This picture, which began its run nationally on July 8, 1948, was the second-biggest moneymaking film of the year, directly after the Crosby-Hope-Lamour
Road to Rio (1947), which was launched nationally on Christmas Day of 1947. The critical and financial success of the Garland-Astaire pairing chiefly "made up" for the mixed reviews and poor box office (except in a few large cities) of
Judy Garland's prior musical,
The Pirate (1948), which had opened nationally on June 11, only a month before her frolic with Mr. Astaire was seen by moviegoers.
more