''In Person'' is a 1935 romantic

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

starring

Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...

and

George Brent George Brent (born George Brendan Nolan; 15 March 1904 – 26 May 1979) was an Irish-American stage, film, and television actor. He is best remembered for the eleven films he made with Bette Davis, which included ''Jezebel'' and ''Dark Victory ...

Plot summary

Glamorous movie star Carol Corliss (

) suffers from

agoraphobia Agoraphobia is a mental and behavioral disorder, specifically an anxiety disorder characterized by symptoms of anxiety in situations where the person perceives their environment to be unsafe with no easy way to escape. These situations can in ...

. Her fear of large groups of people, including her adoring fans, causes the actress to assume a veiled, buck-toothed disguise whenever she is in public. Carol's psychiatrist, Dr. Aaron Sylvester (

Samuel S. Hinds Samuel Southey Hinds (April 4, 1875 – October 13, 1948) was an American actor and former lawyer. He was often cast as kindly authority figures and appeared in more than 200 films until his death. Early years Hinds was born in Brooklyn, New Y ...

), recommends a vacation in the mountains as a cure. After she faints in a large crowd, outdoorsman Emory Muir (

) rescues her, never believing the drab woman could be a movie star. Carol pretends to be the plain Miss Clara Colfax and convinces Muir to take her to his mountain retreat to recover. He reluctantly agrees, and allows Carol to stay in the lake cabin. There, George sees her swimming undisguised and wonders as to her true identity. George phones her psychiatrist, who declines to name his patient. While in town, George discovers a picture of Carol Corliss and realizes his guest "Clara" is, in fact, the famous actress. Upon his return, Carol decides to reveal herself to George, but he acts unimpressed and pretends to disbelieve her. In the cabin, Carol hears herself on the radio singing "Got a New Lease on Life," and she sings and dances along for George to no avail. He is only "convinced" of her real persona once she takes him to the movie theatre where her newest film is showing. Over time, Carol begins to realize she is falling for George. Matters are complicated further when Carol's frequent film co-star, Jay Holmes (

Alan Mowbray Alan Mowbray (born Alfred Ernest Allen; 18 August 1896 – 25 March 1969) was an English stage and film actor who found success in Hollywood. Early life Mowbray was born in London, England. He served with distinction in the British Army in W ...

), arrives at the lake to confess his love for her.

Cast

as Carol Corliss/Clara Colfax *

as Emory Muir *

as Jay Holmes * Grant Mitchell as Judge Thaddeus Parks *

as Dr. Aaron Sylvester * Joan Breslau as Minna * Louis Mason as Sheriff Twing *

Spencer Charters Spencer Charters (March 25, 1875 – January 25, 1943) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 220 films between 1920 and 1943, mostly in small supporting roles. Biography Charters was born in Duncannon, Pennsylvania. Until ...

as Parson Calverton Lunk

Production

In November 1934, the ''Hollywood Reporter'' wrote that

Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history. Astaire's career in stage, film, and tele ...

had been RKO's first choice for the male lead in the film. The studio borrowed George Brent from

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

for the role. Additionally, Ginger Rogers stated in her

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

that

Katharine Hepburn Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress in film, stage, and television. Her career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned over 60 years. She was known for her headstrong independence, spirited perso ...

had turned down the role of Carol before Rogers accepted. Released at the height of the Astaire/Rogers musical partnership, ''In Person'' was first and foremost a vehicle to showcase Ginger Rogers' singing and dancing. On a title

lobby card A film poster is a poster used to promote and advertise a film primarily to persuade paying customers into a theater to see it. Studios often print several posters that vary in size and content for various domestic and international markets. The ...

for the film, she is billed as "Fresh from her great triumph in '

Top Hat A top hat (also called a high hat, a cylinder hat, or, informally, a topper) is a tall, flat-crowned hat for men traditionally associated with formal wear in Western dress codes, meaning white tie, morning dress, or frock coat. Traditionally m ...

'". Rogers wanted to prove to her public that she was more than just Astaire's dancing partner, and this film highlights her talents as a

comedienne A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolish (as in slapstick), or employing prop comedy. A comedian who addresses an audience d ...

. Parts of the film were shot on location at

Big Bear Lake Big Bear Lake is a reservoir in the San Bernardino Mountains, in San Bernardino County, California, United States. It is a snow and rain fed lake, having no other means of tributaries or mechanical replenishment. At a surface elevation of , it ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Music

Rogers performed three musical numbers in the film: "Got a New Lease on Life", "Don't Mention Love To Me" and "Out of Sight, Out of Mind". The score was written by

Oscar Levant Oscar Levant (December 27, 1906August 14, 1972) was an American concert pianist, composer, conductor, author, radio game show panelist, television talk show host, comedian and actor. He was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for reco ...

(music) and

Dorothy Fields Dorothy Fields (July 15, 1904 – March 28, 1974) was an American librettist and lyricist. She wrote over 400 songs for Broadway musicals and films. Her best-known pieces include "The Way You Look Tonight" (1936), "A Fine Romance" (1936), "On th ...

(lyrics).

Reception

Box office

The film made a modest box-office profit of $147,000, largely due to the strength of Ginger Rogers' popularity.

Critical response

''In Person'' was well-received, but neither it nor its star could escape the shadow of the Astaire/Rogers musicals. In ''The Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers Book'', dance historian and critic

Arlene Croce Arlene Louise Croce (born May 5, 1934) founded ''Ballet Review'' magazine in 1965. She was a dance critic for ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1973 to 1998. Career Prior to Croce's long career as a dance writer, she also wrote film criticism ...

writes of the film, "Rogers' charm was irresistible, her skill variable." Croce goes on to highlight the difference between the musical numbers of ''In Person'' and those of the following Astaire/Rogers film

Follow the Fleet ''Follow the Fleet'' is a 1936 American RKO musical comedy film with a nautical theme starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in their Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, fifth collaboration as dance partners. It also features Randolph Scott, Harriet ...

; " ogersgoes ersatz in "Out of Sight, Out of Mind," slinking with a studiously lighted cigarette among men in dinner jackets, looking like a junior miss caught out in Ladies' Evening Wear. Yet only a year later she was the cream of sophistication in "Let's Face the Music and Dance. The difference: Astaire."

References

External links

''In Person''
at

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

* * * {{AFI film, id=6202, title=In Person 1935 romantic comedy films 1935 films American romantic comedy films American black-and-white films Films directed by William A. Seiter 1930s American films