Daddy Long Legs (1955)

20th Century Fox, 1955

Starring Fred Astaire, Leslie Caron, Fred Clark, and Thelma Ritter

Directed by Jean Negulesco

Music and Lyrics by Johnny Mercer

This week, we jump ahead to the 1950's for one of my favorite underrated musicals. Leslie Caron was one of the most popular stars of the decade, in and out of musicals. She started the decade in the Oscar-winning An American In Paris with Gene Kelly, and while Lili wasn't a huge hit, her personal notices were glowing. Astaire personally asked her to star alongside him in this updated musical version of the 1912 novel of the same name. We've already seen it done once at this blog, as the adorable Shirley Temple vehicle Curly Top in 1935. How different is this version from that previous one? Let's begin at the home of millionaire Jervis Pendleton III (Astaire) as we see people touring his home and find out...

The Story: Jervis is on assignment in France when he stops at an orphanage to use their telephone. While there, he sees 18-year-old Julie Andre (Caron) working with the younger children and is enchanted with her vivacity, her creativity, and her intelligence. Over the protests of his fussy aide Griggs (Clark), he arranges for her to attend college in the United States with his niece Linda (Terry Moore). To avoid a scandal, he says he'll keep a hands-off approach, and she can write to him about her progress once a month. 

Jervis doesn't even look at Julie's letters at first, until his secretary Alice Pritchard (Thelma Ritter) brings them to his attention. Julie calls him her benefactor "Daddy Long Legs," after the long shadow the orphans saw when he was first in France, but she's getting tired of never hearing from him. He finally connects with her at a school dance while visiting Linda with her mother Gertrude (Kathryn Giveny) and falls for her, taking her out on the town and sending the boy who is interested in her to work in Bolivia. Griggs points out their rather large age difference, which makes Jarvis flee for several long business trips. Julie, however, is almost finished with college. She thinks she still hasn't met her "Daddy Long Legs" and wonders if he or Jervis really love her. It's Alice who finally convinces the men that age matters less than love, companionship, and compatibility. 

The Song and Dance: For all the trouble they had making this - Fred Astaire's wife died right before filming began and they almost replaced him, the studio originally wanted Mitzi Gaynor for Julie - it actually came out quite well. Astaire and Caron work better than you might think. Like Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face two years later, Caron's warm, airy persona helps to transcend their age differences. The Technicolor glows here, especially in Caron's two witty dream ballets and the gorgeous 50's gowns, tutus, and suits for Astaire and Clark. Mercer's songs are lovely too. "Something's Gotta Give" was nominated for an Oscar and has since become a jazz standard.

The Numbers: We open with Jervis showing off his drumming skills to an annoyed Griggs in the instrumental drum-and-dance routine "History of the Beat." Julie teaches the orphans that "C-A-T Spells Cat" as Jervis watches them in delight at the orphanage. She wanders around the outdoor classroom in shock and delight as an offscreen chorus sings about her "Daddy Long Legs" after she's told she'll be going to college in the US. "Welcome Egghead" the other college girls tease when Julie arrives. "Julie's Dream Ballet" is the first of two instrumental ballets. Julie imagines what her "Daddy Long Legs" looks like. Jervis dances as a Texas millionaire doing a square dance, a sensual playboy after all the ladies, or Julie's guardian angel. 

"The Sluefoot" is the big chorus number at the dance, with Ray Anthony and His Orchestra and the Pied Pipers. Jervis and Julie turn the intimate dance into a delightful moment. Jervis brings her to New York, where he sings "Something's Gotta Give" at the penthouse he sets her up in, and they dance together. This is followed by the instrumental "Dancing Through Life" ballet as the two kick up their heels in all of the fashionable Manhattan clubs. Julie's dream of meeting her benefactor becomes a "Nightmare Ballet" as she dreams of dancing for Jervis in a Paris ballet, encountering him in a smoky cafe in Hong Kong, and chasing him through carnival in Rio. The movie ends with the brief "Dream" as Julie finally realizes who her benefactor is. 

Trivia: This would be the only movie Caron or Astaire made for 20th Century Fox.

If Astaire looks a little red-eyed and upset at a few junctures...well, see the death of his beloved wife mentioned above. They pushed back filming to give him more room to process his grief.

This is the third version of Daddy Long Legs 20th Century Fox made, and the fourth time the 1912 children's novel made it to the big screen. In addition to Curly Top, Mary Pickford did a silent version in 1919, while Janet Gaynor would appear in a non-musical sound remake in 1931. It would become a London stage musical, Love From Judy, in 1952. 

What I Don't Like: First of all, while the age difference doesn't bother me, some people may find 50-something Astaire dancing with 20-something Caron (and kissing her in the end, a rarity for Astaire's films) to be a tad creepy. Second, this movie, for all the lovely art direction and costumes, didn't really need the lavish Cinemascope. It's really an intimate four-person story at its core. We have the one chorus number in "Sluefoot." Most of the songs are duets, solos, or ballets. Clark and Ritter are the only ones besides Astaire and Caron who even remotely register. We barely see Caron's roommates, which is a shame because they're pretty funny when we do meet them, and Kelly Brown as Jimmy McBride barely registers as window dressing.

The Big Finale: The age difference aside, this is a must-see if you're a fan of Astaire, Caron, or the big lavish ballet-filled musicals of the 1950's. 

Home Media: The DVD and Blu-Ray are hard-to-find and often pricey at this writing. Your best bet would be streaming. 

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Tin Pan Alley

20th Century Fox, 1940

Starring Alice Faye, Betty Grable, John Payne, and Jack Oakie

Directed by Walter Lang

Music and Lyrics by various

Tin Pan Alley marks a turning point for 20th Century Fox musicals. They'd been doing the same Busby Berkeley imitations as the rest of Hollywood since 1933, but the wild success of Alexander's Ragtime Band set the tone for their musicals through the mid-50's. It also made Faye one of their biggest stars. Here, she's joined by Grable, who had been banging around Hollywood for a decade at that point, comedian Jack Oakie, and relative newcomer John Payne for another "through the years" tale. This one revolves around the famous lane in New York where songwriters had their offices from the turn of the 20th century until well into the 60's. Does the story of two Tin Pan Alley songwriters who fall for a vaudeville sister act still go over today, or should it be given the hook? Let's begin, not on Tin Pan Alley, but in the boxing ring, where Francis "Skeets" Harrigan (Payne) is finishing a match, and find out...

The Story: Harrigan only boxes to pick up extra cash. He and his friend Harry Calhoun (Oakie) are songwriters with ambitions of setting up their own publishing house. They're very impressed with vaudeville sister act Katie (Faye) and Lily (Grable) Blane. Neither woman is especially impressed with them. Dancer Lily auditions for a series of increasingly bigger and more amorous producers, but Harrigan convinces singer Katie to stay with them after they turn a lovelorn songwriter's (Elisha Cook Jr.) little melancholy tune into a huge hit. 

Harrigan and Calhoun do get their publishing empire, thanks to Katie being able to plug their songs. She's impressed with the big patriotic number "America, I Love You" and is furious when Harrigan reluctantly lets star Nora Bayes (Esther Ralston) sing it instead. They talk her out of going to Chicago, but the "America" number is the last straw. She joins Lily in England, where they're a hit on the West End. Having lost their empire and their ability to sniff out a hit song, Harrigan and Calhoun join the Army when America enters World War I. Harrigan thinks he has no chance with Katie when he sees she now has a fiancee, Captain Reggie Carstair (John Loder), but Lily knows which man her sister really wants.

The Song and Dance: It's a shame Grable and Faye would never star together again. They're warm, funny, and believable as sisters. They even kind of look alike. I actually wish they got to spend even more time together. Payne is even better as the less-goofy half of the songwriting team. He's one of the few men in these Fox musicals who can hold up his end of the musical chores, and in fact may be the best thing about this. He and Faye have a warm rapport that makes it all the more heartbreaking when she takes off for London. 

The Numbers: Oakie gives us our first song, writing and dancing to "Dixie" as Harrigan plays. The Blane Sisters' first song is their attractive hula and tap routine to "In the Land of Sweet Aloha." It's enough to convince Harrigan and Calhoun that they are the ladies to put over their songs. Joe Cobb's (Cook) funeral instrumental waltz turns into the sole new song, the now-standard "You Say the Sweetest Things, Baby." We get a (thankfully) brief shot of a minstrel group in burnt cork makeup performing it, then a stripper on a moon, then two tap dancers doing a soft shoe, then Katie with the chorus boys. Katie's not happy when Harrigan insists she sing "On Moonlight Bay" at a nightclub to one-up a rival publishing house. They were supposed to be out together. 

Grable has more fun showing off her famous legs with the chorus to the tune of "Honeysuckle Rose." Katie and Harrigan start off singing "America, I Love You" together, but everyone on Tin Pan Alley (including the Roberts Brothers and the Brian Sisters) end up joining in. Despite how energetically Calhoun puts it over, Harrigan still rejects Cobb's "Good-Bye Broadway, Hello France." Rotund Billy Gilbert is "The Sheik of Araby," in a huge chorus number with the Blanes and girls in harem costumes that were so brief, they ended up having to reshoot it. The Nicholas Brothers have a fabulous dance routine right in the middle of it. The movie ends with the doughboys arriving home as Calhoun finally figures out the lyrics to the song he'd been struggling with throughout the film, "K-K-K-Katy." 

Trivia: Several songs were cut from this movie, including Grable's "When You Were a Tulip and I Wore a Big Red Rose" and "Get Out and Get Under" for Grable, Faye, and Oakie, were cut from the film. Both sequences survive; "Get Out and Get Under" can be found on the 1994 video release. 

What I Don't Like: "Sheik of Araby" aside, this is actually pretty small-scale for a big 40's musical. It's even in black and white. Despite how well she works with her friend Faye, Grable's part almost feels like an afterthought. She's barely in a good chunk of the movie. Most of it revolves around Harrigan trying to push his songs and Katie either getting tired of it or resigning herself to it, both of which get pretty annoying after a while. You wish we could see more of the sister act and what made them such a hit together and less of Harrigan and Katie chasing each other. 

The Big Finale: There's enough that's good here to recommend for fans of the four leads or the smaller-scale musicals of the 30's and 40's. 

Home Media: Alas, the only place you can find this at press time is YouTube, in a blurry copy that seems to have been recorded off of AMC sometime in the late 90's.

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Happy Passover! - Fiddler On the Roof

United Artists, 1971

Starring Chaim Topol, Norma Crane, Rosalind Harris, and Leonard Frey

Directed by Norman Jewison

Music by Jerry Bock; Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick

We celebrate the last day of Passover, the Jewish spring holiday celebrating the Israelites' Exodus from Egypt, with one of the most famous movies about the Jewish faith ever made. The Broadway musical adaptation of the book Tevye and His Daughters by Sholem Aleichem was one of the biggest hit shows of the 60's, and the first to run over 3,000 performances. United Artists eagerly bought this and Man of La Mancha, another dark mid-60's stage hit, with an eye for a big roadshow adaptation. They knew they were taking a big risk after too many huge epic roadshow musicals in the late 60's and early 70's failed to make their money back, but they still threw everything they had into making this one as realistic and gritty as possible in a musical. Did they succeed, or should this one be sent to Siberia? Let's begin with Tevye the milkman (Topol) as he introduces the people of the Russian Jewish village of Anatevka and their "Traditions" and find out...

The Story: Tevye is hoping Yente the Matchmaker (Molly Picon) will find good husbands for his older daughters Tzeitel (Harris), Hodel (Michele Marsh), and Chava (Neva Small). His daughters have their own ideas. Tzeitel is promised to wealthy butcher Lazar Wolf (Paul Mann), but she falls for Motel (Frey), a poor but ambitious tailor. Tevye eventually gives in and agrees to the marriage, and finds a way to convince his wife Golde (Crane) that they're made for each other, too. He's less happy when Hodel falls for the handsome revolutionary Perchick (Paul Michael Glaser) but eventually accepts the marriage, even when Hodel follows her husband to Siberia after he's arrested. 

Tevye really hits the roof when book-loving Chava falls head over heels for Fyedka (Raymond Lovelock), a Russian Christian Orthodox scholar. Her eloping with him means she'll have to give up her faith. Her father thinks this is the worst of his problems, but then, the town's rabbi (Zvee Schooler) announces that their lives are about to be upended forever, and Hodel isn't the only one who is going to be "far from the home I love."

The Song and Dance: What I love about this movie is only The Sound of Music inhabits the world of the characters as much as this one does. The bleak landscape of Yugoslavia in the 1970's may not be much to look at, but it's as much of a character as Tevye and his family. The stunning cinematography, including gorgeous shots of that fiddler on the roof, won a deserved Oscar in 1972. Unlike most of the huge epic musicals that came out in the late 60's and early 70's, Fiddler really needs those three hours and the widescreen vistas to tell its entire story of how both a family and a town's "traditions" are upended by outside change. 

Topol was a bit of a controversial choice for Tevye after Zero Mostel won acclaim for the role on Broadway, but he's having so much fun shaking along to "If I Were a Rich Man" and is so lovely with his daughters, it's hard to complain now. Crane is equally good as his sensible wife Golde. Frey and Harris are especially touching as the adorably dorky tailor and the sweetly awkward young woman who loves him anyway.

The Numbers: We open with Tevye introducing us to the residents of Anatevka and their "Tradition" even before the credits begin. The fiddler (Tutte Lemkov) plays the overture over the credits while perched on that roof. The sisters dress and do the laundry as they sing about "Matchmaker, Matchmaker" and their hopes for their future husbands. Tevye really gets into wondering what he'd do "If I Were a Rich Man" in the barn, shaking and shimmying with absolute glee. Lazar Wolf joins Tevye's family for their "Sabbath Prayer." Wolf and Tevye announce "To Life" when they treat each other to drinks at the local bar and every man in town gets in on the spree, including the military and local students.

"Tevye's Monologue" is heard in his head as he recalls Tzeitel's childhood and realizes that she does love Motel and he wants her to be happy. Thrilled when Tevye agrees to their marriage, he hurries through the woods with Tzeitel, singing about their "Miracle of Miracles." The surreal "Tevye's Dream" is a black-and-white sequence where Tevye tells Golde about a dream he had where their ancestors and Lazar Wolf's wife claim Motel is the man for their daughter. Their wedding ceremony is a joyous occasion, including the touching "Sunrise, Sunset," men performing with bottles on their heads, and men and women dancing together holding hands for the first time in Anatevka...until local peasants, backed by the Tsar's men, attack and destroy the party.

After the fiddler performs the Entre'Acte, Tevye gives us a brief reprise of "Tradition" and explains what's changed. He has another monologue very similar to his first when Hodal insists on marrying Perchick. Feeling sentimental, he asks Golde "Do You Love Me?" Hodal admits at the train stop that while she does want to be with her husband, she's scared about being "Far From the Home I Love." There's a brief ballet segment shot in silhouette as we see Chava the way her father remembers her...and her in love now. His third monologue after Chava asks to marry Fydeka is briefer and far less congenital. It's one thing to go against an arranged marriage and follow a revolutionary, but very religious Tevye draws the line at giving up one's faith for love. The movie ends with the cast singing about their feelings on leaving their beloved "Anatevka." 

Trivia: Sadly, this would be Norma Crane's final film. She died of breast cancer two years after its release.

Fiddler On the Roof opened on Broadway in September 1964 and was a huge success, becoming the first Broadway show to run over 3,000 performances. Its stars Zero Mostel and Maria Karnilova won Tonys, as did the show as a whole. It was an equally big hit in London. The show been revived many times on both sides of the Atlantic since then, most recently on Broadway in 2015 and in London in 2019.

Two stage songs were cut from the film, a duet for Perchick and Hodel, "Now I Have Everything," and a number for Yente and the women of the town, "The Rumor/I Just Heard." Another song, "Any Day Now," was written for Perchick to replace "Everything," but was ultimately cut. 

What I Don't Like: This is not your typical lighthearted musical romp. This is a three-hour epic revolving around the fracturing of a family and of a society. It's not for someone who is looking for something more fun and upbeat. There's also that run time. Admittedly, once you get to the third daughter's marriage, you start looking at your watch and wishing some of this could have been trimmed. On the other hand, we don't get to know some folks as well as you'd like, including the rabbi and the hilarious Yente. 

The Big Finale: Families with older children and teens looking for thoughtful Passover viewing and who can handle the violence and fairly dark story and have time on their hands (or can split this into two night's viewing) may enjoy discovering Tevye, his family, and their "traditions." They may even be willing to discuss similar traditions and their importance in their own families.

Home Media: Easily found on disc and streaming, the latter usually for free with commercials.

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Happy Easter! - The Tale of the Bunny Picnic

HBO, 1986

Voices of Steve Whitmire, Richard Hunt, Jim Henson, and Louise Gold

Directed by Jim Henson and David G Hiller

Music by Philip Balsam; Lyrics by Dennis Lee

This cable special is the closest Jim Henson got to doing something for Easter. He wanted to make another holiday program with realistic animals after the success of Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas on HBO in 1977. While that one was a bit gritty and bittersweet, he went with something a little more aimed at children here. This special also introduced Bean Bunny, who would later appear on the 80's version of Muppet Babies and still occasionally turns up in Muppet media to this day. How does this charming story of rabbits who learn compassion when they find out the dog who ruins their picnic isn't as bad as he seems look now? Let's begin with the bunnies singing about the beginning of spring and find out...

The Story: Bean Bunny (Whitmire) is known for his wild imagination and his goofy attempts to dream he's something else. He wants to help set up for the big spring Bunny Picnic, but his older brother Lugsy (Hunt) keeps telling him he's too little. He wanders off into the lettuce patch to daydream when he's chased out by the farmer's dog (Henson). Horrified, Bean tries to tell everyone what he saw, but they think it's just another imaginative story. 

It isn't until the dog attacks the Picnic that the bunnies finally admit Bean wasn't just imagining things. The rabbits try everything they can think of to shake him, until Bean comes up with an idea based on a puppet show put on by the Storyteller Bunny (Ron Mueck). That seems to do the trick, at least until the dog catches on. Bean escapes and saves his brother...but when they see the dog being abused by the mean farmer who owns him (Martin P. Robinson), they realize who the real villain is and decide to teach the bullying farmer a lesson.

The Song and Dance: Considering the sugary reputation this special in general and Bean Bunny in particular have, this was a lot better than I thought it would be. The songs are catchy, and Bean is a lot of fun, especially some of his wilder daydreams! I also like that the bad guy isn't who you think it's going to be. The dog is set up to be the villain until mid-way through, when you realize he's as scared as the rabbits and is just following orders. The ending with how they help him actually ends up being rather sweet. 

The Numbers: We open with the bunnies enthusiastically greeting the warmer weather in "Hello Sunshine." Poor Bean laments that no one will let people do anything special "When You're Little." The dog tells the bunnies "Run, Bunny, Run," because he's coming after them. The Storyteller encourages the bunnies to "Follow Me" as he sets up his puppet show. Bean's parents sing "The Bunny's Lullaby" to put their frightened children to sleep that night. The bunnies empower each other to help the dog and attack the farmer with "Drum of Time." "Hello Sunshine" reappears during the credits after we find out who the narrator was.

Trivia: The special originally opened with a live-action segment as Jim Henson explained what inspired the story. That has been cut from most current copies available, including the ones on video and YouTube. 

What I Don't Like: While it's not quite as cutesy as it's reputation would have it, it's still a lot more child-oriented and sweet than the gritty Emmett Otter or the slightly darker and wackier Muppet fairy tales. Those adorable bunnies may be just a little too precious, with their huge black button eyes, chubby cheeks, and breathless speeches. It's notable that, though this did well enough on cable and has turned up sporadically thereafter on HBO and video, it's not one of the better-known specials. Only Bean is even mildly remembered today.

The Big Finale: Charming and adorable springtime viewing for you and your younger children; older kids and teens may find it a tad too sugary. 

Home Media: As mentioned, the only place you can find this at press time is YouTube. 

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