This classic musical directed by George Stevens has first-rate credentials: Oscar-winning choreography by Hermes Pan, a witty story by P G Wodehouse, toe-tapping music and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin, comedy from George Burns and Gracie Allen, Fred Astaire - and - Joan Fontaine! Trouble was that Fontaine may have been superb in her later vulnerable heroine roles (Rebecca, Suspicion, Jane Eyre) but she was no dancer. So, at the time, the movie bombed at the box-office. Ginger, it was said, wanted a break after seven films with Fred. But there is still plenty to relish: in particular the number Stiff Upper Lip - a wonderfully inventive fairground sequence - and such classics as A Foggy Day in London Town, Nice Work If You Can Get It and a splendid send-up of the English, The Jolly Tar and Milkmaid.

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