| Carefree | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Mark Sandrich |
| Written by |
|
| Produced by | Pandro S. Berman |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Robert De Grasse |
| Edited by | William Hamilton |
| Music by | Irving Berlin |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 83 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,253,000[1] |
| Box office | $1,731,000[1] |
Carefree is a 1938 Americanmusicalromantic comedy film directed byMark Sandrich and starringFred Astaire,Ginger Rogers, andRalph Bellamy. With a plot similar toscrewball comedies of the period,Carefree is the shortest of theAstaire–Rogers films, featuring only four musical numbers.Carefree is often remembered as the film in which Astaire and Rogers shared a long on-screen kiss at the conclusion of their dance to "I Used to Be Color Blind"; all previous kisses having been either quick pecks or simply implied.
Carefree was a reunion for the team of Astaire and Rogers after a brief hiatus followingShall We Dance and six other previousRKO pictures. The next film in the series,The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939), would be their final RKO film together, although they would reunite in 1949 forMGM'sThe Barkleys of Broadway.
Stephen Arden urges his best friend,psychiatrist Dr. Tony Flagg, to psychoanalyze his fiancée, radio singer Amanda Cooper, who has broken off their engagement for the third time. Tony reluctantly agrees, and before meeting Amanda, he records his opinion of her into hisdictaphone, describing her as a "dizzy, silly, maladjusted female who can't make up her mind". Tony then ushers Amanda into his office before rushing off to the laboratory, and while waiting alone, she accidentally overhears his dictaphone recording, upsetting her. When Tony returns, he attempts to explain the principle of psychoanalysis to Amanda, but she rebuffs him and leaves, much to his confusion.
The next day, Stephen invites Tony to a country club so he can continue his analysis of Amanda. Eventually, she admits to Tony that she was angry after overhearing his recording, and he apologizes. To determine the root cause of Amanda'sfear of commitment, Tony intends to probe hersubconscious mind and interpret her dreams. Since Amanda maintains that she does not dream, Tony orders her to have a meal of bizarre food combinations over dinner in order to induce dreams. That night, Amanda dreams of dancing with Tony, culminating in a kiss.
The next day in Tony's office, Amanda is too embarrassed to tell him about her dream and instead invents a convoluted recurring nightmare, in which she is bothLittle Red Riding Hood and theBig Bad Wolf and is then chased by vicious squirrels. Convinced that he has found "the most beautiful case of complexmaladjustment", Tony gives Amanda ananesthetic to lower her inhibitions. After Tony leaves the examination room, Stephen bursts in and reminds Amanda that she is due to perform on a radio show very shortly, unaware that she is under the influence of the anesthetic. The drugged Amanda breaks a pane of glass, insults the sponsor of the radio show, and kicks a policeman.
That evening, Amanda confides in her aunt Cora that she loves Tony, before the women are joined by Tony, Stephen, and Judge Joe Travers for dinner. When Amanda tries to break up with Stephen, he misinterprets her words and assumes that she has finally agreed to marry him. Stephen excitedly announces his engagement to the others, thanking Tony for his help. Amanda then asks Tony for a dance, whereupon she confesses her love for him. The next day, Tonyhypnotizes Amanda into thinking that she wants to marry Stephen and that men like Tony "should be shot down like dogs". Tony soon realizes that he is in love with Amanda, only to find that she has left his office.
Still hypnotized, Amanda finds Stephenshooting skeet with Judge Travers at the country club. When Tony arrives, Amanda grabs a shotgun and starts shooting at him until he snaps her out of her trance. After Tony explains the situation to Stephen, including his newfound love for Amanda, Stephen accuses Tony of trying to steal his fiancée, and convinces Judge Travers to issue a restraining order that prevents Tony from seeing Amanda. Crashing Amanda and Stephen's engagement party, Tony schemes with his assistant Connors to find Amanda alone, but his attempts to re-hypnotize her are foiled by Stephen.
On Amanda and Stephen's wedding day, Tony and Connors sneak in with Cora's help. Tony intends to knock Amanda unconscious with a punch so he can hypnotize her, but cannot bring himself to do it when he comes face-to-face with her. Stephen barges in and aims a punch at Tony but accidentally knocks out Amanda instead. While Cora and Connors restrain Stephen, Tony tells an unconscious Amanda that he loves her. Amanda, sporting a black eye, walks down the aisle with Tony.
Carefree was in production from April 14 to 15, 1938 (Astaire's golfing dance), and from May 9 to July 21.[2] Location filming was done at theColumbia Ranch inBurbank, California, and atBusch Gardens inPasadena, California.[3] RKO borrowedRalph Bellamy fromColumbia Pictures for this film.[3]
The "I Used to Be Color Blind" number was planned to be aTechnicolor sequence in an otherwiseblack-and-white film.[4] The film as released is entirely black-and-white.
Astaire did not like "mushy love scenes", and preferred that lovemaking between him and Rogers be confined to their dances. Because rumors sprang up that Astaire's wife would not let him kiss onscreen, or that Rogers and Astaire didn't like each other, Astaire agreed to the long kiss at the end of "I Used to Be Color Blind", "to make up for all the kisses I had not given Ginger for all those years."[5]
Besides the number "Let's Make the Most of Our Dream", another scene that was dropped from the released film was one where Astaire tries to analyze a scatter-brained patient, played byGrace Hayle.[6]
The film was released in the United States on September 2, 1938.[2] The previous Astaire–Rogers film,Shall We Dance, had been released in May 1937,[7] and the 16-month gap between the films was the longest between the duo's films to that date.[3]
The entire score forCarefree was written byIrving Berlin, and except for "Change Partners", which he had written for Astaire and Rogers years before, he wrote all songs over the course of a few days, while on vacation inPhoenix, Arizona.[3] An army of uncredited orchestrators contributed to the catchy settings of the tunes, principally among them Broadway'sRobert Russell Bennett and futureMGM stalwartConrad Salinger.
As usual, Astaire created the choreography, with the help of his principal collaboratorHermes Pan.[8] In preparation forThe Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939), the Astaire–Rogers film which was already scheduled to followCarefree, the choreography for this film contains more lifts than usual.[3]
The film earned $1,113,000 in the United States and Canada and $618,000 elsewhere, but according to RKO records, it still lost the studio $68,000.[1][3]
Carefree received generally mixed reviews when it was released, althoughMotion Picture Herald critic William R. Weaver called it "the greatest Astaire–Rogers picture."[3]
Carefree was received three nominations at the11th Academy Awards:Best Art Direction (Van Nest Polglase),Best Music (Scoring) (Victor Baravalle), andBest Music (Song) for "Change Partners", written byIrving Berlin.[11]
