Ginger Rogers made an astonishing 10 films in 1933, 3 of them all time classics ('42nd Street,' 'Gold Diggers of 1933,' and 'Flying Down to Rio') and nearly all of them still hold up today. That's basically one movie each month!
If you watch them in sequence, you can see a steady improvement in her acting and screen presence, and much of that improvement is due to her first important partner of the 1930s, director William Seiter. They made five films together and, in one of the greatest metamorphoses in screen history, Ginger transformed from a B-movie leading lady to a superstar.
'Rafter Romance' was the second movie that they made together, after 'Professional Sweetheart' (Ginger's offering for June, 1933) and already under his direction we can see her emotional range expanding. The movie itself is a good story, tapping into the classic 'Seventh Heaven,' and Rogers teams up with Norman Foster, her co-star in three movies of the early 1930s.
Foster didn't stay in acting very long, instead he moved to directing, but he worked with many of the great actresses of the day: Clara Bow, Claudette Colbert, Janet Gaynor, Carole Lombard, and his favorite co-star, Ginger Rogers. It's easy to compare his screen presence and timing with Ginger's famous second partner of the 1930s, Fred Astaire. Of course, Foster was no Astaire - didn't sing or dance - but his performances do have a similar light, breezy feel and they fit together well with Ginger's perfectly natural acting.
George Sidney, Robert Benchley, and Laua Hope Crews turn in their patented performances. But of the role players it is Guinn Williams who receives the laurels, for his funny modern-day impersonation of the dashing Knight Errant, striding forth from his chariot (he's a cabbie) to defend the Damsel from her various perils.
It's a really fun movie, simple and goofy and lighthearted. It's a B film, sure. But when you put it on that basis, 'Rafter Romance' is one of the best B films ever made.
To this reviewer, Rogers made 4 all-time great movies in 1933!
If you watch them in sequence, you can see a steady improvement in her acting and screen presence, and much of that improvement is due to her first important partner of the 1930s, director William Seiter. They made five films together and, in one of the greatest metamorphoses in screen history, Ginger transformed from a B-movie leading lady to a superstar.
'Rafter Romance' was the second movie that they made together, after 'Professional Sweetheart' (Ginger's offering for June, 1933) and already under his direction we can see her emotional range expanding. The movie itself is a good story, tapping into the classic 'Seventh Heaven,' and Rogers teams up with Norman Foster, her co-star in three movies of the early 1930s.
Foster didn't stay in acting very long, instead he moved to directing, but he worked with many of the great actresses of the day: Clara Bow, Claudette Colbert, Janet Gaynor, Carole Lombard, and his favorite co-star, Ginger Rogers. It's easy to compare his screen presence and timing with Ginger's famous second partner of the 1930s, Fred Astaire. Of course, Foster was no Astaire - didn't sing or dance - but his performances do have a similar light, breezy feel and they fit together well with Ginger's perfectly natural acting.
George Sidney, Robert Benchley, and Laua Hope Crews turn in their patented performances. But of the role players it is Guinn Williams who receives the laurels, for his funny modern-day impersonation of the dashing Knight Errant, striding forth from his chariot (he's a cabbie) to defend the Damsel from her various perils.
It's a really fun movie, simple and goofy and lighthearted. It's a B film, sure. But when you put it on that basis, 'Rafter Romance' is one of the best B films ever made.
To this reviewer, Rogers made 4 all-time great movies in 1933!