STANLEY DONEN
Bil’s rating (out of 5): BB.5.
USA, 1951. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Story and Screenplay by Alan Jay Lerner. Cinematography by Robert H. Planck. Produced by Arthur Freed. Music by Burton Lane. Production Design by Cedric Gibbons, Jack Martin Smith. Costume Design by Helen Rose. Film Editing by Albert Akst. Academy Awards 1951.
If you had the choice between this musical and The Band Wagon, I’d strongly recommend the latter (even The Barkleys of Broadway would be better). Fred Astaire and sister Jane Powell are a show business team who are performing their musical in London during the real-life hubbub of Princess Elizabeth’s wedding to Prince Philip of Greece. They both find romance during the preparations, she with Peter Lawford and he with Sarah Churchill (Winston Churchill’s daughter; dancer Moira Shearer was originally offered the role but was unable to commit). The scene where Astaire dances on the ceiling is the main highlight in an otherwise routine musical.
