On the Town (1949)
There is so much going right with this movie--from the photography (yes) by Harold Rossen and the music (famously) by Leonard Bernstein, from the leading actors (Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly) to the directors (Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly)--it's hard to realize how dated or almost bad some moments have become. This is delightful, fantastic, and inspired stuff, total fun top to bottom. But it also has moments that are cringe inducing.
And I like musicals.
If you don't like musicals in particular, you should start with specimens with wider appeal, and higher standards: "Singin' in the Rain" and "West Side Story" would work for me, if we're talking classics. Throw in "Swing Time" or "Top Hat" if you want an Astaire classic, too. Or a Garland singing musical.
This one is from the amazing run of polished hits by producer Arthur Freed. The choreography varies from excellent to wonderful. If it's choreographed dancing you like, check this out. Some of the format it is from the standard style of the Golden Age, where the characters break into song or dance in the middle of their normal doings--in this case, three sailors racing through Manhattan on 24 hour leave.
Other parts have choreography, probably by Gene Kelly, that becomes abstract and cinematic, a Hollywood innovation (also seen, famously, in "Singin' in the Rain" and "An American in Paris"). The scenes, whether stylized or realistic, are fabulous. The standards are high--space, light, and control of color (Technicolor, of course) inside and out.
What drags the movie down is some awful writing, both in the dialog and even in some of the songs. I know lots of musical lovers who don't give a hoot if the lyrics make sense or are especially good--they become secondary to the rest of it, and the artifice is part of the game. But I know others who, like me, prefer the clever, the lyric, the original. And there are some real wincing moments.
And in fact, the movie as a whole is awkward, a series of vignettes that do eventually string together into a chronology, but they hardly have to. They survive, or struggle, independently. Some of the acting is forced and you may or may not like the sidekicks like the third sailor, who's just too comic and goofy for my taste. Even the lead actresses, Ann Miller and Vera-Ellen, are no match for Debbie Reynolds, let alone Judy Garland.
Now, let's finally add--the best of the songs, and the dancing and photography, are top notch. For all musical lovers. The great final pieces at about 1:17 into the movie is amazing stuff.
Note: Bernstein's music originated in a ballet, "Fancy Free," which turned into the Broadway play "On the Town" in 1944. But when this film was made, most of Bernstein's music was replaced with new stuff--some of which is the mediocre music that brings the production down a notch.
At times the biggest star in the show is New York itself. Love it.
There is so much going right with this movie--from the photography (yes) by Harold Rossen and the music (famously) by Leonard Bernstein, from the leading actors (Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly) to the directors (Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly)--it's hard to realize how dated or almost bad some moments have become. This is delightful, fantastic, and inspired stuff, total fun top to bottom. But it also has moments that are cringe inducing.
And I like musicals.
If you don't like musicals in particular, you should start with specimens with wider appeal, and higher standards: "Singin' in the Rain" and "West Side Story" would work for me, if we're talking classics. Throw in "Swing Time" or "Top Hat" if you want an Astaire classic, too. Or a Garland singing musical.
This one is from the amazing run of polished hits by producer Arthur Freed. The choreography varies from excellent to wonderful. If it's choreographed dancing you like, check this out. Some of the format it is from the standard style of the Golden Age, where the characters break into song or dance in the middle of their normal doings--in this case, three sailors racing through Manhattan on 24 hour leave.
Other parts have choreography, probably by Gene Kelly, that becomes abstract and cinematic, a Hollywood innovation (also seen, famously, in "Singin' in the Rain" and "An American in Paris"). The scenes, whether stylized or realistic, are fabulous. The standards are high--space, light, and control of color (Technicolor, of course) inside and out.
What drags the movie down is some awful writing, both in the dialog and even in some of the songs. I know lots of musical lovers who don't give a hoot if the lyrics make sense or are especially good--they become secondary to the rest of it, and the artifice is part of the game. But I know others who, like me, prefer the clever, the lyric, the original. And there are some real wincing moments.
And in fact, the movie as a whole is awkward, a series of vignettes that do eventually string together into a chronology, but they hardly have to. They survive, or struggle, independently. Some of the acting is forced and you may or may not like the sidekicks like the third sailor, who's just too comic and goofy for my taste. Even the lead actresses, Ann Miller and Vera-Ellen, are no match for Debbie Reynolds, let alone Judy Garland.
Now, let's finally add--the best of the songs, and the dancing and photography, are top notch. For all musical lovers. The great final pieces at about 1:17 into the movie is amazing stuff.
Note: Bernstein's music originated in a ballet, "Fancy Free," which turned into the Broadway play "On the Town" in 1944. But when this film was made, most of Bernstein's music was replaced with new stuff--some of which is the mediocre music that brings the production down a notch.
At times the biggest star in the show is New York itself. Love it.