....and I mainly mean the dance numbers, not the plot. The plot is rather thin.
Professional dance partners Johnny Brett (Fred Astaire) and King Shaw (George Murphy) are working as taxi dancers in a low rent dance hall. King likes the ladies, has gotten into debt wining and dining them, and so Johnny pretends to be King when he thinks a debt collector has come for King. That way any summons served would not be legal. Instead what happens is a big case of mistaken identity and an actual talent agent (Frank Morgan) thinks Johnny is King, and thus King gets wrongly picked for the lead in "Swing Girl" starring Clare Bennett (Eleanor Powell). Complicating matters is that King winds up sweet on Clare, and Johnny has been carrying a torch for her for some time, going to all of her performances. From here it is basically a story of the ant (Johnny) and the grasshopper (King).
Dore Schary co-wrote the screenplay here and his straight forward realistic approach rather shows. It lacks a lot of the silliness of other MGM musicals, and the story is just the framework for some of the best dancing of the century. Powell has a fresh-faced girl-next-door quality while still being sexy and powerful, and she is not sickeningly sweet like some other MGM musical female stars of the 40s and 50s. Powell brought her extensive ballet training into her tap dancing, and the result was poetry in motion. She seems to be - just barely - out-dancing Astaire at some points. George Murphy could dance, and acquitted himself pretty well considering the two pairs of feet he was up against. The dancing on a mirrored floor with simple individual bulbs as the only set adornment and the stark black and white cinematography are just wonderful.
What made me wince? For one, Frank Morgan as a Lothario is hard to swallow. However he plays the part of the less grounded half of a talent agency partnership well and to pretty good comic effect overall. I rather wonder why Ian Hunter, the brains of the operation, puts up with him. Hunter is good in this part as the guy with a level head.. I'm used to seeing him partnered with Kay Francis as her love interest over at WB, and as a romantic lead he just seems like a prison sentence. The other wincing? The novelty acts that are thrown into the mix for no reason. There is a world class juggler - and she is talented - but why are we throwing plates at Astaire in the first place? There is a just hideous opera singer that is supposed to be funny but just had me fumbling for the mute button.
What is unintentionally funny? The title of the show Clare and King are in is entitled "Swing Girl", and it is supposed to have some kind of narrative. I wonder what kind of story involves masked harlequins, a sultan's harem, and then the stars just in modern dress? I'd like to critique THAT screenplay!
Too late to make a long story short, come for the dancing and the three main characters, just tolerate the thin plot and some of the improbable humor that gets you there.
Professional dance partners Johnny Brett (Fred Astaire) and King Shaw (George Murphy) are working as taxi dancers in a low rent dance hall. King likes the ladies, has gotten into debt wining and dining them, and so Johnny pretends to be King when he thinks a debt collector has come for King. That way any summons served would not be legal. Instead what happens is a big case of mistaken identity and an actual talent agent (Frank Morgan) thinks Johnny is King, and thus King gets wrongly picked for the lead in "Swing Girl" starring Clare Bennett (Eleanor Powell). Complicating matters is that King winds up sweet on Clare, and Johnny has been carrying a torch for her for some time, going to all of her performances. From here it is basically a story of the ant (Johnny) and the grasshopper (King).
Dore Schary co-wrote the screenplay here and his straight forward realistic approach rather shows. It lacks a lot of the silliness of other MGM musicals, and the story is just the framework for some of the best dancing of the century. Powell has a fresh-faced girl-next-door quality while still being sexy and powerful, and she is not sickeningly sweet like some other MGM musical female stars of the 40s and 50s. Powell brought her extensive ballet training into her tap dancing, and the result was poetry in motion. She seems to be - just barely - out-dancing Astaire at some points. George Murphy could dance, and acquitted himself pretty well considering the two pairs of feet he was up against. The dancing on a mirrored floor with simple individual bulbs as the only set adornment and the stark black and white cinematography are just wonderful.
What made me wince? For one, Frank Morgan as a Lothario is hard to swallow. However he plays the part of the less grounded half of a talent agency partnership well and to pretty good comic effect overall. I rather wonder why Ian Hunter, the brains of the operation, puts up with him. Hunter is good in this part as the guy with a level head.. I'm used to seeing him partnered with Kay Francis as her love interest over at WB, and as a romantic lead he just seems like a prison sentence. The other wincing? The novelty acts that are thrown into the mix for no reason. There is a world class juggler - and she is talented - but why are we throwing plates at Astaire in the first place? There is a just hideous opera singer that is supposed to be funny but just had me fumbling for the mute button.
What is unintentionally funny? The title of the show Clare and King are in is entitled "Swing Girl", and it is supposed to have some kind of narrative. I wonder what kind of story involves masked harlequins, a sultan's harem, and then the stars just in modern dress? I'd like to critique THAT screenplay!
Too late to make a long story short, come for the dancing and the three main characters, just tolerate the thin plot and some of the improbable humor that gets you there.