Having seen Roxie on Broadway back in the 70s it took me quite a while before
I saw Roxie Hart finally. It was worth the wait as Ginger Rogers gets to display
her comedic and dancing talents with a bit of drama thrown in. The dance was
not often seen any more since she and Fred Astaire parted cinematic company
and she won that Best Actress Oscar for Kitty Foyle.
Told in flashback by newspaperman George Montgomery the film harkens back to Prohibition and the lawless town of Chicago in the Roaring Twenties. As a publicity stunt manager Lynne Overman persuades burlesque queen Ginger Rogers to confess to a murder she really didn't commit.
With flamboyant Adolphe Menjou defending her and Cook County juries being what they were and some maintain still are he's sure of acquittal. But there are a few unexpected bumps along the way.
Besides Rogers, Adolphe Menjou had a real flair for roles like defense attorney Billy Flynn where he could ham it up and it not looking out of place. Spring Byington has a few good scenes are sob sister Chicago columnist, a far cry from her usual motherly or grandmotherly roles.
The one I remember best is George Chandler who got a career role for himself as Roxie's nebbish of a husband. He's such a schnook he practically deserves Roxie cheating on him. I think you'll remember him best as well.
Roxie Hart in those dark days of the first full year of America in World War II was a real winner for 20th Century Fox and for star Ginger Rogers and the entire cast that supported here in this nostalgia driven film.
Told in flashback by newspaperman George Montgomery the film harkens back to Prohibition and the lawless town of Chicago in the Roaring Twenties. As a publicity stunt manager Lynne Overman persuades burlesque queen Ginger Rogers to confess to a murder she really didn't commit.
With flamboyant Adolphe Menjou defending her and Cook County juries being what they were and some maintain still are he's sure of acquittal. But there are a few unexpected bumps along the way.
Besides Rogers, Adolphe Menjou had a real flair for roles like defense attorney Billy Flynn where he could ham it up and it not looking out of place. Spring Byington has a few good scenes are sob sister Chicago columnist, a far cry from her usual motherly or grandmotherly roles.
The one I remember best is George Chandler who got a career role for himself as Roxie's nebbish of a husband. He's such a schnook he practically deserves Roxie cheating on him. I think you'll remember him best as well.
Roxie Hart in those dark days of the first full year of America in World War II was a real winner for 20th Century Fox and for star Ginger Rogers and the entire cast that supported here in this nostalgia driven film.