Roger Ebert's Great Movies led me to the MGM musical The Band Wagon. It's directed by Vincente Minnelli (the father of that talented crackpot), stars an aging Fred Astaire (he's not Funny Face-old but he's pretty close) and features a key supporting role by Oscar Levant (who's not nearly as cool in this as he was in An American in Paris).
This film was written by Betty Comden and Adolph Green a year after the pair did Singin' in the Rain and this feels like a pale imitation of that (only with Broadway instead of Hollywood). Near the end it has a long, artsy dance number just like "Gotta Dance" (or the ballet in An American in Paris for that matter). Even the signature song “That’s Entertainment” seems like a second-rate “Make ‘em Laugh”.
If you're trying to figure out whether or not to watch this I'd ask you how much you liked Singin' in the Rain. If you're like me and you think that it's overrated and kind of uneven, I'd say you can give this one a miss. On the other had, if you think that it's the greatest movie ever made, I'd tell you to catch this one. It might not be as good but, hey, what is?
Do you find that picture as creepy as I do?
No comments:
Post a Comment