On The Town

On The Town
1949 - MGM
Directed By Gene Kelly + Stanley Donen



SYNOPSIS

Three Navy sailors (Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Jules Munshin) get 24 hours of shore leave and head out into New York City looking for fun and girls.



MY THOUGHTS

A fun and enjoyable musical romp through New York City.

The music was great and never annoying as I find in many musicals. On the Town is not overcrowded with music to the point where you have to yell out "oh god, another one!."
Several songs were written by Leonard Bernstein, including the New York, New York (It's a Heckuva Town.)
The script has very witty and cheeky sense of humor and has more pop culture references in it than a typical movie of today (rare for the time.)

As a history buff, it was great to see NYC as it was in the late 40's.. and especially in all its technicolor glory. Much of the film was shot on location (also rare for the time even more so for a musical.)

There's not a weak performance among the actors. Kelly and Sinatra have great chemistry, which is why they were teamed up several times.

The film is practically a remake of the Kelly/Sinatra film Anchor's Aweigh just set on the opposite side of the country. But who cares? The magic struck twice.

On The Town doesn't stack up to Kelly's later masterpieces Singin' In the Rain and An American In Paris, but again, who cares?

On The Town is light, breezy fun.