Review: You’ll Never Get Rich
Blu-ray: You’ll Never Get Rich (1941)
It’s such a shame that kids today are so stuck to their phones and so uninterested in anything made more than 2 years ago. I think even my 44 year old brother would balk at watching a movie like this. A MUSICAL with FRED Astaire and Rita Hayworth. I think I laughed out loud more at this film then I could ever laugh at The Hangover or Bridesmaids.
Made at the beginning of WW2 (1941) just as America joined the allied forces, its pretty obvious to those who know about the impact of film on the war effort and trying to get the USA to help out will see, despite its comedic airiness, that something deeper is going on here.
It’s a simple story – yet pertinent for this ‘me too’ age. Sheila Winthrop (Hayworth) is being sexually harassed by the theatre owner, he expects her to sleep with him. He buys her a diamond bracelet as a bribe and his wife finds it. The story is basically a farce, misunderstandings, blackmail, sex… the army WW2, dancing and songs by (swoon) Cole Porter.
Fred is… well how do you describe perfection? As is Rita. This is a charming, delightful, funny film and definitely the best one we at 60MW Towers have seen all month.
Give yourself a treat, give in to B&W musicals.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
- 4K restoration
- Original mono audio
- Audio commentary with film historian Peter Tonguette (2024)
- A Radiant Star (2024, 20 mins): the critic and writer Christina Newland discusses Rita Hayworth and her acclaimed dancing partnership with Fred Astaire
- Fred Astaire’s Approach to Filmmaking(1985, 77 mins): archival audio recording of a lecture delivered at the National Film Theatre, London, by John Mueller, author of Astaire Dancing: The Films of Fred Astaire
- Super 8 version: cutdown home cinema presentation
- Isolated music & effects track
- Original theatrical trailer
- Image gallery: promotional and publicity material
- New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Limited edition exclusive 40-page booklet with a new essay by Rick Burin, an archival interview with Rita Hayworth, extracts from an archival profile of Fred Astaire, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits
- UK premiere on Blu-ray
- Limited edition of 3,000 copies for the UK
Review by Tina from a disc kindly supplied by Powerhouse Films.
