Ma soeur est du tonnerre

"On the Town"'s Betty Garrett and Janet Leigh play two sisters looking for romance from their slightly seedy flat on the wrong part of town.

Eileen (Leigh) is the pretty one who has all the attention, while her sister waits quietly for her talents and charms to be appreciated. In the cast are Jack Lemmon, Bob Fosse, and Tommy Rall (so some excellent dancing going on here).

There are a number of OTT moments, not least the all-inclusive conga number near the end, but this musical version of a 40s classic manages to add something new and showcase the talents of its cast well.

Where has this film been all these years? What a completely charming piece of entertainment with a nice score by Jule Styne (Gypsy, Funny Girl, Bells Are Ringing). OK, so it's no Singin' In The Rain or Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. But it's equally as good as a lot of the other lesser MGM musicals of the 1940s and 1950s such as Summer Stock and On The Town. Based on the 1940 play of the same name (Book by Joseph A. Fields and Jerome Chodorov;) Betty Garrett and Janet Leigh are perfect as the Sherwood sisters. They both shine in their performances. And top it off, the film highlights some wonderful choreography by none other than legendary Bob Fosse. His work is, as it always was, stylish and pure class. The only glitch in the casting is that of Jack Lemon. He tries to be a slick, man-of-the-world New York publisher. But his performance just falls a bit short of his usual standards. And sadly there was very little chemistry between Garrett and Lemon, making the blossoming romance of their characters somewhat hard to believe. Still, even with this small weak link in the chain, overall the film really works.

It does seem strange that just the year before this film was released, Broadway produced their own musical version of the original 1940 non-musical version of My Sister Eileen, called Wonderful Town (Music by Leonard Berstein; Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green). While Wonderful Town wasn't a huge Broadway smash, it did run 559 performances, which was respectable for 1954. With a musical stage version of the play already existing as a part of the world of musical theater, I tend to wonder why Columbia started from scratch with this film and didn't film the Bernstein, Comdon & Green musical. But still, it's nice to know that there are two different musical versions of this charming play to enjoy.

"My Sister Eileen" has two great stars -- Bob Fosse and Betty Garrett -- stealing the show from two who turned out to be bigger stars -- Jack Lemmon and Janet Leigh. The story is pretty elementary and certainly predictable, but that doesn't matter. What makes this movie special is Garrett's incredible comic delivery (with and without the Brazilian navy!) and Fosse's fabulous choreography. When he and Tommy Rall challenge each other while waiting outside Eileen's "audition," you'll feel like you're in heaven.

Betty Garrett and Janet Leigh star in "My Sister Eileen," a 1955 musical also starring Jack Lemmon, Bob Fosse, Tommy Rall and Kurt Kasznar. This is not the musical "Wonderful Town" but it has delightful music by Jule Style. It's the story of the Sherwood Girls, Ruth and Eileen, who come to Greenwich Village from Ohio to "make it" -Eileen as a performer and Ruth as a writer. The two are conned by a landlord (Kasznar) into renting (for a whopping $65 a month) a basement apartment that shakes like crazy during subway construction. Not to mention, with their window placed the way it is, they may as well be living in the street.

The Ruth character is based on the writer of the original story, Ruth McKenney. Eileen is the freshly beautiful blonde who always has men swarming around her; in comparison, the pretty, funny and stylish Ruth feels like a plain Jane. She sublimates by being dedicated to her career until she meets a publisher (Jack Lemmon) and falls for him. He's interested in her story, "My Sister Eileen," and she's so insecure, she tells him that she is the sought after Eileen - it's another aspect of her personality, she says.

The Greenwich Village aspect makes the film as the movie captures its atmosphere perfectly and gives a real feel for the New York of the 1950s. Betty Garrett is great as Ruth. Her singing and acting are both wonderful. Surprisingly, though it's the title role, the part of Eileen really isn't much. (Sadly, the real Eileen died very young. She married writer Nathanael West and died with him 8 months later in a 1940 car accident.) Janet Leigh is pretty and sweet, putting over the necessary naiveté as Eileen, plus she gets to show off her singing and dancing. Fosse, who also choreographed, and Tommy Rall are suitors of Eileen and do some fabulous dancing. Dick York has a small but showy role as a young man in Ruth's and Eileen's building. Jack Lemmon, in an early role, is slightly miscast as the sophisticated publisher but is very likable.

Well-directed by Richard Quine, it's a shame that "My Sister Eileen" hasn't gotten more attention. It's pretty to look at and to listen to with wonderful, vibrant performances. Check it out.

The first time Fosse was given the job of choreography for an entire movie, he came up with "The Competition Dance", a terrific number for himself and Tommy Rall. But the movie should have made a star out of Betty Garrett. Who knows, if MGM had made the film it probably would have. The score, by the way, is far better than that of "Wonderful Town", the stage version that Columbia wanted to film until the producers asked too much for it. Rent it, buy it, enjoy it. By the way, there is a soundtrack recording, but you'll have to spend weeks tracking it down. It may be worth it just to hear Jack Lemmon's take on "It's Bigger Than Both of Us".