Google Ads
Login | Sign Up

On the Town Overview:

On the Town (1949) was a Comedy - Musical Film directed by Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly and produced by Arthur Freed and Roger Edens.

SYNOPSIS

Bernstein's (with Comden and Green) great musical comedy gets the full Technicolor treatment with fine singing and dancing. Three sailors (Kelly, Munshin, and Sinatra) with 24 hours of shore leave seek excitement and romance in New York City, an excitement conjured especially in the famous "New York, New York" number. They team with Garrett, Miller, and Vera-Ellen, and they are off gallivanting around N.Y.C. Doubly directed by Kelly and Donen (their first directorial pairing), this fast-moving musical is not only contagious fun, but also a splendid look at New York City ("a helluva town") in the 1940s.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

Academy Awards 1949 --- Ceremony Number 22 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best Music - ScoringRoger Edens, Lennie HaytonWon
See More Oscar Winners

On the Town BlogHub Articles:

Review: On The Town (1949): MGM’s New York Musical

By 4 Star Film Fan on Jun 8, 2020 From 4 Star Films

There is an immediate understanding that goes with the opening image of a construction worker arriving at the docks, still sleepy, as the world wakes up with him. And he does something that while still theatrical has roots in a very human urge, to bring in the new day with song. If we look at the MG... Read full article

Musical Monday: On the Town (1949)

on Feb 3, 2020 From Comet Over Hollywood

It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals. In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals. This week’s musical: On the Town (1949) – M... Read full article

"On the Town," In Celebration of Leonard Bernstein's Centenary

By The Lady Eve on Aug 25, 2018 From Lady Eve's Reel Life

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of composer/conductor/pianist Leonard Bernstein. In celebration, movie houses around the country are showcasing films scored by the legendary maestro. My local theater, the Smith Rafael Film Center (aka/the Rafael) put together a three-film tribute to ... Read full article

On the Town (1949)

on Jul 16, 2015 From Journeys in Classic Film

Can I just say, I’m fairly proud of myself that I got through the first two weeks of the July Five before falling behind on posting. However, Gene Kelly week is coming to a close and where are we? I deliberately started put Kelly’s 1950s titles first since, by then, he was established as... Read full article

On the Town (1949)

By Beatrice on May 21, 2015 From Flickers in Time

On the Town Directed by Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly Written by Adolph Green and Betty Comden from their Broadway musical 1949/USA Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Repeat viewing/Netflix rental #233 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die The cast is great and so are a lot of the musical numbers.  I fee... Read full article

See More On the Town Articles

On the Town Quotes:

Brunhilde Esterhazy: I knew you'd come back. They all come back.
Ivy Smith: Getting involved is so... so... involving.
Chip: Hilde you're the prettiest cab driver in the whole wide world
Claire Huddesen: How'd you feel if someone broke your dinosaur?
Ozzie: Never had one. We were too poor.
Lucy Schmeeler: Did you see "The Lost Weekend"?
Gabey: Yes. I think I'm living through it.
See More Quotes from On the Town
On the Town Facts
Robert Williams, who plays the police sergeant in Car 44, also played the policeman who chases Gene Kelly off the street at the end of the title number in Singin' in the Rain.
The third and final pairing of three movies of musical stars Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra.
A total of 5 days was spent filming in New York City. The 2 major problems faced by the crew was the weather (it rained for most of the shoot) and the popularity of Frank Sinatra. Gene Kelly explained that the movie was filmed at the height of Sinatra mania and Frank would be instantly recognized by people on the streets. To avoid crowds the cast insisted on taxis instead of limousines for transportation and that the camera be hidden inside a station wagon. During the finale of the "New York, New York" musical number, which takes place in the sunken plaza at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in front of the statue of Prometheus, you can see at the top of the frame of the last shot, the heads of hundreds of curious spectators staring at the three stars over the wall behind the statue.
Jules Munshin was terrified of heights. While performing on the tiny rooftop during the song "New York, New York" the only way he could perform the number was while one end of a rope was secured around his waist under his sailor suit. The other end of the rope was secured, off camera, to Stanley Donen. And even so, alert viewers of the scene will notice that during the scene Munshin is almost always touching a wall or a prop or another actor.
When the film premiered at the Radio City Music Hall there was then the largest line to get in, in that theater's history. After the film's initial success, Arthur Freed, the producer of this film, recalled that his unit was in the MGM commissary passing the Joe Pasternak unit (which made less expensive musicals), the Pasternak unit said, "There goes the royal family." Indeed, this picture was at the time the second largest-grossing in MGM history, next to Meet Me in St. Louis.
See More Facts about On the Town >>