The Barkleys of Broadway

1949

Action / Comedy / Music / Musical

1
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 71% · 11 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 71% · 1K ratings
IMDb Rating 7.0/10 10 3711 3.7K

dance husband wife relationship musical dance team stage actress husband and wife act

Plot summary

Josh and Dinah Barkley are a successful musical-comedy team, known for their stormy but passionate relationship. Dinah feels overshadowed by Josh and limited by the lighthearted musical roles he directs her in. So she decides to stretch her skills by taking a role in a serious drama, directed by another man.

Director

Charles Walters Photo
Charles Walters

Top cast

Wheaton Chambers Photo
Wheaton Chambers as Guest in Lobby
Betty Blythe Photo
Betty Blythe as Guest in Lobby
Amzie Strickland Photo
Amzie Strickland as Guest in Lobby
Kenneth Gibson Photo
Kenneth Gibson as Party Guest
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
1001.89 MB
956*720
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 49 min
Seeds 1
1.82 GB
1424*1072
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 49 min
Seeds 3

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by AlsExGal 8 / 10

Fred and Ginger together one more time...

Except this vehicle is nothing like their other films at RKO. This is a MGM musical in the big MGM tradition. The whole thing was an accident. Judy Garland was supposed to have Ginger Rogers' role, but her chronic illness made a replacement necessary. Rogers and Astaire have the same old chemistry even if it is a different studio. They play feuding song and dance team Josh and Dinah Barkeley who break up personally and professionally over Dinah's desire to do dramatic acting and Josh's jealousy over who the author of the play is - a flirty Frenchman, Jacques. At first Josh says he wants Dinah to fall on her face. But when he sees her actually stumble in rehearsals when he sneaks in to catch a peek, he blames it all on Jacques, who he says does not know how to direct her. So Josh comes up with a ruse in which he calls Dinah after rehearsals and pretends to be Jacques, complete with fake French accent, giving her cues on how to improve her performance based on what he has seen. Unfortunately it works too well. Dinah thinks even more of Jacques since he is helping her out with great tips, and Jacques is bowled over by Dinah's inexplicable improvement. How will this work out? Watch and find out.Of course MGM spared no expense in the late 40s with the Arthur Freed unit, which made this film. There is beautiful Technicolor, comedy and masterful piano work from Oscar Levant, a great piece of special effects work by MGM and dancing by Astaire in the number "Shoes with Wings On" in which Astaire seems to be dancing side by side with pairs of tap shoes, and a ballroom number in which Fred and Ginger dance to "They Can't Take That Away From Me". Fred sang it to Ginger but the two did not dance to it in 1937's "Shall We Dance". Finally, Ginger's recitation of "La Marseillaise" when she plays "Young Sarah Bernhardt" in Jacques' play is a (probably) unintentional camp classic. Fortunately the French are forgiving people.It was an unexpected reunion, but for fans of the big MGM musicals of the period and of Fred and Ginger in particular, I would highly recommend it.
Reviewed by claudio_carvalho 6 / 10

Fred & Ginger in Color

The couple Josh (Fred Astaire) and Dinah Barkley (Ginger Rogers) are successful musical comedy artists in Broadway and perfect on stage. However, they frequently argue with each other backstage and at home and the perfectionist Josh usually questions the performance of his wife. Their close friend and pianist Ezra Millar (Oscar Levant) usually calms them down.When Dinah is introduced to the playwright and director Jacques Pierre Barredout (Jacques Francois), he believes that she is a great dramatic actress and offers a lead role in his play to her. After an argument with Josh, Dinah splits up with her husband and decides to pursue the career of actress. The stubborn Josh misses Dinah and secretly helps her in her new career but none of them seems to give in."The Barkleys of Broadway" is another musical comedy with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, but in Technicolor. This time, in addition to the beautiful numbers of Fred and Ginger, Oscar Levant wonderfully plays Tchaikovsky. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "Ciúme, Sinal de Amor" ("Jealousy, Sign of Love")
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