Easter Parade

By far the best bit of this movie is early on in the running time, when the wonderful Fred Astaire has a routine in a toy shop, to the Berlin number ‘Drum Crazy'. He's there to get an Easter present for his dancing partner (played with energy by Ann Miller), but she has a bombshell to drop: she's leaving him to join a bigger name stage show, and he's left high and dry without an act. Step forward Judy Garland, as a waitress who Fred thinks might be able to sing and dance. At first she's reluctant, and hopeless, but of course, this being MGM mush she falls for Fred and suddenly finds her talent. At this sort of thing Garland had no peer. Also in the cast are Peter Lawford, as a rich no-hoper with a heart who first pursues Garland, and then steps aside for Fred (heading for Miller on the rebound). He sings A Fella With An Umbrella – not very well – but is certainly easier on the eye than Astaire. A tiny but scene-stealing role is given to Jules Munshin, who would be seen the following year in ‘On The Town', as a waiter describing just how the green onion salad listed on the menu is prepared. The lead was not originally planned for Fred, but for the younger and more athletic dancer Gene Kelly, but when Kelly injured his leg the way was clear for Astaire to be coaxed out of retirement. He continued to appear in musicals for another twenty years. The songs in ‘Easter Parade' are a bit of a rag-bag – classics such as Easter Parade, Steppin' Out With My Baby, Shakin' The Blues Away etc. jostle with old vaudeville numbers like When The Midnight Choo-Choo Leaves For Alabam'. The result is a bit of a mish-mash. Perhaps the best song shot for the movie was the one omitted before release – Mr Monotony, performed by Garland in her trademark costume of the top half of a tux and tights (two years before ‘Summer Stock' and the Get Happy number). This number can be seen in That's Entertainment III, released in 1994. ‘Easter Parade' is good, but unbelievable. I never could understand the appeal of Fred Astaire beyond his dancing, and the supposition that a character of Garland's age would be interested in him is stretching things a bit. That aside, it has excellent Technicolor and moves along at a steady pace.

Perhaps not quite reaching the heights that the talent involved suggests it should, Easter Parade is still none the less a delightful musical full of skill, vigour and heart warming attributes. The story sees Fred Astaire's Don Hewes getting dumped by his dance partner Nadine Hale {Ann Miller}. Vowing revenge, he boasts that he could get any basic lady performer and make her a star alongside him. Enter Judy Garland as chorus girl Hannah Brown…… But for a volleyball accident, Don Hewes would have been played by Gene Kelly, who suggested that since he was out of the picture, the makers should try and get Astaire on board. Astaire had retired from Hollywood but jumped at the chance to replace the then present incumbent of the role, Mickey Rooney. Worked out OK in the end, because, as was normally the way, Astaire gave another masterful song and dance performance. Garland on the other hand had to dig deep to enthuse the role with some quality. In a rut with the formula of the films she was making, and nearing exhaustion because of the hectic schedules, it took a guiding hand from Astaire to see her thru the production. The end result? Garland still managing to enchant and whisk the viewer to a nice place where troubles don't exist. The piece contains 17 of Irving Berlin's tunes, with Steppin' Out with My Baby and A Couple of Swells particularly standing out, with the latter expertly played out on a moving floor. While admirably supporting the principals is Peter Lawford as Jonathan Harrow III. It's a foot tapper to warm the cockles on a blustery winters day, never mind only at easter! 7/10

This is, overall, a very disappointing, mediocre movie, with a very bad script. Every now and then, however, there is a remarkable number that stands out like a brilliant diamond in a sea of dross. For me, the brightest of those diamonds is "Then I'll walk down the avenue," a strangely beautiful song performed superlatively by Garland and Astaire - in that order. If the rest of the movie were at that level, this would be one of the great movies of all times. Ann Miller also gets some remarkable dance numbers. For whatever reason, her personality does not light up the screen, unlike Judy Garland, but she was certainly one very fine dancer. The "François salad" number is also wonderful in its own way, and emphasizes the extent to which this movie is not one organic whole, but rather a series of independent solo turns, some of which work, most of which don't. And the last number, "Easter Parade," is a great song, even if the movie doesn't do anything special with it. What a shame. That could have been a crowning glory that effaced much of the forgettable footage that came before. An uneven movie, in short, but one with scenes that are never to be forgotten.

I was bored throughout this movie. Forgettable songs, forgettable story. Ann Miller plays Ann Miller - aloof, arrogant, petty - pretty much how she was in real life. There are actually moments in this film that had to embarrassing for a 'star' like Fred Astaire. He had to be thinking back to the movies he made with Ginger Rogers and Cyd Charrisse, and comparing those with the lame effort by Judy Garland who, after all, was a singer, not a dancer. Not recommended as an example of the musicals that Hollywood in its heyday was capable of making.

The story sees Don (Fred Astaire) make Hannah (Judy Garland) his new stage partner after he has been dumped by Nadine (Ann Miller) so that she can pursue a solo career. Don bets womanizing pal Jonathan (Peter Lawford) that he can make any chorus girl into the next star and picks Hannah at random. They sing some songs, do some routines and fall in love and the finale is the singing of the title song as they promenade along 5th Avenue with all the other posers who undertake this ritual every Easter. The cast are good in this film with Judy Garland winning the honours as she provides many humorous moments (watch how she scene steals from Fred Astaire in the rather hammy and drab routine that is "A Couple Of Swells"). Most of the musical numbers are good if forgettable. My favourite routines include Judy Garland singing "I Want To Go Back To Michigan", her duet with Peter Lawford "A Fella With An Umbrella", Ann Miller singing and dancing "Shakin' The Blues Away", the sequence of song and dance duets that Judy Garland and Fred Astaire have together including "When The Midnight Choo Choo Leaves For Alabam", and Fred Astaire's number "Steppin' Out With My Baby" despite the unnecessary gimmick of having him dance in slow motion which cheapens the routine. Unfortunately, the film crams in too many songs and the viewer may lose interest in the musical offerings, especially towards the end, as none of them are particularly good or memorable unless there is dancing involved. The film is also a little unbelievable in the way Judy Garland falls in love with Fred Astaire. Peter Lawford is the obvious romance for her, but the film seems to be driven by the following love formula - Judy Garland loves Fred Astaire (unbelievable) who loves Ann Miller (but she's a complete bitch so it's unlikely) who loves Peter Lawford who loves Judy Garland. It doesn't work. A final criticism must be made of the ending. At the beginning of the film, Don tells Hannah that come the next Easter Parade, photographers will be lining up to take her picture instead of Nadine's and we have an amusing sequence of Nadine promenading with a dog in a completely ghastly and posey manner as photographers take her picture. At the end of the film, the audience does not get the satisfaction of seeing this come true. We are left with Don and Hannah (wearing long pink rubber kitchen gloves) walking along the parade together but that's it. I assume we are meant to deduce that Hannah has arrived and is now on an equal billing with Nadine. Incidentally, we are not shown what happens with Nadine and Jonathan. I assume that they get together as they are both comfortable with having a showy lifestyle. Nothing is clearly resolved. The cast are good, the colour is great, the costumes are great particularly one green velvet dress that Judy Garland wears, and some of the routines are good but there are better musicals than this.

As musicals go, I found this one very overrated. It felt flat... lacking in both emotion and connection with the characters. Astaire can dance, but he couldn't move this film for me... Gene Kelly would have been a much better Hewes. Sorry Fred.

This is one of those movies to watch when you're having a lousy day. From the opening notes, you get a big grin on your face. By the time you get to the 2nd number "Drum Crazy", you're positively smiling ear-to-ear (if not banging on the furniture yourself, like I was. Sorry, mom). Being a (failed) drummer myself, I absolutely loved this piece. A few weeks ago I saw "Daddy Long Legs" in which Fred also does a drum solo & dance. Folks, this cat really knows how to bang the tom toms. Rhythm is the foundation of dance, and Fred really shows his mastery of it, alongside his comedic antics. Everything is colourful. Everything is graceful (camera work included). The sets (recreating 1912) are faithfully and magnificently done, particularly the scenes of New York City with horses, buggies, old storefronts and hundreds of extras dressed impeccably in Victorian attire. This movie will truly sweep you off your feet. I can't wait to have another lousy day so that I can pop this bad boy in the DVD player.

Some old-time Hollywood musicals have a style which plays well in any era. To others time has been less kind as they come across as relics of a time gone by. Unfortunately Easter Parade is one of those relics. It was a smashing success in 1948 but all these years later it doesn't play very well at all. The plot is too slight, the pacing is too slow, the songs are too dull, the whole package just doesn't work. Now any movie starring Fred Astaire and Judy Garland isn't going to be all bad. Astaire's dancing and Garland's singing are as great as you imagine they would be. Not for nothing were they film legends. But all in all this is a film which makes a rather poor showcase for the renowned talents of its famous stars. The bare-bones plot involves Astaire's character of Don having his dance team partner leave him to take up a solo offer. "I'll show her" he thinks, stating that he can take any old girl and make her into a star. Any old girl turns out to be Hannah Brown, played by Garland. Don and Hannah form a new partnership which struggles to get off the ground. But eventually the pairing starts to pick up steam and you think the movie might too. But no such luck. It's still a rather dry, oddly lifeless, musical. And a very antiquated looking and sounding one to the modern eye and ear. The Astaire-Garland pairing never sizzles the way you'd hope it would. Astaire is obviously the far superior dancer of the two. Garland gamely tries to keep up but the contrast is rather jarring. It kind of works for the story in that Garland's character is supposed to be an anonymous nobody of a dancer. But when Astaire's best musical number pairs him with a couple of anonymous hoofers while Garland stands idly by offstage it says a lot. The age disparity catches up with the pair as well once the inevitable romantic storyline kicks in. Everything about the pairing, and thus the movie, seems off somehow. It never comes together properly. The songs, the cornerstones of any movie musical, are all forgettable. The humor largely falls flat, most notably in one scene involving the world's weirdest waiter. The story isn't much of a story at all. Astaire and Garland have their moments but not nearly enough of them to carry this film to success.

Gene Kelly broke his ankle, and was replaced by the wonderful Fred Astaire. Throw Judy Garland into the mix, and you have a simply delightful easter film. I thought Astaire had great chemistry with Ginger Rogers, but he and Garland are both brilliant here. Anybody who said Judy Garland wasn't a dancer, that is so unfair. She did very well with the dance routines, which were at such a fast pace. I know because I have 2 sisters who are dancers. The songs by Irving Berlin are among his best, and the incidental music, particularly when Don and Nadine were dancing in the restaurant, was just beautiful. How could you say, this has too many songs. For God's sake, it's a musical. The script actually wasn't as bad as anybody has said; I thought it was clever. There was also solid support from Ann Miller and Peter Lawford, and the film just looked beautiful, (Judy's costumes were to die for) the song and dance numbers beautifully staged. Astaire and Garland were especially outstanding in "Couple of Swells", see this movie. It is a true Easter treat! 10/10. Bethany Cox

I just saw "Easter Parade" on the big screen for the first time, earlier this evening, and have to say that it's definitely one of the best musicals ever produced by the Arthur Freed Unit at MGM, especially out of the ones from the 1940's. I really enjoyed the movie even though I've already seen it several times on video. It features all of the halmarks of a Freed production including an amazing cast with Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, and Ann Miller, lush technicolor photography, incredible dancing, and a great score that features over 16 songs by Irving Berlin. It actually had a pretty good story too, rather just a bunch of songs with a plot that basically exists to get from one song to the next, like in some lesser musicals. The story is about a famous dancer, played by Fred Astaire, who tries to build a new act with an inexperienced chorus girl whom he discovers (Garland), after his former partner (Miller) leaves him to pursue a solo career. Of course, the requisite romantic complications and personal and professional jealousies also figure into the mix. Since all three principles play performers, there are plenty of opportunities for each of them to show off their singing and dancing in almost iconic numbers like "Steppin' Out with My Baby", "Shakin' the Blues Away", and "A Couple of Swells", which have all come to be heavily identified with Astaire, Miller, and Garland respectively throughout their careers. I definitely enjoyed this film and think it's a must-see for anyone who enjoys musicals or are fans of Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, and Ann Miller. (Peter Lawford's in this one too, but I'm not a huge fan of his.) Too bad there's no DVD version.