Give a Girl a Break

Plot synopsis:
When the temperamental star of a new Broadway musical revue in rehearsals walks out, director and choreographer Ted Sturgis (Gower Champion) suggests casting an unknown for the role. When it is announced in the newspapers, throngs of hopefuls show up. They sing about their hopes in the song, "Give a Girl a Break." The revue's musical composer, Leo Belney (Kurt Kasznar), champions ballerina Joanna Moss, while gofer Bob Dowdy (Bob Fosse) is enchanted by novice Suzy Doolittle (Debbie Reynolds). Then producer Felix Jordan (Larry Keating) persuades Ted's former dance partner, Madelyn Corlane (Marge Champion), to come out of retirement to try out, much to Ted's great discomfort. Leo, Bob, and Ted sing about the challenges of re-writing the show for a new performer in "Nothing is Impossible."
Joanna goes home and tells her husband she has a good chance of getting the part. He has exciting news of his own. He has been offered a position as head of the English Department at a major University out of state. They argue and then make up. Suzy goes home to tell her mother she has a chance at the part. Her mother tells her she should spend the evening readying for the audition tomorrow. Bob shows up while she is practicing. She goes out with him. They sing and dance to "In Our United State." Ted visits Madelyn to let her know that if she wants the part she better show up and give a great audition. He begins "The challenge Dance." She matches him step for step. They are ready to fall into each other's arms when her date for the evening shows up.
Bob fantasizes about dancing with Suzy in a sequence using the songs "Give a Girl a Break" and "In Our United State." Leo fantasizes about conducting an orchestra while Joanna dances to the "Puppet Master Dance." Ted envisions himself dancing with Madelyn to "It Happens Ev'ry Time." Joanna, Suzy and Madelyn all perform well at the audition. Leo, Felix and Ted discuss who should get the part. Bob overhears them talking about Suzy in the role and assuming she has the part, he calls her and tells her she has the part.
Felix and Leo both want Joanna in the part. Ted prefers Madelyn but he concedes. Joanna accepts the part. Bob calls Suzy to tell her he was mistaken. Suzy is crushed. Ted goes in person to let Madelyn know.
Rehearsals are underway with Joanna. She isn't doing well and runs to her dressing room in tears. Her husband shows up ready to leave town for his new job. Joanna stops crying and happily announces she is pregnant and she is leaving with her husband. Felix, Leo and Ted discuss hiring Suzy for the part. Bob runs and calls her to let her know. She doesn't believe him but he convinces her. However, they have decided to offer the part to Madelyn. But when it becomes clear that Madelyn has left town and can't be reached, the job is offered to Suzy.
Opening night arrives. We see Ted and Suzy dance and sing to "Applause, Applause." The show, and Suzy, are a hit. Ted walks out into the empty theater after the show and sees Madelyn. He asks why she left. She tells him she wanted to find out if it was show business she missed or him. It was him. They run into each other's arms.

Tags: romantic

Review:
'Give a Girl a Break' deserves to be better known; it's certainly not one of MGM's greatest musicals, but it has many bright spots and some pleasant tunes by Burton Lane with excellent lyrics by Ira Gershwin.
Modern viewers will probably be most interested in Bob Fosse's excellent performance, in a supporting role.Some aspects of this movie are clearly derived from earlier and better musicals.
At one point, Gower Champion's character (a Broadway director) is besieged by struggling chorus dancers who want parts in his new musical.
The fact that 'Give a Girl a Break' is directed by Stanley Donen (co-director of 'Singin' in the Rain') only makes the link more obvious.Gower Champion plays Ted Sturgis, the big-shot director of a new Broadway musical still in rehearsal.
Bob Fosse plays Bobby, his assistant and dance captain, although Sturgis usually keeps Bobby busy fetching coffee.
as did Fosse.) Kurt Kasznar plays Leo Belney, the show's musical director: a role that should have been played by Oscar Levant.
Sturgis's ex-wife (played by Gower Champion's real wife Marge) is Madelyn Corlane, a former star whose popularity has faded, but who is hopeful of a comeback.When Sturgis's leading lady throws a tantrum and walks out (not likely!), he needs a new leading lady in a hurry.
The more classically-minded Leo wants the leading role to go to Joanna Moss (Helen Wood), a ballet dancer he secretly hopes to romance.There's some genuine suspense as we try to guess which of these three women will get the big break.
Unfortunately, the three candidates aren't equal: it's extremely obvious that highbrow ballerina Joanna hasn't got a chance against the more conventional chorines Madelyn and Suzie.The best number in the movie is 'In Our United State' performed by Fosse and Reynolds.
I also enjoyed 'Nothing Is Impossible', performed by the three men, which features a strange bit in which Gower Champion does a rapid tap dance with one foot while he keeps his other foot balanced on top of Bob Fosse's upright heel.
The tubby actor Kurt Kasznar, who can't dance and can barely sing, shows some courage by performing a musical number with the athletic Champion and Fosse.There's a clever three-way dream sequence, in which each man envisions his own favoured lady's name appearing in lights above the theatre.
Corny!This is a good place to correct a misconception about Gower Champion: after a long career as a director of Broadway musicals, he supposedly died on the opening night of '42nd Street', his biggest hit.
('42nd Street' is about a Broadway director who risks his own health in rehearsals while trying to make his biggest show a hit.) The truth is a bit less neat: Gower Champion actually died several days before his show opened, but producer David Merrick (recognising the publicity value of Champion's death) claimed on opening night that Champion had died earlier that day.I'll rate 'Give a Girl a Break' 6 out of 10, and I recommend it to you..
Everyone is charming; Marge and Gower Champion are at their peak, Bob Fosse is just hitting his stride (amusing that his screen persona was so charmingly little-boyish, in contrast to the dark angular sexiness of his later stage choreographies), and Debbie Reynolds is pixie-ish as ever.
Helen Wood was not a great actress, but she was necessary to provide an additional dance flavor (see below).To differ from another reviewer, I think that Kurt Kaznar was perfect for the Leo Belney part, at least as it was written.
He carries off being totally suggestible, changing opinion instantly, and having an equal conviction in each new attitude.Though they don't make a big deal about it, the film was mirroring a real conundrum facing Broadway directors at that period: what kind of dance to use?
While Fosse often spoke of his limitations as a dancer, the reality is he was a brilliant one , and in his dance numbers here he already is exhibiting a unique and original style that is athletic, jazzy, sexy and charming .
The music in this movie is very good , and serves to show off the talents of its stars.
Robert Osborne pointed out afterwards the amusing anecdote about Mrs. Ira Gershwin saying to her husband after seeing the rushes of this film: "If you've got any MGM stock sell it!" He also said that MGM too had no faith in this movie and underdistributed it shamefully.
It's a brilliant and iconic and wonderful movie and needs to be talked about whenever the good old days of MGM musicals are discussed.
Imagine all those talented dancers, choreographers and directors all there together in one movie: The Champions, Fosse, Robbins, Donen, Burton Lane, Ira Gershwin, etc.
"Our united state,""house full of cute representatives" etc, etc: brother George would have been proud!) Helen Wood's brilliant dancing made we wonder whatever became of her.
This movie that originally was going to include Fred Astaire, Gene Kelley, Judy Garland and Ann Miller was left with some great dancers such as Gower/Marge Champion and Bob Fosse.Some people insist that this is a gem - this fanatic of great musicals (flicks that include great dancing, singing and acting), this is just an innocuous adventure of entertainment performed by talented dancers.The Gower/Marge Champion numbers seemed to be the recipient of more time and money with more well-thought out production values.
The Bob Fosse numbers seem surprisingly off-kilter that only suggests the great work that he will be doing in the future.One could attribute this to Gower's good fortune of dancing with a great dance partner that he can personally bond with.
(Note: Interesting seeing a "perky" choreographed dance numbers, especially considering the sharp/edgy/sexily-tinged/jazzy moves that Fosse give to the world).In addition, Stanley Donen didn't do Fosse any favors with the "backward" footage that looks "out-of-placed" and/or awkward - good ideas that didn't quite produce the desired effects.Note: Bob Fosse is not a singer - though he tries hard.
His best works can be found in much of his latter work and/or in films where he's dancing with Dan Dailey, Gene Kelley and many others.It's too bad that Bob Fosse and Gower Champion couldn't get along - hence denied the general public of what would be created with these immensely talented dancer/choreographers.
A dance showdown between Fred Astaire/Gene Kelley (seen in "The Great Ziegfield") and the team of Fosse/Champion would have been great to experience!!
Gower Champion/Marge Champion/Debbie Reynolds.fyi: George Chakiris (of "West Side Story" fame) can also be seen in the movie btw: MGM didn't even release this film in New York, that demonstrated their "faith" in this flick.
One can only imagine what would have resulted if this $2M film (a big amount for that time) had the originally intended cast of Gene Kelly, Fed Astaire, Judy Garland and Ann Miller - what can only have dream the magic from the Burton Lane/Ira Gershwin songs?!?!.
It was wonderful as always to see the Champions (I always had a crush on Marge) and Debbie Reynolds and Bob Fosse were good as always, but the film just didn't click with me, It is well worth watching at least once (you'll find it often on TCM) but I will never be able to rate it as a favorite..
While certainly not one of MGM's "classic" musicals, GIVE A GIRL A BREAK has its moments of fun and suspense.
The audition itself is quite strange in that each of the three girls just dances a couple of minutes and all three do a different number.
Aside from that, there are many moments of real entertainment, especially be two soon-to-be Broadway choreographers, Bob Fossee and Gower Champion.
Debbie Reynolds is in there doing her usual perky singing and dancing to good effect.
As compared to the product that was coming out of the Arthur Freed unit at MGM during this time, Give A Girl A Break is definitely in the rank of second rate MGM musicals.
Still it's not too bad with the accent definitely on the dance as opposed to the song.Give A Girl A Break is the title of a revue that producer Larry Keating is putting on and he's having one devil of a time trying to decide which talented dancer to give the lead to, be it Marge Champion, Debbie Reynolds or Helen Wood.
As good a dance team as they were, Marge and Gower were just not strong enough to carry a film on their own.This was a dancing film and as such no great song hits came out of the score that was written by Burton Lane and Ira Gershwin.
But the Champions, Debbie Reynolds, Bob Fosse, and Helen Wood could definitely dance to it.If the plot sounds somewhat familiar I think MGM dusted off the script to one of their biggest hits, Ziegfeld Girl about three Ziegfeld Follies aspirants and updated it somewhat.
It's also a much lighter treatment, none of the three dancers has anything happen as bad as what happened to Lana Turner in that film.Give A Girl A Break will never be one of the great MGM musicals on anyone's list, but it's a pleasant diversion.
The screen writers were some of MGM's best, who usually wrote big budget films.I wonder if the entire film, or most obviously, the dance number the Champions do with all the vertical poles were shot in 3D.
A good, not great, MGM musical, with the emphasis on dance.
The dances are so expert and entertaining, you may be able to forgive the drab quality of some of the rest of the film.The Champions were not really movie stars, and neither was Bob Fosse.
(Debbie Reynolds became a big one later, and you can see why.) Gower plays the director fairly well, but I kept picturing Gene Kelly.
Helen Wood is the third girl and while her acting is stiff, her dancing definitely isn't.The score by Burton Lane and Ira Gershwin contains no hits, but I was charmed by the tune, "In Our United State," performed by Fosse and Reynolds..
In my view, screen time should have featured her, with Marge and Gower, who are better dancers than actors, in support.
For such a great cast (Debbie Reynolds, Gower and Marge Champion and Bob Fosse) and being directed by Stanley Donen, 'Give a Girl a Break' could have been a classic.
Instead it was a modestly enjoyable film that could have been much better.Visually, although the budget apparently wasn't huge, 'Give a Girl a Break' still looks pleasing with handsome costumes and sumptuous use of colour.
The songs have garnered indifferent reactions, sure there are better songs in musicals but the songs here are pleasant and fun enough, especially for Ira Gershwin's (brother of George) very clever lyric writing.
"In Our United State" and "Nothing is Impossible" stand out.The best things about 'Give a Girl a Break' are the dance routines and the dancing.
The dancing of it is even better, with electrifying work from the Champions, Fosse and Helen Wood.Debbie Reynolds' performance is the most consistent in the cast, whereas everybody else were most successful in the dancing but less comfortable everywhere else Reynolds excelled in every aspect of her performance and gives her character spunk and perky charm.On the other hand, the story is incredibly lightweight and too often so uneventful that the film does drag at times outside of the musical numbers.
Leo Belney (Kurt Kasznar) wants his discovery Joanna Moss (Helen Ross) to get the role while Bob Dowdy (Bob Fosse) wants his amateur (Debbie Reynolds) to get the part.GIVE A GIRL A BREAK isn't going to be mistaken for a masterpiece but if you're a fan of the Musical genre then it's certainly worth watching and especially since you've got some famous faces before they were well-known.
This here was meant to be a showcase for the Champion team but the film ended up bombing and the two of them were pretty much done with the movies.
It seems MGM was wanting to show off what talent they had on hand without giving away any great moments or musical numbers..
Give a Girl a Break is a 1953 musical that uses the show-within-a-show convention to present some wonderful dancing.
The three actresses are Debbie Reynolds, Helen Wood and Marge Champion.
All three acquit themselves as actresses, but their dance talents are fantastic.The actors who play the lead roles in this film are adequate, but sometimes stiff, in their acting.
Perhaps because Bob Fosse and Gower Champion were picked more for their dancing.In any event, I say watch this movie for its dancing.
Gower Champion, Stanley Donen and Bob Fosse choreographed.
Although Fosse's idol was Astaire, you can definitely see similarities to Gene Kelly's dance style.
The rooftop dance is jazzy (highlighting the great music in this film), and might be seen to predate West Side Story.For me, the best part is the trio of dream sequences, each featuring one of the three actresses and her admirer.
The dance that features reverse motion might be gimmicky, but it's clever.The movie's end is anticlimactic, there are some awkward choices in staging, and other production aspects might have been sacrificed for quality dance numbers, but if you watch it just for the dance, it delivers.The plot is really about the sacrifices that dancers make for their craft.
How can you go wrong with the cute-but-sometimes-sexy Reynolds, the classy Marge Champion, Helen Wood (yowza!), smooth Gower Champion, and the dynamic Bob Fosse?.
nice 2nd rate MGM musical from the 50's, some good numbers.
One of Debbie Reynolds younger things and she is as always bright and energetic and good to watch - Marge & Gower Champion are excellent as always, and Bob Fosse is fun and silly as Debbie's (very young) beau.
Helen Wood was unknown to me but although can't act very well is a terrific dancer (if it wasn't a body double) in the Grahamesque style of the time (i.e. see "choreography" number in "White Christmas").
Much lesser effort than "Singing in the Rain" (but what isn't) but an enjoyable thing to watch sometime if you just enjoy the dance numbers and throw popcorn at the screen during some of the more inane or dated dialogue.
The considerable talents of Ira Gershwin and Stanley Donen showcase the considerable talents of Marge Champion, Debbie Reynolds, Bob Fosse and Gower Champion in a story making the final candidates to hastily replace the name star quitting mid rehearsal a classical ballerina, a faded former star performer and a scared novice with an overbearing mother, each the fantasy girl friend of someone having influence in determining the replacement casting.
This meld of extraordinary talents showcases the historic dilemma of which dance direction professional musicals should take in the changing times of the 1950's.
Dance-dominated musical with the Champions, Debbie, Fosse and Helen Woods..
After costarring in the now recognized classic musical "Singing in the Rain", cute, bubbly, Debbie Reynolds costarred in several more MGM musicals over the next few years, most of which, including this one, are little remembered, undeservedly so in most cases.
The prior film starred the versatile Don O'Connor who was the supporting male actor to Gene Kelly in "Singing in the Rain".
The 3 girls are competing for a musical play lead role.
The song and dance team of Gower and Marge Champion is first billed.
However, Debbie and her admirer/sometimes dance partner: Bob Fosse, are featured as prominently, and Debbie, by default, wins the coveted lead role, with Gower.The film begins with the need to quickly find a replacement for the lead female in the musical "Give a Girl a Break".
We see snippets of various girls practicing, including the 3 finalists: played by Debbie, Marge and brunet Helen Woods, who strangely are seen doing exercises together at a gym.
Fosse starts a song and dance, which Debbie eventually joins in.
Gower then forces Marge(his ex-wife in the story)to dance with him on their rooftop("The Challenge") to help regain her confidence in competing for the part.Each of the 3 men then imagine an audition dance featuring their sponsored girl, with or without themselves included.
In the first, Fosse again dances with Debbie, in a scene with artificial snow(confetti?)falling the whole time and balloons to pop, although they are dressed in summer wear.
Helen Woods then does a solo ballet to "The Puppet Master", followed by a change into a nearly all black outfit, in which she does a slinky athletic dance, later joined by stout Kurt, who mostly offers support for some of her movements, with a feeble attempt to join in, at times(he was no dancer!).
Toward the end on this scene, Gower briefly dances with a series of other women, including Debbie and Helen, but ends up again with Marge, signifying that he still favors her as the best of the bunch.The men still can't agree who is the best of the 3.
This time, she dances with Gower, rather than Fosse, in the big production finale to "Applause, Applause", which has a circus background theme, as the two mostly prance back and forth across the stage.
The basic story (of three candidates for the leading role in a Broadway musical) doesn't take a brain matter, but there is still a lot of imagination in that filler that it's hard not to like it.
In fact, I smiled vividly in watching this again (for the fifth time, last time about six years ago), especially in the opening title song, the balloon/confetti dance, and the elaborate finale, which uses the title of a future Broadway musical based upon "All About Eve".This is also a very historical movie and must for dance students because it features dancing together for the only time on screen future legendary Broadway directors/choreographers Gower Champion and Bob Fosse.
As Gower's wife Marge Champion is one of the three girls, it is sort of sad that Fosse's dancer wife Gwen Verdon wasn't.
But Fosse doesn't skimp on his dance partner-he gets the wonderful Debbie Reynolds who you can't help but adore.