While this was released at about the crest of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers' box office popularity it's not among their greatest films together. Some of Irving Berlin's musical numbers are legend and the staging reaches the high standard we expect from the stars, but the comic plot is disappointing.
For the first time, Fred and Ginger are in America the whole way through. He is a sailor in the US navy on leave in San Francisco and she's an old flame with a nightclub act. And shipmate Randolph Scott has an on/off romance with a frumpy schoolteacher (Harriet Nelson) whose makeover transforms her into a knockout.
The star duo's plots are always flimsy, but this is extended to over 110 minutes. Of course, we're all here for the songs, and the dance routines. These are variable but Rogers belts out Let Yourself Go to good effect. She does a rare solo tap which is decent and Astaire does one which is peerless.
And then it all climaxes with Let's Face the Music and Dance, one of their best ever ballroom romances. And this plugs straight into the heart of the depression as they abandon their suicide attempts and elect to carry on, but with style. No cuts, all one shot. And the screen shimmers with stardust.