Heartbeat — Directed by Sam Wood — Melodrama. A female juvenile delinquent enters high society. 100 minutes Black And White 1946
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Ginger Rogers was 35 when she played the part of a 17 year old here. I don’t know how well this movie did at the box office, but if it failed it might have been because the public who grew up with her knew perfectly well how old she was, because they were the same age as she was. Nevertheless, she is wonderful. The story is Oliver Twist with a female as Oliver, Basil Rathbone as Fagan, and so forth. We are to believe she has run away from a girls’ reformatory, and when she is soon thrust into the high life of Paris, watch what, as an actress, she chooses to play. She does not play innocence. She plays, I’m Not Used To This World, This Dress, This Handsome Ambassador. It’s a very shrewd choice, and a natural one. Her being found stealing Alolphe Menjou’s stick pin is delicious. She had this naturalness from the start of her career in pictures which began when she was 19 in 1930. The film is amusing and quirky throughout. And, boy, can she hold the screen. She had a naturalness and a sense of herself that drew you to her. Rogers was talented and hardworking: she was touring the country at age 14 as a Charleston Queen. By the time she started making musicals with Astaire she had 19 films under her belt. She understood film acting from the inside out. I think you’ll enjoy yourself with this off-beat Sam Wood piece.[ad#300×250]