Vincente Minnelli's The Band Wagon

[Hal2001]

The Band Wagon (1953)

They just don't make movies like this anymore, where there can be really long, extended dance sequences; some of them are even entirely (or almost entirely) without lyrics. This was back during a time of larger-scale musicals like "Singin' in the Rain" and "An American in Paris." Vincente Minnelli had previously directed "Paris" showing that he had great skills for productions like this. It's no wonder he went on to win Best Director for the musical "Gigi" in 1959.

"The Band Wagon" tells the story of a singer/dancer, Tony Hunter (Fred Astaire), and how he comes to be involved in a production written by two of his friends, Lester Marton (Oscar Levant) and Lily Marton (Nanette Fabray). First, they must find a director, so they seek the services of a very well-known director/actor, Jeffrey Cordova (Jack Buchanan). When he hears the plot of the Marton's story, he decides to change the whole story around to make it a modern retelling of "Faust." After some initial hesitation, the Martons agree. Second, they must find a leading lady, so they attempt to get a well-known ballerina, Gabrielle Gerard (Cyd Charisse). When she finally agrees to it, rehearsals begin, but the director's vision is more grandiose than they had imagined.

The most amazing thing about this film is how the director manages to take what sounds like a sweet, innocent story and somehow manage to turn it into the dark, haunting story of "Faust." The only reason he suddenly goes that route is when he hears Lily mention that the main character in the story "sells his soul to the devil," which Faust does as well. From here, we hear of how he plans to integrate the devil into the story through another character that Lily had mentioned.

During the scene where he is trying to secure financial backing for the production, there is an extraordinary sequence in which several of the main characters open the door to the room where the director is explaining the story, allowing us to here small bits and pieces regarding fire and brimstone. Then, when the rehearsals finally start, we see just how large his vision has become.

Gigantic set pieces fill every corner of the stage, the cast is clothed in elegant costumes, and frantic changes continue to be made just days before opening. In one particularly bizarre scene, we see Tony and Gabrielle trying to practice one of their numbers while several explosive effects go off all around them resulting in a lot of coughing from the excess smoke.

All of this leads to a disastrous opening night where we get to see the crowd leave as though they were participating in a funeral procession. Eventually we get to compare the director's vision with the show that the Martons originally intended to put on. Their version is so much more upbeat and filled with bright colors and dance numbers; basically a complete turnaround from Cordova's vision.

Now this is a musical, so there are a lot of song and dance sequences. Some of them are actually quite good, others I could have done without. Some of them look like they were done almost entirely in one take, like the shoeshine sequence near the beginning of the film. The most famous of the song and dance numbers in this film has to be "That's Entertainment," which would lend its title to a series of films filled with such numbers. The ones that I could have done without are mainly those that were in the second attempt to get the Martons play off the ground. The songs seemed like they didn't have anything to do with one another. The final sequence with the gangsters wasn't all that good and felt like it went on for too long.

There is also, of course, the obligatory relationship. Here it pops up between Tony and Gabrielle as first they hate each other when they first meet, but then discover that they actually like each other. The good thing was that the film doesn't overdo their relationship. It felt more like it was a professional relationship forming rather than a cliched romance.

Those who enjoy films like "Singin' in the Rain" and "An American in Paris" will probably find something that they like here as it has many of those beautifully choreographed dance sequences that seem to go on for several minutes. Fred Astaire was certainly a master of dance, and the rest of the cast isn't bad either. In the end, it's a fun movie that shows you just how different two visions can be. 3/4 stars.

[bigred760]

I first saw this movie in a film class in college. I had only seen one Fred Astaire movie, Finnian's Rainbow, but none of his classics . . . none of the movies for which he was well known. I loved this movie; it's a great musical with fun song and dance sequences, interesting characters, and a good story that incorporates these characters very well. The ending sequence is brilliant and wraps everything up nicely. I've only seen it once since college, so I don't remember every scene, but I do look forward to seeing it again . . . most likely on TCM.

[Siegfried]

Arguably the greatest of the great MGM musicals; certainly my personal favourite, however much love I have for Singin' In The Rain, Gigi and Meet Me In St Louis.
You're right, it's the kind of film you think of when you say "They just don't make them like that any more."
Of all my favourite musical numbers, Dancing In The Dark with Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse is at number one. Sublime.