Synopsis

1949’s ON THE TOWN is one of the best and most beloved films of the golden era of M-G-M musicals. It’s exuberantly spun around the tale of three sailors – Gabey, Chip and Ozzie – who have a 24-hour pass in the Big Apple during World War II. Played by Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Jules Munshin, respectively, the boys are determined to take in the city’s many sights – which happen to include fetching visions in the forms of Ann Miller, Betty Garrett and Vera-Ellen. From the dazzling opening sequence, filmed on location in the city and set to “New York, New York,” it proves to be a helluva town indeed, as camaraderie reigns and romance ensues for all before shore leave is up.  

Cast & Crew

ON THE TOWN
Directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen
Produced by Arthur Freed
Screenplay by Adolph Green and Betty Comden
Based upon the musical play
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, Betty Garrett, Ann Miller, Jules Munshin, Vera-Ellen, Alice Pearce
Cinematography: Harold Rosson
Editing: Ralph E. Winters
Color by Technicolor
A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Picture
  

Description

Color

98 minutes

“From the moment the picture opens, in the actual Brooklyn Navy Yard, with the three sailors cutting off for New York, the whole thing precipitately moves, with song, dance, comedy and romance ingeniously interwoven and performed.”

- Bosley Crowther, 1949 review, The New York Times

The third and final of Frank Sinatra’s onscreen collaborations with Gene Kelly, 1949’s ON THE TOWN is one of the best and most beloved films of the golden era of M-G-M musicals. It’s exuberantly spun around the tale of three sailors – Gabey, Chip and Ozzie – who have a 24-hour pass in the Big Apple during World War II. Played by Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Jules Munshin, respectively, the boys are determined to take in the city’s many sights – which happen to include fetching visions in the forms of Ann Miller, Betty Garrett and Vera-Ellen. From the dazzling opening sequence, filmed on location in the city and set to “New York, New York,” it proves to be a helluva town indeed, as camaraderie reigns and romance ensues for all before shore leave is up.

Pioneering in its mix of scenes shot on location (the first movie musical to do so) and studio production numbers, ON THE TOWN was co-directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen. The pair also staged the movie’s stellar musical sequences, with highlights including the “Miss Turnstiles” dance, “You’re Awful,” “Come Up To My Place” and “Count On Me.” The film was adapted from the Broadway musical of the same name, featuring music by Leonard Bernstein and book & lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green (and which grew out of Jerome Robbins’ idea for the 1944 ballet Fancy Free). At the time the picture premiered at Radio City Music Hall, the line to get in was longer than any in the theater’s history, and its popularity was matched by industry acclaim – ON THE TOWN won an Academy Award for Best Music/Scoring of a Musical Picture and Comden and Green took home the Writers Guild of America honor for Best Written American Musical.