Second Chorus

This minor league Astaire vehicle has Fred (at 41 playing a college student in his mid-20s!!) and Burgess Meredith as his second banana, doing a kind of Crosby and Hope comedy about two swing trumpeters chasing the same girl, played by Paulette Goddard (who in real life later married Meredith).

Astaire understandably dismissed it as the worst picture he ever made and few would argue with him. Had Crosby and Hope made this it would probably have been a lot better, as bar a couple of reasonable dance numbers, all that was required of Fred (and Meredith) was to pretend to play the trumpet. The main reason to watch this for swing buffs was that it was originally conceived as a vehicle for Artie Shaw who features extensively throughout the film both as an actor and fronting his band.

 

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