Did you people see the same film I saw?

Absolutely the worst movie.

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Let me say to begin with that I really like both Leslie Caron and Fred Astaire. That however is really where it ends too as the story doesn't work. I have read the other reviews that he was 55 and she 24 but in the film She is 18, however old he is, and he is using his money to manipulate her. Yes I get that it's a light hearted film but wait, what if it were your daughter? My second question is - why America? why not send her to Paris to study - instead she diminishes her own style and personality by going to a US college. I couldn't see the reasoning behind the film, apart from old man meets girl, and I'm sad that two great talents - not to mention all the worthy supporting players - were wasted in this. Enough to make you sleep? Afraid I did, and missed a small part of it. No regrets there.

Fred Astaire proved he still had what it takes to command the screen in a musical with 1955's Daddy Long Legs.Astaire plays Jervis Pendleton III, a millionaire vacationing in France who meets an 18-year old girl in an orphanage (Leslie Caron) who longs to go to college in America. Enchanted with the girl, Pendleton decides to finance the girl's college education without her knowledge. The girl only knows Pendleton as Daddy Long Legs and unbeknownst to Pendleton, his assistant (Fred Clark) has been corresponding with the girl by letter under the guise of Pendleton and Pendleton panics when the girl insists upon a face to face meeting.The basic idea of this musical is very good. The idea of helping a young girl get an education and keeping it a secret and it is so nice seeing Caron's Julie adjusting to and loving college life, but the film takes a weird turn when Pendleton and Julie finally do meet and he is immediately attracted to her. Astaire and Caron do dance well together, but Astaire is WAY too old to play a romantic interest to Caron and it gave the whole on screen relationship a very incestuous feel that made me squirm.Fred Clark and Thelma Ritter do provide some laughs and as I said before, there is some great dancing, including a dream ballet, but Astaire and Caron as a romantic couple just didn't work for me and cast a pall over the entire film.

In Feb. 2013 TCM showed an excellent transfer of the film, full Cinemascope aspect ratio, relatively sharp image, better color than what I remember from viewings years ago. The full vibrant color in the dream dance sequences especially added to my enjoyment of the film; really noticed the wonderful set design/artwork. The color schemes in Caron's dream ballet seemed to predict those common in the psychedelic 1960's.A couple of people here say Fred Astaire's wife died during filming; I'm fairly sure that is incorrect. She died in 1953, I believe, while he was filming The Bandwagon at MGM. I remember reading that Arthur Freed walked with the grieving Astaire to calm him down when he got the news. Also it's doubtful that DLL would have been filmed in 1953 and release held up til 1955. And the reason Astaire was not in White Christmas (he was to have had the part played by Danny Kaye), filmed and released in 1954, was because he was still grieving from his wife's death in 1953.I'm sure some will disagree, but I carefully watched Caron dancing with Astaire, and saw that she was one of his weaker partners. Ballroom and tap were not her usual style and she lacks the facility and panash of Rogers, Charisse, Hayworth. I've never been impressed with Caron's dancing anyway, but she was a very talented actress, both comic and dramatic, and was always charming on screen. And Astaire is so good in their partner dances that you have to really pay attention to see she is not anywhere near his caliber in that sort of dancing.

"Daddy Long Legs" was originally filmed back in 1919 and it starred Mary Pickford. I saw this film and enjoyed it very much--giving the film a score of 8. In 1955, Twentieth Century-Fox released a new version--a musical starring Fred Astaire and Leslie Caron. Is it as good as the original or better? The film's plot is very similar. A rich guy (Astaire) notices a sweet orphan (Caron) and is so captivated by her, he arranges to send her off to school and make her a woman. However, this is all done without revealing who her benefactor is. Eventually, the man falls in love with her and,...well, you see the rest."Daddy Long Legs" (1955) has two major problems. First, seeing a middle-aged Fred Astaire falling for a MUCH younger Caron is pretty creepy--especially in light of their relationship. Second, and I am surprised by this, but the musical numbers SEVERELY hampered the film--often derailing the plot. Many of these songs are pretty bad and the film lacks the wonderful dance numbers you'd expect in an Astaire film. Overall, I say see the 1919 version. Despite being a silent, it's a delight. The 1955 version is anything but a delight.