On the Town (1949)

Directors:

Stanley Donen
Gene Kelly

Writers:

Adolph Green (screenplay) and
Betty Comden (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

30 December 1949 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

Come On, Everybody, Let's Go On the Town!

Plot:

Three sailors on a day of shore leave in New York City look for fun and romance before their twenty-four hours are up.

Plot Keywords:

Sailor | Anthropologist | Miss Turnstiles | Prehistoric Man | Turnstile

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 1 win & 2 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Wed. Feb. 10

10:15 AM

TCM

Cast

Gene Kelly	...	Gabey
Frank Sinatra	...	Chip
Betty Garrett	...	Brunhilde Esterhazy
Ann Miller	...	Claire Huddesen
Jules Munshin	...	Ozzie
Vera-Ellen	...	Ivy Smith
Florence Bates	...	Mme. Dilyovska
Alice Pearce	...	Lucy Schmeeler
George Meader	...	Professor
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Murray Alper	...	Cab company owner (uncredited)
Bette Arlen	...	Dancer in 'Day in New York' Ballet (uncredited)
Anne Beck	...	Nightclub Extra (uncredited)
Bea Benaderet	...	Brooklyn Girl on Subway (uncredited)
Gladys Blake	...	Brooklyn Girl on Subway (uncredited)
Eugene Borden	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Leonard Bremen	...	Spectator (uncredited)
Don Brodie	...	Photo Layout Man (uncredited)
Ralph Brooks	...	Nightclub Extra (uncredited)
Claire Carleton	...	Nightclub Extra (uncredited)
Peter Chong	...	Bartender (uncredited)
Dorinda Clifton	...	Dancer in 'Day in New York' Ballet (uncredited)
Hans Conried	...	Francois (head waiter) (uncredited)
Jeanne Coyne	...	Dancer in 'Day in New York Ballet (uncredited)
Lester Dorr	...	Subway passenger (uncredited)
Tom Dugan	...	Officer Tracy, Car 44 (uncredited)
Helen Eby-Rock	...	Little Girl's Mother (uncredited)
James A. FitzPatrick	...	Trailer Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Wanda Flippen	...	Nightclub Extra (uncredited)
Frank Hagney	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Carol Haney	...	Dancer in 'Day in New York' Ballet (uncredited)
Timmy Hawkins	...	Boy in Subway (uncredited)
Bern Hoffman	...	Shipyard singer (uncredited)
Judy Holliday	...	Daisy (Simpkins' MGM date) (voice) (uncredited)
Curtis Loys Jackson Jr.	...	Boy in Subway (uncredited)
Richard Kean	...	Poet Type (uncredited)
Milton Kibbee	...	Sign poster (uncredited)
Jack Lee	...	Speed Cop (uncredited)
Hank Mann	...	Max, the Photographer (uncredited)
Gloria Marlen	...	Dancer in 'Day in New York' Ballet (uncredited)
Helen McAllister	...	Kooch Girl (uncredited)
Sid Melton	...	Spud (uncredited)
Diane Nance	...	Little Girl (uncredited)
Kerry O'Day	...	Nightclub Extra (uncredited)
Norman Ollestad	...	Boy in Subway (uncredited)
William 'Bill' Phillips	...	Sailor Simkins (uncredited)
Royal Raymond	...	Barker (uncredited)
Alex Romero	...	Sailor - in 'Day in New York' Ballet (uncredited)
Frank J. Scannell	...	Officer Mulrooney (uncredited)
Lee Scott	...	Dancer in 'Day in New York' Ballet (uncredited)
Jack Shea	...	Tough Marine in Subway (uncredited)
Robert Smith	...	Spectator (uncredited)
Robert R. Stephenson	...	Man in Subway Station (uncredited)
Dick Wessel	...	Sailor Kovarsky (uncredited)
Robert Williams	...	Police sergeant, Car 44 (uncredited)
Bud Wolfe	...	Speed Cop (uncredited)

Directed by
Stanley Donen
Gene Kelly

Writing credits
Adolph Green		(screenplay) and
Betty Comden		(screenplay)
Adolph Green		(musical play) and
Betty Comden		(musical play)
Jerome Robbins		(idea)

Produced by
Roger Edens	....	associate producer
Arthur Freed	....	producer

Original Music by
Conrad Salinger		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Harold Rosson

Film Editing by
Ralph E. Winters

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons
Jack Martin Smith

Set Decoration by
Edwin B. Willis

Costume Design by
Helen Rose

Makeup Department
Jack Dawn	....	makeup designer
Sydney Guilaroff	....	hair styles designer

Art Department
Jack D. Moore	....	associate set decorator

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording supervisor
Richard Gramaglia	....	sound (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Warren Newcombe	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Robert Martin	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Music Department
Saul Chaplin	....	vocal arranger
Lennie Hayton	....	musical director
Conrad Salinger	....	orchestrator

Other crew
George Abbott	....	stage director
Paul Feigay	....	producer: original stage production
James Gooch	....	technicolor color consultant
Henri Jaffa	....	technicolor color consultant
Oliver Smith	....	producer: original stage production
Jeanne Coyne	....	assistant: Mr. Kelly, Hollywood (uncredited)
Carol Haney	....	assistant choreographer (uncredited)
Alex Romero	....	assistant choreographer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (controlled by Loew's Incorporated) (A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Silver Anniversary Picture)
• Loew's (produced by) (as Loew's Incorporated)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1949) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1949) (UK) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1972) (USA) (TV) (network premiere)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1989) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1994) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1996) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Delta Expedition (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate #13929) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Argentina:Atp | Chile:TE | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | UK:U

Filming Locations:

5th Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

When the film premiered at the Radio City Music Hall there was then the largest line to get in, in that theater's history. After the film's initial success, Arthur Freed, the producer of this film, recalled that his unit was in the MGM commissary passing the Joe Pasternak unit (which made less expensive musicals), the Pasternak unit said, "There goes the royal family." Indeed, this picture was at the time the second largest-grossing in MGM history, next to Meet Me in St. Louis (1944).

Goofs:

Plot holes: When the boys are looking for clues on the poster in order to find Miss Turnstiles they find her likes and dislikes. The only problem is none of that is actually mentioned on the poster they have or any that the viewer sees.

Quotes:

Gabey: Gesundheit.
Lucy Schmeeler: That's the nicest thing anybody ever said to me!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Ugly Betty: The Lyin', the Watch and the Wardrobe (#1.5)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

New York, New York

New York IS a wonderful town!

Grand, sure-fire musical entertainment courtesy of MGM, "On the Town" brings euphoric life to the 'Big Apple' like no other piece of celluloid, comedy or drama, before or since. More than just a breath of fresh air, this breezy souffle of a movie is like taking a huge whiff of pure oxygen, leaving you so exhilarated you'd swear you were on some kind of substance-induced high. Drenched in old-fashioned innocence and loaded with dazzling footwork, it gave a tremendous boost to the careers of all involved and helped to create a whole new style of musical film.

Three swabbies on a 24-hour shore pass during WWII bask in the sights and delights of NYC while running into new lady loves in the interim. That's all there is to it. The first musical to actually shoot on location, the viewer has the surreal-like thrill of a first-time vacationer as the movie juxtaposes every tourist trap imaginable, plus some, while capturing the pulse and heart of the City to endless effect.

Briskly co-directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, the movie would initially appear to have everything going AGAINST it. The plot is so thin and flaky it almost evaporates into thin air. Moreover, the directors made the seemingly unwise choice of dumping nearly all of the charming Leonard Bernstein score and Betty Comden/Adolph Green libretto for newer, untried songs by Roger Edens. Well, in good reliable hands, this not only works, it dances circles around the original!

There's so much going for this movie in the name of talent that its hard to know where to begin. Gene Kelly prepped his choreographic talents here for the later landmark musicals "An American in Paris" and "Singin' in the Rain." He is sheer delight as the lovelorn sailor who pines for "Miss Turnstiles," a billboard fantasy. Jules Munshin unleashes pure Ed Wynn buffoonery as the sailor with the least animal magnetism. Even Frank Sinatra, allows himself to get caught up in all the fun.

And the girls are irresistible too. Betty Garrett shoots with both barrels as the man-chasing cabbie and proves she is quite capable of stepping up to the plate in the dance department. Lithe and lovely Vera-Ellen, who never won the attention she fully deserved, is poetry in motion as Kelly's dream come true. In particular, her adagios with Kelly are imbued with such unsullied passion that it can't help but tug at the ol' nostalgic heart-strings. Peppy Ann Miller is, as always, a revelation as the toe-tapping anthropologist, taking full advantage of the zingy score's newer songs and embellishing them with now-classic dance routines.

As a special treat, my favorite character actress, Alice Pearce, offers side-splitting comedy relief as Kelly's impromptu blind date managing to steal one song from the star ensemble while finding a touching moment of pathos in her final scene. The homely comedienne went on to play nosy neighbor Gladys Kravitz in the "Bewitched" TV series to Emmy-winning acclaim. Florence Bates also makes the most of her patented huff and scowl as a tipsy ballet mistress, and see if you can scout out an unbilled Bea Benadaret (Kate in "Petticoat Junction") as a subway tootsie.

Still the highlight, and there are many highlights, is the infectious title tune atop the Empire State Building with Kelly & Company. Nowhere in the history of filmed musicals will you find such barn-storming talent and exuberant fun packed into one simple little tune. That sequence is a natural tape-rewinder.

You know the old saying, "They don't make 'em like this anymore?" Oh, they are so right.