On the Town
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Movie Reviews of On the Town
Movie Review: one of the greatest movie musicals ever...
Summary: 5 Stars
The 1st 10 minutes of this movie with the song "A Wonderful Town" and the sailors exploring NYC is worth the entire DVD!!! But lots of fun with great dancing throughout...one of my fave MGM musicals!!!Movie Review: Classic musical
Summary: 5 Stars
Classic musical from Hollywood's Golden Age. Have watched it repeatedly and can't stop humming the songs.Movie Review: On the town
Summary: 5 Stars
On the town was so much fun to watch and I loved the musium secean and I can't wait to watch it againMovie Review: Top notch musical from co-directors Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen a pity Warner couldn't chip in some extras...
Summary: 4 Stars
The story of three sailors Gabey (Gene Kelly), Chip (Frank Sinatra) and Ozzie (Jules Munshin)looking for love (in the form of Ann Miller, Betty Garrett and Alice Pearce)while on a one day leave for the first time in New York , "On The Town" continues to be a marvelous musical. It may lack the flash of later Donen-Kelly collaborations but it never loses sight of its purpose--to entertain. That along with marvelous location shooting in New York (a rarity at the time) makes "On the Town" unique.
Based on the popular 1944 Broadway musical co-written by Leonard Bernstein and directed by Jerome Robbins, "On the Town" was notable for a number of firsts. It was the first musical shot on location in New York City. It was the first collaboration between director Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly. It was Donen first film. It also marked the first films of Carol Haney and Bea Benaderet. Although it was lost in the wake of later Kelly-Donen films including "Singing in the Rain", "On the Town" perfectly captures the magic of the play and cast.
Many of the original songs were replaced by new material as producer Arthur Freed felt that they were a bit too sophisticated for the average American filmgoer. The result is that we have a mixed score with material by Roger Edens and Bernstein (with lyrics co-written by Adolph Green and Betty Comden). Although the new material isn't as strong as the Bernstein material, the film overcomes these hurtles by incorporating strong choreography.
The re-release of this film accompanies a new boxed set of Kelly-Sinatra musicals although all the titles for that box set are available individually.
"On the Town" looks terrific with nice robust colors that capture the look of the early three strip Technicolor process. Although a bit grainy at times, the film looks quite good. Sure, the studio could have cleaned up the look of the film a bit more but films that have that digital sheen often lose much of their character in the process. I'm not sure if this has been reissued because a new high definition master has been prepared or not but it looks extremely good in its new presentation.
The mono soundtrack sounds great with a nice dynamic range and no noticeable drop outs. There was some minor clipping but on the whole the sound is terrific.
No new special features in this reissue with only the original theatrical trailer included. It's a pity because there are BBC interviews with Kelly and recent TCM interviews with other cast members discussing the making of the film. If they were well integrated with production/promotional stills, new observations by film historians and footage from the film we could have a fine featurette. We could also find out bits of trivia about the shooting of the film for example co-star Jules Munshin's fear of heights. That necessitated that he perform at least one musical number with a rope tied around him (the other end was tied to co-director Stanley Donen who was off screen) and it would also explain his almost obsessive need in one particular dance sequence to touch and run his hands across the various props.
A marvelous musical with Kelly, Sinatra and the rest of the cast in top form, "On the Town" has lost none of its charm, wit or entertainment value. The vintage footage of New York City during the late 40's will also be delightful to viewers. It's a pity this wasn't spiffed up for release.
Movie Review: Breathtakingly over the top, give or take a few caveats...
Summary: 4 Stars
There's no doubt about it... fun, exuberant and joyful and definitely words that describe this great musical... and with its breathtaking shots of "modern" NY circa 1949, what can one say other than WOWZERS...
In addition, it is pretty interesting to see a comically inspired young Betty Garrett, who to people of my generation will always be Archie Bunker's wise cracking liberal Italian arch nemesis neighbor Irene Lorenzo... Further, Vaudevillian Song and dance man Jules Munshin does more than his fair part in stealing the show. - - A pre-iconic Frank Sinatra is pretty amazing to see as the young boy-toy song and dance man, and his "Come Up To My Place" routine with Garrett is definitely one of the high points of the film.
My only disappointment is that an hour into the film, the plot is pretty much exhausted and with the ending pretty much apparent, the film starts to fizzle/recoup the fizzle and recoup.... it sizzles, not in the sense of being dull, but rather crossing the fine line between "inspired" and "corny" -- at one point even the song writing even seems a bit emulative (kind of Cole Porter's Kiss Me Kate minus the genius) - - however, in the end, after the big car chase, some zany cross dressings, and this and that, things all get sorted out and all is well that ends well.
All in all: a major plus is that although ON THE TOWN deviates from the stage play, it does manage to capture a lot of the edge and excitement of a real musical (great choreography and equally splendid cutting and cinematography practically carry the film at times) - - the downside, considering the writing team of Comden and Green, its amazing that so few of the numbers are actually memorable...
Still, even with a flaw or too, they don't make 'em like this anymore, and this movie is definitely a great evening of entertainment that stands the test of time!