drednm This is a totally misconceived musical fantasy that never knows what direction it's heading in. Parts of it are sticky-gooey religious drek with heiress Yolanda Aquaviva (Lucille Bremer) graduating from a convent to take her place at the head of the country's richest family. The other story thread concerns grifters (Fred Astaire and Frank Morgan) entering the country (it looks like Bolivia) to escape the American police. With assistance from an archangel (Leon Ames)the stories meet.Mildred Natwick, as the loony aunt, comes off best in a delightfully comic performance. Ames and Morgan have almost nothing to do. Astaire, with his worst toupee in a major film, seems bored. Bremer (of the twitchy eyes) has almost zero acting talent. The color cinematography and set decoration will knock your eyes out, but as the scenes run from obvious artsy sets to real back drops, there seems to be no consistency or authorial vision.Aside from a few comic moments (which belong to Natwick) the only things that saves this film from total failure is the musical number "Coffee Time." The set up is a carnival where Astaire and Bremer get pushed into doing a dance together. The oddly syncopated "Coffee Time" catches the viewer off guard because it's so damned good and quite arresting.The number is introduced by three girls who clap in counter beat to the slightly South American sounds of the main melody. Then swirls of dancers join in, also clapping their four-beat counter tempo. Finally Astaire and Bremer take the spotlight and for a few moments they both come alive as they dance across the amazingly psychedelic floor of black and white wavy streaks. This is a great song/number stuck in a lousy film.After the song, we resume the dreary narrative. I have no idea what director Vincente Minnelli was trying for, but nothing works. It's not a fantasy, it's not funny, and the religious angle is a total dud. Thank heaven for Mildred Natwick, the color cinematography, and "Coffee Time."

didi-5 A piece of Hollywood hokum, this musical has Lucille Bremer as an heiress who has been sheltered all her young life in a convent, and Fred Astaire as an enterprising thief who (stay with us here) presents himself, and is accepted as, Yolanda's guardian angel! Of course his aim is to get all her money and disappear over the border, but he's foiled along the way by fate (or is it?). The good thing about this hard to swallow fable is that there are two or three really enterprising dance numbers, and they are worth your time. But there are no real story surprises - the 'twist' you can probably see coming a mile away and of course, there is always a happy ending and a quick resolve in an MGM movie.

moondog-8 Vincente Minnelli was always fascinated with French culture; and just as French painters began to abstract their subjects and create incredibly nebulous confections supported by intelligent and insightful craft, so Minnelli does with the MGM musical in YOLANDA AND THE THIEF.This movie has to be seen to be believed. From the first frame it invents its own universe and never for a second does it venture into anything that could be called 'reality'.

Neil Doyle Perhaps a wittier script and some really good songs would have made a difference. As it is, "Yolanda and the Thief" is an over-produced mishmash of unashamedly corny situations (even for 1945!)Fred Astaire is a dapper con man who travels to a mythical South American country where he overhears a young woman (Yolanda, Lucille Bremer) praying for a guardian angel. He and his fellow rogue, Frank Morgan, attempt to fleece the rich young woman and--well, basically, that's the thin plot.Fred and Lucille have a couple of dancing highlights ("Will You Marry Me?" and "Coffee Time"), the latter being a dazzling display of artistry from set decorators and costume designers, a feast for the technicolor camera. But the script is full of painful attempts at humor that only make Mildred Natwick look foolish as a dotty Aunt, and even the reliable Leon Ames can do little with his role as Mr. Candle. Most of the songs are dreadful, particularly an opening number called "Patria" (fictional name of the country), so bad it gives what follows the look of amateur night at the studio. Not one of Vincente Minnelli's finest hours.