Roberta is a musical from 1933 with music by Jerome Kern, and lyrics and book by Otto Harbach. The musical is based on the novel Gowns by Roberta by Alice Duer Miller. The play notably features the famed songs "Yesterdays", "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", "You're Devastating", and "The Touch of Your Hand".
Roberta is a 1935 musical film by RKO starring Irene Dunne, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, and Randolph Scott. It was an adaptation of a Broadway theatre musical of the same name, which in turn was based on the novel Gowns by Roberta by Alice Duer Miller.
The film kept the famed songs "Yesterdays" and "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" from the play, along with a third song, "I'll Be Hard to Handle". But it replaced two others ("The Touch of Your Hand" and "You're Devastating") with Jerome Kern's "I Won't Dance" and "Lovely to Look At", which became so popular that they are now always included in revivals and recordings of Roberta. Other songs from the show were omitted from the film.
Roberta is the only Astaire-Rogers film to be remade with other actors. MGM did so in 1952, entitling the new Technicolor version Lovely to Look At.
When Jonathan Fishman, a young Manhattan computer specialist randomly encounters a prostitute he is shocked to recognize her as Roberta whom he knew when they were both children. To the dismay of his friends, his business partner and his new girlfriend Judy, Jonathan decides to help Roberta off the streets by moving her into his apartment and teaching her the skills necessary to find an office job. What begins as a seemingly altruistic gesture reveals itself as an unwavering obsession, and his life slowly unravels. Written by Anonymous
Football player John Kent tags along as Huck Haines and the Wabash Indianians travel to an engagement in Paris, only to lose it immediately. John and company visit his aunt, owner of a posh fashion house run by her assistant, Stephanie. There they meet the singer Scharwenka (alias Huck's old friend Lizzie), who gets the band a job. Meanwhile, Madame Roberta passes away and leaves the business to John and he goes into partnership with Stephanie. Written by Diana Hamilton
Won for Rosa Mia a Maria Clara Award for Best Supporting Actress.
