"The Bandwagon" (1953)

Directed by Vincente Minelli, they pulled no stops when they push this to the limit of movie musicals. Distributed by MGM when the idea of musicals were starting to wane. And a very interesting look at how entertainment treats its royalty (hint: no good). This one happens to touch on Fred Astaire’s own career

Drawing from an idea of a washed up movie actor who accepts an invitation to appear on Broadway show. He soon discovers that the director attempts to adjust an idea two young writers created to placate money people (any of this sound familiar). In doing so, the show turns to a disaster. Which is when Fred and company decide to put on the original show they intended and carry it town to town.

While not nearly as buoyant as the wonderful “Singin’ In The Rain” this movie’s achievement is pretty amazing. The last 20 minutes of the movie is pure musical. No story, no dialogue…just musical numbers one after another. Which is clear to me, the love of the musical is within everyone involve.

The one thing that doesn’t work (in my opinion) is the love story aspect between Astaire’s character and Cyd Charisse. Which…I should add…my God! What a sexy woman. Her commitment to dance moves and even watching the outtakes where she breaks character is boner material. Her legs should be enshrined. I just think he looks tired and old. To force any type of heat on these two seems sorta’…wrong. Which, I suppose if you can dance, most people overlook the grandpa thing (to be fair, the bigger offensive one is Astaire and Audrey Hepburn…blech).

What I absolutely love about this movie is its heart. If you were to watch this simultaneously with the rest of the MGM library, you would definitely pick up the pattern. Which is the joy of dance and music. What they did best was to undercut the silliness of the situation (singing in the open) with alluding to the fact that it was all sub-textual. For instance, the Central Park dance sequence as Astaire and Charisse step into the park, they go into a dance number which tells the story of whether or not these two could get along. In the end, they simply slip back onto the horse and buggy (as if this never happened) and they continue on their journey.

This is also the musical that brought you the toe-tapping, brain humming, too much of a good thing nauseating song “That’s Entertainment” Yep, the song that Hollywood whipped raw, originated here. It’s was really interesting to hear the original lyrics. Basically, the message of that song is…do whatever it takes to entertain. Which is fantastic for those us still attempting to do something creative. Stay in the game, basically. All the silly things they mention…is…for entertainment. Because “the world is a stage, the stage is the world of entertainment…” Not bad.

Try to watch the extra feature stuff on the DVD. It’s fun trivia about the misery that was involved in the making of. Though it is now fondly seen as the epitome of MGM musical accomplishments, it took a ways to get there. The mysterious Fred Astaire’s strange aloofness to the cast did nothing to hinder the flick. Though, it rode on the perfectionist mentality of Vicente Minelli. A man who is far more fascinating that I had originally thought. None of the stars would even consider this a fun shoot, but most of them consider it one of their best movies. So I have to wonder sometimes, the mark of great filmmaking comes at a level of discomfort that most people may not be able to get above. A good experience doesn’t necessarily mean a great product, and vice versa. It’s strange how these things end up.