1h 44min | Musical, Romance, War | 21 October 1942
Director: Busby Berkeley
Stars: Judy Garland, George Murphy, Gene Kelly, Ben Blue, Keenan Wynn.
Bobby Connolly ... dance director
Previously rated 8 on 2 Jan 2006 with 150 other ratings; a dozen are 6's, one 5, the rest 7-9. Looks like all are titles I own (now). Had only ~25 ratings prior to this batch.
In the Tap! Appendix for JG, GM, GK. GM doesn't get much dancing time. He does his best acting (in this quest) when JG describes the pain of her unrequited love for GK, and he empathizes because he has the same problem with her.
This is GK's first film, where he plays a heel redeemed. He was fresh from Broadway in Pal Joey, playing a heel. (He does play arrogant & self-centered well.)
Numbers with at least one of the 3 stars:
This is GK's first film, where he plays a heel redeemed. He was fresh from Broadway in Pal Joey, playing a heel. (He does play arrogant & self-centered well.)
Numbers with at least one of the 3 stars:
- sc3: GK does a clown-makeup dance
- sc4: Oh, You Beautiful Doll, GM, JG dancing
- sc5: By the Beautiful Sea, GM, JG dancing
- sc8: For Me and My Gal, JG, GK "spontaneous" in restaurant
- sc10: When You Wore a Tulip, JG, GK onstage dancing
- sc14: After You've Gone, JG torch song
sc19: Tell Me, Till We Meet Again- sc21: Ballin' the Jack, sung/danced by GK, JG in hose and fancy shorts (scene-stealer)
- ?? Goodbye Broadway, Hello France; Oh, Frenchy, GK, BB dance
- sc27: How Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down on the Farm?, JG
- sc29: Where Do We Go from Here?, JG
- sc30: Tipperary medley, JG
- sc32:
- When Johnny Comes Marching Home, JG
- For Me and My Gal (brief reprise), not really danced by JG, GK
When GK does his aeroplane spin-step, I had to roll my eyes. I'm betting he does it in every movie from here to An American in Paris ('51), with any exceptions being anthology films like The Ziegfeld Follies ('45). (I use the archaic spelling of aeroplane because GK names it that in An American in Paris, when teaching some French children on the street a few dance steps.) When JG does it with him, hers doesn't look right. Maybe it's hard to do.
I wonder if I over-rated the film before, or if my perspective is altered now by this thought: GK arriving is the beginning of the end of the movie musical. When he quits in the mid-50's, musicals evaporate shortly thereafter. Did he take them to such a high level, that no one could match his work? Did the shift from big band to rock'n'roll change audience preferences? Or was TV so prevalent that only teenagers wanted to leave the house? Probably all of the above, with a heavy dose of the studio system being gutted in '48 when they were forced to divest themselves of distribution and exhibition divisions.
All the dancing is onstage (except the restaurant scene, which is an even smaller space), and camera use is dull. According to the Soundtracks, only 1 song was written after 1923 (The Doll Shop, by Roger Edens). So this isn't my favorite music, and the dancing did not dazzle.
The plot is tough and the characters aren't psychologically healthy. The WW1 setting is clearly meant as propaganda to increase enthusiasm for our involvement in WW2, with JG condemning GK for avoiding the draft immediately after her brother is killed.
JG & GK do have chemistry together, especially when singing and dancing. The harmony they use in the title song is especially good, he singing higher than she. It's one situation where the thin nature of his voice is an asset.
MGM, dir. Berkeley, 7
All the dancing is onstage (except the restaurant scene, which is an even smaller space), and camera use is dull. According to the Soundtracks, only 1 song was written after 1923 (The Doll Shop, by Roger Edens). So this isn't my favorite music, and the dancing did not dazzle.
The plot is tough and the characters aren't psychologically healthy. The WW1 setting is clearly meant as propaganda to increase enthusiasm for our involvement in WW2, with JG condemning GK for avoiding the draft immediately after her brother is killed.
JG & GK do have chemistry together, especially when singing and dancing. The harmony they use in the title song is especially good, he singing higher than she. It's one situation where the thin nature of his voice is an asset.
MGM, dir. Berkeley, 7
