The Barkleys of Broadway 1949

Josh Barkley [Fred Astaire] and Dinah Barkley [Ginger Rogers] are a celebrated husband-and-wife team at the peak of their musical comedy career. After the opening night of their new show, the couple hops into a limousine bound for Mme Livingston Belney’s afterparty, and a quiet crack in their chemistry surfaces: Josh quietly critiques Dinah for not letting the audience emotionally connect with her performance, while Dinah wrestles with a growing sense of ambition beyond their familiar routine. When they arrive, Dinah meets Jacques Barredout [Jacques François], a French playwright who subtly urges her to quit musical comedy and pursue serious acting. Josh waits outside, ready to leave, but returns inside to find Dinah and Jacques together. Home again, Josh accuses Dinah of flirting; Dinah explains that Jacques sees dramatic potential in her, but she insists that her future may still be tied to musical theater.

Sometime later, Bert Felsher [Clinton Sundberg], the show’s director, and Ezra Millar [Oscar Levant], the musical’s composer and friend, worry that the Barkleys’ turbulent relationship is affecting the production. They introduce Shirlene May [Gale Robbins], hired as Dinah’s understudy. At the Flandreau Art Gallery, the Barkleys attend an exhibition where Dinah’s disappointment with her portrait is heightened by the painter’s remark that Josh reminds him of Svengali, hinting at controlling influence within their dynamic. Dinah encounters Jacques again and declines an invitation to a country trip with Mme Belney, choosing to stay focused on the show and her own ambitions. The couple returns to Broadway and delivers a lively Scottish-number performance, keeping their professional brilliance intact even as personal tensions simmer beneath the surface.

Backstage, they decide on a weekend getaway in Danbridge, with Ezra accompanying them. While Josh and Ezra play golf at the country club, Dinah discusses Jacques’s new play—a dramatization of the life of Sarah Bernhardt—with Pamela Driscoll [Inez Cooper], who is slated to star, though Dinah argues she’d be a stronger lead herself. Back in New York, Dinah secretly rehearses for the lead in Jacques’s production. Josh discovers the rehearsals and accuses her of an affair with the playwright, prompting a separation as Josh resumes solo performance in his next musical while Dinah auditions for Jacques’s project. Ezra tries to coax Dinah into performing at a hospital benefit concert by claiming Josh won’t be there, but she declines.

Behind the scenes, Josh continues to watch Dinah’s rehearsals, convinced that Jacques’s direction is muddled. Over dinner with Ezra and Shirlene May [Gale Robbins], he begins to understand that Dinah’s confidence is real, even if Jacques’ guidance is uncertain. He even impersonates Jacques to offer Dinah advice, and her subsequent audition is remarkably strong. At the benefit concert, Ezra delivers a piano piece with the orchestra, and Josh and Dinah reunite backstage for an improvised song-and-dance moment. Dinah, however, turns away from a full reunion, feeling that Josh has taken her for granted.

Jacques’s new play, The Young Sarah, opens and Dinah’s performance garners positive reviews. Josh once again imitates Jacques to offer congratulations, only for the real Jacques to arrive at Dinah’s dressing room, forcing her to confront the deception. Dinah hurries to Josh’s apartment, where he reveals he has fallen in love with Shirlene. Before she leaves, Dinah reminds him that she knew he had impersonated Jacques. Josh acknowledges the ruse, but he also congratulates Dinah in person, and the two reconcile, reaffirming their partnership as a musical team that can balance art, jealousy, and romance.

Throughout their journey, the couple navigates temptation, miscommunication, and genuine talent, ultimately finding a way to blend personal growth with their shared stage magic, and reaffirming that their strongest act is the act of performing together.