You'll Never Get Rich

Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth in You'll Never Get Rich.

You'll Never Get Rich is a light and lively wartime musical comedy. It is the first pairing of screen legends Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth. Although famous for teaming with Ginger Rogers, Astaire has been quoted as saying Hayworth was his favorite dance partner.

Astaire stars as famous Broadway choreographer Bob Curtis. Hayworth plays Sheila Winthrop, a dancer in Bob's show who has a crush on him. The show's married producer, however, has a crush on Sheila. When the producer's wife gets suspicious, Bob covers for him by claiming it is he who is infatuated with Sheila and not the producer. To make it appear convincing Bob starts dating Sheila. This thrills the smitten Sheila to no end. Of course the truth comes out and Bob finds himself in all kinds of hot water. Then Uncle Sam calls and Bob eagerly leaves for the army.

However, things do not go as planned as Bob comes to realize that he actually has feelings for Sheila. Sheila turns up at the same army camp as Bob. She is there to be near her boyfriend, who also happens to be Bob's superior officer. Bob gets the opportunity to put on a USO type show for the military. After some convincing, Sheila agrees to star in it with Bob. If you can't guess the rest of the plot then you have not seen enough old musicals.

This is a delightful musical comedy. I laughed at it jokes. I watched in awe of this graceful couple's dancing. The songs were written by Cole Porter. It was nominated for Best Musical Score and 'Since I kissed My Baby Goodbye' was nominated for Best Song.

Although Astaire is much older than Hayworth (he was friends with Hayworth's father before Hayworth was even born) they still make a great couple. This movie was made at the start of Rita's reign as love goddess of the 40's. She is in her early twenties but her screen presence is enormous.