"Three Little Words" (1950)

Another of those MGM songwriter biopics, but this one has much to recommend. This time it's the story of Tin Pan Alley tunesmiths Burt Kalmar (Fred Astaire) and Harry Ruby (Red Skelton) who wrote umpteen great standards from the great American songbook. Astaire, as usual, makes the goings-on of the duo's creative ups and downs seem effortless. And Skelton tamps down his usual hammy mugging to deliver a real performance. Oodles of great musical set-pieces with those hummable tunes--"Who's Sorry Now?", "Nevertheless", "I Wanna Be Loved By You", etc--and some crackerjack hoofing by lovely Vera Ellen as Astaire's supportive wife. Highly entertaining.