On The Town (EOTWS)

End of The Week Shorts #52 extract: On The Town (1949)

Fun, but most certainly flawed. 

This is Donen and Kelly's first time co-directing together, and, impressive of a debut On The Town is, it lacks something key that all musicals desperately need: the false cinematic space; a space in which we'd accept characters spontaneously bursting out with song and dance. The clunky, super-camp sailor outfits don't suite the gritty atmosphere and textures of on-location New York, a backdrop so obviously far better suited for crime, cop and gangster films. This discord in the frame hinders audience engagement, and so it is only when we slip deeper into dance numbers and into constructed sets that characters start to shine through, the tone harmonises and we can flow with the film. With some excellent characters in the taxi driver, Hilde, and Miss Turnstiles, and some brilliant latter numbers, this is good when it figures out its place, but, of course, pales in comparison to Donen and Kelly's next collaboration in 1952. Worth the watch.