Slideshow
THE BAND WAGON
U.S., 1953
Directed by Vincente Minnelli
Starring Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Oscar Levant, Jack Buchanan, Nanette Fabray
Screenplay by Betty Comden and Adolph Green
Songs by Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz.
Approx. 112 mins. 35mm.
Washed-up Hollywood song-and-dance man Fred Astaire aims for a Broadway comeback — thanks to a socko script by Comden & Green stand-ins Nanette Fabray and Oscar Levant — but battles with artsy director Jack Buchanan — as well as chilly co-star Cyd Charisse, until the two find themselves “dancing in the dark” in Central Park. Add Fred’s “Shine on Your Shoes” routine in a 42nd Street arcade, the hilarious “Triplets,” the Spillane-spoofing “Girl Hunt Ballet,” still more great songs by Dietz & Schwartz, and a scintillating Comden and Green screenplay. Now That’s Entertainment!
With support from the Robert Jolin Osborne Endowed Fund for American Classic Cinema of the 1930s, ‘40s, and ‘50s.