Andy Howlett We've been fans of MGM musicals for many years, but somehow we never got around to watching this. I'm afraid we were left wondering what went wrong, as it is a long way from MGM's best. The first half hour contains a far-too-long (and not very good) dance sequence and a lot of poor dialogue. Then the film sinks into a rather sour flavour and the second-rate song and dance routines do little to lift the mood. The stand-out segment (sadly much too short) is Kelly's 'I like Myself' on roller skates, which is a classic warm & happy MGM number with glorious, flowing music and lush orchestration. There is a happy ending, but not before a rather depressing TV show scene. I think this story would have been far better as a non-musical drama, as the bitter taste and social comment does not lend itself to the classic MGM musical style. It pains me to give MGM such a low score, but it's a 4 from me.

jacobs-greenwood Directed by Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, and written by Betty Comden and Adolph Green whose story and screenplay earned them their second (and last) unrewarded Academy Award nomination, this average Musical picks up where On the Town (1949) left off, though it's not a sequel. André Previn's Score was also Oscar nominated.Gene Kelly stars as one of three World War II veterans who've returned to New York and their old bar hangout where its proprietor Tim (David Burns) casts doubt on the three keeping in touch and/or remaining friends as time goes by. Ted Riley (Kelly) challenges Tim's assertion as do the other two, Doug Hallerton (Dan Dailey) and Angie Valentine (Michael Kidd). So, they make a bet with Tim to return exactly 10 years later (October 11, 1955 at 12 noon), tearing a dollar bill into three pieces to remind each of their pledge, before going their separate ways.Cyd Charisse (who surprisingly doesn't dance with Kelly in this one), Dolores Gray, and Jay Flippen round out the cast.Ten years later, each of the war buddies actually does return, though Tim doesn't really recognize them as each of the old friends have undergone more than a physical change: educated Ted, who'd been the "most likely to succeed" with plans to become a lawyer or more, heartbroken that his sweetheart got married while he was serving his country, lived the high life partying & bar hopping with different women every night, gambled and lived day-to-day such that he's got no savings and his current gig, managing an up-and-coming boxer (Steve Mitchell, uncredited), needs to pan out for him; artist Doug, who'd hoped to become a famous painter one day, finds himself in a failing, childless marriage after selling out, settling for drawing caricatures for an advertising agency's campaigns; and blue collar Angie, the happiest of the three, who's running a roadside diner called the Cordon Bleu with his wife, with whom he has several young children.Needless to say, the reunion isn't a very happy one as the three discover they not only have nothing in common anymore but really don't like each other, or what they've become, either. Each begins to go their separate ways again before Jackie Leighton (Charisse), who works for the same ad agency as Doug, has an idea to exploit the soldiers' reunion as a replacement idea for Madeline Bradville's (Gray) radio show that night. Jackie's a successful working woman whose exceptional brain bores most men, and Madeline's an egotistical star who exploits common people for her human interest- type program.To keep the former friends occupied until the 11 PM radio show, sponsored by Klenzrite, Jackie's and Doug's boss, Mr. Fielding (Paul Maxey, uncredited), is assigned to keep the artist occupied while Madeline dines with Angie and Jackie takes Ted, who's surprised at her sudden interest given her earlier standoffish attitude towards him. She goes with him to the gym where (the film's best song & dance routine, "Baby, You Knock Me Out", featuring Charisse and the gym rats is performed) Ted learns from Rocky (Hal March, uncredited), his boxer's planned opponent that night, that mobster Charlie Culloran (Flippen) has fixed the fight.Meanwhile, Doug is getting drunk and making a mess of things at Mr. Fielding's house while Angie looks wistfully at the more upscale environs he's experiencing. Ted and Jackie have a heart-to-heart during which he learns that she'd been scorned once before also; she begins to see him in a new, more positive light too, which burns even brighter when Ted starts to live up to his old ideals and, with her help, stops his kid Mariacchi from participating in the fix.Everything leads to a madcap evening on Madeline's radio show beginning with each of the three former war buddies admitting to their disillusionment but ending much more positively as Ted, Doug and Angie brawl Culloran and his gang, who are eventually rounded up by the police. The amazingly collected and flexible radio hostess gets the program she wants, and the "boys" return arm in arm to Tim's bar where, he finally remembers them and, they win their $4 bet (kept overhead in a light fixture) to pay the tab. Angie stops putting on airs, Doug phones his wife who saw the show such that they're on the mend, and Jackie arrives to join Ted.

dougdoepke For a guy like me who can't dance his way out of a closet, musicals like this are a guilty pleasure. The choreography is great-- flying feet, trash can lids, roller skates—is there any step Kelly can't do. I especially like the boxing gym with its unlikely array of chorus boys. But it's got nothing on Kelly's solo glide over city streets. Nonetheless, Dailey and Charisse appear under-used; this really is a Kelly showcase, which is plenty. Musicals, of course, were right up MGM's alley. Their lavish production budgets could fill up a screen. Here it's a mesmerizing sample of candy-box colors, along with a Cinemascope canvas to color on. But catch the storyline. It's a little on the dark side for a bon-bon like this. Our three musketeers return from WWII great buddies, swearing to meet again after ten years. But the decade passes and they've changed. Now they can hardly stand each other. Trouble is, as civilians, each has compromised himself. That is, Kelly fixes boxing matches, Dailey cheats inside his swanky position, while Kidd gets pretentious with his hotdog stand. What they have to do is rediscover the ex-GI's they really are. Good thing a leggy Charisse is there to help kick in. Especially for oglers like me. And what a send-up of the old TV hit This Is Your Life. An obnoxious Madeline (Gray) of "Midnight With Madeline" may make you turn off your sets at 9pm, and none too soon.Anyway, the 100-minutes is a delightful way to pass a slow evening, and even made me want to give the closet another try.

moonspinner55 Audiences in the 1950s probably didn't appreciate this song-and-dance offering from MGM in 1955, which is darker in tone than the studio's cheery perennials and harbors an embittered streak (likely a reflection of the times, but not exactly musical escapism). Writers Betty Comden and Adolph Green came up with an intriguing story of WWII buddies meeting 10 years after V-J Day, only to find they have nothing in common but the war. Solid production is more an interesting mix of downcast drama and dance rather than a successful one, though co-directors Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly clearly relished the opportunity to do something a little headier (with the accent on character). Unfortunately, Donen and Kelly throw everything out the window for a slapstick finish, an unfunny free-for-all that nearly cripples the film. For years, this big studio misfire was but a cinematic footnote in Kelly's career; the film has since attained a new legion of admirers willing to overlook its weaknesses. Certainly a curiosity piece, and the cast is uniformly excellent. **1/2 from ****