Director: George Sydney
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Top Billed Actors: Frank Sinatra, Kathryn Grayson, Gene Kelly
Won 1 Oscar:
Best Scoring of a Musical Picture - Georgie Stoll
Nominated for 4 more:
Best Motion Picture - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Best Actor - Gene Kelly
Best Original Song - Jule Styne (music) and Sammy Cahn (lyrics)
Best Cinematography, Color - Robert Planck and Charles P. Boyle
Plot: A couple of sailors on leave try to get with some dames and end up singing and dancing as they fall in love while running around the M-G-M backlot.
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Top Billed Actors: Frank Sinatra, Kathryn Grayson, Gene Kelly
Won 1 Oscar:
Best Scoring of a Musical Picture - Georgie Stoll
Nominated for 4 more:
Best Motion Picture - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Best Actor - Gene Kelly
Best Original Song - Jule Styne (music) and Sammy Cahn (lyrics)
Best Cinematography, Color - Robert Planck and Charles P. Boyle
Plot: A couple of sailors on leave try to get with some dames and end up singing and dancing as they fall in love while running around the M-G-M backlot.
The lone color Best Picture nominee for 1945 kicks off this batch of five outstanding films. The 18th Awards have proven to be a slower start for me as the awards are more spread out with only two films winning multiple Oscars so I watched a handful of Academy Award winning films from this year before getting to this grand M-G-M musical. This is the first of three collaborations between Gene Kelly, who gets his first opportunity to choreograph for an entire film, and Frank Sinatra, who is cast against type as a shy singer who doesn't know what to do with a lady. Although Kelly and Sinatra are the main attraction, Kelly's other co-star for a scene, Jerry Mouse, is what the movie is remembered for. There is an elaborate and impressive animated sequence in which Kelly dances with the mouse. Although the Disney studios were asked to contribute to this sequence with Mickey Mouse, Roy Disney turned that down so M-G-M's own animation studio got to work with their Tom & Jerry characters, who were routinely winning the Cartoon Shorts Oscars during this time.
There are quite a number of these musical sequences throughout this 140-minute feature. Kelly's choreography is clever, fun to watch, and often enhance a story moment like when he is falling for the love interest or when he's telling the story to the schoolchildren. In terms of a balance, Kelly's dancing somewhat overshadows Sinatra's singing but that's not to say Sinatra is totally in the shadows here. He performs the song that would be nominated for Best Original Song ("I Fall in Love Too Easily") in an iconic scene around dozens of pianos at the Hollywood Bowl. I recently listened to one of his albums from the mid-1950s and his voice definitely matured by that time, but he's still a pleasing singer that adds to the song-and-dance festivities. I'm also a sucker for this setting as the story takes place around the M-G-M backlot so we get to see behind-the-scene happenings in sound stages, cafés, and the commons areas outside. It's a rare glimpse to see the movie magic in action, especially in a color picture. The Hollywood Bowl rehearsal made me want to go see a concert there as well. This film from 1945 serves as an excellent commercial for Hollywood tourism so many years later!
It's a good thing the musical sequences are so mesmerizing because the thin plot and predictable love triangle leaves a lot to be desired. The plot is so basic that all of these musical numbers are more asides, simply embellishing the story as mostly fantasy scenarios existing outside of the dull real scenarios. They could have been shorter, or perhaps one of them could have been nixed, considering how long the film is. If I had to cut one of the Kelly dance sequences, I would remove the dance with the little girl outside the café (although this part is extremely adorable). Every single musical number is a success but putting them all together just makes for an overlong experience.
Overall, Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra's song-and-dance team-up makes for a wonderful musical affair in the lush colorful M-G-M backlot. The predictable and slim plot and love triangle is merely here to provide some context for Kelly's choreography and Sinatra's vocals.
My Score: 7/10
There are quite a number of these musical sequences throughout this 140-minute feature. Kelly's choreography is clever, fun to watch, and often enhance a story moment like when he is falling for the love interest or when he's telling the story to the schoolchildren. In terms of a balance, Kelly's dancing somewhat overshadows Sinatra's singing but that's not to say Sinatra is totally in the shadows here. He performs the song that would be nominated for Best Original Song ("I Fall in Love Too Easily") in an iconic scene around dozens of pianos at the Hollywood Bowl. I recently listened to one of his albums from the mid-1950s and his voice definitely matured by that time, but he's still a pleasing singer that adds to the song-and-dance festivities. I'm also a sucker for this setting as the story takes place around the M-G-M backlot so we get to see behind-the-scene happenings in sound stages, cafés, and the commons areas outside. It's a rare glimpse to see the movie magic in action, especially in a color picture. The Hollywood Bowl rehearsal made me want to go see a concert there as well. This film from 1945 serves as an excellent commercial for Hollywood tourism so many years later!
It's a good thing the musical sequences are so mesmerizing because the thin plot and predictable love triangle leaves a lot to be desired. The plot is so basic that all of these musical numbers are more asides, simply embellishing the story as mostly fantasy scenarios existing outside of the dull real scenarios. They could have been shorter, or perhaps one of them could have been nixed, considering how long the film is. If I had to cut one of the Kelly dance sequences, I would remove the dance with the little girl outside the café (although this part is extremely adorable). Every single musical number is a success but putting them all together just makes for an overlong experience.
Overall, Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra's song-and-dance team-up makes for a wonderful musical affair in the lush colorful M-G-M backlot. The predictable and slim plot and love triangle is merely here to provide some context for Kelly's choreography and Sinatra's vocals.
My Score: 7/10