Links: IMDb * Wikipedia * AllMovie * Rotten Tomatoes
Premise: Musical cold war piece where Fred Astaire woos the hard-hearted kommissar played by Cyd Charisse.
Stars: Cyd Charisse * Fred Astaire * Peter Lorre
Review: A by-the-numbers musical where Fred Astaire pursues and catches the beautiful Cyd Charisse. Charisse plays a kommissar who is sent to investigate three Soviet businessmen. She's a stickler for the rules and hates the decadent culture of the West, but is hiding a secret love and admiration for dance and soft clothing.
The best scene in the movie is where Charisse dances with a pair of stockings and finds clothes in hidden places in her apartment. The music is subdued but excellent and the scene is really nice as she moves from the dowdy clothing she wore early on to the elegant silk gown she wears later.
Overall: Mediocre
Showing posts with label musical. Show all posts
Showing posts with label musical. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Friday, July 4, 2008
Singin in the Rain (1952)
Links: IMDb * Wikipedia * All Movie Guide
Premise: A musical that serves as both a love story and a telling of the advent of "talkies" and its effect on the silent motion picture industry.
Stars: Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Jean Hagen
Review: Watch it just for the musical numbers and you'll miss a good film. It probably could've been made without the songs, and would serve as a good movie about the struggles studios went through when The Jazz Singer appeared - jobs were lost or changed due to the nature of people's voices as well as the musical direction of film - instead of having an individual playing music at certain spots during film, or intermission, an entire score could be added to film and projected through speakers. Actors with distinct accents were no longer acceptable for every role - major stars in Hollywood had their careers destroyed by the advent of sound.
The film focuses on Lockwood and Lamont, a leading actor and actress pair that dominates a studio's film library. However, with the appearance of sound, Lina Lamont (Hagen) and her grating accent (played mostly for laughs in the film) may undermine the latest picture the studio is financing. Lockwood (Kelly) and his partner Cosmo (O'Connor) figure out a way around this; they have an up-and-coming actress (Reynolds) that Lockwood is romantically interested in do voice-over work for Lina. This leads to a power struggle between Lina and the rest of the studio, until she is exposed as a fraud before a film audience.
The musical numbers themselves are memorable - the "Broadway Melody", the eponymous "Singin in the Rain", "Good Morning to You" are delightful. Especially attention-grabbing is Cyd Charisse's appearance in the "Broadway Melody" where her long legs halt Gene Kelly in his tracks.
Overall: Good
Premise: A musical that serves as both a love story and a telling of the advent of "talkies" and its effect on the silent motion picture industry.
Stars: Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Jean Hagen
Review: Watch it just for the musical numbers and you'll miss a good film. It probably could've been made without the songs, and would serve as a good movie about the struggles studios went through when The Jazz Singer appeared - jobs were lost or changed due to the nature of people's voices as well as the musical direction of film - instead of having an individual playing music at certain spots during film, or intermission, an entire score could be added to film and projected through speakers. Actors with distinct accents were no longer acceptable for every role - major stars in Hollywood had their careers destroyed by the advent of sound.
The film focuses on Lockwood and Lamont, a leading actor and actress pair that dominates a studio's film library. However, with the appearance of sound, Lina Lamont (Hagen) and her grating accent (played mostly for laughs in the film) may undermine the latest picture the studio is financing. Lockwood (Kelly) and his partner Cosmo (O'Connor) figure out a way around this; they have an up-and-coming actress (Reynolds) that Lockwood is romantically interested in do voice-over work for Lina. This leads to a power struggle between Lina and the rest of the studio, until she is exposed as a fraud before a film audience.
The musical numbers themselves are memorable - the "Broadway Melody", the eponymous "Singin in the Rain", "Good Morning to You" are delightful. Especially attention-grabbing is Cyd Charisse's appearance in the "Broadway Melody" where her long legs halt Gene Kelly in his tracks.
Overall: Good
Sunday, June 29, 2008
The Band Wagon (1953)
Resources: IMDb * Wikipedia
Premise: Song-and-dance man on his way down the ladder of fortune and fame is recruited by an old pair of partners to participate in a new show.
Directed by: Vincente Minnelli
Stars: Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse
Review: Not the best musical in the world, or from that era (RENT, The Music Man, My Fair Lady come to mind). But Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse are beautiful dancers. The park scene alone is worth watching twice (which I did), while "Shine on Your Shoes," "Louisiana Hayride" and other numbers are great.
There's honestly not much beyond the song and dance numbers, and the acting is not that great. These movies were made as showcases for those spots, strung along with a flimsy plot that one can easily dismiss.
Overall: Mediocre
Premise: Song-and-dance man on his way down the ladder of fortune and fame is recruited by an old pair of partners to participate in a new show.
Directed by: Vincente Minnelli
Stars: Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse
Review: Not the best musical in the world, or from that era (RENT, The Music Man, My Fair Lady come to mind). But Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse are beautiful dancers. The park scene alone is worth watching twice (which I did), while "Shine on Your Shoes," "Louisiana Hayride" and other numbers are great.
There's honestly not much beyond the song and dance numbers, and the acting is not that great. These movies were made as showcases for those spots, strung along with a flimsy plot that one can easily dismiss.
Overall: Mediocre
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