La belle de New York

The Belle of New York is not one of Fred Astaire's best movies but it is nowhere near his worst. Everything about the movie is sweet, charming and light. Vera Ellen is one of the best dancers in Hollywood and a great partner for Fred. The color is beautiful. The sets and the costumes are fantastic, and while it is true it is not one of the strongest stories, there are some good laughs along the way. The music is charming. The dancing is excellent. And the movie just glides along, mostly due to the very plentiful musical numbers. If you want some dramatic tension, look elsewhere. This movie has none. If you like musicals, if you like good dancing, in particular if you like Vera Ellen, this movie is a must see. The quality of the DVD release is excellent.

The mostly negative reviews relating to this movie miss the mark. Although the script and special effects are undeniably weak, the partnered dancing of Fred Astaire and Vera-Ellen has never been equaled. One dance of particular note is the finale to the Currier and Ives number. It's simply breathtaking. Don't worry about the plot when you're watching the two best dancers in the history of Hollywood at the zenith of their powers.

Nobody could truthfully say that "The Belle Of New York" is a great movie but it does showcase the dancing talents of Fred Astaire & Vera-Ellen which, for me at least, makes it worth watching. Astaire was the greatest Hollywood dancer of all with the only possible exception of Gene Kelly. Lovely Vera-Ellen was not only one of Hollywood's best female dancers but had a pair of the most gorgeous gams I have ever seen. Astaire is always great to watch & Vera-Ellen does a very sexy dance to a song entitled "Naughty But Nice". She is dressed in a kind of black chiffon can-can dancers outfit & looks fabulous in it. Squeaky-voiced comedienne Alice Pearce also makes an appearance in this movie & a very funny lady she was but, sadly, died fairly young. All in all this movie is pretty good & fairly entertaining.

Not necessarily a bad film, in fact it is quite pleasant, but it is not really one that sticks long in the memory for me. The script is weak mostly with nothing really sticking out, while the story is both forgettable and underdeveloped. The film is too short I feel too and some scenes in the middle feel a little unfocused in the pace.

On the other hand, there is much to like. I liked the look of the film, it wasn't anything spectacular, but the sets, lighting and costumes are very nice and the photography is crisp enough. The songs and score are great, as is the dancing. Then there are Fred Astaire and Vera Ellen, despite the script and story they give it their all making their characters likable and they sing and dance a dream.

Overall, not anything to rave about but a nice enough diversion. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Fred Astaire wrote in his autobiography that he was personally hurt by the critical and box-office failure of this Freed Unit musical, adapted very loosely from a turn-of-the-century stage success. You can see why audiences rejected it, but you can also see he was right to be proud. The story is trite even for a musical, and nothing can liven up the dead space between numbers -- not Marjorie Main playing to the gallery, not Alice Pearce frumping about predictably, and most certainly not the central conceit of the central romance, which is that love makes our young sweethearts (the script keeps referring to Astaire as "young man," which he plainly is not at this point) literally walk, and dance, on air.

The gimmickry gets in the way of a couple of numbers, too: Astaire and Ellen dance on a hapless horse's back, and Astaire cavorts atop the Washington Square arch. Still, the Warren-Mercer score, though it contains no hits, is tuneful, clever, and well suited to the meager plot; the MGM Orchestra is irresistibly lush; and the Technicolor gorgeously shows off the handsome production. In short, the film may be a triumph of studio engineering over inspiration, but as long as the stars are dancing, it's a delight.

Vera-Ellen partners Astaire charmingly, even if she's not the world's most dynamic actress, and she has a fun solo, "Naughy But Nice." As for Astaire, he's his usual self, and we'd want it no other way. His best number is the one least dependent on special effects, "I Wanna Be a Dancin' Man." "Gonna leave my footsteps on the sands of time," he sings. You surely did, Mr. A.