A struggling artist living in Los Angeles meets a girl who may hold the key to his happiness.
Director: Robert Greenwald
Stars: Olivia Newton-John, Gene Kelly, Michael Beck.
Kenny Ortega ... choreographer
Jerry Trent ... choreographer
Alex Romero ... dance effects supervisor
Greg Smith ... assistant choreographer
Robert Thompson ... assistant choreographer
10 songs in the Soundtracks.
Rated 5 on 2015-05-07, I'm inclined to be more generous today. I watched it twice, partially because I can't decide where to land.
This is a fantasy, after all, complete with an animated sequence where the lovers (ON & MB) turn into fish and birds. MB even manages to cross over to ON's universe, and speaks with godly authorities, perhaps ON's parents.
It has a very dreamy quality, which is completely appropriate.
It's a lot of disco music, heavy on Electric Light Orchestra, but also some big band, because of GK. I like that GK's name is Danny McGuire, the same as in Cover Girl ('42), the film where he danced with (or against) himself, costarring Rita Hayworth, who started in Down to Earth ('47).
The IMDb Connection to Down to Earth ('47) is rather thin, sharing only the fact that Terpsichore comes to earth. In '47 it's out of anger because a musical is being produced that mocks the Muses. Here she's just trying to activate GK's dream of another club, and fuel MB's need for inspiration.
ON does a decent job with the GK style of dancing. I'd wager she did study tap prior to signing on for this film. I'm not saying she can compete with the hoofers onscreen, but she's given appropriate steps, and doesn't look like a complete amateur.
I'll settle on 6+ for now, but I feel I like it better than that. However, I can't say I recommend it, because I'm not convinced it's actually "good". I suspect that I'm just grateful to have one more GK musical, especially where he skates, and a musical that is sweet, not cynical. It also helps to have Sandahl Bergman dancing a bit, although I only spotted her twice, when the other Muses were dancing in their Grecian frocks.
Rated 5.1 with 10.4k+ votes on IMDb. I think it's a movie we're supposed to disparage, which is easy to do with any film.
Universal, dir. Greenwald; 6+
