bernarddelbello Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Sloppy research had robert osborne announce that no one played the title role in roberta because it was the name of the business (a fancy dress shop in paris). wrong! helen westley played roberta as the post movie credits plaInly states. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibi Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 LOL. I wondered about that too. Didnt Bob Hope star in the stage version? I was wondering what part he played. I'm sure the vehicle was changed a lot to fit Fred and Ginger........ Edited by: Hibi on Feb 23, 2012 2:58 PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hlywdkjk Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 I didn't see the movie the other night or hear the commentary so I don't know exactly what RO said. But from reading the synopsis, the implication I get is there was no "Roberta". Helen Westley's character played John Kent's Aunt Minnie. And Minnie chose the name "Roberta" for herself when she opened the dress shop. But she was still "Aunt Minnie". It appears Ginger Rogers' character had an "alter ego" also - Lizzie Gatz, aka "Contesse Tanka Scharwenka" Kyle In Hollywood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bernarddelbello Posted February 23, 2012 Author Share Posted February 23, 2012 The movie credits shown at the end of the movie showed: Roberta---------Helen Westley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swithin Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Helen Westley, one of the great character actors, was born *Henrietta Remsen Meserole Manney* in Brooklyn. Two of her names -- Remsen and Meserole -- attest to the fact that she comes from a very old Brooklyn family: Remsen and Meserole are streets in Brooklyn named for her ancestors. On Broadway, Aunt Minnie aka Roberta was played by Faye Templeton. The cast also included Tamara, Lyda Roberti, Bob Hope, Sydney Greenstreet, and Ray Middleton. The song "Lovely to Look at" was written specially for the film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cee Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 brooklyn-born here! i know those street names well, but not of their relation to westley. wow! my fave version of lovely to look at is the one astaire did in the 50s with oscar peterson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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