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'''''The Band Wagon,''''' ([[1953 in film|1953]]) is a [[musical comedy]] film, released by [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] which tells the story of an aging musical star who wants to star in a [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] play that will restart his career. But the play's director wants to make it a pretentious retelling of ''[[Faust]]'', and brings in a [[prima ballerina]] who clashes with the show's star. It stars [[Fred Astaire]], [[Cyd Charisse]], [[Oscar Levant]], [[Nanette Fabray]] and [[Jack Buchanan]].
'''''The Band Wagon,''''' ([[1953 in film|1953]]) is a [[musical comedy]] film, released by [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]], that tells the story of an aging musical star who wants to star in a [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] play that will restart his career. But the play's director wants to make it a pretentious retelling of ''[[Faust]]'', and brings in a [[prima ballerina]] who clashes with the show's 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]] for ''The Band Wagon'' (1931) which had a book by [[George S. Kaufman]] and starred Fred Astaire and his sister [[Adele Astaire|Adele]] on Broadway. It was nominated for [[Academy Awards]] for [[Academy Award for Costume Design|Best Costume Design, Color]], [[Academy Award for Original Music Score|Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture]] and [[Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay|Best Writing, Story and Screenplay]] (for Comden and Green).
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]] for ''The Band Wagon'' (1931) which had a book by [[George S. Kaufman]] and starred Fred Astaire and his sister [[Adele Astaire|Adele]] on Broadway. It was nominated for [[Academy Awards]] for [[Academy Award for Costume Design|Best Costume Design, Color]], [[Academy Award for Original Music Score|Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture]] and [[Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay|Best Writing, Story and Screenplay]] (for Comden and Green).

Revision as of 01:36, 4 February 2008

The Band Wagon
File:The Band Wagon.JPG
The Band Wagon DVD cover
Directed byVincente Minnelli
Produced byArthur Freed
StarringFred Astaire
Cyd Charisse
Oscar Levant
Nanette Fabray
Distributed byMGM
Release dates
August 7, 1953 (U.S. release)
Running time
112 min.
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2,169,120 (estimated)

The Band Wagon, (1953) is a musical comedy film, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, that tells the story of an aging musical star who wants to star in a Broadway play that will restart his career. But the play's director wants to make it a pretentious retelling of Faust, and brings in a prima ballerina who clashes with the show's 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 for The Band Wagon (1931) which had a book by George S. Kaufman and starred Fred Astaire and his sister Adele on Broadway. It 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).

The film popularized the song "That's Entertainment!", which became a standard. Other numbers in the film include "Dancing in the Dark", "I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan," "Shine on Your Shoes," and "Triplets," which features Astaire, Fabray and Buchanan dancing on their knees, dressed in baby clothes. The film's most elaborate number is the "Girl Hunt Ballet," a spoof of Mickey Spillane hard-boiled detective novels, featuring Astaire and Charisse.

Charisse's singing was dubbed by India Adams.

One musical number shot for the film but dropped before release was a seductive dance routine featuring Charisse performing "Two-Faced Woman" (with vocal, as noted above, 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.

Many critics rank The Band Wagon (along with Singin' in the Rain) as the finest of the MGM musicals. 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". The song "Dancing in the Dark" is considered part of the Great American Songbook. In 2006, this film ranked #17 on the American Film Institute's list of best musicals.

Musical numbers

in chronological order

File:Fabray.jpg
Fabray with Fred Astaire (left) and Jack Buchanan in the classic "Triplets" sequence
  1. "By Myself" — Fred Astaire
  2. "Shine on Your Shoes" — Fred Astaire and Leroy Daniels
  3. "That's Entertainment!" — Fred 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" — Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse
  6. "You and the Night and the Music" — sung by chorus, danced by Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse
  7. "Something to Remember You By" — sung by chorus
  8. "High and Low" — sung by chorus
  9. "I Love Louisa" — Fred Astaire, Oscar Levant and Nanette Fabray
  10. "New Sun in the Sky" — Cyd Charisse (sung by India Adams, dubbed)
  11. "I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan" — Fred Astaire and Jack Buchanan
  12. "Triplets" — Fred Astaire, Jack Buchanan and Nanette Fabray
  13. "Louisiana Hayride" — Nanette Fabray and chorus
  14. "Girl Hunt ballet" — Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse
Source: [1]

Stage adaptation

Template:Future play section

According to articles in playbill.com, Douglas Carter Beane is working on a stage adaptation, to be titled "Dancing in the Dark" and scheduled to premiere at The Old Globe Theatre (San Diego) March 4-April 13, 2008, with plans to bring the show to Broadway. Gary Griffin will direct, and Patrick Page is announced to play the "deliciously pretentious" director-actor-producer Jeffrey Cordova, with Mara Davi playing Gabrielle Gerard. Scott Bakula is announced to play "song-and-dance man" Tony Hunter. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

References

  1. ^ soundtrack
  2. ^ "Douglas Carter Beane Lovingly Steers "Band Wagon" to Create Dancing in the Dark", playbill.com article, December 23, 2007
  3. ^ "Grinch Star Jumps Onto the Band Wagon, Joining Dancing in the Dark", playbill.com article, Jan. 3, 2008
  4. ^ Old Globe site
  5. ^ playbill article, January 7, 2008
  6. ^ playbill article, January 28, 2008
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