On the Town | |
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Directed by | Gene Kelly Stanley Donen |
Screenplay by | Adolph Green Betty Comden |
Based on | Based on an idea by Jerome Robbins [1] Based on On the Town (1944 stage musical) by Adolph Green, Betty Comden, and Leonard Bernstein |
Produced by | Arthur Freed |
Starring | Gene Kelly Frank Sinatra Betty Garrett Ann Miller Jules Munshin Vera-Ellen |
Cinematography | Harold Rosson |
Edited by | Ralph E. Winters |
Music by | Leonard Bernstein Roger Edens Lennie Hayton Adolph Green (lyrics) Betty Comden (lyrics) Conrad Salinger (uncredited) |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Loew's Inc. |
Release date |
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Running time | 98 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $2.1 million [2] |
Box office | $4.4 million [2] |
On the Town is a 1949 American Technicolor musical film with music by Leonard Bernstein and Roger Edens and book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. It is an adaptation of the Broadway stage musical of the same name produced in 1944 (which itself is an adaptation of the Jerome Robbins ballet, titled Fancy Free , also produced in 1944), [3] although many changes in the script and score were made to the original stage version; for instance, most of Bernstein's score was dropped in favor of new songs by Edens, who felt that the majority of Bernstein's music was too complex and too operatic for film audiences. This caused Bernstein to boycott the film.
The film was directed by Gene Kelly (who also choreographed) and Stanley Donen, in their directorial debut, and stars Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Betty Garrett, and Ann Miller, featuring Jules Munshin and Vera-Ellen. It was a product of the Arthur Freed unit at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and is notable for its combination of studio and location filming, the result of Gene Kelly's insistence that some scenes be shot in New York City, including Columbus Circle, the Brooklyn Bridge, and Rockefeller Center.
The film was an immediate success and won the Oscar for Best Music – Scoring of a Musical Picture. It was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Cinematography (Color). Screenwriters Comden and Green won the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written American Musical.
In 2006, the film ranked number 19 on the American Film Institute's list of Best Musicals. In 2018, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". [4]
Three U.S. Navy sailors – Gabey, Chip, and Ozzie – begin their shore leave, excited for their 24 hours in New York. While riding the subway, Gabey falls in love with and dreams of the woman in the poster of the monthly "Miss Turnstiles", whose name is Ivy Smith. By chance, she's at the next subway station, and Gabey gets to pose in a promotional photo of her. After she catches the next train, Gabey vows to find her again. The sailors race around New York in a frenzied search, hoping still to have time to sightsee and take dates out to the clubs.
Along the way they are assisted by, and become romantically involved with, two women: Ozzie with Claire, an anthropologist; and Chip with Hildy, an aggressively amorous taxi driver. Claire claims that she's found her passionate "Prehistoric Man" in Ozzie at the Museum of Anthropological History. While dancing, Ozzie accidentally knocks over a dinosaur skeleton and the group flees the museum. They decide to split up in search of Ivy, during which Hildy invites Chip to "Come Up to My Place".
Finally locating Ivy in a dance class, Gabey takes her on an imaginary date to his home town ("Main Street") in a studio in Symphonic Hall. He does not realize that she is from the same small town, for she pretends to be a native New Yorker. Meanwhile, Chip sincerely falls for Hildy and tells her "You're Awful" – that is, awful nice to be with. During the evening, the three couples meet at the top of the Empire State Building to celebrate a night "On the Town".
The couples go to several clubs for a good time. Gabey is still convinced Ivy is a genuine celebrity, so Hildy and Claire bribe a waiter to make a fuss in order to keep up the ruse. When an ashamed Ivy walks out on Gabey to get to her late-night job as a cooch dancer, Gabey is despondent. Hildy has her annoying, but well-meaning roommate, Lucy Schmeeler fill in as his date, but he can't be consoled. The friends lift his spirits by singing "You Can Count on Me". Since Lucy has a bad cold, Gabey drops her off at her apartment and apologizes for having been a lackluster date.
The group eventually reunites with Ivy at Coney Island. Despite her lies being revealed, Gabey doesn't care and is just happy to have found her. Unfortunately the group has been pursued by police for the dinosaur incident. The three men are taken back to their ship, and the women barely talk their way out of a night in jail. Moved by their speeches, the police escort them to the ship just as the sailors' 24-hour shore leave ends. Although their future is uncertain, each couple shares one last kiss on the pier as a new batch of sailors heads out into the city for their leave.
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Cast notes
The film had a budget of $1.5 million, one of MGM's lowest for a Technicolor musical, with a planned filming schedule of just 46 days. [6]
The musical numbers staged on-location in New York were the first time a major studio had accomplished this. The location shots in New York took nine days. [3] Shooting in New York City was Kelly and Donen's idea, which studio head Louis B. Mayer refused to allow, pointing out the studio's excellent New York sets in its backlot. Kelly and Donen held their ground, and Mayer finally relented and allowed a limited number of days shooting in New York. The primary problem experienced by the production was dealing with crowds of Frank Sinatra's fans, so some shots were made with the camera located in a station wagon to reduce the public visibility of the shooting. [7]
The Breen Office of the MPAA refused to allow the use of the word, "helluva", in the song, "New York, New York", so it was changed to "wonderful". [3]
According to MGM records, the film earned $2,934,000 in the US and Canada, and $1,494,000 overseas, resulting in a profit to the studio of $474,000. [2]
The film was also a critical success, receiving good reviews in various publications, including Variety and The New York Times . [8] [9] On the Town holds a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on thirty reviews. The site's consensus states: "Overflowing with infectious enthusiasm, On the Town is an exhilarating musical ride across the real streets of New York featuring another graceful performance from Gene Kelly." [10]
American Film Institute
The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:
Eugene Curran Kelly was an American dancer, actor, singer, director and choreographer. He was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style and sought to create a new form of American dance accessible to the general public, which he called "dance for the common man". He starred in, choreographed, and, with Stanley Donen, co-directed some of the most well-regarded musical films of the 1940s and 1950s.
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is a 1954 American musical film, directed by Stanley Donen, with music by Gene de Paul, lyrics by Johnny Mercer, and choreography by Michael Kidd. The screenplay, by Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich, and Dorothy Kingsley, is based on the short story "The Sobbin' Women", by Stephen Vincent Benét, which was based in turn on the ancient Roman legend of the Rape of the Sabine Women. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, which is set in Oregon in 1850, is particularly known for Kidd's unusual choreography, which makes dance numbers out of such mundane frontier pursuits as chopping wood and raising a barn. Film critic Stephanie Zacharek has called the barn-raising sequence in Seven Brides "one of the most rousing dance numbers ever put on screen." The film was photographed in Ansco Color in the CinemaScope format.
Anchors Aweigh is a 1945 American musical comedy film starring Frank Sinatra, Kathryn Grayson, and Gene Kelly, with songs by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn. Directed by George Sidney, the film also features José Iturbi, Pamela Britton, and Dean Stockwell.
Adolph Green was an American lyricist and playwright who, with long-time collaborator Betty Comden, penned the screenplays and songs for musicals on Broadway and in Hollywood. Although they were not a romantic couple, they shared a unique comic genius and sophisticated wit that enabled them to forge a six-decade-long partnership. They received numerous accolades including four Tony Awards and nominations for two Academy Awards and a Grammy Award. Green was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1980 and American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1981. Comden and Green received the Kennedy Center Honor in 1991.
Betty Comden was an American lyricist, playwright, and screenwriter who contributed to numerous Hollywood musicals and Broadway shows of the mid-20th century. Her writing partnership with Adolph Green spanned six decades: "the longest running creative partnership in theatre history." The musical-comedy duo of Comden and Green collaborated most notably with composers Jule Styne and Leonard Bernstein, as well enjoyed success with Singin' in the Rain, as part of the famed "Freed unit" at MGM.
On the Town is a musical with music by Leonard Bernstein and book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, based on Jerome Robbins' idea for his 1944 ballet Fancy Free, which he had set to Bernstein's music. The musical introduced several popular and classic songs, among them "New York, New York", "Lonely Town", "I Can Cook, Too", and "Some Other Time". The story concerns three American sailors on a 24-hour shore leave in New York City during World War II, 1944. Each of the three sailors meets and quickly connects with a woman.
Stanley Donen was an American film director and choreographer. He received the Honorary Academy Award in 1998, and the Career Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 2004. Four of his films have been inducted into the National Film Registry at the Library of Congress.
Michael Kidd was an American film and stage choreographer, dancer and actor, whose career spanned five decades, and who staged some of the leading Broadway and film musicals of the 1940s and 1950s. Kidd, strongly influenced by Charlie Chaplin and Léonide Massine, was an innovator in what came to be known as the "integrated musical", in which dance movements are integral to the plot.
Jerome Robbins was an American dancer, choreographer, film director, theatre director and producer who worked in classical ballet, on stage, film, and television.
Cris Alexander was an American actor, singer, dancer, designer, and photographer.
"New York, New York" is a song from the 1944 musical On the Town and the 1949 MGM musical film of the same name. The music was written by Leonard Bernstein and the lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. A well known line of this song is:
New York, New York, a helluva town. The Bronx is up but The Battery's down.
An American in Paris is a 1951 American musical romantic comedy film inspired by the 1928 jazz-influenced symphonic poem An American in Paris by George Gershwin. Starring Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron, Oscar Levant, Georges Guétary, and Nina Foch, the film is set in Paris, and was directed by Vincente Minnelli from a script by Alan Jay Lerner. The music is by George Gershwin, with lyrics by his brother Ira, with additional music by Johnny Green, and Saul Chaplin, the music directors.
Singin' in the Rain is a 1952 American musical romantic comedy film directed and choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, starring Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds, and featuring Jean Hagen, Millard Mitchell, Rita Moreno and Cyd Charisse in supporting roles. It offers a lighthearted depiction of Hollywood in the late 1920s, with the three stars portraying performers caught up in the transition from silent films to "talkies".
Royal Wedding is a 1951 American musical comedy film directed by Stanley Donen, and starring Fred Astaire and Jane Powell, with music by Burton Lane and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. Set in 1947 London at the time of the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten, the film follows an American brother-sister song and dance duo who, while performing, each fall in love — he, with a female dancer, and she, with an impoverished but well-connected nobleman. The film marked Donen's second directorial feature. It was released as Wedding Bells in the United Kingdom.
It's Always Fair Weather is a 1955 MGM musical satire scripted by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, who also wrote the show's lyrics, with music by André Previn and starring Gene Kelly, Dan Dailey, Cyd Charisse, Dolores Gray, and dancer/choreographer Michael Kidd in his first film acting role.
Invitation to the Dance is a 1956 American dance anthology film consisting of three distinct stories, all starring and directed by Gene Kelly. It was the first film Kelly directed on his own, after co-directing three films with Stanley Donen.
Jessica Lee Goldyn is an American musical theatre actress, singer, and dancer best known for creating the role of Val in the Broadway revival of A Chorus Line and appearing as Nini (replacement) in Moulin Rouge! The Musical. Goldyn played the lead role of Cassie from August 10, 2008 opposite Mario Lopez as Zack, until the show ended its Broadway revival run on August 17, 2008. Goldyn had been an understudy for the lead character of Cassie. She played the title role in Annie (musical) at age 21. Goldyn appeared in The Paper Mill Playhouse (NJ) rendition of A Chorus Line in the star role of Cassie from October 7 through October 28, 2012.
Take Me Out to the Ball Game is a 1949 American Technicolor musical film produced in the Arthur Freed unit of MGM. It stars Frank Sinatra, Esther Williams, Gene Kelly, Betty Garrett, Edward Arnold and Jules Munshin, and was directed by Busby Berkeley. The title and nominal theme is taken from the unofficial anthem of American baseball, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." The film was released in the United Kingdom as Everybody's Cheering.
On the Town is a 74-minute live album of Leonard Bernstein's musical, performed by Tyne Daly, Meriel Dickinson, David Garrison, Thomas Hampson, Cleo Laine, Evelyn Lear, Marie McLaughlin, Kurt Ollmann, Samuel Ramey, Frederica von Stade, London Voices and the London Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas. It was released in 1993.
"Lonely Town" is a song from the 1944 musical On the Town. It was composed by Leonard Bernstein with lyrics by Adolph Green and Betty Comden.