Smartest Girl in Town "ketchup blood" on his face and then embraces him. RKO Pictures was also the studio which produced the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers series of films, thus "Smartest Girl's" comic supporting players, Helen Broderick, Eric Blore and Erik Rhodes, all had prominent roles in the previous year's Astaire-Rogers hit, "Top Hat". Furthermore, two months before "Smartest Girl's" release, Blore and Broderick were seen in the dancing duo's very successful 1936 effort, "Swing Time" and, the previous year, had been in another RKO musical comedy, "To Beat the Band". As for Blore and Rhodes, both had earlier appeared in the first Astaire-Rogers vehicle,
Ginger Rogers on July 16, 1911. She signed over 2,000 autographs at this event. The home is currently being restored and will be open to the public in 2018. An annual Ginger Rogers Day Festival is held in July in Independence. The current owner of the house is Three Trails Cottages, Inc. and the museum director is Marge Padgitt. Plans have begun for a second building to accommodate Ginger Rogers memorabilia. She made her last public appearance on March 18, 1995, when she received the Women's International Center (WIC) Living Legacy Award. For many years, Rogers regularly supported, and held in-person presentations,