks, Adele Mara, Gus Schilling, Barbara Brown and Douglas Leavitt.
.
YOU
WERE NEVER LOVELIER comes with a perfectly fine Dolby Digital monaural
soundtrack. Most instances of background hiss and surface noise have been
cleaned up in the mastering process, which leaves the track with a more
than respectable sonic quality. One will find that the track has all the
expected limitations in fidelity, but fortunately, the sound is never
comes across as thin, harsh or distorted. Voices are cleanly rendered and
the dialogue is generally easy to understand. Although no other language
tracks are included on the DVD, subtitles have been provided in English
and Japanese. The basic interactive menus allow one access to the standard
scene selection and set up features, as well as theatrical trailers for A
MAN FOR ALL SEASONS, GILDA, THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI.
YOU
WERE NEVER LOVELIER is a fine musical comedy treat that has been given
a very nice presentation on DVD by the folks at Columbia TriStar. If you
are a fan of either Fred Astaire or Rita Hayworth, or a movie buff in
general, you’ll want to add YOU WERE NEVER LOVELIER to your DVD
collection. Recommended.