1h 30min | Drama, Music, Romance | 1 October 1953 | Color
Director: Charles Walters
Stars: Joan Crawford, Michael Wilding, Gig Young, Harry Morgan.
Charles Walters ... choreographer
Watched online, mediocre copy.
Director and choreographer CW is also JC's dance partner for the You're All the World to Me number, intimidated and therefore erring. The second time they do the routine, he doesn't err, but he's very timid. Great job acting. His 1st rendition is the opening number; I've forgotten at what time we see the second version. CW is handsome and moves beautifully. Wish he'd been on camera more.
Eugene Loring, real choreographer, plays the dance director of the show within the film, but doesn't dance.
6 songs in the Soundtrack, 4 performed by JC (dubbed badly; the lipsync is fine, it's just that I can't imagine who India Adams would match well). Two Faced Woman was a number cut from The Bandwagon ('53) (where IA didn't match Cyd Charisse either), but included as a deleted scene on the dvd. The staging here is awful, with painted backdrop of a stylized Harlem nightclub, and an all-white cast in very dark makeup. Not minstrel, and completely pointless (not that shows within films ever make sense). It struck me as a ridiculous effort to have a single number in a B'way show in dark makeup (including sequins glued to her eyebrows). I suppose it's doable immediately preceding an intermission or as the finale.
Forgot my prior rating of 4, and started getting tense, considered dumping it. But kinda wanted to see how MW would fare at the end. I wish I hadn't; he and JC get together. UGH.
This is an intersection of many bad things: reused MGM songs (I hope I don't end up associating Tenderly with this wreck), JC at 47 (didn't like her young either), paucity of dance, bad dubbing, and tension, tension, tension because JC is unhappy until the very last moment of the film, and she's a big enough star that she shows her displeasure with tantrums and yelling. MW's seeing-eye dog growled at her every time she got near. Me too.
NEVER AGAIN!
MGM, dir. Walters; 4
