Can-Can film

I haven't had nearly enough Cole Porter in my Year, yet, so I'm making up for that with the film version of Can-Can. The message of this film seems to be that, yes, the bad boy often wins out. I also need to remember that Cole Porter wrote good songs for good shows--even if the film version of this one doesn't show him off to his best advantage.

The casting of this film is an odd combination of Americans and Frenchmen. Frank Sinatra and Shirley MacLaine are very colloquial and American as Francois Durnais and Simone Pistache; even when singing "C'est Magnifique" they seem more their Brat pack personas than anything else. Maurice Chevelier and Louis Jourdan are the French members of the cast and it's hard to argue with either of them as charming performers, although neither are the singers that I really wanted to hear. I suppose the casting is to drive home the class distinction that plays a part in the storyline of bad boy Sinatra and class act Jourdan both vying for the love and, a-hem, hand of MacLaine.

The plot is basically wrapped around a big "dance-tease" waiting for the Can-Can to be danced. When it finally comes, it is lively, but filmed in a very two-dimensional way. Who choreographed this? Hermes Pan for the film, Michael Kidd on the stage. But it appears that characters were switched around from the stage to the screen (or at least given other names), so I'll have to listen to the cast album to compare and contrast.

The songs, while being some of Porter's most memorable, seem lack-luster. Most are ballads and are presented at the slowest possible tempo, it seems. There aren't enough upbeat songs to balance out the dourness (that's the wrong word, help me here) of songs like "It's The Wrong Face". In looking at the song list for the stage show, it also appears that much was changed in transfering this to the screen, so cast album ho.

Can-Can
Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter
Film released in 1965 by 20th Century Fox
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Shirley MacLaine, Louis Jourdan, Maurice Chevelier

On The Town film on DVD

New York, New York, it's a Wonderful Town. And this is a Wonderful Film! Deservedly a classic musical picture with a star-studded cast. The stage show of On The Town has some music that didn't make it to the film, most notably for me is "Lonely Town", a ballad which Gabey sang in the original Broadway production. It's a great song and I miss it. I also miss "I Can Cook, Too" which Nancy Walker sang in the stage version as cabby Hildy. The songs that Roger Edens wrote for the film, aren't all that special when compared with Bernstein.

With Gene Kelly as star and co-director, it's not surprising that dance plays a big role in this film, as it must do in the stage version, too, since the show originated as an idea for a Jerome Robbins ballet with music by Bernstein. As the theatrical trailer, which is about the only DVD extra, states--"It's twice as gay as 'Anchors Aweigh' " and boasts "A Torrent of Talent and Tunes."

I wonder if there is a more accurate version of On the Town on film, perhaps a taping of a stage production.

On The Town
Music by Leondard Bernstein
Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green
Screenplay by Comden and Green based on their stage play
Additional music by Roger Edens
Directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen
Cast: Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Jules Munshin, Betty Garrett, Ann Miller, Vera Ellen.