johnnymyman-68540 If you loved Meet Me In St. Louis and The Wizard of Oz, and The Pirate, then you will love Easter Parade. It has great music, charming humor, fantastic dance scene, fabulous singing, and a heartwarming ending. The plot where the nightclub performer hires a young chorus girl to become his new dance partner to make his former partner jealous proving that he can make any partner a star is spectacular. You will enjoy watching this movie as much as I do, this is one of those rare musical that are so old, it's good.

bear1955 When the great old stuff is trotted out with fresh, great performances and the time-trap well navigated, you can, when the stars are aligned, get "Singing In The Rain", instead. So it is a dilemma how to rate "Easter Parade"'s big-time stars and some excellent music and the tedium of watching what I would call this, the best of the late 40s - early 50s 'false nostalgia' musicals that re- tread standards with made up some tedious fictional narrative about some new or reunited duo, trio or troupe writing some song or putting on a show, or such, in the good old days and most of which don't even measure up to "Easter Parade", for me.Judy, I can't diss you...you're in top form here. Fred is already looking a bit .. mature. I never have watched straight through the entire film [..already a red flag]. Ann Miller tapped up a storm and belted out "Shakin' The Blues Away" supposedly for 1912 Ziegfeld Follies, which is really a 1927 Irving Berlin song. They did not move and sing and dress like that even in 1920's musical silents. I've just read elsewhere a Judy Garland performance of "Mr. Monotony" was cut for an almost risqué (for 1948)and glaringly inappropriate image for 1912. It's the same as the outfit in "Get Happy" from "Summer Stock" 1950, which is iconic now. But if you could cover over and strike out explicit period references in "Easter Parade", you still might be puzzled over when this is supposed to be happening. I guess that was not of any concern here, it's a musical. Lots of them still still getting made and big money makers.

Michael_Elliott Easter Parade (1948) **** (out of 4)Dancing star Don Hewes (Fred Astaire) has his partner Nadine (Ann Miller) leave his side so he makes a bet that he can pick any woman and turn her into a dancing sensation. Hannah Brown (Judy Garland) is the young lady selected and soon her and Don are working their way up the ladder as they try to reach the top and fall in love. I'll admit right up front that EASTER PARADE has very little to no actual story, which for a lot of films would be a kiss of death but the lack of a story really doesn't hurt this because everything else is just so wonderful that you can put up with the predictable nature of what happens. There are so many great things about this picture but I'd say one reason for the lack of a story is that there's over a dozen songs on display here and it's rather shocking to think that all of them work. Standouts include the opening sequence with Astaire picking out gifts, an amazing dance scene with Miller tapping away and of course nearly every moment that Astaire and Garland are working together. Both Astaire and Garland are at the top of their game in terms of both acting, singing and dancing. It's always amazing to watch these two whenever they're on because it's just hard to imagine being able to be so talented at so many different things. Just watching the two float together from one scene to the next is reason enough to watch this film. Miller also deserves a lot of credit for her amazing dance scenes and it's interesting to learn that she wasn't the original choice for the part and had it not been for another actress having an accident, Miller wouldn't have had the part. The Technicolor is another major plus as the beautiful look just leaps off the screen. I always love seeing these older Technicolor films because the colors are just so rich and something that the real world doesn't offer. EASTER PARADE has just about everything going for it and it remains one of the better musicals from a period that produced countless classics.

basilisksamuk Since some old films have begun to be broadcast on HD channels I feel I have been spoilt. It's true that some look no better but others, particularly old Technicolor films look terrific. I started to watch this on TV and very nearly switched off because it wasn't on an HD channel. I was disappointed by the quality of the print. However, the sheer joy of seeing Fred Astaire move kept me viewing. As another reviewer has noted - just to see the way he walks is a lesson in elegance.I was also struck watching this by how good Judy Garland is as an actress. We all know about her difficulties off screen but when she commits to her scenes she is always impossible to take you eyes off.It's true that he story is slight and the whole things is held together by string and sealing wax but who cares with singing and dancing of this calibre? I still look forward to seeing an even better print though.By the way did anyone else see a foreshadowing of James Stewart and Kim Novak in Vertigo in the early part of the film or is just me?