Sick Product of a Sick System

Pretty Good

Highly Overrated But Still Good

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

There's an incredible backstory behind Easter Parade. Fred Astaire had announced his retirement from movies, and Gene Kelly was attached to the new Judy Garland musical set at Eastertime. Then, Gene experienced every dancer's nightmare and broke his leg. He called Fred up and asked if he'd take his place. And now we have Easter Parade!Now that you know Gene Kelly was supposed to play the lead, it's understandable that he was supposed to sing the seductive "It Only Happens When I Dance with You" to Ann Miller. How would Fred Astaire handle it? He's not usually marketed as having much sex appeal. Well, move over Gene Kelly; Fred's just fine. In fact, although there are plenty of great numbers in Easter Parade, that one's my favorite because of the different tone Fred takes with himself.There are quite a few famous songs from this movie, most notably the performance Fred and Judy give dressed like bums: "A Couple of Swells". Peter Lawford plays the other man in both love triangles-although who would ever pick him over Fred Astaire?-and he gets to sing the cute "A Fella with an Umbrella" when he meets Judy Garland. "Steppin' Out with My Baby" is another performance on the stage-Fred's character is a performer looking for a new partner-that utilizes groundbreaking camerawork that's still fantastic to watch. Fred dances in slow motion while the chorus girls behind him move in regular time, and the layered look is jaw-droppingly innovative for 1948.I've praised several of Irving Berlin's songs from the movie, but they're not all fantastic. "I was born in Michigan, and I wish and wish again. . ." is a lyric from one of the silly songs Judy has to sing. So, while there will be a few scenes that will make you cringe and leave the room for more popcorn, most of the movie is pretty fun to watch. I own a copy, and we watch it every few years on Easter when we want a break from our usual Ben-Hur. I always like Fred Astaire's movies, so it has to be really stinky for me to not recommend it. I mean, who else but Fred can walk into a toy store and turn the toys into a dance number? Watch his dance "Drum Crazy" in Easter Parade and ask him through the television why he bothered trying to retire.

What a classic film. We have a tradition of watching Easter films over the long weekend in Australia and this is always a top pick! Fun, bubbly movie featuring two great talents. Enjoyable little musical, even if the musical numbers aren't the most memorable. The movie makes a huge mistake though; near the end it gives the (supposedly) 2nd string Ann Miller the better musical numbers, and give Garland and Astaire only one musical number together, "A couple of swells." A terrible number to portray Astaire and Garland's couple dance chemistry. And Garland's character falls totally in love with Astaire though their dancing. There's no questioning their individual talent, and together Garland and Astaire are a great all-time dance couple. Ann Miller surprisingly gets the best dance numbers, and the music is very memorable. Easter Parade is probably the best of the musicals I've watched; but I think I can watch anything with either Astaire or Garland in it. Their personalities are able to elevate the material that's given to them, in Easter Parade and also pretty much in every movie of theirs that I've seen.

Probably the most remembered of the many films scored by Irving Berlin from the late '30s to the mid'50s, chocked full of singing and dancing, along with the usual romantic complications and, unlike some of the earlier ones, filmed in vibrant Technicolor. Dominated by the dancing, singing and acting of Fred Astaire, in probably his best all around film. He finally got to do a Berlin-scored extravaganza, without playing second fiddle to Bing Crosby(in "Holiday Inn" and "Blue Skies"). He has two top multitalented stars in Judy and Anne Miller to interact with in alternative scenes, as well as some excellent incognito singers and dancers. Judy and Anne also get to do some solo numbers. Directed by the relatively unknown Charles Walters, after deciding that another Vincent Minnelli-Judy combination(after "The Pirate") was not a good idea, given Judy's recent emotional problems. The basic plot rather resembles that in the later "My Fair Lady" in that , like Rex Harrison's character, Astaire's character(Don) tries to make good his boast that he could make a silk purse out of a sow's ear: in Astaire's case, make a dancing talent the equal of Anne Miller's character(Nadine)out of a random brainless chorus girl(Judy, as Hannah), after Nadine left Don's act for a more lucrative contract as a solo. Despite being about 23 years older than both his female costars, and never having worked with either, Astaire had excellent performance chemistry with both. His character is rather lacking in romantic interest in them until the finale, despite some pronouncements to the contrary. Some reviewers are put off by the age differences, but I'm not, being 21 years older than my wife of 25 years. Peter Lawford serves as the suave, non-musical, pretty boy, romantic alternative for both Judy and Anne. Actually, Lawford had just starred in the musical "Good News" and would again play second fiddle to Astaire in the musical "Royal Wedding". But, he hated being required to sing and dance. As demonstrated in his "A Fella with an Umbrella", his singing voice was little better than Berlin's notoriously weak voice(check out "This is the Army"). The shifting romantic quadrangle is basically a repetition of that in the Berlin-scored "Holiday Inn", also costarring Astaire. In "Royal Wedding", Lawford finally ends up with the lead female(Jane Powell), who was 30 years Astaire's junior and cast as his sister! For the present film, I would have opted for the equally popular, but multitalented, Van Johnson in Lawford's place.The title song was hardly a new composition. First sung on stage in 1933, it was sung a decade earlier in "Alexander's Ragtime Band", as well as by Bing Crosby in "Holiday Inn". According to a Wikipedia site, the songs were about equally divided between new and old. "I Want to Go back to Michigan": Judy's first solo, I well remember being sung by a group of inmates in the 1931 Laurel and Hardy "Pardon Us". "When the Midnight Choo Choo Leaves for Alabam", which provides a vigorous dance routine for Astaire and Judy, had been sung by Alice Faye, in "Alexander's Ragtime Band" and would later be redone as a dance routine in "There's No Business like show Business".The well remembered musical comedy routine "A Couple of Swells", with Astaire and Judy in hobo outfits, was sort of the equivalent of the "Be a Clown" number Judy did with Kelly in the less popular "The Pirate", filmed earlier that year.Anne Miller, who replaced the favored, but injured, Cyd Charisse, actually had to deal with a recent back injury, was in constant pain, although it didn't show, and sometimes had to wear a back brace during filming. Despite a film career as long as Judy's and obvious talent in acting, singing and comedy, as well as dancing, was always cast by MGM as either a dancing specialist or second lead: 'the other woman' as well as dancer in the present film. Here, she is cast as significantly older than Judy, although they were about the same age. Given her talent and looks, she was certainty under-appreciated by Hollywood. She would find more happiness in her subsequent stage career. But,like Judy, her several marriages were ultimately all flops. She claimed her soul was once in the person of ancient Egyptian Queen Hatshepsut, who dominated the child pharaoh, suggesting a competitive or combative personality the reason for her man troubles(as suggested by her character in this film!).Although Astaire's and Judy's characters eventually become a successful song and dance team, Anne's character takes great pleasure in demonstrating that she is still clearly the superior dancing talent to Judy's character, thus disproving Astaire's boast, and causing audiences to hate her(I think she even received death threats!). This almost causes the breakup of the nascent Astaire-Judy romance, but Astaire manages to convince Judy that she is the more lovable person, if not quite the dancing talent of Anne.Jules Munshin makes his film debut as an entertaining waiter. He would be paired with Anne Miller, as one of the 3 ad hoc couples for a day, in the megahit musical of the following year: "On the Town", where, together with Anne Miller, they are the stars of the memorable 'prehistoric man' man scene.I can understand that some reviewers don't connect well with Astaire's looks, age and sometimes rather stiff song delivery style, and with Judy's standard periodic bouts of jealousy, depression and crying. But, these are minor faults in the overall film. I give it 20 out of 10, along with "Holiday Inn".

Some old-time Hollywood musicals have a style which plays well in any era. To others time has been less kind as they come across as relics of a time gone by. Unfortunately Easter Parade is one of those relics. It was a smashing success in 1948 but all these years later it doesn't play very well at all. The plot is too slight, the pacing is too slow, the songs are too dull, the whole package just doesn't work. Now any movie starring Fred Astaire and Judy Garland isn't going to be all bad. Astaire's dancing and Garland's singing are as great as you imagine they would be. Not for nothing were they film legends. But all in all this is a film which makes a rather poor showcase for the renowned talents of its famous stars.The bare-bones plot involves Astaire's character of Don having his dance team partner leave him to take up a solo offer. "I'll show her" he thinks, stating that he can take any old girl and make her into a star. Any old girl turns out to be Hannah Brown, played by Garland. Don and Hannah form a new partnership which struggles to get off the ground. But eventually the pairing starts to pick up steam and you think the movie might too. But no such luck. It's still a rather dry, oddly lifeless, musical. And a very antiquated looking and sounding one to the modern eye and ear. The Astaire-Garland pairing never sizzles the way you'd hope it would. Astaire is obviously the far superior dancer of the two. Garland gamely tries to keep up but the contrast is rather jarring. It kind of works for the story in that Garland's character is supposed to be an anonymous nobody of a dancer. But when Astaire's best musical number pairs him with a couple of anonymous hoofers while Garland stands idly by offstage it says a lot. The age disparity catches up with the pair as well once the inevitable romantic storyline kicks in. Everything about the pairing, and thus the movie, seems off somehow. It never comes together properly. The songs, the cornerstones of any movie musical, are all forgettable. The humor largely falls flat, most notably in one scene involving the world's weirdest waiter. The story isn't much of a story at all. Astaire and Garland have their moments but not nearly enough of them to carry this film to success.