Eric Stevenson 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. This movie tells the story of a trio of sailors who go to New York City and find girlfriends as they go along. This is just such a cute movie with everything done in high spirits. It was rare for films to be in color at this time and this definitely earns it. Everything is colorful in every sense of the word. There are some really funny moments here, especially the scene where the one sailor is hanging over the building.Some of the gags might not hold up that well, but this was an early instance of movies using them. I really was reminded of some old classic "Looney Tunes" cartoons with all the wacky antics these characters got into. It also helps that it's really a realistic movie. Everything doesn't work out perfectly for everyone in the end and it makes sense given the context of the story. When I hear of a song called "New York, New York" I think of "The Heart Of Rock & Roll". It actually does remind me of when I used to live in Pennsylvania and took trips to NYC. This is just a pleasant and elegant movie. ***1/2

gkeith_1 Observations: Loved this movie. Three couples dancing. Frankie a hoot. Sightseeing in New York City.I had one day there, myself. Thought of this movie. Took a sightseeing bus and saw several famous places. Marveled at all the characters did in this movie, in just one day. Meadowville. Nostalgic town. Liked the dance performed in this scene by Kelly and Vera-Ellen. Liked her costume. Both smooth dancers. Florence Bates great in her part; secret alcohol imbiber -- hilarious when she threatened Vera-Ellen. More observations. Great song sung by construction worker in the hardhat. Aggressive Brunhilde cabdriver. Betty Garrett a former Martha Graham dancer. Ann Miller a terrific tap dancer, and great green costume in the anthropological museum. 10/10

Ross622 Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly's On the Town (1949) is one of the best musicals that I have seen in a long time. The movie tells the story of 3 sailors named Gabey (played by Gene Kelly), Chip (played by Frank Sinatra),and Ozzie (played by Jules Munshin) who are on a day of shore leave from the Navy plan to get some dates and see New York's landmarks before their one day break has expired, and the whole thing is mostly successful when it comes to getting girls to date in which Chip is dating a taxi driver named Hildy (played by Betty Garrett), Gabey ends up dating a girl named Ivy Smith (played by Vera-Ellen) and Ozzie dates an anthropologist named Claire (played by Ann Miller) who thinks that Ozzie is the perfect of a caveman, but the only part of their day that gets worrisome especially for Gabey is that Ivy is gone and they look all over the city for her until Gabe finds her at the symphony hall and talks to her for a few minutes until he is forced to leave. Besides this being a musical to me it was more of a love story because of the love and emotion all of the major characters show one another which made the movie very good, and of-course the dance choreography is well staged as well as the songs well written (which the songs unfortunately didn't get recognized by A.M.P.A.S.)but however it did win an Oscar for best music scoring which it didn't get nominated for anything else. This for me was a nice and enjoyable movie to watch with memorable songs and dance moves and a movie that I could never get tired of.

secondtake On the Town (1949)There is so much going right with this movie--from the photography (yes) by Harold Rossen and the music (famously) by Leonard Bernstein, from the leading actors (Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly) to the directors (Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly)--it's hard to realize how dated or almost bad some moments have become. This is delightful, fantastic, and inspired stuff, total fun top to bottom. But it also has moments that are cringe inducing.And I like musicals.If you don't like musicals in particular, you should start with specimens with wider appeal, and higher standards: "Singin' in the Rain" and "West Side Story" would work for me, if we're talking classics. Throw in "Swing Time" or "Top Hat" if you want an Astaire classic, too. Or a Garland singing musical.This one is from the amazing run of polished hits by producer Arthur Freed. The choreography varies from excellent to wonderful. If it's choreographed dancing you like, check this out. 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"). The scenes, whether stylized or realistic, are fabulous. The standards are high--space, light, and control of color (Technicolor, of course) inside and out.What drags the movie down is some awful writing, both in the dialog and even in some of the songs. I know lots of musical lovers who don't give a hoot if the lyrics make sense or are especially good--they become secondary to the rest of it, and the artifice is part of the game. But I know others who, like me, prefer the clever, the lyric, the original. And there are some real wincing moments.And in fact, the movie as a whole is awkward, a series of vignettes that do eventually string together into a chronology, but they hardly have to. They survive, or struggle, independently. Some of the acting is forced and you may or may not like the sidekicks like the third sailor, who's just too comic and goofy for my taste. Even the lead actresses, Ann Miller and Vera-Ellen, are no match for Debbie Reynolds, let alone Judy Garland.Now, let's finally add--the best of the songs, and the dancing and photography, are top notch. For all musical lovers. The great final pieces at about 1:17 into the movie is amazing stuff.Note: Bernstein's music originated in a ballet, "Fancy Free," which turned into the Broadway play "On the Town" in 1944. But when this film was made, most of Bernstein's music was replaced with new stuff--some of which is the mediocre music that brings the production down a notch.At times the biggest star in the show is New York itself. Love it.