Heartbeat (1946)

Tender Tale

Most people will not be familiar with this movie in Ginger's career. However, she brings her usual professionalism and vitality to the role and make you want to cry at the happy ending. July 14, 2007

Did I get the only bad copy ever made?

This may be a good movie; I couldn't tell because the picture/sound-quality was so bad. January 14, 2007

View it again in a Heartbeat (recommended)

In this 1946 comedic role, 18-year-old Arlette Lafon (35-year old Ginger Rogers) has a Doris-Day-mixed-with-Nancy-Drew screen presence. She is lively, funny, and virtuous. Her morality makes her an obvious misfit for what will take place. Leaving reform school, Arlette joins a French pickpocket class headed by a very animated Professor Aristide (Basil Rathbone of Sherlock Holmes fame) to have room and board. With natural acting ability, she becomes a star pupil despite her desire to be honest. Unhappy with the thought of stealing, she contemplates returning to reform school. A befriended pickpocket classmate convinces her that entering a "white marriage" of convenience would prevent her from that unpleasant destiny. All she needs is money to pay for the arrangement. With such a noble goal in mind, she sets out for the French public with her newly learned craft.

The temporary success of her first heist leads to a guilty conscious and indebted service to an ambassador at a fancy ball where she meets young French diplomat Pierre La Roche (Jean Pierre Aumont) under false pretenses. After confessing her sins and goals to him, she expects him to marry her. Arlette and Pierre are obviously attracted to each other. However, he decides to sponsor a deadbeat to fill the husbandly role so as not to sully his diplomatic reputation. As she plays along with his stubbornness, Pierre's feelings grow even stronger. She even belts out a love song in a swimsuit to allure Pierre's affection. Whoever gets Arlette in the end is truly the winner.

The funny HEARTBEAT story and invigorated acting compensate for the poor B+W image quality of the DVD and the unconvincing 18-year-old claim. There are no extras but for the low price (especially when purchased used), it's an entertaining way to spend 100 minutes multiple times.

Movie quote: "Steal to stay honest? For that, I'll do it." July 8, 2006

one of Ginger Rogers' most lovely screwball comedies

HEARTBEAT is a delightful film from RKO, which stars Ginger Rogers. She plays an escaped reform-school girl called Arlette Lafon, who becomes a pupil in Professor Aristide's (Basil Rathbone) school for petty crime. Arlette is a reluctant pupil but soon shows much promise in the art of pocket-picking. One day whilst trying to steal the tie-pin of an ambassador (Adolphe Menjou), she is thrown into a scheme to unmask a debonair young politician called Pierre la Roche (Jean-Pierre Aumont). Complications arise when Arlette and Pierre begin to fall in love, but what will happen when he discovers her criminal associations?

Ginger Rogers is the angel on top of the Christmas-tree in this delightful screwball comedy. True, perhaps the film might have been enhanced by having a European actress playing Arlette (Danielle Darrieux and Simone Simon come to mind), but Rogers is so lovely here it's hard to imagine the film being better without her. Jean-Pierre Aumont is a capable partner; Menjou and Rathbone are wonderful as the metaphorical puppeteers manipulating Rogers.

Alpha's DVD has a watchable print. For the most part, the picture is sharp and well-defined, with varying degrees of dirt and debris throughout the film. A pleasant treat for Ginger Rogers fans. December 7, 2005

Sweet & romantic classic

Set in France, this romantic non-musical stars Ginger Rogers as Arlette, a young pick-pocket who falls in love with a handsome diplomat (Jean Pierre Aumont). Fresh out of pick pocket school, Arlette gets caught on her first professional attempt and ends up at an embassy ball where she is blackmailed into stealing a watch from a young diplomat.
To her surprise, she not only succeeds in stealing his watch but also in stealing his heart as he easily falls for her beauty and charm. Enchanted by him herself, Arlette tries to hide the truth from him but can't do it for very long.
Watch Basil Rathbone in a brief but funny performance as the professor of the pick pocket school, and enjoy the great on-screen chemistry between Rogers and Aumont. February 25, 2003

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