Roberta (1935 film)

Roberta
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	William A. Seiter
Screenplay by	Jane Murfin Sam Mintz Allan Scott Glenn Tryon (add'l dialogue) Dorothy Yost (contr. to treatment)[1]
Based on	Based on Roberta a 1933 stage musical by Jerome Kern and Otto Harbach and Gowns by Roberta a 1933 novel by Alice Duer Miller
Produced by	Pandro S. Berman
Starring	Irene Dunne Fred Astaire Ginger Rogers
Cinematography	Edward Cronjager
Edited by	William Hamilton
Music by	Jerome Kern, conducted by Max Steiner
Production company	RKO Radio Pictures
Distributed by	RKO Radio Pictures
Release date	March 8, 1935 (1935-03-08)
Running time	105 or 106.5 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$610,000[2] (Cost: ~$750,000)[1]
Box office	$2,335,000[2]

Roberta is a 1935 American musical film released by RKO Radio Pictures and directed by William A. Seiter. It stars Irene Dunne, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, and features Randolph Scott, Helen Westley, Victor Varconi and Claire Dodd. The film was an adaptation of the 1933 Broadway musical Roberta, which in turn was based on the novel Gowns by Roberta by Alice Duer Miller. It was a solid hit, showing a net profit of more than three-quarters of a million dollars.

The film kept the famous songs "Yesterdays", "Let's Begin" (with altered lyrics), and "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" from the play, along with a fourth song, "I'll Be Hard to Handle". Three songs from the play were dropped—"The Touch of Your Hand", "Something Had to Happen" and "You're Devastating". Two songs were added to this film, "I Won't Dance" (resurrected from the flop Kern show Three Sisters)^[3] and "Lovely to Look At", which both became #1 hits in 1935. The latter addition was nominated for the Best Song Oscar. The songs "I Won't Dance" and "Lovely to Look At" have remained so popular that they are now almost always included in revivals and recordings of Roberta.

Roberta is the third Astaire-Rogers film, and the only one to be remade with other actors. MGM did so in 1952, entitling the new Technicolor version Lovely to Look At. MGM had bought Roberta in 1945 with the intention of producing a remake, keeping it out of general circulation until the 1970s. Roberta was the first of three pairings for Irene Dunne and Randolph Scott; High, Wide and Handsome (1937) and My Favorite Wife (1940) were the other two.