964. On The Town (1949)

Starring: Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Betty Garrett

Director: Stanley Donen

Running Time: 97 mins

On The Town is an American film, based on the Broadway production, about three sailors who spend 24 hours of leave in New York City, leaving them to spend the day seeing the sights and looking for love.

On The Town, it’s a hell of a film! This is by far one of the most entertaining musicals of all time, with brilliant songs throughout, amazing dance numbers, great performances, fantastic comedy, great directing and a consistently upbeat atmosphere that will leave you smiling the whole way through.

The main thing that I have to start with here is how good of a musical this is. The songs are fast-paced and have a joyful spring in their step, whilst there aren’t too many that it really impedes the progression of the story, it’s a very well-adapted film from the Broadway show and definitely one of the best musicals I’ve ever seen.

What’s more is that the dancing is stunning! It’s not something that’s ever really caught my eye so much before, but the choreography is flawless, and the dance moves fit in with the upbeat vibe of the movie, and really give it a whole extra boost of energy to make it so much more fun to watch.

In terms of the performances, they’re all brilliant too. Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Jules Mushin make great singing sailors, but their co-stars, Betty Garrett, Ann Miller and Vera-Ellen really shine as their love interests, not playing characters that are just their as eye candy, but genuinely interesting and entertaining women who have a big role in the film, and a great sense of humour to boot.

That’s one of the best things about this film, that it keeps a good sense of humour even when it’s showing itself as a big flashy musical. It’s very simple censored 1940s humour, but it feels so nice and positive all the way through that there’s no way that you can stop smiling at any point here.

Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly’s direction here is also fantastic. Kelly puts the real showbiz feel into it, whilst Donen, ‘The King of Musicals’, in his first feature, puts his famous touch of dazzling and vibrant colours right in the middle of the screen, whether it be the landscape of New York or the colourful dresses that the women wear throughout, all making for a visually brilliant watch.

Overall, this gets an 8.6, because it’s a hilarious, interesting and consistently entertaining musicals with catchy songs and a great upbeat atmosphere throughout.