Hollywood loves a good story about putting on a show, whether it’s “42nd Street” (1933) or “The Muppets Take Manhattan” (1984), and “The Band Wagon” (1953) is another example of that often visited territory. Directed by Vincente Minnelli and written by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, “The Band Wagon” follows a group of artists struggling along the rocky path of stage production, with Fred Astaire leading the way in one of his best later roles. Along with the gorgeous Cyd Charisse, the film offers additional attractions with memorable supporting characters and several delightful musical numbers, including the original performance of the great Hollywood anthem, “That’s Entertainment!”
Astaire headlines the cast as Tony Hunter, a song and dance man whose star has fallen in Hollywood. He travels to New York, where his writer pals, the Martons (Oscar Levant and Nanette Fabray), have cooked up a stage musical to revive his career, but the show gets out of control after an overzealous director (Jack Buchanan) takes the helm. Further complications arise when a beautiful young ballet star named Gabrielle Gerard (Cyd Charisse) is cast as Hunter’s leading lady.
Astaire was 54 the year that “The Band Wagon” appeared, with a full 20 years of screen appearances behind him, but he still shows remarkable energy in the dance sequences. His solo number, “Shine on Your Shoes,” is great fun, full of lively steps and comic flourishes as he cavorts through a crowded arcade. “The Girl Hunt Ballet,” an extended noir dance sequence at the end of the picture, is another highlight, with Cyd Charisse simply stunning in a sequined scarlet gown, although the number bears some striking similarities to the final dance scene in “Singin’ in the Rain” (1952), which also features Charisse as a slinky femme fatale. Comden and Green wrote both pictures, adding to the sense of déjà vu, but Astaire’s turn as a hard-boiled detective gives the number unique appeal.
Although Astaire and Charisse are clearly the stars of this show, the supporting cast is particularly good, with Jack Buchanan chewing the scenery as the theatrical Jeffrey Cordova and Oscar Levant amusingly cast as the hypochondriac Les Marton. However, the irresistible Nanette Fabray steals nearly every scene in which she appears, especially in the bizarre but very funny “Triplets” number. Fabray and Levant play fictionalized versions of Comden and Green, although in real life the writers were married to other people and not to each other. The charismatic Fabray enjoyed a long career on the stage and in television, but “The Band Wagon” is one of her few big screen appearances, and you’ll leave the movie wondering why she wasn’t in a lot more films.
Nominated for three Academy Awards, “The Band Wagon” led to an additional pairing of Astaire and Charisse in “Silk Stockings” (1957). See Astaire with his most famous partner, Ginger Rogers, in “Top Hat” (1935) and “Swing Time” (1936). For more of Cyd Charisse, try “The Harvey Girls” (1946), “Singin’ in the Rain” (1952), and “Brigadoon” (1954), as well as a more unusual role in the lesser-known noir gem, “Tension” (1949). Vincente Minelli, who also directed “Meet Me in St. Louis” (1944) and “An American in Paris” (1951), won his only Oscar for “Gigi” (1958).
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