Heartbeat (1946)

"I can assure you, I know how to behave with a young lady."

"So I've noticed!"

Arlette Lafron (Rogers) is a reform school runaway, turned amateur pickpocket.  She is in thief school until the tutelage of Professor Aristide (Rathbone), learning how to successfully steal from people and lie when caught.  She tries to steal a fancy stick pin, but is caught by the owner, the Ambassador (Menjou).  Instead of turning her over the authorities, he has a counter proposal.

The Ambassador wants Arlette to pose as the niece of Baron Ferdinand Dvorak (Ciannelli) at a diplomatic party.  At the party she is instructed to dance with diplomat Pierre de Roche (Aumont) and steal his pocket watch.  Pierre is charming and over the course of the evening they begin to fall in love.


I discovered this film on AmazonPrime.  I enjoy Ginger Rogers and decided to give the film a try.  It is a hidden gem of a film, that boasts an impressive cast.

It is a fluffy film, while still keeping you guessing.  Director Sam Woods established his skills in comedy with 2 Marx Brothers films (A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races).  He also directed several actors, including Rogers, in Oscar winning performances (Rogers won an Oscar for Kitty Foyle in 1940).  This was one of the last films he directed.

Rogers was in her 30s, but managed to convincingly play the teenage Arlette.  She plays the character as smart and determined, while still naive.  She is charming and conveys so much with her face.  Jean-Pierre Aumont is suave as Pierre: likeable with a few rough spots.  Adolphe Menjou is the perfect choice as the morally ambiguous Ambassador.  You like him, but don't trust him.  Basil Rathbone makes the most of his small role, as does Melville Cooper.  Both are entertaining and perfectly cast.

It is a straight-forward script, but still has a few twists and turns.  It mostly ends the way you expect, with happiness for the main characters, but doesn't necessarily take the path you expect.  And they even let Rogers sing, "The Heartbeat Song (Can You Guess?)".  I was thoroughly charmed.

Heartbeat (1946) 102 minutes
Director: Sam Wood
Starring: Ginger Rogers as Arlette Lafron
Jean-Pierre Aumont as Pierre de Roche
Adolphe Menjou as AmbassadorBasil Rathbone as Professor Aristide
Melville Cooper as Roland Latour
Mikhail Rasumny as Yves Cadubert
Eduardo Ciannelli as Baron Ferdinand Dvorak
Mona Maris as Ambassador's Wife