The Band Wagon

Infobox Film | name = The Band Wagon


caption =The Band Wagon DVD cover
director = Vincente Minnelli
producer = Arthur Freed
writer = Betty Comden
Adolph Green
Alan Jay Lerner (uncredited)
starring =Fred Astaire
Cyd Charisse
Oscar Levant
Nanette Fabray
Jack Buchanan
music =
cinematography =
editing =
distributor = Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
released = August 7 1953 (U.S. release)
runtime = 112 minutes
language = English
budget = $2,169,120 (estimated)
amg_id = 1:3864
imdb_id = 0045537

"For the musical, see The Band Wagon (musical)."

"The Band Wagon" (1953) is a musical comedy film that many critics rank (along with "Singin' in the Rain") as the finest of the MGM musicals, although it was only a modest box-office success. It tells the story of an aging musical star who hopes a Broadway play will restart his career. However, the play's director wants to make it a pretentious retelling of "Faust", and brings in a prima ballerina who clashes with the star.

It stars Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Oscar Levant, Nanette Fabray and Jack Buchanan. The film was written by Comden and Green and Alan Jay Lerner (uncredited), directed by Vincente Minnelli, and produced by Arthur Freed.

The music was written by Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz originally for the 1931 Broadway musical, also called "The Band Wagon," with a book by George S. Kaufman and starring Fred Astaire and his sister Adele. The film popularized the song "That's Entertainment!", which has become a standard. Another song, "Dancing in the Dark", is considered part of the Great American Songbook and was from the original Broadway production.

The film was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Costume Design, Color, Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay (for Comden and Green). In 1995, "The Band Wagon" was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In 2006, this film ranked #17 on the American Film Institute's list of best musicals.

Plot

Singer, dancer and movie star Tony Hunter (Fred Astaire) is concerned that his career might be in decline. His good friends Lester and Lily Marton (Oscar Levant and Nanette Fabray) have written a show that they believe is perfect for his comeback. Tony signs up, but the trio are taken aback when the director they have selected, Jeffrey Cordova (Jack Buchanan), changes the light comedy into a dark, overly dramatic reinterpretation of the "Faust" legend, with himself as the Devil. Tony is also uneasy about the choice of his female costar, star ballerina Gabrielle Gerard (Cyd Charisse). He feels intimidated by her classical background, youth and beauty. Unbeknownst to him, she is just as insecure in his presence, awed by his long stardom.

Eventually, it all proves too much for Tony. He walks out, but Gaby speaks with him alone and they work out their differences. They also begin to fall in love, though Gaby already has a boyfriend, Paul Byrd (James Mitchell).

When the first out-of-town tryout proves to be a disaster, Tony persuades Jeffrey to let him convert the production back into what the Martons had originally envisioned. That proves to be a hit on its Broadway opening. Afterwards, Gaby lets Tony know how she feels about him.

Musical numbers

"in chronological order"
# "By Myself" — Fred Astaire
# "Shine on Your Shoes" — Astaire and Leroy Daniels
# "That's Entertainment!" — Astaire, Nanette Fabray, Oscar Levant and Jack Buchanan
# "The Beggars Waltz" — danced by Cyd Charisse, James Mitchell, and corps de ballet
# "Dancing in the Dark" — Astaire and Charisse
# "You and the Night and the Music" — sung by chorus, danced by Astaire and Charisse
# "Something to Remember You By" — sung by chorus
# "High and Low" — sung by chorus
# "I Love Louisa" — Astaire, Levant and Fabray
# "New Sun in the Sky" — Charisse
#"I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan" — Astaire and Buchanan
# "Triplets" — Astaire, Buchanan, and Fabray. The three performers dance on their knees, dressed in baby clothes.
# "Louisiana Hayride" — Fabray and chorus
# "Girl Hunt Ballet" — Astaire and Charisse. This was a spoof of Mickey Spillane hard-boiled detective novels.:"Source: [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045537/soundtrack soundtrack] ]

One musical number shot for the film, but dropped from the final release, was a seductive dance routine featuring Charisse performing "Two-Faced Woman". As with the other Charisse songs, her singing was dubbed by India Adams. Adams' recording of the song was reused for the 1953 film "Torch Song" for a musical number featuring Joan Crawford. The retrospective "That's Entertainment! III" released the Charisse version to the public for the first time. This footage was not, however, included with the later DVD release of "The Band Wagon" itself.

tage adaptation

A musical stage adaptation, titled "Dancing in the Dark," premiered at The Old Globe Theatre (San Diego) March 4-April 20, 2008, with plans to bring the show to Broadway. Gary Griffin directs, with a book by Douglas Carter Beane and choreography by Warren Carlyle. The cast includes Patrick Page as the "deliciously pretentious" director-actor-producer Jeffrey Cordova, Mara Davi playing Gabrielle Gerard and Scott Bakula as "song-and-dance man" Tony Hunter. [ [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/113751.html "Douglas Carter Beane Lovingly Steers "Band Wagon" to Create Dancing in the Dark", playbill.com article, December 23, 2007] ] [ [http://www.oldglobe.org Old Globe site] ] [ [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/115540.html playbill.com article, March 4, 2008, "The Band Wagon" Has a New Shine on Its Shoes in Dancing in the Dark March 4-April 13"] ] [ [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/116076.html playbill.com article, March 19, 2008, That's More Entertainment: Old Globe Gives Dancing in the Dark an Extra Week] ]

In the "Variety" review of the musical Bob Verini states: "There's no reason this reconstituted "Band Wagon" can't soar once it jettisons its extraneous and self-contradictory elements. But "Dancing" is some distance from finding its footing, despite finale's admonition to "Admit we're a hit and we'll go on from there." Not yet." [ [http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117936528.html?categoryid=33&cs=1 "Variety" review, March 16, 2008] ]

References

External links

*
* [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8007400/site/newsweek/?rf=wiki Newsweek discussion transcript about The Band Wagon]
* [http://www.ibdb.com/show.asp?ID=1825 "The Band Wagon" (1931) at Internet Broadway Database]