On the Town
(1949)
I can’t say this, the first collaboration
between Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen as co-directors, really did it for me.
Their follow-up film together, Singin’ in the Rain, has a strong plot to anchor
it. Here, the premise is wafer thin, and the dramatic beats barely register.
Based on a Broadway musical of five years
previous, much of the comedy business still manages to amuse, but the songs and
dance numbers are mostly fairly forgettable (New York, New York aside). I’ve
said before that I’m not the easiest sell on musicals; they need to be of
robust construction to fully engage me. On the Town’s numbers mainly consist of
bare-bones set-ups and no-frills routines (featuring the six main cast
members). The New York location shooting is
of note, but the rest is fairly anonymous.
The plot, such as it is, sees three sailors
arrive in New York on shore leave, looking to pull; Gabey (Gene Kelly), Chip
(Frank Sinatra) and Ozzie (Jules Munshin). Well, Chip’s more interested in
sightseeing (not the butchest role for Sinatra, there). It isn’t long before
they’re paired off; Ozzie with anthropologist Claire (Ann Miller), Chip with a
cabbie Hildy (Betty Garrett) and, with love running less smoothly, Gabey with
the subway’s Miss Turnstiles, Ivy (Vera-Ellen). There’s a random subplot
involving the police pursuing Ozzie for interfering with a dinosaur exhibit,
but mostly it’s a case of songs interspersed with humourous incidents and
romantic entanglements in their night “on the town”.
Kelly’s got great poise, of course. And
Sinatra essays the likable innocent surprisingly well. As for chump Ozzie, his best
moment comes when Claire notes the similarities between him and a caveman
exhibit. They all don drag at one point, but the comedy honours consistently go
to Garrett’s man-eater and her sickly roommate Lucy (Alice Pearce).
Claire: I was just doing a bit of research.
Hildy: Dr. Kinsey, I presume.
If you love musicals, I suspect you could
add an extra star onto the rating; many of the lines are quite witty (and
zeitgeist-y), and the performers all have boundless energy. It’s just a little
too expectant of your appreciation.
**1/2