Carefree (1938)

Perhaps because it was Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers’s penultimate picture together for RKO, or perhaps because it is more romantic comedy than musical, Carefree tends to be a neglected entry in the series. This is unfortunate, because it retains many of the elements that made the duo so popular while also breaking new ground. Fred plays Tony Flagg, a psychoanalyst who is asked by his friend Steve (Ralph Bellamy) to try to figure out why his fiancée, Amanda Cooper (Ginger), keeps breaking off their engagement. During the course of treatment, and in a reversal of the usual pattern, Ginger falls for Fred and begins to pursue him. The emotionally repressed doctor resists, leading to a number of comic encounters, as well as a moment of genuine heartbreak. Other innovations include Fred’s dance on a driving range, a slow-motion dream sequence (which was going to be shot in color until budget concerns won out), Fred and Ginger’s first screen kiss, and some of Ginger’s best turns as a comic actress. More familiar elements include Ginger fronting the band at the start of a large company dance number ("The Yam," which failed to catch on as a dance craze), an expert if skimpy Irving Berlin score including the lovely ballad "Change Partners," and of course fabulous, high-flying dancing. Fred and Ginger fans can’t afford to miss Carefree.