On the Town

Plot synopsis:
Three sailors – Gabey, Chip, and Ozzie – begin their shore leave, excited for their 24 hours in New York ("New York, New York"). Riding the subway, Gabey falls in love with the picture of "Miss Turnstiles", who is actually called Ivy Smith, and fantasises about what she's like in real life ("Miss Turnstiles"). The sailors race around New York attempting to find her in the brief period they have.
They are assisted by, and become romantically involved with, two women, and pair up: Ozzie with Claire, an anthropologist; and Chip with Hildy Esterhazy, an aggressively amorous taxi driver. Claire claims that she's found her passionate "Prehistoric Man" in Ozzie at the Museum of Anthropological History. Hildy invites Chip to "Come Up to My Place". Finally finding Ivy, Gabey takes her on an imaginary date down his home town "Main Street" in a studio in Symphonic Hall - not realising that she is also from the same town. Later, Chip sincerely falls for Hildy telling her "You're Awful" – that is, awful nice to be with. That evening, all the couples meet at the top of the Empire State Building to celebrate a night "On the Town".
But when an ashamed Ivy walks out on Gabey to get to her late night work as a cooch dancer, the friends tell a despondent Gabey, "You Can Count on Me", joined by Hildy's annoying, but well-meaning roommate, Lucy Schmeeler. They have a number of adventures before reuniting with Ivy at Coney Island just as their 24-hour leave ends and they must return to their ship to head off to sea. Although their future is uncertain, the boys and girls share one last kiss on the pier as a new crew of sailors heads out into the city for their leave ("New York, New York" reprise).

Tags: romantic

Review:
Chip (Frank Sinatra) wants to see the sights; Ozzie (Jules Munshin) wants to play; and Gabey (Kelly) immediately falls into an obsession over a girl he sees on a subway poster, `Miss Turnstiles' of the month, Ivy Smith (Vera-Ellen), and vows to find her.
Vera-Ellen has a great number early on in the film, in which Miss Turnstiles is introduced; Ann Miller taps her way through a rousing routine in the museum (in which she is joined by Sinatra, Munshin, Kelly and Garrett) that really gives her a chance to show her stuff; and Sinatra and Garrett engage in a memorable bit in song, as she attempts to get him to `Come Up To My Place.'  Through it all, Sinatra exudes a certain boyish charm while Garrett and Munshin provide the comic relief.
Peppy Ann Miller is, as always, a revelation as the toe-tapping anthropologist, taking full advantage of the zingy score's newer songs and embellishing them with now-classic dance routines.As a special treat, my favorite character actress, Alice Pearce, offers side-splitting comedy relief as Kelly's impromptu blind date managing to steal one song from the star ensemble while finding a touching moment of pathos in her final scene.
(Though for a brief while Sinatra does charmingly play a skinny little geek bent on seeing the sights of New York, flinging facts from his guide book and appearing unaffected by Betty Garrett's streetwise cabbie flinging herself at him.) Gabey (Gene Kelly) falls for 'Miss Turnstiles' or Ivy Smith (Vera-Ellen), and spends the day trying to track her down from information on the poster.
I thought it was a really nice touch to have Bern Hoffman singing a lazy-morning song, 'I'm Feeling Like I'm Not Out Of Bed' to bookend the film beginning and end, to give the sense of a full day having passed.It should probably also be granted that there isn't quite enough dancing, especially not from Gene Kelly (who is always a delight to watch, even when mostly playing the bystander as he was in the 'Count On Me' number) and Ann Miller, who got the chance to show off her amazing tap-dancing skills and gorgeous gams in the wildly energetic 'Prehistoric Man'.
The shadow sequence at the ballet barre with Vera-Ellen is also something incredible to behold and perfectly-staged.ON THE TOWN is a great night at the movies, and is time well-spent with a few characters you really get to know, an excellent cast (Alice Pearce practically steals the entire show as Lucy Schmeeler, for example--not an easy task considering who she was playing against!), and a great soundtrack.
There is also plenty of humour, such as the scene where Frank Sinatra wants to go sight-seeing, unlike his new-found girlfriend, a man-hungry female cab driver, who would rather take him back to "my place", Gene Kelly's search for "Miss Turnstiles", whom he imagines to be a glamorous and famous beauty queen, and the scene where the three men manage to demolish a dinosaur skeleton in the city's Museum of Anthropology.
Alice Pearce is also rather funny as Hildie's roomate, Lucy Shmeeler.I recommend this movie to anyone who is a fan of musicals, especially the older ones, such as "An American In Paris", "Singin' In The Rain" and "Take Me Out To The Ballgame."  This carefree frolic of a film will leave you laughing and singing for days!.
From the all-star cast of Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Ann Miller, Vera Ellen and others to the script itself written by the wonderful Betty Comden and Adolph Green, it is no wonder that this movie is still around.
Nevertheless it remains a highly entertaining romp  how could it fail with a cast that includes Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Betty Garrett, Ann Miller and Vera-Ellen.
On the Town bristles with energy and humor and terrific performances by a great cast.Three sailors on a one day pass in 1949 New York City meet three girls, fall in love, and go back to sea.
That's about it for plot but this great musical is filled with top songs and dancing.Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Jules Munshin are the sailors; Vera Ellen, Ann Miller, and Betty Garrett are the girls.
So this was a great idea: to combine two talented filmmakers, because you need both of those elements for On the Town.The story reminded me of another musical starring Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra, Anchors Aweigh (1945).
This plot less and structureless musical has somehow reached classic status despite the fact that, aside from the main number, it features one song and dance number after another that are awful.It does have some good points - the image of the three Sailors on leave is iconic and the opening sequence is always fun and promising, Ann Miller is her usual saucy and sexy self, Jules Munshin turns in a performance that actually pips Kelly and Sinatra, the 7 minute Gene Kelly fantasy dance is masterful unto it's own (but doesn't fit in the narrative the same way his similar sequences in Singin' in the Rain and An American in Paris didn't really fit).
It has everything going for it, except (1) taste, (2) music, (3 )intelligence.Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green wrote a great musical called "On The Town." It's about three sailors with a 24-hour leave in New York City in the middle of WWII.
It's still a great musical, a musical with a great book of the quality of that of "Oklahoma!" that tracks the adventures, romantic as well as touristic, of three guys who cross the bridge from Brooklyn to Manhattan and want to drink in the whole city at once.MGM takes an estimable amount of talent: Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Jules Munshin, Vera- Ellen (the prosecution exhibit for "Tap Thighs," but lovely nonetheless), Betty Garrett (the least well-used comedienne of the era) and Ann Miller (exploited but never really employed), and turns what could have been a landmark film into a dismal excursion that would leave the average guy wondering why anybody would want to live in NYNY.
Some of the format it is from the standard style of the Golden Age, where the characters break into song or dance in the middle of their normal doings--in this case, three sailors racing through Manhattan on 24 hour leave.Other parts have choreography, probably by Gene Kelly, that becomes abstract and cinematic, a Hollywood innovation (also seen, famously, in "Singin' in the Rain" and "An American in Paris").
Co-directed by Gene Kelly and a 25-year old Stanley Donen in his feature film directing debut, the movie has a consistently propulsive energy thanks mainly to the remarkable choreography by Kelly and Donen, the seamless blend of Leonard Bernstein's familiar music with studio tunesmith Roger Edens' original compositions, and the sheer ebullience of the performers.Written by the estimable team of Betty Comden and Adolph Green, the threadbare plot is simply about three sailors - Gabey, Chip and Ozzie - on a 24-hour leave in New York City and the women they meet and romance.
The closest the story comes to dramatic tension is in the deceptions around Miss Turnstiles, who is not the big-time celebrity Gabey assumes she is but an aspiring ballerina named Ivy, who has to work nights as an exotic dancer in Coney Island.The film is obviously at its best when it's focused on the musical sequences - beginning with the actual locations used for "New York, New York" in establishing the sailors' energetic arrival, continuing with the elaborate "Prehistoric Man" number at the Museum of Natural History and bouncing through the title tune ensemble with all six principals singing and dancing their way down from atop the Empire State Building.
The plot, of course, is negligible, but that ends up working in its favor, since the focus stays on the appealing characters and on the excellent musical numbers.Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly are already enough to make a movie worth seeing, and this one is easily the best of their pictures together.
The plot is "back-of-a- cigarette-packet" deep but engaging for all that and I guess New York is the place for a 24 hour furlough.The movie is justly celebrated for its use of actual locations - for once the characters' shadows seem real - it only remains for the three couples to career around the city before getting all loved up on top of the Empire State Building in time for the neat final touch of the next batch of three sailors to take on the town in their day's leave.The songs are peppy, if not all top-notch, the title song and the city's anthem "New York New York" (at least until Sondheim / Bernstein and Kander / Ebb came along in later decades) being the best.
This is basically the same story except it takes place in New York and has co-stars another sailer played by Jules Munshin, who doesn't really add much to the film.ON THE TOWN has slightly better music and songs than ANCHORS AWEIGH mostly because Leonard Bernstein was involved and there are one or two funny one liners ("Dr. Kinsey, I presume").
Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Jules Munshin, Betty Garrett, Vera Ellen, Ann Miller and Alice Pearce, ask us to join them in the journey as the New York of those years is explored.This musical is a tribute to New York City and its spirit..
No film noir material anyway.Now, I read some reviews, many from contemporary critics or musical purists criticizing the fact that the film cut many good songs from Leonard Bernstein (he boycotted it as a result) but on the basis of my own experience, I can say the film is good because it doesn't take itself too seriously despite the powerful Bernstein signature tempo and that grandiose "Gershwinian" opening on New York city on the morning before Gabey (Kelly), Chip (Sinatra) and Oozie (Jules "what's-his-name" Munshin) set ashore and decide to have the most fun of their lives for 24 hours.
As for "Miss Turnstile" aka Ivy Smith aka Miss perfect who caught the eye of the best-looking sailor, unfortunately, Vera-Ellen plays it so straightly melodramatic that I wondered if someone forgot to tell her it was a comedy, she overplayed the romance in a way that contaminated her own beau and made me also wonder if the film wasn't enamored with Gene Kelly more than it was with New York City.Of course, a film like "On the Town" was bound to have a romance and it had to be Gene Kelly but that aspect is less effective than the humor, and some comical moments guidedby love didn't age well and were rather embarrassing to watch.
Adapted from the stage musical, this film features some of Leonard Bernstein's songs from the original show as well as some tunes from Roger Edens (all with words by Adolph Green and Betty Comden, who wrote the screenplay).The film is also a celebration of New York City, where three sailors (who have never been to the city) have one day of leave.Spectacle and talent are on display throughout the film.
Frank becomes the target of an aggressive taxi driver (Betty Garrett) and Jules meets Ann Miller (a scientist), while Gene is determined to find Vera-Ellen in the city.Production values are excellent and the on-location settings make their New York City adventures wonderful to watch.
Anyone seeing this and thinking its the real New York City will be disappointed , its the flip side of more realistic movies from that era like "On the Waterfront" or "Sweet smell of success" but to be frank it's a New York we would all like to live in, or revisit many times especially with Navy men dancing around the top of the Empire States building and pretty cab drivers on every corner, a city of magic and magical happenings.Of the three sailors Sinatra comes off as the sweetest, Kelly comes off a bit strange, feeling it is his mission to find the girl he spots on a poster, and spends the next hour doing just that, but it's okay because she wouldn't have it any other way.-hey, its a musical after all.There is a nice ballet sequence with Kelly towards the end, that foreshadows his work on " American in Paris"In short it's a delightful way to spend 2 hours and wonderful entertainment.
While not as good or iconic as a musical like "Singin' In The Rain" this is really a great movie for being so much fun with such great people like Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra involved.
Party all the way through all New York and out again, with Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra leading the show, accompanied by a bunch of irresistible girls, like Vera-Ellen and Ann Miller dancing both their shoes and their heads off, but there is an uncountable number of other dancing girls as well.
Three sailors on a day of shore leave in New York City look for fun and romance before their twenty-four hours are up.You have to love any collaboration between Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen.
Gene Kelly (he's Gabey) finds Vera-Ellen (she's Ivy), Betty Garrett (she's Brunhilde) finds Frank Sinatra (he's Chip), and Jules Mushin (he's Ozzie) finds Ann Miller (she's Claire).The movie opens with the extraordinary production number "New York!
The story is simple: three sailors (Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Jules Munshin) have a 24-hour leave in New York and are looking for romance.
In particular Gabey (Gene Kelly) on the hunt for "Miss Turnstiles" Ivy Smith (Vera-Ellen), while Chip (Frank Sinatra) is snared by taxi driver Hildy (Betty Garrett) and Ozzie (Jules Munshin) falls for beautiful anthropologist Claire (Anne Miller).This film is just good, old-fashioned entertainment, with some great songs and fun comedy.
Plot-wise, it's a circus: Kelly meeting, than losing sight of, poster girl Vera-Ellen is a perfect springboard for the day-long cab chase which unites Frank Sinatra with the rambunctious Betty Garrett, stopping en route to bring Jules Munshin together with Ann Miller (who performs an electrifying, leg-displaying, tap number in the film's best song, "Prehistoric Man").
In turn "On the Town", Adolph Green and Betty Comden's masterpiece little creation, proved the fact that audiences were ready for a new kind of musical entertainment...a show carried by a small, intimate group of principal performers.In retrospect, Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra have matured as sailor characters in the four years since "Anchors Aweigh", clearly evident through the fact that this time the men search the town no strings attached...no young boys, operatic singers and the entire MGM studios...and they're fancy free.
In New York City, three sailors (played by Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Jules Munshin) begin their shore leave and set out to explore the town.
Great Fun. On the Town (1949) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Musical about three sailors (Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Jules Munshin) who gets a 24-hour leave and head to see NYC.
Chip, Frank Sinatra, tries but can't resist the bold advances of a cab driver, Betty Garrett; Ozzie, Jules Munshin, gladly fills the role of a lovely anthropologist's "prehistoric man," she being Ann Miller; and after a rather desperate searching, Gabey, Gene Kelly, finds the model who has posed for the Miss Turnstiles advertisements, Vera Ellen; she turns out to be a dancer at Coney Island, but the two find they do not mind her lack of celebrity one bit after all.
Three sailors, Gabey(Gene Kelly), Chip(Frank Sinatra) and Ozzie (Jules Munshin), have exactly 24 hours to hang around in New York before the ship leaves.In that time they pick up girls, destroy a prehistoric dinosaur and are chased by cops.Gabey falls in love with a girl from the poster who he thinks is a celebrity but she is just a dancer.This girl is called Ivy Smith, played by Vera-Ellen.He can't leave New York, before he finds Ivy.Chip's girl is a cab driver called Brunhilde Esterhazy(Betty Garrett).Ozzie finds his girl from the museum.That girl is called Claire Huddesen(Ann Miller).The boys go all around New York singing some classic songs.On the Town was filmed in actual sets, not in a studio, like they usually did with musicals.There ain't one dull moment watching On the Town.New York, New York-it's a wonderful town..
Three sailors (Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Jules Munshin) arrive in New York and have a day of shore leave.
There's nary a dull moment as we watch Gene Kelly search desperately for Vera-Ellen, Frank Sinatra play a young and naive sailor (!) who tries to resist going up to Betty Garrett's place but eventually gives in, and Jules Munshin add comedy to the proceedings while his young lovely, Ann Miller, adds her dancing skills.
Best musical numbers are "On the Town", the song sung by Frank Sinatra and Betty Garrett in the taxi and of course the famous opening sequence of "New York, New York"..
Three sailors (Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Jules Munshin) enjoy 24 hours' shore leave in New York.Most of this brash location musical counts as among the best things ever to come out of Hollywood; the serious ballet towards the end slows things down, but finally it's the film's sheer joy and vitality, and its astonishingly exuberant opening sequence that stick in the memory.
It overcomes the lack of a plot (but how many musicals actually have a good plot?) and some unlikely situations with it's great dancing sequences, humour and stars.Wonderful Gene Kelly is, well, wonderful as usual as Gabey, one of the three sailors who have a 24-hour leave in New York.
Basically three Navy sailors, Gabey (Gene Kelly), Chip (Frank Sinatra) and Ozzie (Jules Munshin) are very excited when their ship has stopped, and they have 24 hours leave to spend in New York, New York - a wonderful town!
Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Jules Munshin play the three sailors, and Vera-Ellen, Betty Garrett, and Ann Miller play the three girls they meet for a day.