YOLANDA AND THE THIEF

US, 1945, 108 minutes, Colour.
Fred Astaire, Lucille Bremer, Frank Morgan, Mildred Natwick, Leon Ames.
Directed by Vincente Minnelli.

One of Vincente Minnelli's early musicals. Fred Astaire and Lucille Bremer had danced successfully in the Ziegfeld Follies. This film was designed for their romance and dancing. The dancing is very good indeed - Lucille Bremer is considered one of Astaire's best partners. However, the plot is creaky and far-fetched. It is set in the Hollywood never-never land of Latin America (to be used also in The Kissing Bandit and, with more success, in The Pirate).

Fred Astaire is a very suave American thief intruding in this never-never land where Lucille Bremer belongs to the aristocracy - and comes from a convent to take up her position in society. There are the expected complications - a flimsy plot of romance and betrayal. However, this is unimportant in comparison with the dance routines and the songs. As with these M.G.M. musicals, there is an excellent supporting cast and Mildred Natwick stands out in a particularly funny role. With the dancing, she makes the film memorable. (She was to do a similar kind of turn in The Pirate.)

The film was produced by song-writer Arthur Freed - who in the forties transplanted many Broadway musicals to Hollywood but in the late forties and early fifties was to branch out imaginatively with such successes as On The Town, An American In Paris, Singin' In The Rain. This musical is interesting to note in the career of Vincente Minnelli. It came after Meet Me in St Louis and The Ziegfeld Follies - the best and some of the worst of Minnelli's work. His films are also noted for their vivid colour photography, lavish decor and acts - of the more garish variety. An exotic historical curiosity item.