Let's Dance (1950)

During the war, Kitty McNeil (Hutton) and Don Elwood (Astaire) were dancing partners for the USO.  Years later, Kitty is a widow with a young son, Richie (Moffett).  Her late husband's grandmother Serena (Watson) does not approve of Kitty or has big plans for the way her great-grandson will be raised.  Kitty objects and runs away with Richie.

She runs into Don, who is working at a local nightclub while trying to make it big in the financial world.  He gets her a job at the nightclub as a cigarette girl, while the other employees help her care for Richie.  When Serena's lawyers, Edmund Pohlwistle (Young) and Charles Wagstaffe (Cooper), find Kitty, they take her court to find out who will be allowed to raise Richie.


I discovered this film on AmazonPrime and decided to give it a try.  It's no easy task upstaging Fred Astaire, but Betty Hutton manages to do that in this film.  Hutton brings a joy and enthusiasm to the film.  She is the lead character and carries the film with easy, while belting out songs and dancing with Astaire.  Astaire is a more polished dancer than Hutton, but she still tackles each dance with gusto.

The cast is fun.  Roland Young and Melville Cooper work well together and get the most laughs as the lawyers.  Hutton and Astaire have good chemistry.  The songs are terrible and unmemorable, but the dancing is excellent and the story is entertaining.

Let's Dance (1950) 112 minutes
Director: Norman McLeod
Starring: Betty Hutton as Kitty McNeil
Fred Astaire as Don Elwood
Roland Young as Edmund Pohlwistle
Ruth Warrick as Carola Everett
Lucile Watson as Serena Everett
Gregory Moffett as Richie Everett
Barton MacLane as Larry Channock
Shepperd Strudwick as Timothy Bryant
Melville Cooper as Charles Wagstaffe
Harold Huber as Marcel