NFR Project: 'The Band Wagon' (1953)

 

NFR Project: “The Band Wagon”

Dir: Vincente Minnelli

Scr: Betty Comden, Adolf Green

Pho: Harry Jackson

Ed: Albert Akst

Premiere: July 9, 1953

111 min.

Which movie musical is the better? Singin’ in the Rain or this?

It depends on whether you are a Gene Kelly fan or a Fred Astaire man. I’m an Astaire guy. Kelly was athletic, surprising, gung-ho . . . but dancer/singer/actor Astaire was magic. He would gently weave his spells of reassuring motion, always alive on camera, precise, smooth, demanding perfection from himself in the dance and delivering like a pro every time. He could convey feelings as few could merely by moving.

Known first for his on-screen collaborations with Ginger Rogers (1933-1949), he moved on to other partners, such as Judy Garland, Jane Powell, and here Cyd Charisse, the most talented female dancer of her day. (And she could act!) In all of his later film incarnations, Astaire remained committed to the bit. He made his partners look good, and successfully played the love interest far into middle age. He later made a dance partner out of a coat rack.

Listen to some of his studio recordings. His voice is thin and of limited range. Yet he understands rhythms so well that he talk/sings his way, very evocatively, through the material. He had a jazzy sensibility. He grew up in shows by Gershwin and Irving Berlin. He had a cool which, coupled with his relaxed thereness in a scene, caused him to compel your attention.

Here he is yoked to the genius of director Vincente Minnelli. Minnelli’s musicals (Meet Me in St. Louis, ‘Til the Clouds Roll By, The Pirate) were top-notch; He here gets to embody the vibrant, Technicolor-soaked Minnelli-esque take on theatrical life through the contrivance of the backstage musical story. Betty Comden and Adolf Green, the iconic writing duo that gave us On the Town (1944) and Singin’ in the Rain (1952) here concoct the classic plot of “let’s put on a show” and turns it into a wicked satire of aesthetic pretentiousness.

Astaire plays his familiar persona, a song-and-dance man named Tony Hunter. At the show’s beginning, his Broadway memorabilia is being auctioned off – and there are no takers. Tony is seemingly a has-been which is unfortunate as he is a nice guy, wise to himself and high-spirited despite his problems. His pals Lily (Nanette Fabray) and Lester (Oscar Levant) Marton have written a killer new musical for him to star in, enabling him to make a comeback.

Unfortunately they are hot on a new theatrical wunderkind, the great impresario and writer/producer/director Jeffrey Cordova (Jack Buchanan), who is currently wowing them in Oedipus Rex. They tell him about their idea. Immediately he fixates on the idea that the show should take the shape of a Faustian fable, dark and anxious in nature. Jeffrey is an immense ham, of course, and is very sure of himself. (He is supposedly based on Jose Ferrer.)

Tony’s leading lady is famous ballerina Gabrielle Gerard (Charisse). At first, the two misunderstand each other and are hostile, but as they spend time together through the chaotic, ever-changing rehearsals, they fall in love. In one magical sequence, they duet in Central Park, under a lamplight, moving together perfectly to “Dancing in the Dark." It’s as direct, classic expression of male/female interaction in the art form. (The great Michael Kidd did the choreography.)

The show bombs out of town. Everyone has a beer, and Tony leads them in deciding to put on the show – but to go back to the original freewheeling script.

Another key to the success of this movie is that all the songs were written by the great team of Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz. We move on to a classic montage of musical bits, unrelated yet all standouts – “New Sun in the Sky,” “I Guess I’ll Have to Change My Plan,” “Louisiana Hayride,”  “Triplets,” and the crowning, fabulously inventive “Girl Hunt Ballet.” It's a hit -- and Gaby's in love with him.

The show is, in a way, a rebuke to the book musical epitomized by Oklahoma! and South Pacific. The eponymous show-within-the-show finally works when it goes back to the approach of making a musical out of a bunch of unrelated bits and numbers, as was the fashion prior to the Rodgers and Hammerstein revolution. Tony is a humble hoofer who succeeds by deflating the pretentious and bringing them down to his level – and to the good, old-fashioned way of doing things.

Tony is magic. His exuberant ode “Shine on Your Shoes” early in the film encapsulates everything we like about Astaire – he’s quirky, he has great reactions, he’s just in love with moving. Charisse, alone and with Astaire, shows off her incredible strength, smoothness, and precision, just as demanding as Astaire, going full out in an exemplary performance. She is both Astaire's and Kelly's ideal dance partner.

Buchanan is fine as the ham Cordova; Fabray and Levant are talented second bananas. Every little detail is perfect. Minnelli crowds the film with motion and color, speeding the satire along merrily as he stops everything periodically to give the cast a chance ato entertain us. It’s unfailingly cheerful and still so, so very good.

The NFR Project is one writer’s attempt to review all the films listed in the National Film Registry in chronological order. Next time: The Big Heat.