YOU'LL NEVER GET RICH (1941)
Label: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 84 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.37:1)
Director: Sidney Lanfield
Cast: Fred Astaire, Rita Hayworth, Robert Benchley, John Hubbard, Osa Massen
You'll Never Get Rich (1941) is a delightful comedy with Cole Porter penned musical numbers, in it a womanizing theater owner Martin Cortland (Robert Benchley, Flesh and Fantasy) finds himself in hot-water with his wife Julia (Frieda Inescort, The Return of the Vampire) after a gift he bought for one of his dancers Sheila (Rita Hayworth, The Lady from Shanghai) ends up being given to his wife, which would be fine except for the fact that he had it engraved, and she threatens to divorce him, making it quite clear she is well aware of his innumerable philandering way. Desperate to save his bacon he says that he bought it as a favor to his director pal Robert Curtis (Fred Astaire, Ghost Story), and then enlists Robert to accompany Sheila to a party and act as her paramour in front of his wife, so she can witness him hand of the bracelet to her, which works, but a little to well,the next day the gossip rags are reporting on Robert and Sheila's engagement!
Sheila and Robert actually hit off quite nicely at the party, but she has other suitors, among them a handsome military-man Tom Barton (John Hubbard, One Million B.C.), and Robert is too busy with the theater to want to get involved with her. Through a series of miscommunications and hurt feelings, and an encounter with Tom brandishing a gun, the encounter so unnerves poor Robert feels he needs enlist in the military and runs to the nearest recruiters office, joining the Army, and only later realizing that Tom is not only an officer at the base he's stationed at but his superior officer, oops! Once Robert is enlisted we get comic relief from draftees Kewpie (Guinn Williams) and Swiv (Cliff Nazarro), who aid him in trying to win Sheila back by ill-advisedly impersonating an officer!
While the musical numbers by Cole Porter and dancing from Astaire and Hayworth are quite fantastic this is more a comedy than it is a musical, and as someone who is not a huge musical fan I certainly appreciated that, we get lots of situational humor and hijinks here to appreciate as the romance blooms, withers and blooms again between our romantic leads, with more skirt-chasing antics from Martin that again get Robert in dutch with Sheila when she finds him alone with Martin's new side-chick showgirl Sonya (Osa Massen, Rocketship X-M), and lets not forget a preposterous marriage that has to be seen to be believed, it's quite something. The flick is pretty brisk aside from a quick wartime distraction that threatened to derail the whole shebang before getting back on track.
It's great to see Sony digging into the vault and spit-shining this riotous comedy-musical for Blu-ray, chock full of slapstick shenanigans, double-entendres and a bit of song and dance, this was just a delight. The direction from director Sidney Lanfield (The Hound of the Baskervilles) is not exactly razor-sharp but it's an attractive, even if the story itself is pretty slapdash, but it's a well-staged production and the stars shine bright, and the chemistry between the leads is rocket fuel.
Audio/Video: You'll Never Get Rich (1941) arrives on Blu-ray from Sony Pictures in 1080p HF framed in the original 1.37:1 fullscreen. The source looks terrific, flaws are few and far between, mostly some minor speckling, and grain is well-managed. The monochromatic lensing looks solid, grayscale is pleasing and contrast and black levels are strong. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono track with optional English subtitles.
Extras include an Audio Commentary by Film Historian Steven C. Smith and the nearly 4-minute Theatrical Trailer. The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork.
- Audio Commentary by Film Historian Steven C. Smith
- Theatrical Trailer
Screenshots from the Sony Blu-ray:
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