Fred Astaire was born on May 10th 126 years ago, and in this film, he and Ginger Rogers share the screen with Randolph Scott and Harriet Hilliard in their fifth pairing for RKO Studios. Against the non-exotic backdrop of the San Francisco harbor, sailor Bake Baker (Astaire) tries to win back his dancing partner’s love, while his buddy courts her sister. Dancing, romance, and a funny fight scene between Astaire and Scott are the main attractions of this evergreen musical comedy.
What is "gag"? Gag moves. Gag is visceral. Gag catches in the throat. A laugh. A retch. A joke. A bind. Pleasure and pain. Both noun and verb, gag provokes strong feelings. And, in the hands of artists, it offers a means of grappling with contemporary experience in a tragicomic mode.