The Barkleys of Broadway
1949 film by Charles Walters
The Barkleys of Broadway is a 1949 American Technicolor musical comedy film from the Arthur Freed unit at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer that reunited Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers after ten years apart. Directed by Charles Walters, the screenplay is by Betty Comden, Adolph Green, and Sidney Sheldon, the songs are by Harry Warren (music) and Ira Gershwin (lyrics) with the addition of "They Can't Take That Away from Me" by George and Ira Gershwin, and the choreography was created by Robert Alton and Hermes Pan. Also featured in the cast were Oscar Levant, Billie Burke, Jacques François and Gale Robbins. It is famously known as the last film that Astaire and Rogers made together, and their only film together in color. Rogers came in as a last-minute replacement for Judy Garland, whose frequent absences due to a dependence on prescription medication cost her the role.
Plot
Josh and Dinah Barkley are a husband-and-wife musical comedy team at the peak of their careers. After finishing the opening night of their new musical, the couple take a limousine ride to Mrs. Belney's afterparty. During the ride, Josh mildly criticizes Dinah for not allowing the audience to emotionally connect with her performance. When they arrive at the party, Dinah meets French playwright Jacques Pierre Barredout, who suggests that Dinah should quit musical comedy and do serious acting.
The public source identifies “The Barkleys of Broadway” as 1949 film by Charles Walters. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Barkleys, Broadway and film.
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Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1216947. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1949.
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This entry incorporates text from “The Barkleys of Broadway” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.