TheLittleSongbird You'll Never Get Rich had a lot going for it, and while it is slightly disappointing with a very silly, contrived and thin story, Sidney Lanfield having moments when his direction was leaden, a couple of stale army jokes and Cliff Nazarro and his double-talk schtick starting off funny but grew irritating. But it is still makes for pleasant viewing. You'll Never Get Rich boasts lovely costumes for Rita Hayworth and beautiful photography, and probably a better-looking film than the second and superior Fred/Rita outing You Were Never Lovelier(and that was still a nice film to look at). Cole Porter's songs are not among his best, but Since I Kissed My Girlfriend Goodbye deserved its Oscar nomination, The Wedding Cake Walk is a lot of fun and So Near Yet So Far is just sublime. The score suits the tone of the film just fine. The choreography ranges from spirited to graceful, again the highlights being in those three songs, the tap-dancing routine between Fred and Rita being one of the main pleasures of You'll Never Get Rich. Although the script and story don't work entirely, they do have moments, Fred and Rita are really charming in their scenes and scenes like the restaurant one generate some amusement, and for all its flaws the film does have heart too. Of the supporting cast, the standouts are a hilarious Robert Benchley and a perfectly cast Frieda Inescourt. John Hubbard and Michael MacBride are good as well, only Nazarro didn't do much for me. The main attractions of You'll Never Get Rich were always Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth, and they are also the best thing about the film. Fred is a suave and charming leading man and makes an effort to not make the comedy seem forced while Rita is effortlessly graceful and you totally see what Robert sees in Sheila in the first place. They are also just magical together. Overall, a decent and pleasant film but there was the potential for it to have been better than it turned out to be. 7/10 Bethany Cox

bkoganbing Though the 42 year old Fred Astaire was certainly not eligible for the peacetime draft still he plays the would be soldier very well in You'll Never Get Rich. Leaving Rita Hayworth is certain to be a problem though.The first peacetime draft in American history forms the background for this film in the same way as Universal's Abbott and Costello classic, Buck Privates. You'll Never Get Rich bares some resemblance to Buck Privates in the comedy portions of the film though it does stay away from the burlesque aspects that Abbott and Costello brought to it.Remember this is a Fred Astaire film and in the plot it has a lot of resemblance to what Astaire had been recently doing over at RKO with Ginger Rogers. The same kind of kittenish romantic complications with humorist Robert Benchley taking the Eric Blore/Victor Moore part as the one who causes all the problems.The dance numbers bear a strong resemblance to the routines Astaire did with Rogers. But here he is being brought over to Columbia to showcase the woman who would be Columbia Picture's mealticket for the next decade and a half. Rita Hayworth was just coming into her own as a box office attraction when this film was done. On the dance floor she complements the elegant Mr. Astaire divinely. This was the first of two films she did with Astaire and while I like You Were Never Lovelier a lot better than this one, You'll Never Get Rich is still entertaining.Cole Porter wrote the score for this film and it's probably one of his lesser efforts for the screen and stage. Still it did have an Oscar nominated song in Since I Kissed My Baby Goodbye. It's not a song that immediately brings Cole Porter to mind for today's audience though.Will both Rita Hayworth and Uncle Sam get the services of Fred Astaire? See You'll Never Get Rich and find out.

uberlibrarian You'll Never Get Rich finds Fred, as usual, working as a choreographer/dancer in NYC. Following one-too-many hot water situations cooked up by his boss, he gets his draft notice, and after some fancy non-footwork, gets inducted into the Army. From there it's off to basic training.The story follows the usual boy-meets-girl, boy-gets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-gets-girl-back musical comedy formula.What's fun is to see the very young Rita Hayworth and the always splendid Fred Astaire in an unusual setting. There are some swell dance numbers, and Astaire is said to have thought Hayworth one of his best partners. An especially nice bit has Fred dancing by himself in the guardhouse, while he listens to a group of Black soldiers playing and singing.This is a fun movie for anyone fond of either Fred Astaire or Rita Hayworth, but beautiful as she was, Rita just didn't bring out the best in Fred Astaire like Ginger Rogers did. Kathryn Hepburn is quoted as saying Rogers gave Astaire sex appeal, and Astaire gave Rogers class. I don't know whether that's the reason their movies are so much fun to watch, but she may well have been on to something.

Alice Liddel This under-rated film in the Astaire canon deserves another look. Not for its mediocre merits as a musical comedy or its sparkleless gaucheness as a romantic comedy. No. This is one of the great explorations of the Astaire persona. Mr. Top Hat and Tails is put in a squalid army environment, and roundly subverts it with lies and disguises, injecting the surreal, and having startling homoerotic dreams. Furthermore, the 'gentleman' persona is exposed in primitive conditions, exposed as mendacious, cynical, cowardly, downright unpatriotic! Extraordinary.