Adele Astaire

Adele Astaire (Adele Marie Austerlitz, 1896-1981) by White Studios.

Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.’s production of SMILES (1930-31) was a disappointment, with just 63 performances — Marilyn Miller’s last show, ROSALIE, had run for 335 and for most of 1928. With a top-notch production team and a starry cast, it sounds sure-fire.

SMILES was Adele Astaire’s penultimate Broadway show, the last before THE BAND WAGON (1931-32). Her Broadway career, dancing with her brother Fred, gradually grew to encompass speaking parts, beginning with Alex A. Aarons’s FOR GOODNESS SAKE (1922), which opened as STOP FLIRTING in London in May 1923. London loved Americans, and the Astaires: the Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VIII and then Duke of Windsor) saw STOP FLIRTING ten times.

LADY, BE GOOD! (1924-25) followed in New York and London, then FUNNY FACE (1927-28), during the London run of which Adele met Lord Charles Cavendish, the younger son of an English duke.

After a two-year Broadway break, the Astaires returned with SMILES in 1930. Even with Marilyn Miller and Eddie Foy Jr., as well as Fred and Adele, SMILES was a bit of a flop. The Astaires’ last show together, in contrast, was a most satisfactory hit: THE BAND WAGON (1931-32) offered audiences Helen Broderick, Tillie Losch, and Frank Morgan. (Adele and Fred sang “I Love Louisa,” and Fred performed “New Sun in the Sky,” both of which can be seen in the 1953 film version.)

The show went on tour, and after a performance in Chicago in March 1932, Adele retired from the stage to marry Lord Charles; they wed in May.