Please note: This was screened in Jan 2017
A has-been Hollywood dancer and a pretentious producer form an uneasy alliance to stage a song-and-dance spectacular in Vincente Minnelli’s rip roaring musical comedy.
Dancing legend Fred Astaire plays Tony - a Broadway star who's out of step with the very modern musical he has been hired to headline. Down on his luck he agrees to take part in a faltering Broadway show, playing opposite Gabrielle Gerard, a ballerina (played by Cyd Charisse) – whom he loathes. Fearing they cannot work together, their off screen partnership is a trying one to say the least. The show's wider success however is under a bigger threat from its pretentious musical director (Jack Buchanan), who’s doing his best to turn the simple story into an overblown monster. And when opening night is a flop, it is up to the cast to save the show.
To many this marks the peak of Fred Astaire's wonderful movie career. He’s nothing short of stunning in partnership with the equally fabulous Cyd Charisse in numbers like Dancing in the Dark (Gene Kelly's own favourite Astaire number) and the Mickey Spillane parody The Girl Hunt ballet – all superbly choreographed by Michael Kidd and set designer Oliver Smith. The terrific end result is basically as good as musicals get. Jump on!