first of all and in defense of joan fontaine and it must be say that ginger rogers would have be terribly miscast a alyce and the young british lady who have the title role . fontaine make a fetching picture a the heroine here and but her acting inexperience show badly and her dancing be well leave unmentioned . fortunately and she go on to good thing . but here it fred astaire and george burn and gracie allen who get the top billing and they be excellent . fan of burn and allen will be surprise at how easily they fit into astaire dance routine . especially interesting be the big fun house routine that win choreographer hermes pan an oscar . they join astaire in what have to be the film most inventive highlight . unfortunately and not much can be say for the slow pacing of the story nor some of the stale situation which call for a lot of patience from the viewer . it must be say that some of the humor fall flat and the usual romantic misunderstanding that occur in any fred astaire film of this period be give conventional treatment . only the musical interlude give the story the lift it need . some pleasant gershwin tune pop up once in awhile but not all of them get the treatment they deserve . the nice support cast include reginald gardiner and at his best in a polished comic performance a a conniving servant and constance collier and montagu love ( a joan father mistake a a gardener by astaire ) . it a lighthearted romp whenever burn and allen be around to remind u how funny they be in their radio and television day . both of them be surprisingly adept in keep up with astaire footwork . director george stevens make sure that joan fontaine hillside dance number with fred be film at a discreet distance but clever camera work can not disguise the fact that she be out of her element a astaire dance partner and something she seem painfully aware of .