Starring Marge & Gower Champion, Debbie Reynolds, and Bob Fosse
Directed by Stanley Donen
Music by Burton Lane; Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
Our second small-scale MGM musical didn't start out that way. Apparently, this was originally intended to be a big-budget showcase of some of the newer talent on the MGM lot, with names like Donen, Lane, Gershwin, and Reynolds attached. Somewhere along the line, it got pared down into a less elaborate story about three women who desperately hope to be chosen for the starring role in a big Broadway revue. Does this still wow 'em in the aisles nowadays, or should it be left behind? Let's begin at the Regal Theater in New York as hopeful go-fer Bob Dowdy (Fosse) brings the cast sandwiches and find out...
The Story: As it turns out, there may not be a show. Its demanding star, Janet Hallston (Donna Martell), has walked out. Director and choreographer Ted Sturgis (Gower Champion) puts out an ad for an open audition that draws thousands of hopeful dancers. Ted, Bob, and the revue's composer Leo Belney (Kurt Kaznar) finally whittle it down to three finalists.
Ballerina Joanna Moss (Helen Wood) is excited for the opportunity, but her husband Burton Bradshaw (Richard Anderson) announces at the same time that he just got a professor job in Minnesota. Bob is enamored with bubbly tap dancer Suzy Doolittle (Reynolds), who has studied for years for a chance like this one. Ted's not happy when his ex-partner Madelyn Corlane (Marge Champion) returns to audition as well. She left him years ago for wealthy Anson Pritchett (William Ching). With each woman enormously talented and each man pushing a different lady, it's going to be hard to figure out which lady would work out best for the show...and in the men's lives.
The Song and Dance: "Dance" is the operative word here. There's some fabulous dance routines in this movie, many of them choreographed by Fosse. He and Reynolds have by far the most fun as the ebulent go-fer who falls hard for her and the vivacious girl who wants a life of her own and a chance to really shine. The gorgeous Technicolor, lovely songs, and nifty costumes bring far more life to this story than its bland Broadway setting does. I also like how most of the action unfolds in less than 24 hours. It really gives you a chance to know all three couples and why the guys fall for their ladies like they do.
Favorite Number: Our first number is the creative chorus routine to the title song. We see little vignettes of several of the ladies who hope to audition. Most of them are terrible dancers or strange singers...except the three who end up getting called back. Bob and Suzy sing how they're "In Our United State" during a charming dance routine in New York as he takes her home from dance practice. We see more of Fosse and Champion's embryonic talents as they remind Leo that "Nothing's Impossible," even reworking a Broadway revue in three weeks. Ted insists on seeing what Madelyn can do right before she's supposed to attend a masquerade party with Anson, resulting in the dynamic "Challenge Dance" on the apartment building roof.
The three men daydream about the kind of dances they want to do with their ladies in three elaborate sequences. Bob and Suzy do an amazing "Backwards Dance" through confetti that falls upwards and balloons that pop, then return to life. Bob tosses in a backwards flip here and in "In Our United State" that must be seen to be believed. "Puppet Master Dance" starts out as a classical ballet routine for Joanna and Leo with her in a pink tutu and him in sequins and tights...until she ends up in fringed trousers for a slinkier jazz version. The Champions get "It Happens Every Time" in a simpler world surrounded by bars to glide around. It ends in the theater, with Ted and the chosen lady singing their heart out to "Applause Applause" surrounded by a striking pink and black set.
Trivia: Wood eventually left MGM for stage work, including as a dancer at Radio City Music Hall. She later appeared in the infamous X-rated film Deep Throat under the name Dolly Sharp.
What I Don't Like: First of all, the derivative plot feels like MGM just re-wrote and heavily updated it's 1941 hit Ziegfeld Girl and threw in a happier ending for one of the characters. This isn't anything you haven't seen before, going back to the dawn of sound. Second, while most of these people are wonderful dancers, Kaznar and Reynolds are the only ones who are really up to some of the histrionics later in the film when the women learn who makes it and who doesn't. The Champions are charming but not much more than that. You can understand why the failure of this movie ended any ideas MGM had of making them huge stars ala Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
The Big Finale: Dance aficionados and fans of Donen or any of the stars involved will want to check this one out for the delightful routines alone.
Home Media: The remastered Warner Archives DVD is currently out of print, but it can be found pretty easily on streaming and through used venues.
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