YOU WERE NEVER LOVELIER 1942

You Were Never Lovelier


Columbia, 1942, B/W, 97 minutes, ***

Released November, 1942



Fred Astaire reteams with Rita Hayworth for this top-notch musical comedy. He falls for the ravishing Rita after her father (Adolphe Menjou) fixes them up. Score includes "Dearly Beloved" and "I'm Old-Fashioned."



Produced by: Louis F. Edelman

Directed by: William A. Seiter

Assistant Director: Norman Deming

Screen Play by: Michael Fessier & Ernest Pagano and Delmer Daves

Story by Carlos Olivari and Sixto Póndal Ríos ("Los Martes Orquideas")

Music by: Jerome Kern

Lyrics by: Johnny Mercer

Musical Director: Leigh Harline

Assistant: Paul Mertz

Musical Arrangements by: Conrad Salinger

Musical Arrangement of "The Shorty George" by Lyle (Spud) Murphy

Xavier Cugat Specialty "Chiu Chiu" by Nicamor Molinare

Dance Director: Val Raset

Art Director: Lionel Banks

Associate: Rudolph Sternad

Interior Decorator: Frank Tuttle

Gowns by: Irene

Music Recording by: P. J. Faulkner

Director of Photography: Ted Tetzlaff

Film Editor: William Lyon



Awards: Academy Award nominations for Best Score - Musical (Leigh Harline), Best Song ("Dearly Beloved") and Best Sound Recording



Cast: Fred Astaire [Robert Davis], Rita Hayworth [Maria Acuna], Adolphe Menjou [Edwardo Acuna], Leslie Brooks [Cecy Acuna], Adele Mara [Lita Acuna], Isobel Elsom [Mrs. Maria Castro], Gus Schilling [Fernando], Barbara Brown [Mrs. Delfina Acuna], Douglas Leavitt [Juan Castro], Catherine Craig [Julia Acuna], Kathleen Howard [Grandmother Acuna], Mary Field [Louise], Larry Parks [Tony], Stanley Brown [Roddy], Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra [Themselves], Lina Romay [Herself], Kirk Alyn [Groom], George Bunny [Flower Man], Ralph Peters [Chauffeur], Nan Wynn [singing voice of Rita Hayworth]



Musical Program: [0:00] Overture (played by Orchestra behind titles); [0:06] Chiu Chiu (sung by Lina Romay, Miguelito Valdes and Chorus with Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra); [0:13] Dearly Beloved (sung by Fred Astaire with Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra); [0:22] Wedding in the Spring (sung by Leslie Brooks and Adele Mara at the piano); [0:28] Dearly Beloved (sung and danced by Rita Hayworth [dubbed by Nan Wynn]); [0:35] Audition Dance (played by Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra, danced by Fred Astaire; this number apparently has no formal title); [0:50] I'm Old Fashioned (sung and danced by Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth [Nan Wynn dubbing for Rita Hayworth]); [1:04] Shorty George (sung and danced by Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth with Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra [Nan Wynn dubbing for Rita Hayworth]); [1:12] Wedding in the Spring (sung by Lina Romay and Girls' Chorus with Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra, danced by Ensemble); [1:19] You Were Never Lovelier (sung by Fred Astaire); [1:31] These Orchids (sung by delivery boys); [1:33] You Were Never Lovelier (instrumental played by Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra)