Donnez-lui une chance

Don Adams (as Maxwell Smart) used the line "missed by that much" a lot and that is the way this film hit me. It had great actors, fantastic dancers, good direction and yet, for me, it was second rate. I know most of the other reviewers will disagree with me but I just couldn't get into it. Some musicals (Singin' In The Rain, Showboat, Kiss Me, Kate and a lot more) grab you from the first frame but this one just didn't do it for me. It was wonderful as always to see the Champions (I always had a crush on Marge) and Debbie Reynolds and Bob Fosse were good as always, but the film just didn't click with me, It is well worth watching at least once (you'll find it often on TCM) but I will never be able to rate it as a favorite.

A good, not great, MGM musical, with the emphasis on dance. Story is: what happens when a star walks out on a Broadway show, and three girls compete for the part. The dances are so expert and entertaining, you may be able to forgive the drab quality of some of the rest of the film.

The Champions were not really movie stars, and neither was Bob Fosse. (Debbie Reynolds became a big one later, and you can see why.) Gower plays the director fairly well, but I kept picturing Gene Kelly. The part needs a more dynamic actor.

If you enjoy dancing, there's plenty of it, and it's excellent! Helen Wood is the third girl and while her acting is stiff, her dancing definitely isn't.

The score by Burton Lane and Ira Gershwin contains no hits, but I was charmed by the tune, "In Our United State," performed by Fosse and Reynolds.

Acrobatic musical from 1953 that spreads screen time between three couples instead of the usual romantic pair. Apparently the movie flopped at the box office (IMDB) despite MGM pedigree. For a musical the screenplay is more plot heavy than usual as three dancers compete for the lead in a Broadway musical. Not only does this divide screen time between the three, but generates unusual suspense for this kind of film. After all, which of the trio of talents will be selected. Also unusual is the general absence of romantic dance numbers. Instead it's flying feet, acrobatic tumbles, and super wide leg-splits-- no Astaire-Rogers here. That's surprising since the Champions would be expected to cuddle up in a few routines, but instead they're separated by plot wrinkles. So, all in all, I suspect normal audience expectations were let down.

Nonetheless, Reynolds projects her usual charm and sparkle. But will she win. In my view, screen time should have featured her, with Marge and Gower, who are better dancers than actors, in support. At the same time, the incredibly nimble Fosse makes a compact visual match for Debbie. Anyway, MGM injects its usual color splash along with a load of extras. And fans of acrobatic fast shoe should find much to marvel at. Meanwhile, that opening marathon of the splits still has me crossing my legs. Amazing what they can do.

As compared to the product that was coming out of the Arthur Freed unit at MGM during this time, Give A Girl A Break is definitely in the rank of second rate MGM musicals. Still it's not too bad with the accent definitely on the dance as opposed to the song.

Give A Girl A Break is the title of a revue that producer Larry Keating is putting on and he's having one devil of a time trying to decide which talented dancer to give the lead to, be it Marge Champion, Debbie Reynolds or Helen Wood. He's got three of his people each pulling for a different prospect with Gower Champion putting on a real campaign to get his ex-wife and former dance partner out of retirement.

As a dance team, Marge and Gower Champion made their screen debut in one of Bing Crosby's musicals, Mr. Music over at Paramount. MGM snapped them up and featured them in Showboat and Lovely to Look At. After Everything I Have Is Your's, Give A Girl A Break was MGM's second attempt to feature them as leads. As good a dance team as they were, Marge and Gower were just not strong enough to carry a film on their own.

This was a dancing film and as such no great song hits came out of the score that was written by Burton Lane and Ira Gershwin. But the Champions, Debbie Reynolds, Bob Fosse, and Helen Wood could definitely dance to it.

If the plot sounds somewhat familiar I think MGM dusted off the script to one of their biggest hits, Ziegfeld Girl about three Ziegfeld Follies aspirants and updated it somewhat. It's also a much lighter treatment, none of the three dancers has anything happen as bad as what happened to Lana Turner in that film.

Give A Girl A Break will never be one of the great MGM musicals on anyone's list, but it's a pleasant diversion. And I can't believe that Bob Fosse had such a luxurious head of hair back in the day.

For such a great cast (Debbie Reynolds, Gower and Marge Champion and Bob Fosse) and being directed by Stanley Donen, 'Give a Girl a Break' could have been a classic. Instead it was a modestly enjoyable film that could have been much better.

Visually, although the budget apparently wasn't huge, 'Give a Girl a Break' still looks pleasing with handsome costumes and sumptuous use of colour. The songs have garnered indifferent reactions, sure there are better songs in musicals but the songs here are pleasant and fun enough, especially for Ira Gershwin's (brother of George) very clever lyric writing. "In Our United State" and "Nothing is Impossible" stand out.

The best things about 'Give a Girl a Break' are the dance routines and the dancing. The choreography is nothing short of dazzling, especially in "In Our United State", "The Challenge Dance" and "Applause Applause". The dancing of it is even better, with electrifying work from the Champions, Fosse and Helen Wood.

Debbie Reynolds' performance is the most consistent in the cast, whereas everybody else were most successful in the dancing but less comfortable everywhere else Reynolds excelled in every aspect of her performance and gives her character spunk and perky charm.

On the other hand, the story is incredibly lightweight and too often so uneventful that the film does drag at times outside of the musical numbers. The dialogue has a tendency to be clumsy and some parts downright silly.

As an overall performance, Reynolds comes off best while the acting is stiff from particularly the likes of Wood and Kurt Kasznar and the singing very much variable (Reynolds and Wood faring best). Donen's direction is not always involving and occasionally a bit gimmicky.

In summary, modestly enjoyable musical that does enough right but it doesn't have much distinction and the wow factor comes in spades rather than as a consistent whole. 6/10 Bethany Cox