The Band Wagon

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The Band Wagon
The Band Wagon DVD cover
Directed by	Vincente Minnelli
Produced by	Arthur Freed
Written by	Betty Comden Adolph Green Alan Jay Lerner (uncredited)
Starring	Fred Astaire Cyd Charisse Oscar Levant Nanette Fabray Jack Buchanan
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s)	August 7, 1953 (U.S. release)
Running time	112 minutes
Language	English
Budget	$2,169,120 (estimated)
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

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 play, 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.

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.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Musical numbers 3 Stage adaptation 4 References 5 External links

[edit] 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 him. Tony signs up, but the trio are taken aback when the director they have selected, Jeffrey Cordova (Jack Buchanan), changes the lighthearted comedy into a dark, overdramatic 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.

[edit] Musical numbers

in chronological order

1. "By Myself" — Fred Astaire
2. "Shine on Your Shoes" — Astaire and Leroy Daniels
3. "That's Entertainment!" — Astaire, Nanette Fabray, Oscar Levant and Jack Buchanan
4. "The Beggars Waltz" — danced by Cyd Charisse, James Mitchell, and corps de ballet
5. "Dancing in the Dark" — Astaire and Charisse
6. "You and the Night and the Music" — sung by chorus, danced by Astaire and Charisse
7. "Something to Remember You By" — sung by chorus
8. "High and Low" — sung by chorus
9. "I Love Louisa" — Astaire, Levant and Fabray
10. "New Sun in the Sky" — Charisse (dubbed by India Adams)
11. "I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan" — Astaire and Buchanan
12. "Triplets" — Astaire, Buchanan, and Fabray. The three performers dance on their knees, dressed in baby clothes.
13. "Louisiana Hayride" — Fabray and chorus
14. "Girl Hunt Ballet" — Astaire and Charisse. This was a spoof of Mickey Spillane hard-boiled detective novels.

Source: ^[1]

Charisse's singing was dubbed by India Adams.

One musical number shot for the film, but dropped from the final release, was a seductive dance routine featuring Charisse performing "Two-Faced Woman" (with vocals by India Adams). Adams' recording of the song was reused for the 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.

[edit] Stage adaptation

This section contains information about an upcoming play or musical. The content is expected to change as more information becomes available and/or it has its official opening night.

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. ^{[2][3] [4][5]}

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." ^[6]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• The Band Wagon at the Internet Movie Database
• Newsweek discussion transcript about The Band Wagon
• The Band Wagon (1931) at Internet Broadway Database

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