Easter Parade (1948)
Director: Charles Walters
Starring: Judy Garland, Fred Astaire
Honors:
MGM for the first time united two stars of song and dance in
the entertainment centric Technicolor musical Easter Parade. Judy Garland coming off her worst box office showing
is combined with the legendary twinkle-toed Fred Astaire in another one of
MGM’s Irving Berlin based musicals. Just as the later released Yuletide classic
White Christmas did for the winter
holiday season, Easter Parade was a
feature titles after a singular song with classic visuals of the bygone themes
of the spring holiday for which it shares its namesake, and also like White Christmas has little to nothing
else to do with the holiday it promotes. Complete with MGM extravagance and the
film’s star power, the picture would be the second largest box office draw of
1948.
Easter Parade is a
musical about an entertainer who hires a random chorus girl to prove he can
turn any woman into a star, only to discover love in the process. Jealous that
his former lover and dancing partner, Nadine Hale (Ann Miller), separating into
greater success, entertainer Don Hewes (Fred Astaire), turns his frustration into
a scheme. He vows to turn any random girl into an equal or better star than Nadine
to prove Don was the true mastermind of their success. Don plucks the random
chorus dancer, Hannah Brown (Judy Garland), as his subject to mold her into the
next Nadine only to have Hannah teach Don the lesson that each person must be
their own induvial. During their time together Don and Hannah begin to observe
signs of a romantic relationship as their act grows in popularity when Don’s
former relationship with Nadine has Hannah questioning Don’s true feelings. With
the aid of Hannah and Don’s good pal Johnny (Peter Lawford) they realize their
true love for each other as Don learns to push away Nadine as he unites with
Hannah to stroll together down Manhattan’s romantically colorful Easter parade.
Looking back this musical appears to be not much more than
the common Judy Garland or Fred Astaire musical fluff. Featuring the tunes of
Irving Berlin, this movie shares the common tale of a man attempting to tame a
girl to form into his vision of an attractive star out of spite only to fall in
love with her himself. However, considering the time when the feature was
released Garland was still at the top of her game, in spite of her most resent
feature, and Astaire returning to star form in this lavish Technicolor feature
by MGM. Its result was the biggest box office draw for the studio of the year,
falling only short of Paramount’s Hope/Crosby musical comedy Road to Rio.
Fallowing her devastating experience that was The Pirate, Judy Garland was in need of
a quick professional pick-me-up. This Garland vehicle originally intended to be
directed once again by her husband Vincente Minnelli, but due to recent marital
issues that troubled Garland Minnelli was replaced by former MGM dance director
Charles Walker in his biggest feature to date. Gene Kelly was intended to
co-star along with Garland once again to help both mend from the debacle that
was The Pirate, but after Kelly badly
sprained his ankle he recommended that Astaire take his place setting up the
very first meeting between the now two legendary stars of genre.
Judy Garland reverts to the innocent all-American style girl
who wants to make good, a persona that made her a star in the first place at
MGM. Fred Astaire is his usual self, dancing, tapping, and fluttering about the
frame, using his movement to share the story along with the music and script.
The two were very much on top of there games at this point, although there is
nothing enormous or new brought in either performance, the pairing of these two
talents alone was enough to attract any fan of motion picture musicals.
Ann Miller provides her own dancing talent in the role of
Nadine, Don’s former partner who makes it big on her own creating the rift
between the two. The former B-movie performer Miller had been recently thrusted
into the big time with her signature long dancer’s legs performs beautifully
when called for, but easily takes on the persona of the jealous villain of all
things Don and Hannah. From the moment we meet her in the picture the audience
is made to despise her, regardless of her obvious beauty making it a fun role
for her to portray while still being able to showcase her own dancing mastery
in various numbers.
The lost character in the story of the feature is that of
Johnny, Don’s good friend, played by Peter Lawford. As one of the new young
actor to have risen while many Hollywood leading men were away during the war,
Lawford supports Garland and Astaire in a role as the film’s straight man. His
character is handsome friend that Nadine attempts to woo to further make Don
jealous, but always remains at his friend’s side. Sadly Johnny also becomes one
that falls for Hannah, a feeling she does not reciprocate due to her feelings
for Don, the true focus of the story after all. The character of Johnny is a
sad one as he supports his friends, but really comes out of this with nothing,
making him, in my mind, the unsung hero of the picture. In any case, the Johnny
role is just a pawn in furthering the plot of the picture and the performance
of Peter Lawford does not heighten or hinder the plot at all. He rather just
fills in the plot needs when called upon; a lacking pay off for Lawford who
would see better work in his future.
Easter Parade
delivers where fans of Garland and Astaire would have wanted. Astaire, a gangly
yet graceful leading man, has his charm adds to his masterful dancing scenes. Miss
Garland appears to have brushed off her troubles experienced over the previous
year that resulted in her poorest received picture, marital troubles, and
psychological issues, to deliver a performance that was typical Garland. Movie
fans obviously came out to see these two perform beside each other as the picture
grossed well over $5 million in box office receipts, becoming the greatest
money maker for both stars’ careers to this point.
Apart from winning the Oscar for Best Score, the musical was
a popular film of the musical genre for many years. The film did miss out on a
opportunity when it edited out the musical number “Mr. Monotony” in which
Garland was dressed in a tuxedo top and hat with black nylons due to what the
studio deemed too risqué. She would eventually wear a similar outfit just two
years later in the film Summer Stock
and would become a signature look throughout Garland’s career well into her
later years.
Today Easter Parade
remains a well received musical in cinematic history, but I feel gets lost in a
wide field of superior musicals. Everything hits its marks, but with nothing a grand
significance the picture can be bland. However, put into context this was the
first pairing of Garland and Astaire the feature was a massive draw for
Hollywood movie fans in 1948.
.jpg)
Comments
Post a Comment