Tres productores de Broadway, con problemas para financiar su espectáculo, viajan a París cuando uno hereda parte de una casa de moda, solo para descubrir que está endeudada y necesita su ay... Leer todoTres productores de Broadway, con problemas para financiar su espectáculo, viajan a París cuando uno hereda parte de una casa de moda, solo para descubrir que está endeudada y necesita su ayuda.Tres productores de Broadway, con problemas para financiar su espectáculo, viajan a París cuando uno hereda parte de una casa de moda, solo para descubrir que está endeudada y necesita su ayuda.
- Dirección
- Guionistas
- Elenco
- Premios
- 1 premio ganado en total
- Flower Girl
- (sin créditos)
- Model
- (sin créditos)
- Model
- (sin créditos)
- Nightclub Patron
- (sin créditos)
- Model
- (sin créditos)
- Porter
- (sin créditos)
- Nightclub Patron
- (sin créditos)
- Fashion Show Attendee
- (sin créditos)
Opiniones destacadas
Stephanie played by Kathryn Grayson is still running the dress shop known as Madame Roberta's. But here it's Red Skelton who inherits half the place from his late aunt. He's partners in an act with Howard Keel and Gower Champion and they want him to sell his half so that they can get the money for a Broadway show. The three of them have to cut Ann Miller in on the deal just to get passage over to Paris.
Of course it's Keel who Grayson pairs off with and in doing so the film comes into balance vocally as the stage show did. Getting the dance numbers are Marge and Gower Champion, Marge playing Grayson's younger sister.
I think I can see the way the minds worked at MGM. In 1950 they copped the Best Picture Oscar for An American In Paris with a nice Parisian setting. Then the following year, Keel, Grayson, and the Champions were in a remake of another Jerome Kern classic Showboat which did very well. What to do, but combine all that in a Jerome Kern show that's Parisian based in Roberta. Besides why let all those expensive sets recreating Paris go to waste.
Also the fashion show finale was absolutely inspired by the fantasy ballet from An American In Paris. But the fantasy of Kelly in that film is replaced by a surreal reenactment of Jimmy Durante's famous line of 'everybody's getting into the act'.
Sometimes these things work and sometimes they don't. In this case the sum was definitely not greater than its parts. Howard Keel in his memoirs said that he felt that Mervyn LeRoy did not do right by him in this film that he had to make up his own interpretation of his character. Maybe LeRoy had too loose a hand and the film needed an overall creative genius like Gene Kelly.
'Lovely to Look At' certainly is lovely to look at, being filmed in absolutely glorious Technicolor and boasting opulent costume and set design. Jerome Kern's songs are as timeless as ever, "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" is one of his classics though "I Won't Dance" and "I'll Be Hard to Handle" are the standout renditions of the film. They are accompanied by choreography that's witty and poised, again the delightfully charming "I Won't Dance" and Ann Miller's knockout performance of "I'll Be Hard to Handle".
Despite garnering a reasonably mixed reaction, the fashion show is sheer visual beauty and is where the energy and interest is most apparent. Some of the cast disappoint, but Marge and Gower Champion have a field day and triumph in "I Won't Dance". Ann Miller was a scene stealer in many of her films and anybody who loves her will in no way be disappointed by her enviously energetic and poised dancing in "I'll Be Hard to Handle". It has to be admitted too, that Howard Keel does sing sublimely, he is a tender singing partner in the title song and fares even better in "You're Devastating".
On the other hand, this cannot be said for the rest of the cast. Kathryn Grayson is not at her best, pouting her way through her role and she has been in better voice, sometimes very nice but at other times shrill and fatigued. As wonderful as Keel sounds, he is unusually stiff here and he and Grayson don't seem to share much chemistry together so some of their longer scenes border on the tedious.
Then there is Red Skelton (who always was a take or leave performer), who mugs embarrassingly and comes over as irritating, and Zsa Zsa Gabor whose performance generally lacks charisma and sass in a role that gives her little to do.
Much of the story is contrived and tedious, with flashes of greatness in two or three song renditions and the fashion show but falling flat especially in the scenes between Keel and Grayson. The script lacks the light-hearted touch that worked so well in 'Roberta', as well as its warm heart and wit, disadvantaged by the comedy falling so flat particularly with Skelton and the performances of the cast varying so wildly. Mervyn LeRoy directs quite sluggishly on the whole.
In conclusion, lovely to look at but to see this talented crew on better form look elsewhere. 5/10 Bethany Cox
¿Sabías que…?
- TriviaThe lavish fashion-show sequence, directed by the uncredited Vincente Minnelli, showcased the gowns of Adrian, the influential designer associated with MGM's golden age of Garbo, Shearer, Harlow and Crawford. Adrian's work on the entire feature concluded his 28-year film career.
- ErroresIn one scene Stephanie and Tony ride through the park in a carriage. About once per minute the background jerks and then repeats showing that it is back projected on a loop.
- Citas
Tony Naylor: We're trying to finance our show. I'd like to take you folks in as partners. Now, please don't rush but who'd like to be the first to write a check?
Jerry Ralby: Of course, we've just given you the highlights.
Al Marsh: And we got some terrific lowlights. Like the part when I play a 36 inch man dropped from a flying saucer, I zoom through the...
Tony Naylor: It's dynamite!
- ConexionesFeatured in Erase otra vez en Hollywood (1976)
- Bandas sonorasOpening Night
(uncredited)
Music by Jerome Kern
Lyrics by Dorothy Fields
Sung by Howard Keel, Red Skelton and Gower Champion
Selecciones populares
- How long is Lovely to Look At?Con tecnología de Alexa
Detalles
Taquilla
- Presupuesto
- USD 2,813,000 (estimado)
- Tiempo de ejecución1 hora 43 minutos
- Relación de aspecto
- 1.37 : 1