The Band Wagon (1953)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Fred Astaire, the finest movie dancer of his day, was in his mid fifties when he made "The Bandwagon." He's still impressive. I'm around his age and my knees give me trouble. As much as he's used his leg joints the amazing thing is that he's not shambling across the sound stage.Gone are the familiar tap routines as performed with Ginger Rogers or (once) the even-greater Eleanor Powell. Fred has lost none of his style, but possibly because of his age his dances here are more "balletic" (meaning slow, apparently) and he's paired with the lissome Cyd Charisse (Cyd has a few good songs, but her voice is dubbed).The Story: Fred plays an aging Hollywood hoofer who hasn't made a movie in two years. In need of funds, he auctions off mementos, but they don't bring much. So he packs up for the Big Apple, where a couple of writers (Nanette Fabray at 33 and Oscar Levant at 47) have cobbled together a show for him they hope will be a fun Broadway sensation. Unfortunately, they place it in the hands of director Jeffrey Cordova (Jack Buchanan, loosely based on then-wunderkind of Broadway Jose Ferrer) who turns the light and tuneful musical into a Faustian drama that looks about to tank.Everyone gives it all they got, but "The Band Wagon" has a serious flaw in its book, that mirrors the problems in the play-in-a-play. It starts out light and airy but trudges into melodrama. And most of the songs are, as in the Busby Berkeley movies Astaire disdained early in his career, shoved into the back end, making most of the movie too talky.High points: Fred and Cyd "Dancing in the Dark." Though not as flashy as a younger Fred might produce, it carries such beauty and elegance it remains one of his best dance routines. And one of the few new numbers, "That's Entertainment." If ANNIE GET YOUR GUN's "There's No Business Like Show Business" is the theater's unofficial anthem, "That's Entertainment" shoulders in beside it as the anthem of MGM musicals. MGM released several movie-retrospectives under that name.In his RKO musicals, Fred and his production team charted the progress of their stories, so much plot before another routine. Here, the dances are too far in between. MGM's Freed unit probably hoped lightning would strike twice as it's a Broadway version of the earlier "Singing in the Rain" with Gene Kelly, this time highlighting the work of Dietz and Schwartz. But "The Band Wagon" was a troubled production eventually lacking the charm of "Singing in the Rain." Still, Fred is good so long as he dances, Cyd Charisse is a beautiful (and amazingly flexible) partner and everyone else is game. Until it lapses into melodrama it's really a fun flick.

An absolute sparkling 1953 musical is The Band Wagon. The film just goes to prove that you can't have Faust plays turned into musicals, as they shall lay an egg as shone so beautifully on stage.Jack Buchanan just steals every scene that he is in as director De Cordova, the expert on Faust who falls for the idea of making a musical.Nanette Fabray and Oscar Levant are just perfect as the couple who wrote the original play, only to rewrite it for Faust and then go back to the necessary adjustments when the play opens on Broadway and is a disaster.Fred Astaire is the has-been actor who comes to N.Y. to do the play and Syd Charisse, a ballet dancer, becomes his partner in the production. The two can't get along but love as we know finds a way to bring them together.I'll Go My Way By Myself seems to be where Fred's career is at the beginning of this delightful film, with dance sequences wonderfully staged. That sure is entertainment!

Here's the question of the century. Is it wrong to say that the best Fred Astaire picture happens to be one without Ginger Rogers? In the case of Vincente Minnelli's wonderful 1953 musical masterpiece "The Band Wagon", I think not. This is the film that answers the question: how does MGM follow up a big hit like "Singin' in the Rain" (1952)? Well, for starters, getting Betty Comden and Adolph Green, the same screenwriters of that film, to write the script for this one is a pretty darn good idea. Furthermore, changing the focus from Hollywood to Broadway isn't a bad idea either. And instead of Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen taking over the director's chair, we'll have Vincente Minnelli, the director of "Meet Me in St. Louis" (1944), lead the charge. Sure, Gene Kelly won't be in this picture, but do you know who will be? None other than the talented dancer who helped teach Debbie Reynolds how to dance, Fred Astaire. YES! Now we're talking! Fred Astaire plays Tony Hunter, a washed-up Hollywood star who has recently quit the business and heads back to New York to try his luck out on Broadway. His two pals Lester and Lily Marton (Oscar Levant, Nanette Fabray) think they have the perfect script for his comeback. They are able to get popular Broadway director Jeffrey Cordova (Jack Buchanan) to sign on for directing their play. However, Jeff insists on changing the light comedy into a dark and dramatic retelling of "Faust", which Tony thinks is outside his comfort zone. If that wasn't enough, a young and beautiful ballerina named Gabrielle Gerard (Cyd Charisse) is signed on to be his co-star. Gabrielle also intimidates Tony because he has trouble dancing with ladies that are taller than him and feels that he doesn't have enough classical background to be dancing in her league. Will Tony and his pals be able to pull off a successful show even with all these obstacles working against them? Would you believe me if I told you that Tony's concerns over dancing with his co-star Gabrielle was written especially for the film because it really happened on set? I'm not even kidding. On the "making of" featurette on the 2-disc DVD of this film, they said that Fred Astaire was concerned over the height of Cyd Charisse. Keeping this trivia in mind, I applaud the screenwriters for having the guts and the great sense of humor to put those details into the script as it was happening on set. Also on the aforementioned featurette, the screenwriters Comden and Green stated that the troubles the film's characters were experiencing while preparing for this production were based on things these two had experienced while participating in other theatrical productions. And you know what? I completely buy that these kinds of situations happened in real-life. I'm convinced that there are some Broadway directors who put too much scenery on set or that the guys operating the sets keep going the wrong way because they can't see what they're doing. It's completely believable in that sense. In the tradition of "Singin' in the Rain", "The Band Wagon" is yet another MGM musical in which it was a miracle that it came together as well as it did. The 'making of' featurette for this picture seemed to imply that this was not a pleasant production. Once again, some of the picture's main stars couldn't get along with each other very well. Oscar Levant drove then-newcomer Nanette Fabray nuts because she stated that he was always looking for someone or something to put the blame on whenever he did a take wrong. But when she told him to go to hell during the production, I guess that shut him up good. Well played, Ms. Fabray. And of course, it's a testament to both Levant and Fabray's delightful work in this film that they make us forget their struggles together during production. Fabray in particular makes everything better whenever she's on screen with her positivity and endearing charm throughout. "The Band Wagon" literally makes you also forget about the troubles Minnelli was having at the time with his wife Judy Garland and the painstaking hours of rehearsal Astaire used to make his dances perfect. Speaking of the songs and dances, the music by Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz is some of the very best. "That's Entertainment" is arguably the greatest song ever written for the big screen. Not since "Make 'Em Laugh" have I heard a song that is the ultimate summary of what Hollywood is all about. It's a bittersweet reminder that anything can be considered entertainment to each and every one of us. Excellent message, terrific melody and rhythm, and outstanding lyrics, this song is a certified classic. And what worthy songs it's accompanied by. It's not every day you come across numbers such as "Dancing in the Dark" and "The Girl Hunt" which solely contain music and no singing. But it's all for the better since they showcase both Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse's dancing skills at their best. The endurance, variety of movements, and enjoyment that Astaire and Charisse demonstrate in these numbers are second to none. You truly don't see talent like that anymore. Every single musical number is simply perfection from the "Shine On Your Shoes" number in the recreation center to the "I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan" duet between Astaire and Buchanan. If I were to talk about every single excellent thing about "The Band Wagon", we'd probably be here all day. So I'll shorten the rest of my thoughts down for those who haven't seen it yet. All five of the main actors have charisma to spare. The entire soundtrack is sublime. The writing is sensational and relatable. The dance sequences are some of the finest. The stylish production and cinematography are all top notch. Get aboard "The Band Wagon" indeed.

The Band Wagon (1953)**** (out of 4)Very entertaining musical about washed up actor Tony Hunter (Fred Astaire) who agrees to go back on Broadway when his two friends white a new play for him. The only problem is that the eccentric director Lester Marton (Oscar Levant) decides to throw out everything in the story and come up with something original but this here just ruins everything. THE BAND WAGON is one of many legendary musicals that Astaire would make throughout his career and it's certainly a very rewarding one. As with a lot of films in the genre, the story itself is pretty simple but the director and cast manage to do quite a bit with it. I really liked how Astaire is pretty much playing himself as there are all sorts of winks to fans of his that give you a chance to go down memory lane. There's a very good wink to TOP HAT among many other pictures and they're quite funny. Even better are the constant name-dropping of various celebrities and how things were changing in Hollywood. Astaire talking about him not being Marlon Brando was funny and I think it's clear that everyone was trying to make an old-fashioned musical before Hollywood went into a completely different direction. It should come as no shock but Astaire is perfect in the lead role with his dancing moves and singing voice being as great as ever. His comic timing here is also on full display and the actor is clearly enjoying the role. Cyd Charisse is also very good in the role of the co-star who battles with Astaire at first before the obvious love story kicks in. Levant nearly steals every single scene he's in as the crazy director and I've often wondered if this role was based off Orson Welles. THE BAND WAGON contains some beautiful cinematography, countless fun songs and overall it's just a real joy to sit through.