On The Town - Gene Kelly & Frank Sinatra - Musical [DVD] [1949]

Great film

A superbly acted musical film

On the Town - the movieThis is a story of three sailors (Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Jules Munchin) and their escapades while on shore leave for 24 hours in New York - a much worked Hollywood theme! It was originally a Broadway hit with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, itself a reworking of a Jerome Robbins ballet called Fancy Free. Gene Kelly directed and choreographed the film with Stanley Donen. Some of the Bernstein tunes were dropped in the film to be replaced by others composed by Roger Edens, Conrad Salinger and Lennie Hayton. But the rousing opening number, `New York, New York, It's a wonderful town' was retained as were some of the ballet sequences. In fact, the whole film was very balletic, which reflects its origins. The girls after whom the sailors chased were Vera-Ellen (`Miss Turnstiles'), Ann Miller (an anthropologist, would you believe), and Betty Garrett (as a lady cab driver). Though the storyline is somewhat overworked, the film as a whole is thoroughly entertaining for most of its 98 minutes. It was released in 1949 and is in Technicolor.

I remember seeing this film as a child. The impression it made on me then still dominates today. My DVD is an import from South Korea. The quality is first-class and the sub-titles may be erased by using the menu on the remote. A good film is timeless and this mesmerising musical has all the ingredients to make it eminently watchable. The cast is superb. The only weak links are Jules Munshin whose attempts at comedy are somewhat dated by today's standards and Betty Garrett whose impersonation of a taxi-driver is an insult to all yellow-cab drivers in the Big Apple. But watch the dancing of Gene Kelly, Vera-Ellen and Ann Miller and listen to 'Old Blue-eyes' singing. Whether sailors on leave in New York would be as congenial and well-behaved as this trio is questionable. As for the plot, forget it. 'Singin' in the Rain' and 'Showboat' are the only MGM musicals with a decent plot. The rest, such as 'Du Barry was a Lady' and 'Take me out to the Ball-Game' are merely vehicles for talented dancers and singers. But that is why we watch musicals. We like the music and the dancing. We want something that appeals to our senses, not to our brains.

A great film, one of MGM's best-ever musicals, but a disappointment as a Blu-ray production. It just doesn't look like Blu-ray at all. In fact, I compared it with my old pre-BR copy, and I could see no difference.. However, maybe I should make allowances for the fact that I played this latest version on a 6-foot screen -- on an average-size one the less than high definition might not detract what is basically a hugely enjoyable film. As for the sound, that is fine, although on my copy of the disc there was a ten- second black-out of both sound and vision at the beginning of the 'You Can Count on Me' number. This is not the first poor Blu-ray disc I've had of another great MGM musical. Another was 'The Band Wagon' although in that case it wasn't quite as disappointing. I imagine that Amazon, as sellers of the 'On the Town' disc will probably dislike this disappointed review of it, but I can't help advising prospective purchasers that they might just as well stick with the old pre-BR version.

Great songs, great story, great cast. A love letter to the New York we all dreamed of as kids.

If you like old musicals you'll enjoy

Leonard Berstein and an all star cast and it is sooooo dissappointing.