A delight for film fans

Rating: 10/10 (4 November 2002)

Story of a silent film hearthrob's uneasy transition into stardom in the "talkie" era is spiced with the cream of N.H. Brown's MGM library crop. The dance sequences are superb, featuring Charisse as the "dream girl". But what really makes the film is the real chemistry and well-developed (within the limited time available) love story. Comden and Green have provided a very nice script, and the photography and directing are excellent.

The song "Make 'em Laugh" is a blatant rip-off of Cole Porter's "Be A Clown" (written for the Freed unit only a few years before), and all the other music is from the 30s, so this lack of originality is the film's only real fault.