In honor of Turner Classic Movies' Summer Under the Stars,
Think Classic now presents...
Ginger Rogers
Born July 16, 1911
Died April 25, 1995
Virginia Katherine McMath was born in July of 1911 to William and Lela McMath. Her parents had a troubled marriage, and when Virginia was very young they separated. They had a custody battle over her, until her mother Lela won all rights. Their divorce was then finalized, and Virginia relocated to Kansas City, MO with her mother, in order to move in with her grandparents. Virginia spent much of her time with her grandparents during her formative years, and was extremely fond of them throughout the rest of her life, even purchasing a home for her grandfather in California later on, so that they could be close to each other while she was working. It was undoubtedly while living with her grandparents that Virginia underwent the first phase of her name-change. She had a younger cousin who had trouble pronouncing her name and ended up calling her "Ginga." In 1920, Ginger's mother, Lela remarried and relocated the little family to Texas. Ginger took on her stepfather's last name of Rogers, even though he never actually adopted her--thus her official stage name of Ginger Rogers was developed.
It was also in her early formative years that Ginger was exposed to acting. Her mother had a love and appreciation for it, and even worked as a Hollywood script writer for a time. Her mother's close contact and interactions with the world of theater inspired Ginger when she was in high school.
While living in Fort Worth, Texas, Lela Rogers became a theater critic, and her daughter Ginger would often spend many evenings hanging around backstage at the theater. Eventually she developed friendships with some of the actors and they noticed her talent, so she began participating in smaller song and dance numbers in front of the audience. A lucky thing, too, because that was one of the first steps to launching her career.
Sometime around 1926-7, a travelling vaudeville act was rolling through Fort Worth and needed a temporary stand-in for one of their performances. Ginger was recommended for the job, and they were so impressed with her dedication and talent that it ended up opening quite a few doors for her. After winning a Charleston Dance contest, she went on a musical-dance tour for six months. Rogers was quickly becoming a bright new light on the stage.
Her mother acted almost as a manager, and accompanied Ginger on her tours. Eventually the tour landed them in New York City, where they decided to take their chances and stay. For a while, Rogers worked some smaller jobs for radio programs and broadcasts. In 1929, she made a huge career move when she auditioned and got the part for a Broadway musical called Top Speed. Producers were sitting up straight and taking notice. The musical had barely been open on Broadway for a couple of weeks when she was offered a leading role in another, entitled Girl Crazy. She accepted, and it was while working on Girl Crazy that she first met Fred Astaire, who had been hired to choreograph the dancers. The chemistry was instantaneous.
Rogers was only 19 when she starred in Girl Crazy, yet she instantly caught the eye of Hollywood's Paramount Pictures, who didn't hesitate to offer her a seven year contract.
Rogers didn't stay with Paramount for the full seven years. She made five motion pictures with them and then managed to get out of her contract early. She officially moved to Hollywood, after which she made three films with Pathe Exchange, and floated from Warner Brothers, Monogram, and Fox, all before the year of 1932. Eventually she began working with RKO Radio Pictures. It was working for RKO in 1933 that she crossed paths with Fred Astaire once more, making their first movie together, Flying Down to Rio.
Rogers and Astaire's first picture together was so successful that they made nine more while at RKO. Audiences fell in love with them, no matter what roles they were playing--fell in love with their elegant, intriciate dance numbers and their sometimes crazy, original songs. Throughout their partnership, which was one to go down in cinematic history, they filmed 33 major song and dance numbers together. But by 1940, RKO was facing financial troubles, and with those troubles came the realization that Rogers and Astaire could not go on together forever. They attempted to make a couple more pictures together for the studio, which weren't even half as successful as their earlier films. This just underlined the shared opinions of all involved that it was time to say goodbye.
But Rogers' career was far from over. She began to make solo appearances and prove her worth to Hollywood studios and producers, showing that she could be just as successful in multiple genres--she could hold her own. She displayed her comedic talents in blockbuster hits such as Tom,Dick,and Harry (1941), Bachelor Mother (1939), and The Major and the Minor (1942). She also proved how adept she was in more dramatic and demanding films, such as Primrose Path (1940), Stage Door (1937), Roxie Hart (1942), and her very famous role in Kitty Foyle (1940), for which she won an Academy Award.
Rogers was enormously successful in the realm of Hollywood's elite. She was lifelong friends with famous names of the day such as Lucille Ball and Bette Davis. She also had well publicized marriages to noteable names such as Jack Pepper, Lew Ayres, Jacques Bergerac, and William Marshall. She was honored with a star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars in 1992. Throughout her brilliant career she starred in 73 motion pictures.
Rogers remained active and made public appearances until she began developing health problems which confined her to a wheelchair a few years before her death. Ginger Rogers passed away at the age of 83 due to heart attack.
Summer Under the Stars Movie Pick
Bachelor Mother
1939
Starring Ginger Rogers, David Niven, and Charles Coburn
A single woman by the name of Polly Parrish (Rogers) is living in NYC and working for a large department store. She was only hired to help out with the pre-season Christmas rush, and as Christmas approaches she is informed that they will be letting her go as soon as the holidays are over. Polly is outside on a break when she sees a woman leaving her baby on the steps of an orphanage across the way. This is none of Polly's business and she undoubtedly would have thought nothing of it, accept that after the mother leaves, she notices that the baby is about to roll off the steps and into the street. Feeling she can't let that happen no matter how dispirited she is towards her fellow man, she runs to pick up the baby. Just as she does so, the orphanage door is opened and the woman in charge assumes that Polly is the baby's mother. Try as she might, Polly just can't convince the woman that she is not the mother of this child. As she is arguing with the woman who runs the orphanage, the wealthy, playboy son of the department store owner, David Merlin (Niven) is passing by. He observes the trouble and tries to help. Polly insists that she couldn't keep this baby even if she was it's mother because she is soon to be out of a job and wouldn't be able to support it.
David feels badly for the supposedly delusional single mother. After learning that Polly works for his father's department store, he goes directly to his father, J.B. Merlin (Coburn) and arranges that he let the lady keep her job. Before Polly knows what's even happening she is told she may keep her job, gets a pay raise, and is sent home with her son. Her landlady is also sympathetic and agrees to provide childcare while Polly goes to work each day. Nobody will believe that she is not the biological mother of the child, so she finally just gives up and takes care of the baby, knowing that without her, he would just be stuck in an orphanage.
David checks in quite regularly to see how Polly and the baby are getting along, and to make sure that they have everything they need. The two become friends, and after a while, David develops feelings for Polly and her infant son. Feeling that his father would be furious about the match, however, he tries to keep their relationship private. On New Years Eve, David finds himself dateless for a grand party he is supposed to go to, so he asks Polly to go along, dressing her up in the finest clothes money can buy. They are spotted in public, along with the baby, and the news quickly travells to his father, who automatically assumes that David is the child's father, and refuses to hear anything to the contrary. What comes as quite a shock to everyone is that old Mr. Merlin is not angry at all, in fact, he's delighted that his son has finally chosen a beautiful girl, is going to settle down, and has given him a grandson. Finding himself in a similar situation as Polly was earlier on, David realizes that there is no reasoning with his father.He already loves both Polly and the child, so he goes along with it, saying he is the child's father. David and Polly get married and raise the baby, who they name John, together.
Bachelor Mother is a wonderful gem from Rogers' long list of achievements. I picked it partly because it's just enjoyable from beginning to end, but also because it is not one of her musicals. I love musicals, and I think Rogers was supreme in them, yet they also tend to overshadow much of the more serious and conventional roles she played. Bachelor Mother is a comedy, which gives the viewer a closeup of her clever, quick-witted side, yet it also deals with a some heavy (and at the time, somewhat taboo) topics--single mothers, abandonment, etc.
"The most important thing in anyone's life is to be giving something. The quality I can give is fun, joy, and happiness. This is my gift."
-Ginger Rogers
