Second Chorus

After Fred Astaire finished his RKO contract in 1939 with The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle, he freelanced for the rest of his career. His first film under the Paramount banner was Second Chorus which had him co-starring with... Full review

The only things that save Second Chorus from being a complete disaster are Astaire's dancing and Artie Shaw and his band's music.The writing is horrendous, managing to make even Astaire's character dislikable, as he does truly nasty things to his... Full review

This is an OK Fred Astaire movie. A couple of good dance sequences - one with Paulette Goddard, who is not impressive on the floor, and one where he's tap-dancing while conducting Artie Shaw's orchestra. The plot is dismal, Burgess... Full review

A generally-entertaining story that was fun to watch, except for a number of parts in the final 30 minutes which annoyed me. It was, well, the normal lying and deceiving that was played out in so many films of this... Full review

Let's begin by saying that Fred Astaire is watchable in ANYTHING such is his charisma, vocal and dancing ability but having said that this vehicle needs all the help it can get. Maybe in 1940 Paulette Goddard was considered leading... Full review

SECOND CHORUS 1940 Vas Good? ... Vas Pair-fect. (but not so the film.)The Wonderful Fred Astaire and the vibrant, young, healthy and sexy Paulette Goddard struggled valiantly with this picture. Unfortunately there were no Irving Berlin or Cole Porter melodies... Full review

There are not many strong points to "Second Chorus", and it is really only watchable because of Fred Astaire, whose talent and charisma provide for some good moments. The writing is noticeably weak, and the rest of the production is... Full review

Second Chorus has two good scenes; the one where Fred and Paulette take the floor for some good old fashioned dancing at the end of the I'll Dig It number; and the one where Fred conducts the band and taps... Full review

In this 1940 film, Fred Astaire (Danny) plays a 7th year college student (he was only 41 at the time), who keeps flunking courses so he can stay on in town and play trumpet in a very successful dance band. His... Full review

Astaire is as light on his feet and with his banter in this film as Ali would be years later. Fierce and funny, this film is a knockout. I tuned in expecting to see a B-grade Astaire film as many... Full review

Hal Roach Studios' DVD of Second Chorus is a clean transfer of this original Paramount release that (wild guess) might have reverted to other hands over music rights. Artie Shaw's music comes across well. ... Full Review