Movie · 1944 · Music, Comedy, Romance · 1h 47m · NR · English
Curator score: 4.9/10 (13.6K ratings)
THE MOST BRILLIANT MUSICAL OF OUR TIME!
Overview
A nightclub dancer makes it big in modeling, leaving her dancer boyfriend behind.
Ratings
Curator score: 4.9/10
IMDb: 6.7/10
Letterboxd: 3.41/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 94%
TMDB: 6.4/10
Director
Charles Vidor
Production
Columbia Pictures
Cast
Rita Hayworth, Gene Kelly, Lee Bowman, Phil Silvers, Jinx Falkenburg, Leslie Brooks, Eve Arden, Otto Kruger, Jess Barker, Anita Colby, Curt Bois, Jean Colleran, Francine Counihan, Helen Mueller, Cecilia Meagher, Betty Jane Hess, Dusty Anderson, Eileen McClory, Cornelia B. von Hessert, Karen X. Gaylord
Curator Review
Verdict
A glossy, Technicolor MGM musical with enough star power and choreography to outweigh a fairly routine romance plot. The film is most rewarding when it leans into spectacle, especially the dance numbers and the electric pairing of Rita Hayworth and Gene Kelly.
Best for
classic Hollywood musical fans
viewers who prioritize choreography over plot
Rita Hayworth admirers
Gene Kelly fans
Technicolor spectacle seekers
Skip if
you need a tightly written romance
you are sensitive to dated gender politics
you prefer modern pacing and emotional realism
you want every musical number to advance the story
Overview
Cover Girl is the kind of studio musical that lives or dies on glamour, and on that front it absolutely delivers. Rita Hayworth has a luminous, almost unreal screen presence, and Gene Kelly brings a buoyant physicality that makes even the lighter material feel alive. The film’s best stretches are pure movie magic: polished staging, crisp choreography, and Technicolor sheen that turns every number into an event.
Worth noting
The plot is familiar and sometimes frustrating, especially once it settles into the era’s standard jealousy-and-success conflict. It can feel thin between the set pieces, and some of the romantic dynamics are dated in ways that may test patience. Still, the film keeps finding ways to recover its momentum whenever the dancing starts.
Bottom line
What lingers is less the story than the sensation of watching two major stars move through a studio machine at full power. If you come for narrative complexity, it may disappoint; if you come for classic musical craftsmanship, it’s easy to see why it remains beloved.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Anna Imhof 🌸 · 245 likes
Gene Kelly always looks like he needs help getting that big butt of his off the ground.
cassie (5★) · 130 likes
gene kelly musicals always have a magical quality in my eyes, and rita hayworth amplifies this. she lights up the screen, and her flawless dancing make her appear mystifying. and then we have gene. the scene in which he dances with his reflection is one of my favorites! together these two make dancing seem effortless, and as if they're merely floating on air. if you haven't watched this, you're missing out! it's such a beautiful film, from its spotlight on the conover cover girls to kelly's choreography.
Tom Morton (3.5★) · 130 likes
I was really into the first half of this but it runs out of steam a bit when it starts introducing conflict that follows the irritatingly common pattern of the era - Rita Hayworth starts to succeed thanks to her own talents and the rest of the cast get upset about it. This does lead to a pretty excellent Gene Kelly routine where he gets into a dance-off with his own reflection so it's not all bad, but it all… more I was really into the first half of this but it runs out of steam a bit when it starts introducing conflict that follows the irritatingly common pattern of the era - Rita Hayworth starts to succeed thanks to her own talents and the rest of the cast get upset about it. This does lead to a pretty excellent Gene Kelly routine where he gets into a dance-off with his own reflection so it's not all bad, but it all… more
marcela 💌 (2.5★) · 106 likes
gene and rita in technicolor is EVERYTHING <3
nora (2.5★) · 104 likes
i wish this was 107 minutes of gene kelly and rita hayworth dancing together because everything else is pretty dull and phil silvers is so irritating. but the dancing is SO good. the sequence where gene kelly dances with himself is CRAZY.
(9/10 from 1944)