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It's Always Fair Weather

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It's Always Fair Weather
Theatrical lobby card
Directed by
Written by
Produced byArthur Freed
Starring
CinematographyRobert J. Bronner
Edited byAdrienne Fazan
Music byAndré Previn
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
  • September 2, 1955 (1955-09-02)[1]
Running time
102 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2,771,000[2]
Box office$2,374,000[2][3]

It's Always Fair Weather is a 1955 American musical satire directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen. The film was scripted by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, who also wrote the show's lyrics, with music by André Previn. It stars Kelly, Dan Dailey, Cyd Charisse, Dolores Gray, and dancer/choreographer Michael Kidd in his first film acting role.

The film, co-directed by Kelly and Donen, was shot in CinemaScope and Eastmancolor. Although well-received critically at the time, it was not a commercial success, and is one of the last major dance-oriented MGM musicals. In recent years, it has been recognized as a seminal film because of the inventiveness of its dance routines.

It's Always Fair Weather is noted for its downbeat theme, unusual for a musical, which may have hurt it at the box office, and has been called a rare "cynical musical".[4]

Plot

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Three ex-G.I.s, Ted Riley, Doug Hallerton and Angie Valentine have served in World War II together and become best friends. At the beginning of the film, set in October 1945, they meet at their favorite New York bar, Tim's Bar and Grill before their release from the service. When Riley receives a Dear John letter from his girlfriend telling him she has married another man, his friends comfort him and join him hitting every other bar in town. They dance drunkenly through the street together ("The Binge") before returning to Tim's. Barman Tim is dubious about their vows of eternal friendship—having heard similar claims made by many other discharged servicemen—and wagers them they will forget about each other. The trio protest that they will be different and promise to reunite exactly ten years later at the same spot, tearing a dollar bill in three parts and writing the date of October 11, 1955 on each piece.

In the years after the war, the three men take entirely different paths, as shown through the "10-Year Montage". Riley had wanted to become an idealistic lawyer, but instead has become a fight promoter and gambler, associating with shady underworld characters. Hallerton, who had planned to become a painter, has gone into a high-stress job in advertising, and his marriage is crumbling. Valentine, who had planned to become a gourmet chef, is now running a hamburger stand in Schenectady, New York that he calls "The Cordon Bleu." He has a wife and several children.

The three men keep their promise to meet at the bar ten years later, and quickly realize that they now have nothing in common and dislike each other. Hallerton and Riley view Valentine as a "hick", while Riley and Valentine think Hallerton is a "snob", and Hallerton and Valentine think Riley is a "punk". Sitting together in an expensive restaurant as Hallerton's guest, munching celery, they silently express their regrets in "I Shouldn't Have Come", sung to the tune of "The Blue Danube".

At the restaurant, they encounter some people from Hallerton's advertising agency, including Jackie Leighton, an attractive and brainy advertising executive. Jackie gets the idea of reuniting the three men later that evening on a TV show hosted by Madeline Bradville. She and Riley gradually become involved, though at first Jackie seems motivated by wanting to get Riley on her show. She joins Riley at Stillman's gym, where Jackie demonstrates a deep knowledge of boxing while cavorting with beefy boxers to the tune of "Baby You Knock Me Out".

Riley gets into trouble with mobsters because he refuses to fix a fight. Evading the gangsters by dashing inside a roller skating ring, he skates out on the streets of Manhattan, where he realizes that Jackie's affection for him has built up his self-esteem, and he dances exuberantly on roller skates ("I Like Myself"). Hallerton, meanwhile, has misgivings about the corporate life ("Situation-Wise").

The three men are reluctantly coaxed into the TV reunion, while the gangsters track Riley inside the studio. The three ex-service buddies fight and defeat the gangsters—tricking the head mobster into confessing on live television. The brawl brings the trio back together and they escape from the studio when the police arrive. At the end, they are friends again, but go their separate ways without making plans for another reunion ("The Time for Parting").

Cast

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Uncredited

Production

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Michael Kidd, Gene Kelly and Dan Dailey dancing on trash can lids in the "Binge" number

Screenwriters Betty Comden and Adolph Green conceived It's Always Fair Weather as a sequel to On the Town (1949). It was intended to reunite Gene Kelly with his On the Town co-stars Frank Sinatra and Jules Munshin; it was to be produced as a Broadway show.[5] Comden stated, "While we were trying out to think of another idea for Gene, by chance we told him this story. Gene liked it."[6] Kelly instead persuaded them to re-envision their idea into a musical film.[5] Comden and Green outlined the story to Arthur Freed, who also asked Roger Edens to attend the pitch meeting. Freed and Edens approved their idea, and Comden and Green began writing their script.[6] Additionally, Comden and Green were permitted to write the lyrics. To compose the songs, Edens was not available he was preoccupied with Deep in My Heart (1954). Based on his work in Invitation to the Dance (1956), Freed hired André Previn as the film composer.[6]

However, Dore Schary, MGM's studio president, refused to hire either Sinatra or Munshin. By this point, Munshin's popularity had declined and he was relegated to comedic supporting roles.[7] Multiple reasons have been given for Sinatra's absence. Apparently, Schary did not want to hire Sinatra due to his difficult working reputation.[8] According to Kelly's biographer Clive Hirschhorn, Sinatra declined to return to wearing a sailor suit after he had recently won a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for From Here to Eternity (1953). As a result, the three main leads were recharacterized as G.I. soldiers.[9]

Ultimately, Kelly chose fellow dancers Dan Dailey, who was under contract to MGM, and Michael Kidd, who had more experience as a choreographer (he choreographed the Broadway and film versions of Guys and Dolls, as well as The Band Wagon) than as an actor.[9] Dolores Gray and Cyd Charisse were cast in the central female roles.[10]

Kelly asked his frequent collaborator Stanley Donen to co-direct with him. Donen, who had just scored a major success with Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (with Kidd as choreographer), initially declined to direct. He explained, "I didn't want to co-direct another picture with Kelly at that point. We didn't get on very well, and for that matter, Gene didn't get on really well with anybody."[11][12] Due to his previous experience during Brigadoon (1954), Kelly was reluctant to shoot in CinemaScope, which he did not find suitable for screen dancing.[13] Regardless, one of Donen's ideas using the CinemaScope format was to use split screen into three parts to depict the separate careers of the main leads.[10] To accomplish this effect, the three cameras had to move at precisely the same speed, so the actors would not appear to be jumping across the frame.[14]

Principal photography began on October 13, 1954 and wrapped on March 15, 1955.[11] Due to Dore Schary's attempts at austerity, It's Always Fair Weather was not as lavishly produced when compared to An American in Paris (1951) and Singin' in the Rain (1952).[13] Comden and Green sensed this as production numbers for prior MGM musicals had to be approved by Arthur Freed. However, as they wrote the script, production numbers instead had to have the final approval by Schary.[12] Green explained, "It was made when the era of musicals was over, at least at MGM."[12] Comden further added, "It was over. I don't think Gene was quite the star he was. He wasn't that popular anymore, and neither were musicals."[12]

Comden, Green, and Previn had written a song titled "Love is Nothing but a Racket" as a slow ballad duet between Kelly and Charisse. Kelly objected to the song, complaining to Previn that "nobody wants to sit still for a ballad."[15] At his insistence, Kelly recorded the song at a quadruple of the original tempo, but the number was cut from the film.[15] Another production number titled "Jack and the Space Giants" featured Kidd performing an elaborate ten-minute dance with a group of children. The number was recorded and filmed, but never previewed. Kelly explained "that number was cut; it didn't come across—it didn't work out. And I think it was cut rightfully so."[15]

Reception

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Box office

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According to MGM records, the film earned $1,380,000 in the U.S. and Canada and $994,000 elsewhere, resulting in a loss of $1,675,000.[2]

Critical reaction

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Hy Hollinger of Variety wrote the film "takes on advertising agencies and tv commercials, and what emerges is a delightful musical satire that should help empty living rooms and fill up theatres".[16] Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote it was a "bright film" that spoofed "the whiskers off TV".[17] Kate Cameron of the New York Daily News praised the film, writing, "Betty Comden and Adolph Green, who wrote the screenplay and composed the lyrics for the new Music Hall film, It's Always Fair Weather, have had some fun at the expense of TV. The picture is a lively, amusing lampoon on some types of video shows and of the sponsors and advertising agencies who back them."[18] Edwin Schallert of the Los Angeles Times felt that while "the premise of the story and screenplay by Betty Comden and Adolph Green is an interesting one, the picture does not get off the ground quite as happily as the theme might promise."[19]

In December 1955, Crowther listed It's Always Fair Weather as one of the year's top ten films.[20] In her book 5001 Nights at the Movies, critic Pauline Kael called the film a "delayed hangover", and wrote that its "mixture of parody, cynicism and song and dance is perhaps a little sour". She did however praise Dailey's "Situationwise" number and wrote that "to a great extent this is Dailey's movie".[21]

In recent years, the film's reputation has grown among fans of musicals and of Gene Kelly, whose dance on roller skates to "I Like Myself" is seen as the last great dance solo of his career.[22] Scenes from the film were included in MGM's 1976 film That's Entertainment, Part II, in a segment hosted by Kelly and Fred Astaire. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an aggregate score of 91% based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 6.7/10.[23]

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

Accolades

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Award Category Nominee(s) Result
Academy Awards[25] Best Story and Screenplay Betty Comden and Adolph Green Nominated
Best Scoring of a Musical Picture André Previn Nominated
Writers Guild of America Awards[26] Best Written American Musical Betty Comden and Adolph Green Nominated

Soundtrack

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It's Always Fair Weather
Soundtrack album by
André Previn
Length41:28
LabelSony Music (1991), Rhino Handmade
ProducerDan Rivard

Soundtrack recordings have been issued by Rhino Records and in 1991 by Sony Music.

Track listing:

Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green; music score by André Previn. All pieces played by MGM Studio Orchestra conducted by André Previn. Between brackets the singers.

  1. "Overture" 1:04
  2. "March, March" (Gene Kelly, Dan Dailey, Michael Kidd) 1:21
  3. "The Binge" 5:07
  4. "The Time for Parting" (Gene Kelly, Dan Dailey, Michael Kidd) 2:01
  5. "10-Year Montage" 2:18
  6. "The Blue Danube (I Shouldn't Have Come)" (Gene Kelly, Dan Dailey, Michael Kidd) 2:30
  7. "Music Is Better Than Words" (Dolores Gray) 2:10
  8. "Stillman's Gym" (Lou Lubin) 2:10
  9. "Baby You Knock Me Out" (Carol Richards [singing for Cyd Charisse], Lou Lubin) 2:40
  10. "The Ad Men" (Dan Dailey, Paul Maxey) 0:48
  11. "Once Upon a Time" (Gene Kelly, Dan Dailey, Michael Kidd) 3:33
  12. "Situation-Wise" (Dan Dailey) 2:49
  13. "The Chase" 1:04
  14. "I Like Myself" (Gene Kelly) 4:10
  15. "Klenzrite" (Dolores Gray) 1:34
  16. "Thanks a Lot, but No, Thanks" (Dolores Gray) 3:47
  17. "The Time for Parting (Finale)" (David Burns and chorus) 1:46

See also

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References

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Citations

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  1. ^ "It's Always Fair Weather - Details". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  3. ^ "1955 Top Film Grossers". Variety. January 25, 1956. p. 15 – via Internet Archive.
  4. ^ Feaster, Felicia. "It's Always Fair Weather". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  5. ^ a b Hirschhorn 1984, pp. 204–205.
  6. ^ a b c Fordin 1996, p. 433.
  7. ^ Silverman 1996, p. 208.
  8. ^ Neibaur & Schneeberger 2022, p. 42.
  9. ^ a b Hirschhorn 1984, p. 205.
  10. ^ a b Fordin 1996, p. 434.
  11. ^ a b Fordin 1996, p. 436.
  12. ^ a b c d Silverman 1996, p. 206.
  13. ^ a b Hirschhorn 1984, p. 209.
  14. ^ Hirschhorn 1984, p. 210.
  15. ^ a b c Fordin 1996, p. 437.
  16. ^ Hollinger, Hy (August 24, 1955). "Film Reviews: It's Always Fair Weather". Variety. p. 6.
  17. ^ Crowther, Bosley (September 16, 1955). "Screen: Kidding Video". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  18. ^ Cameron, Kate (September 16, 1955). "Music Hall Picture Lampoons Television". New York Daily News. p. 45. Retrieved October 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  19. ^ Schallert, Edwin (September 1, 1955). "Numbers Brighten 'Fair Weather' Idea". Los Angeles Times. Part III, p. 11. Retrieved October 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  20. ^ Crowther, Bosley (December 25, 1955). "Best Films of 1955". The New York Times. p. X3. Retrieved October 16, 2024.
  21. ^ Kael, Pauline (2011) [1982]. 5001 Nights at the Movies. New York: Macmillan. p. 49. ISBN 978-1-250-03357-4.
  22. ^ DiLeo, John (2002). 100 Great Film Performances You Should Remember, But Probably Don't. Limelight Editions. p. 225. ISBN 978-0-87910-972-1.
  23. ^ "It's Always Fair Weather". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 16, 2024.
  24. ^ "AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals Nominees" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  25. ^ "The 28th Academy Awards (1956) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2011-08-21.
  26. ^ "Awards Winners". wga.org. Writers Guild of America. Archived from the original on 2012-12-05. Retrieved 2010-06-06.

Works cited

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