Rating : - Four Stars of Three Star Movies
Watching these films again, in the best restorations ever available, it is fun to reassign their status in the MGM musical pantheon. That Midnight Kiss, the first and now I think the most entertaining of the Mario Lanza musicals, gets new status for me. The Toast of New Orleans is slow to start and features an already plumper Lanza en route to Brandoland! The Belle of New York is a trifle but a trifle is a dessert and it is full of charming moments. Vera Ellen was never presented to better advantage while Fred Astaire, having some fun out of tails, looks more like Buster Keaton than Cary Grant's closest rival for best tailored movie actor. The Pirate is just short of wonderful which is very disappointing. Except for the score and a couple of novelty dances Royal Wedding is a dud. Stanley Donen's lack of experience as a director combined with the bad casting of a competent but not starry Sarah Churchill make you wonder why they didn't cast Margaret Truman in the Jane Powell role and have a truly puzzling historical document. That's Dancing is primarily tedious to a video generation that can see anything it so chooses. Words and Music has Hart (and Rodgers) but lacks truth and heart.