Independent Films, Film Profiles

The Sky's the Limit

The Sky's The Limit (1943) is a musical comedy film with a wartime theme starring Fred Astaire, Joan Leslie, Robert Benchley, Robert Ryan and Eric Blore, with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by Johnny Mercer. The film was directed by Edward H. Griffith, and released by RKO Radio Pictures.This drama, a dark comedy, was an unusual departure for Astaire, one which caused some consternation among film critics and fans at the time, though not enough to prevent the film doing well. Aside from the dancing - which contains a famous solo performance in the standard "One For My Baby", described by Astaire as "the best song specially written for me" -- the script provided him with his first opportunity to act in a serious dramatic role, and one with which his acting abilities, sometimes disparaged, appear to cope. Astaire, who plays a Flying Tiger on leave, portrays a complex and troubled character. The comedy is provided by Benchley (his second appearance in an Astaire picture) and Blore -- a stalwart from the early Astaire-Rogers pictures.