BB.5
(out of 5)
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.
USA, 1951
Directed by Stanley Donen
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
