MOVIES - Aug. 10, 1988

A federal judge in New York Monday rejected a suit filed by Ginger Rogers against the producers of Italian director Federico Fellini’s 1986 film “Ginger and Fred.” The dancer-actress, veteran of 73 films, had sought damages for unlawful misappropriation and infringement of her public personality and charged the film created the impression she endorsed the production. But U.S. District Court Judge Robert Sweet dismissed the suit, saying the film is protected by the Constitution. “The film enjoys the full protection of the First Amendment,” Sweet said in his opinion. “Fellini was entitled to create a satire of modern television built around the bittersweet reunion of two somewhat tattered, retired hoofers who once earned the nicknames ‘Ginger and Fred’ by imitating America’s dancing legends. . . . Equally protected is the title of the film (which is) an integral part of the work’s artistic expression.”