You Were Never Lovelier (Full Frame)

Last Minute Sales & Specials

A remake of an Argentine film "The Gay Senorita," "You Were Never Lovelier" was a follow-up to the 1942 hit "You'll Never Get Rich," and marked the last screen pairing of Astaire and Hayworth. In "You Were Never Lovelier," she proves once again to be a stunning dancer, especially in "Shorty George" and "I'm Old Fashioned," a sensuous moonlit duet with Astaire that is the high point of the film. Like Astaire, Hayworth was a perfectionist and they spent days going over each number. It was difficult to find sufficient rehearsal space on Columbia's stages, so the studio rented a funeral parlor at a nearby Hollywood cemetery. Every time a funeral came through, rehearsals would stop until the last of the mourners had left! Their perfectionism paid off, however, in elegant and precise dance sequences. The score received an Academy Award nomination, along with nominations for Best Sound and Best Song ("Dearly Beloved") by Jerome Kern and Johnny Mercer. Hayworth wanted to do her own singing, but her voice was dubbed by Nan Wynn - a well-kept secret at the time. Nevertheless, Hayworth has gone on record saying that "You Were Never Lovelier" was the favorite of all her films, second only to "You'll Never Get Rich.".