Easter Parade

For the only teaming of Fred Astaire and Judy Garland, Gene Kelly had to break an ankle playing touch football although he told the studio it was in rehearsal. So Fred Astaire who after another Irving Berlin musical extravaganza, Blue Skies at Paramount, got pulled out of retirement for this film. It was a happy accident for film fans.

Easter Parade by this time had become the national anthem for Easter and enjoys a grand seasonal popularity as Irving Berlin's White Christmas also. It was originally written for the musical revue As Thousands Cheer in 1933 and sung as a duet by Clifton Webb and Marilyn Miller. Bing Crosby reprised it in Holiday Inn in a very nice number driving a horsedrawn sleigh from church Easter services. But usually when it is presented visually, the clip of Judy Garland singing it in the finale is the one always shown.

By the way the melody originally was for a lyric entitled Smile and Show Your Dimple which bombed for Irving Berlin. Berlin was quoted as saying that popular songs are a perfect marriage between words and music and in this case the melody got divorced and married a second lyric successfully.

Easter Parade is a good mixture of old Irving Berlin material and new songs written for this film. Fred Astaire shines with one of the new ones in Stepping Out With My Baby which is a good followup to Putting On the Ritz which Astaire sang and danced to in Blue Skies. And Judy just shines in Better Luck Next Time.

The plot is a pretty simple one and for the MGM opulence that their musicals were known for their are very few actual speaking roles in this film. It's a romantic quadrangle with Fred Astaire being dumped by his erstwhile partner Ann Miller and then taking on Judy Garland in one of those 'I'll show her' moments of bravado. Peter Lawford's around to get whoever Astaire doesn't.

The acting honors in Easter Parade go to Judy. For all that talent Judy Garland was a most insecure person in life and she drew from that in bringing Hannah Brown to the screen.

Ann Miller's big number is Shaking the Blues Away which Ruth Etting introduced in 1927. Doris Day in fact does it in Love Me or Leave Me. Still Ann makes it more of a dance number than Doris did which is what Irving Berlin originally intended it to be.

The thing about Easter Parade and so many other films like it is that all that talent was contracted to that studio. You can't make a film like Easter Parade today because you'd have to pay full market price for the talent, even as Irving Berlin's numbers slip year after year into public domain.

The Easter parade with women dressed in their finest most tasteful frock is still a New York tradition on Easter Sunday. So is this film.

There's an incredible backstory behind Easter Parade. Fred Astaire had announced his retirement from movies, and Gene Kelly was attached to the new Judy Garland musical set at Eastertime. Then, Gene experienced every dancer's nightmare and broke his leg. He called Fred up and asked if he'd take his place. And now we have Easter Parade!

Now that you know Gene Kelly was supposed to play the lead, it's understandable that he was supposed to sing the seductive "It Only Happens When I Dance with You" to Ann Miller. How would Fred Astaire handle it? He's not usually marketed as having much sex appeal. Well, move over Gene Kelly; Fred's just fine. In fact, although there are plenty of great numbers in Easter Parade, that one's my favorite because of the different tone Fred takes with himself.

There are quite a few famous songs from this movie, most notably the performance Fred and Judy give dressed like bums: "A Couple of Swells". Peter Lawford plays the other man in both love triangles-although who would ever pick him over Fred Astaire?-and he gets to sing the cute "A Fella with an Umbrella" when he meets Judy Garland. "Steppin' Out with My Baby" is another performance on the stage-Fred's character is a performer looking for a new partner-that utilizes groundbreaking camerawork that's still fantastic to watch. Fred dances in slow motion while the chorus girls behind him move in regular time, and the layered look is jaw-droppingly innovative for 1948.

I've praised several of Irving Berlin's songs from the movie, but they're not all fantastic. "I was born in Michigan, and I wish and wish again. . ." is a lyric from one of the silly songs Judy has to sing. So, while there will be a few scenes that will make you cringe and leave the room for more popcorn, most of the movie is pretty fun to watch. I own a copy, and we watch it every few years on Easter when we want a break from our usual Ben-Hur. I always like Fred Astaire's movies, so it has to be really stinky for me to not recommend it. I mean, who else but Fred can walk into a toy store and turn the toys into a dance number? Watch his dance "Drum Crazy" in Easter Parade and ask him through the television why he bothered trying to retire.

By far the best bit of this movie is early on in the running time, when the wonderful Fred Astaire has a routine in a toy shop, to the Berlin number ‘Drum Crazy'. He's there to get an Easter present for his dancing partner (played with energy by Ann Miller), but she has a bombshell to drop: she's leaving him to join a bigger name stage show, and he's left high and dry without an act.

Step forward Judy Garland, as a waitress who Fred thinks might be able to sing and dance. At first she's reluctant, and hopeless, but of course, this being MGM mush she falls for Fred and suddenly finds her talent. At this sort of thing Garland had no peer.

Also in the cast are Peter Lawford, as a rich no-hoper with a heart who first pursues Garland, and then steps aside for Fred (heading for Miller on the rebound). He sings A Fella With An Umbrella – not very well – but is certainly easier on the eye than Astaire. A tiny but scene-stealing role is given to Jules Munshin, who would be seen the following year in ‘On The Town', as a waiter describing just how the green onion salad listed on the menu is prepared.

The lead was not originally planned for Fred, but for the younger and more athletic dancer Gene Kelly, but when Kelly injured his leg the way was clear for Astaire to be coaxed out of retirement. He continued to appear in musicals for another twenty years.

The songs in ‘Easter Parade' are a bit of a rag-bag – classics such as Easter Parade, Steppin' Out With My Baby, Shakin' The Blues Away etc. jostle with old vaudeville numbers like When The Midnight Choo-Choo Leaves For Alabam'. The result is a bit of a mish-mash. Perhaps the best song shot for the movie was the one omitted before release – Mr Monotony, performed by Garland in her trademark costume of the top half of a tux and tights (two years before ‘Summer Stock' and the Get Happy number). This number can be seen in That's Entertainment III, released in 1994.

‘Easter Parade' is good, but unbelievable. I never could understand the appeal of Fred Astaire beyond his dancing, and the supposition that a character of Garland's age would be interested in him is stretching things a bit. That aside, it has excellent Technicolor and moves along at a steady pace.

Perhaps not quite reaching the heights that the talent involved suggests it should, Easter Parade is still none the less a delightful musical full of skill, vigour and heart warming attributes. The story sees Fred Astaire's Don Hewes getting dumped by his dance partner Nadine Hale {Ann Miller}. Vowing revenge, he boasts that he could get any basic lady performer and make her a star alongside him. Enter Judy Garland as chorus girl Hannah Brown…… But for a volleyball accident, Don Hewes would have been played by Gene Kelly, who suggested that since he was out of the picture, the makers should try and get Astaire on board. Astaire had retired from Hollywood but jumped at the chance to replace the then present incumbent of the role, Mickey Rooney. Worked out OK in the end, because, as was normally the way, Astaire gave another masterful song and dance performance. Garland on the other hand had to dig deep to enthuse the role with some quality. In a rut with the formula of the films she was making, and nearing exhaustion because of the hectic schedules, it took a guiding hand from Astaire to see her thru the production. The end result? Garland still managing to enchant and whisk the viewer to a nice place where troubles don't exist.

The piece contains 17 of Irving Berlin's tunes, with Steppin' Out with My Baby and A Couple of Swells particularly standing out, with the latter expertly played out on a moving floor. While admirably supporting the principals is Peter Lawford as Jonathan Harrow III. It's a foot tapper to warm the cockles on a blustery winters day, never mind only at easter! 7/10

I don't know why I haven't checked this out on DVD yet. I imagine it looks spectacular, because even the VHS looked super. I'm talking about the Technicolor. Man, those Technicolor films in the '40s were beautiful, as this certainly is.

For entertainment, you get Fred Astaire dancing, Judy Garland singing, Ann Miller dancing, and Peter Lawford singing. I didn't think Lawford could sing, but he's not bad here. The other talent must have elevated his.

Astaire consistently amazed audiences with his innovative dance routines and smooth style. He does a number here in a toy store that is really something! Miller also gives us a good tap number and Garland's songs are all winners.

This movie is more vehicle for those above-mentioned stars than it is in telling some profound the story. The story is not much, but who cares? It's the dancing, singing, the incredible costumes, overall color, nice people and just plain feel-good musical atmosphere that makes this a popular film, even to this day.