Jane Powell playing Astaire’s sister defied credibility as she was and very much looked thirty years his junior. She acted in only twenty two features, of which I’ve only seen the problematic Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Here she used a vocal technique called screeching. She passed away only last fall.
The only thing I knew about Peter Lawford is that he was in Frank Sinatra’s rat pack. Was, as in, was kicked out because of something to do with the Kennedys and Sinatra's ties to the mob. Probably more to it than that. Peter's career would falter and would die at 61, because of drink, I’m guessing.
Old buddy Keenan Wynn has a vaguely amusing double role. He has appeared in a ton of things, both great and terrible. I’ll always remember him as Winter. But let’s talk about Mae Clarke. She was a natural for sexy pre-code roles but personal problems and a car accident put her career on the skids. When sexy roles dried up during production code enforcement, she was relegated to B pictures. I suspect, however, that her slide had more to do with personal issues than production codes. Here, she earned the role of “Telephone Operator #1 (uncredited)”.
Astaire dances with a coat rack, on a rocking ship, and finally on the ceiling, using the rotating set originated by my buddy-pal Buster Keaton. If that is your thing, likely you will more than tolerate Royal Wedding. I’m sure it represents Astaire’s latter career just fine. For me, the song and dance numbers were tedious, the chemistry unconvincing, the story paper-thin, and the comedy incidental. AMRU 2.5.
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