Movie Review: On The Beach (1959)

Genre: Post-Apocalyptic Cold War Drama

Director: Stanley Kramer

Starring: Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Anthony Perkins, Fred Astaire, Donna Anderson

Running Time: 134 minutes

Synopsis: In 1964, a nuclear war annihilates humanity in the Northern Hemisphere. As Australia awaits the arrival of deadly radiation, Commander Dwight Towers (Gregory Peck) docks the US Navy's nuclear submarine USS Sawfish in Melbourne. Still grieving the loss of his family, Towers is introduced to Moira Davidson (Ava Gardner), who is seeking a romance. Towers also meets Lieutenant Peter Holmes (Anthony Perkins) of the Australian Navy, who is struggling to comfort his wife Mary (Donna Anderson). Nuclear scientist Julian Osborn (Fred Astaire, in his first dramatic role) joins them on a reconnaissance mission to measure radiation levels over the Pacific, a journey that will reach San Francisco then San Diego, the source of a mysterious radio signal.

What Works Well: The adaptation of Nevil Shute's cautionary novel packs enormous quiet power, portraying humanity's demise through the eyes of the final set of survivors, resigned to their fate. John Paxton's script deftly avoids melodrama, instead allowing creeping dread to emerge in potent moments of realization, regret, and despair. The military, scientific, and civilian perspectives are provided equal weight through the stories of Towers, Osborn, Moira, and the Holmes family, and gradually themes of loss and lament grab hold at individual and collective levels. Director Stanley Kramer affords even minor characters (the San Francisco sailor, the Australian Navy commander and his assistant) respectful moments, and the closing embraces of finality have rarely been matched for sheer poignancy.

What Does Not Work As Well: The slow pacing allows the immensity of extinction to settle like a heavy fog, contrasting prolonged interactions with the miniscule time remaining for life on Earth, but the running length still borders on excessive.

Conclusion: Unthinkable tragedy distilled to the essence of human desire for meaningful connections.



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Movie Review: You Were Never Lovelier (1942)

A romantic comedy musical with screwball elements, You Were Never Lovelier strikes the perfect balance between humour, romance and elegant musical numbers.

Famous American dancer Bob Davis (Fred Astaire) is in Buenos Aires, where he proceeds to lose all his money on his horse racing gambling addiction. Desperate for a job, he approaches gruff tycoon and hotel owner Eduardo Acuña (Adolphe Menjou), seeking a dancing gig at the hotel's swanky restaurant. Acuña, the father of four grown daughters, believes that Davis is a useless opportunist and wants nothing to do with him. Acuña also has problems of his own. With his eldest daughter now married, his second daughter Maria (Rita Hayworth) is not passionate about any man, and is therefore holding up the marriage prospects of daughters three and four.

Acuña concocts a harebrained plot to manufacture a secret admirer for Maria, to get her romantic juices flowing. He starts sending her unsigned love notes and orchids on a daily basis. The plan initially works, but through a series of misunderstandings, Maria arrives at the conclusion that Davis is her secret lover, and passion ignites between them much to Acuña's horror.

Directed by William A. Seiter with music by Jerome Kern and lyrics by Johnny Mercer, You Were Never Lovelier is the second and final screen teaming of Astaire and Hayworth. This is a breezy, character-rich comedy with three fine central performances. Astaire is at his elegant best, Hayworth looks ravishing and simply glows in a series of stunning gowns, and Menjou has a substantial supporting role as the meddlesome patriarch. The dialogue is witty, the pace is brisk, and there is plenty going on in every scene. Hayworth's voice is unnecessarily dubbed (by Nan Wynn) and not enough is made of the supposed Buenos Aires setting and Argentinian culture, but You Were Never Lovelier gets everything else right.

Astaire would later name Hayworth his favourite dance partner, while she considered her two collaborations with Astaire as the pinnacle of her career. It's easy to see why. There is an effortless chemistry between the two that simply materializes as soon as they share the screen, a spark of romance and respect that Astaire rarely generated with other leading ladies. Hayworth does not try to match Astaire in their dances; she does her own thing to complement him, and does it with undisguised happiness, resulting in a cheerfully comfortable pairing. The two highlight dance scenes are simply perfect, the classic and elegant I'm Old Fashioned signalling the start of the romance, and the more exuberant The Shorty George confirming just how compatible Davis and Maria are.

The film works well precisely because of the measured approach to the musical interludes. The songs and dances are there to punctuate the story's key moments, and otherwise do not get in the way or slow down the madcap story. Seiter and his editors deliver the package at an economical 97 minutes, add no padding, and if anything, leave the audience wanting more. In other words, the perfect approach to lighthearted entertainment.

You Were Never Lovelier is rounded out with secondary characters who do much to liven up the film. The script (co-written by Delmer Daves) takes the time to create screwball-like fun involving Acuña's family and acquaintances getting in each other's way and injecting texture and humour into the manic proceedings. Assistant Fernando (Gus Schilling), wife Delfina (Barbara Brown), Maria's godmother also called Maria (Isobel Elsom) and her husband Juan (Douglas Leavitt) and the two youngest daughters all do their part to generate and maintain momentum. Band leader Xavier Cugat also enjoys an extended role and adds to the musical flavour.

You Were Never Lovelier is a gem of a musical, a rare example of all the genre elements coming together in just the right doses.

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Movie Review: Daddy Long Legs (1955)

A humdrum musical, Daddy Long Legs benefits from a radiant Leslie Caron but cannot overcome the age difference between her and co-star Fred Astaire.

While on a trip to France, wealthy American businessman and bon vivant Jervis Pendleton III (Astaire) spots Julie Andre (Caron) at an orphanage for girls. Falling in love with her at a distance, Jervis decides to help Julie without her knowledge. With assistance from US Ambassador Alexander Williamson (Larry Keating), Jervis arranges to sponsor Julie's education at a college in New England. When some of the orphans spot Jervis' long shadow, Julie nicknames her mysterious benefactor "Daddy Long Legs".

Julie relocates to the US and enjoys her college education, but never receives any responses to the letters she writes to her sponsor. Jervis arranges to meet her under the guise of being her roommate's uncle. But when the relationship between them becomes serious, Ambassador Williamson raises the threat of a scandal, Jervis breaks off the romance to travel the world, and Julie is left heartbroken and wondering if he will come back to her.

With the studio system dissolving and the popularity of musicals waning, Astaire was cast adrift by MGM. He landed at 20th Century Fox for Daddy Long Legs, and while all the usual pieces are assembled to try and create the typical joyful experience and some moments do work, the overall fit is just the wrong side of awkward. Director Jean Negulesco is average at best when it comes to musicals, the CinemaScope format works against any intimacy, the running time of over two hours drags unnecessarily, many of the musical numbers border on forgettable, and the attempts at humour are more flat than fizzy.

The by now obligatory long ballet sequence towards the end highlights Caron's talent and features some childishly good set designs, and in general Daddy Long Legs is always better when Caron is on the screen. At 24 years of age, she brings vitality and enthusiasm that are sorely missing from the rest of the film. In contrast Astaire is surrounded by stodgy assistants Griggs (Fred Clark) and Alicia (Thelma Ritter). They are sometimes funny, but they also raise the average age and lower the overall energy level.

Although it tries hard, Daddy Long Legs cannot shake the icky central premise of a 55 year old Astaire lusting after Caron. This is a bad example of an actor desperately trying to remain credible as a romantic lead, but creating a bad taste in the mouth instead. It goes without saying that the chemistry never materializes.

Despite the shortcomings, this is a Fred Astaire musical, and there are some definitely enjoyable highlights, bursting with colour. Sluefoot is the one standout musical number, Astair and Caron shining on the dance floor in a smooth and angular jazzy duet, while the Something's Gotta Give sequence is the one example of the romance almost finding a spark. Daddy Long Legs may lack the standout quality of the best 1950s musicals, but it does enough to just stride over the fence into respectable territory.

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Movie Review: Royal Wedding (1951)

A Fred Astaire musical set mostly in London on the eve of Princess Elizabeth's wedding in 1947, Royal Wedding offers breezy fun and plenty of comic romance, but the musical numbers rarely rise above average.

Popular brother-and-sister Broadway musical act Tom and Ellen Bowen (Astaire and Jane Powell) are both happily not married. Tom is dedicated to his craft and has no time for romance, while Ellen toys with men for a matter of days at a time and leaves a trail of broken hearts in her wake. When their agent Irving (Keenan Wynn) arranges for the Bowens to star in a London show in the lead-up to Princess Elizabeth's royal wedding, Tom and Ellen jump at the chance.

On the boat to London, Ellen meets Lord John Brindale (Peter Lawford), a British man who shares her love for quick affairs and no commitments. But Ellen and John start to seriously care for each other, and once in London, Tom meets and falls in love with back-up dancer Anne (Sarah Churchill), although she tells him that she is engaged to a man based in Chicago. With the London show a big success, Tom and Ellen find their new romantic relationships complicating their previously straightforward lives.

Royal Wedding has a few drawbacks that prevent it from joining the absolute top ranks of 1950s musicals. Jane Powell was at least third choice for the role of Ellen. June Allyson (pregnancy) and then Judy Garland (absenteeism) both dropped out. Plucked from the obscurity of MGM's low-budget second tier musicals, the 21 year old Powell is ironically more watchable as an actress with a deft comic turn than as a musical performer. Her singing is unremarkable despite a good range, while her dancing is passable without ever being memorable.

Sarah Churchill is another drag on Royal Wedding. Winston's daughter, labouring under the misconception that she has a future in acting, is a wooden, unconvincing presence, and there is never a threat of chemistry with Astaire. Her casting must have surely been a stunt to trade on her father's name in the British market.

With Peter Lawford his usual anonymous self, the most passionate relationship in the film is between Tom and Ellen. As siblings singing and dancing together often in vignettes with romantic undercurrents, there is a scratchy discomfort in the physical and emotional closeness on display between brother and sister.

But there are also several positives to enjoy. Deprived of a stellar partner, Astaire delivers two brilliant solo dances. In Sunday Jumps he dances with props in the gym of the cross-Atlantic ship, turning a hatstand into an elegant companion. And in You're All the World to Me, Astaire seamlessly dances on the walls and ceilings of his hotel room. It is one of Astaire's most famous on-screen highlights, an eye-popping technical achievement delivered with aplomb by director Stanley Donen. In the best of the Astaire/Powell dances, they slide with the waves as the Atlantic high seas turn their dance floor into a tilting surface.

Keenan Wynn is a delight in the dual role of New York-based Irving and his twin brother London-based Edgar, and he gets to enjoy a couple of humorous telephone conversations with himself. Overall, Royal Wedding enjoys a steady current of wry comedy that makes up for the more creaky elements of the production.

A polished and colourful event despite suffering from some unruly moments, this wedding is still well worth attending.

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Movie Review: The Belle Of New York (1952)

A routine Fred Astaire musical, The Belle Of New York is short, sweet, silly and stuck on the sound stage.

It's early in the 1900s, and Angela (Vera-Ellen) is blossoming into an attractive woman, dangerously pretty for her job at a Salvation Army-like mission in New York City. Meanwhile, playboy bachelor Charles (Astaire) is threatening to get married again, although he rarely goes through with his threats, and instead leaves a succession of women at the altar.

When Charles meets Angela on the streets of New York, the attraction is immediate. She explains to him that being in love feels like walking on air, and sure enough Charles finds that he can float, sing and dance high above the ground. Much to the shock of his rich Aunt Lettie (Marjorie Main) and lawyer friend Max (Keenan Wynn), Charles proceeds to woo Angela by accepting a succession of honest day jobs, but his playboy reputation and tendencies get in the way.

The Belle Of New York has the definite whiff of a project slapped together in a hurry. With a small cast, stage-bound sets and a minimum of plot, the material is lightweight, and frequently threatens to be blown away with all the other floating-in-the-air cheesy effects.

Once Charles and Angela meet and the love affair starts about 20 minutes into the film, director Charles Waters struggles to generate substance. The film defaults to a succession of song and dance numbers ever so briefly interrupted by a few acting scenes and some slapstick-level humour. The dialogue is often sharp and clever, but there is not much of it. The vivid colours do add welcome vibrancy, but keeping the luminous Vera-Ellen mostly hidden in the drab clothing of a mission volunteer is quite self-defeating.

Fortunately Astaire and Vera-Ellen make for a good duo, and what they lack in chemistry as unconvincing lovers they make up for in energetic and innovative song and dance performances. Astaire hovers elegantly high above the Washington Square monument in Seeing's Believing, they team up for the cleverly choreographed Oops in and and around a horse-drawn streetcar before lighting up the dance floor in A Bride's Wedding Day Song. Vera-Ellen finally shows off her legs in Naughty But Nice while Astaire enjoys a superlative solo in I Wanna Be A Dancin' Man.

At just over 80 minutes The Belle Of New York drifts away humming a few good tunes, the featherweight airiness not leaving much of a lasting impression.

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Movie Review: Easter Parade (1948)

A musical stacked full of singing and some dancing, Easter Parade is mildly enjoyable as a talent show but awfully thin on the ground in terms of plot and characters.

Don Hewes (Fred Astaire) has a falling out with dance partner Nadine Hale (Ann Miller), when she accepts a starring role in a big-budget Ziegfeld-produced musical. The furious Don vows that he can turn any girl into a dancer to replace Nadine, and he plucks singer Hannah Brown (Judy Garland) out of a cheap diner routine and starts training her as his new partner.

With Nadine's career enjoying the spotlight, Don and Hannah struggle to establish themselves. Hannah falls in love with Don but he still has feelings for Nadine while his friend Johnny (Peter Lawford) lusts after Hannah.

Easter Parade had a troubled production, Astaire coming out of a short-lived screen retirement to replace Gene Kelly after Kelly had broken his ankle, and Ann Miller rescued from B movie obscurity to replace Cyd Charisse, after Charisse broke her leg.

With an endless parade of songs by Irving Berlin, Easter Parade is not as much a movie as a disjointed stage show. The 14 musical numbers are thrown at the screen in exhaustive fashion, the plot elements treated as rude interruptions between costume changes. The film reveals its intentions early, as Astaire gets to perform the opening two numbers, Happy Easter and Drum Crazy, before a single word is spoken, director Charles Walters signalling that the characters and story are very much a secondary concern.

When the personalities behind all the singing are sketchily introduced, they are unusually unlikable. Don Hewes is obsessed with his dancing and treats Hannah with disdain, using her to get back at Nadine. Garland does deliver the most engaged performance, but there is no chemistry between her and Astaire, and any reasons for Hannah to fall in love with Don start and stop at childish infatuation. Don never convincingly reciprocates any feelings, leaving the central romance a lopsided jumble.

Nadine is portrayed as cold and manipulative, Miller stuck with a plastic smile throughout, while Johnny is abandoned with no character development whatsoever, Lawford stranded as a the blandest of second-fiddle lovers.

The enjoyment does come from the better musical numbers, all making use of sparking colours. Drum Crazy is an energetic Astaire romp through a toy store, Miller rocks the joint and steals the movie with machine gun tap dancing in Shakin' the Blues Away, while Astaire and Garland enjoy their best moments in A Couple of Swells.

Easter Parade is a musical overburdened with the music, not lacking in talent but skipping too many ingredients essential for a well-rounded movie experience.

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Movie Review: Broadway Melody Of 1940 (1940)

A lighthearted musical, Broadway Melody Of 1940 sparkles whenever Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell join forces on the screen. The unforgettable partnership between two of Hollywood's greatest ever dancers is electric, and elevates the film far beyond the confines of its limited plot.

Johnny Brett (Astaire) and King Shaw (George Murphy) are a pair of struggling dancers, stuck in a cheap dance hall routine and beginning to lose hope of ever being discovered. Producer Bob Casey (Frank Morgan) does indeed spot the talented Johnny, but through a case of mistaken identity it is the more ponderous King who is scooped up into the big time and a leading man role in the new stage show starring superstar Clare Bennett (Powell).

King is star struck by all the media attention, and hopelessly falls in love with Clare, who is just playing the usual publicity game by hitting the hot nightspots with her new co-star. Clare soon notices Johnny hanging around as King's sidekick and dance coach, and a romance blossoms between them, interrupting preparations for the new show and causing endless headaches for director Bert Matthews (Ian Hunter).

Powell was one of the few dancers to match, and indeed better, Astaire's remarkable fluidity. A stupendous tap dancer, she appeared more effortless than Astaire, a remarkable feat that was never matched by any of Astaire's other dance partners.

In Broadway Melody Of 1940 they share two moments of sheer brilliance. In the first they get to know each other by tap dancing up a storm to a jazzy jukebox number in a casual cafe. It's a carefree performance choreographed to perfection, Powell incredibly attracting attention away from the normally imperious Astaire.

But their second dance to Begin the Beguine at the climax of the film set a standard that has rarely, if ever, been matched. For seven minutes (with a brief interruption for a costume change), Astaire and Powell create pure screen tap dance magic. The first portion is more lyrical and classical, with a Spanish flair. After they come back in matching white outfits, Powell in a simple dress and Astaire in a formal tux, they crescendo to a music-free tap duel that ends in a series of dizzying spins, an exclamation point to highlight two performers at their breathtaking peak.

The rest of the film has plenty of dances, some comedy, and a relatively routine story of friendship, mistaken identity, misplaced love, jealousy and atonement. Director Norman Taurog keeps the fun moving along and focused on the next musical number, the emotions conveyed through obvious broad brushes, and none of the characters demanding much in the way of depth.

George Murphy as King serves the purpose of being good but not nearly as good as Astaire's Johnny, a case of handsome looks and imposing physical presence being no match for talent under the glare of Broadway's lights. Frank Morgan and Ian Hunter enjoy their comic relief roles, Morgan particularly memorable for using a fur cape to attract, but not retain, a series of blonde dates.

As this would prove to be the only time that Astaire and Powell danced together on-screen, Broadway Melody Of 1940 is ultimately the film that captured lightning in a bottle.

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The Movies Of Fred Astaire

All movies starring Fred Astaire and reviewed on the Ace Black Movie Blog are linked below:

Top Hat (1935)

Broadway Melody Of 1940 (1940)

You Were Never Lovelier (1942)

Easter Parade (1948)

The Barkleys Of Broadway (1949)

Three Little Words (1950)

Royal Wedding (1951)

The Belle Of New York (1952)

The Band Wagon (1953)

Daddy Long Legs (1955)

Silk Stockings (1957)

On The Beach (1959)

The Towering Inferno (1974)

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The Movie Star Index is here.

Movie Review: Top Hat (1935)

A lightweight musical comedy with a few excellent moments, Top Hat struggles to stretch its single gag into a story between the song and dance routines.

Showman Jerry Travers (Fred Astaire) is invited to London by promoter Horace Hardwick (Edward Everett Horton) to prepare for a new show. While staying at a swanky hotel, Jerry's tap dancing disturbs the sleep of model Dale Tremont (Ginger Rogers), who is being pursued by smarmy fashion designer Alberto Beddini (Erik Rhodes). Jerry starts to court Dale, without telling her who he is. Meanwhile, Horace is engaged in a long-running verbal sparring march with his butler Bates (Eric Blore).

Dale confuses Jerry with Horace, who is married to Madge (Helen Broderick), and she believes that Jerry is a two-timer. Jerry's show opens and is a huge success. As everyone moves to Venice where Dale is modeling, Jerry has to clear up the confusion before Dale succumbs to marriage pressure from Alberto.

With a score by Irving Berlin, Top Hat features some all-time classic musical numbers. Top Hat, White Tie and Tails has Jerry dancing up a distinguished storm on the London stage, joined by a supporting army of top-hatted men. Cheek to Cheek finds Jerry and Dale dancing to the bittersweet romantic melody matching her uncertain mood, as she grows ever more attracted to a man that she believes is married to someone else. Rogers dancing in that gorgeous but feather-shedding gown earned her the eternal nickname Feathers from Astaire. Less notable but still good, Isn't This a Lovely Day (To Be Caught in the Rain) kicks off the romance between Jerry and Dale as they dance in a park gazebo.

But there is precious little to fill in the gaps between the musical highlights, and at over 100 minutes, Top Hat is not trying for brevity. It's difficult to imagine what up to five screenwriters spent their time doing, because they certainly were not developing compelling plot points.

The mistaken identity joke is carried way past its best-by date, but in the absence of any other meaningful story elements, it just gets dragged along from London to Venice. Erik Rhodes as Beddini is overly theatrical and quickly irritating, while the rest of the cast offer no musical support and no memorable acting.

But director Mark Sandrich does ensure that the song and dance numbers are well staged, capturing the magic of Astaire and Rogers in long takes and full-length. Sandrich also makes good use of the final, elaborate Busby Berkeley-style Venitian set, as the film ends with the flourish of The Piccolino.

Top Hat may lack depth, but it kicks up its heels when it comes to exuberance.

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Movie Review: Three Little Words (1950)

A biography of the Bert Kalmar - Harry Ruby songwriting team, Three Little Words is an infectiously bubbly celebration of musical creativity and friendship.

It's the early 1900s, and Bert Kalmar (Fred Astaire) forms a successful vaudeville dance partnership with Jessie Brown (Vera-Ellen). Kalmar is full of show business ideas and ambition, and wants to also prove himself as a magician. Harry Ruby (Red Skelton) is a piano plugger, wannabe baseball player, and struggling to get his music writing noticed. The two have a disastrous first encounter, with Harry inadvertently wrecking Bert's magic show.

A backstage accident injures Bert's knee, forcing him to temporarily retire from dancing. Another fortuitous meeting with Harry results in their writing a hit song, Bert providing the lyrics to Harry's music. A series of hit songs follow, and the partnership grows to include stage shows and movie soundtracks. The men also develop a deep friendship, Harry helping Bert and Jessie to reconnect and get married, while Bert and Jessie together save Harry from a series of disastrous relationships before he finally settles down with screen star Eileen Percy (Arlene Dahl). But every friendship has its rough spots, and Bert and Harry have disagreements that seriously threaten their partnership.


A perfectly constructed film, Three Little Words is one of the more underrated classic musicals. Finding an impeccable balance between dancing, singing, comedy and story, the movie just simply works as a seamless whole. Within the packed 100 minute running length, director Richard Thorpe gives each element of the film its proper due, and the result is an experience with just the right ingredients mixed in just the appropriate amounts.

Astaire and Vera-Ellen are a formidable dance team. She is full of balletic energy and fluid leggy seductiveness as she partners Astaire in the classic Where Did You Get That Girl? and the much more modern and thoroughly delightful Mr. and Mrs. Hoofer At Home. She then goes it alone with Come On, Papa before they team up again the the beautifully dreamy Thinking Of You.


The songs are just as good, and Three Little Words explores that always mystical and sometime frustrating process of creating a successful song. Sometimes every word is a struggle, while at other times inspiration just descends in the middle of the night. My Sunny Tennessee, So Long, OO-Long, Who's Sorry Now? (sung by Gloria DeHaven), Nevertheless (I'm in Love with You), and I Wanna Be Loved by You (featuring one of Debbie Reynolds' earliest performances as the boop-boop-a-doop girl Helen Kane) are all featured. And the film's running joke is Bert's long-term inability to find lyrics to a simple Harry tune, which finally ends up being Three Little Words.

The George Wells screenplay effortlessly weaves the song and dance numbers into the story, and keeps them short and sharp. The result is that rare movie in which the music only enhances the narrative, without unnecessarily interrupting or delaying it. At its heart Three Little Words never forgets that this is a story about a friendship and a partnership between two real people, and the relationship is portrayed with all the magic moments and troubled patches that emerge when two men work closely together over the decades.

The presence of Skelton adds a natural dose of comedy, Harry portrayed as a well-meaning, positive personality, but susceptible to getting himself into trouble. Astaire gets to dance, sing and act in one his most well-rounded performances, while Keenan Wynn provides his reliable support as Bert's agent Charlie Kope.

Greatness arrives in modest packages. The words may be little, but the success is large.

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Movie Review: The Towering Inferno (1974)

An epic disaster movie, The Towering Inferno is a spectacular, all-star cook-out. With magnificent special effects and a never-ending number of fiery death traps, the film cranks up the temperature and keeps it at a fever pitch.

In San Francisco, a gala event is being prepared to open the newest, tallest tower in the world, a building with 138 floors of office and residential space. The building's architect Doug Roberts (Paul Newman) and his fiancée Susan Franklin (Faye Dunaway) attend at the request of the owner, development tycoon James Duncan (William Holden). The dignitaries gathering for the party at the top floor include Senator Gary Parker (Robert Vaughn) and Mayor Robert Ramsay (Jack Collins). The chief electrical contractor Roger Simmons (Richard Chamberlain) is also attending, and he is married to Duncan's daughter Patty (Susan Blakely).

Also in the building on opening night are Duncan's public relations chief Dan Bigelow (Robert Wagner), and his lover and secretary Lorrie (Susan Flannery); security chief Harry Jernigan (O. J. Simpson); aging scam artist Harlee Claiborne (Fred Astaire) and his latest mark Lisolette Mueller (Jennifer Jones).

Thanks to Simmons' cost-cutting, low quality electrical wiring was installed throughout the building. With all the lights turned on to celebrate opening night, a fire starts on the 81st floor. The fire department responds in full force, under the direction of Chief Michael O’Hallorhan (Steve McQueen). But despite hundreds of firefighters deployed to battle the blaze, the fire spreads quickly through the walls and ceilings, destroying escape routes and trapping Duncan and his guests on the top floor. O'Hallorhan and Roberts have to find ways to battle the inferno and rescue as many people as possible.

One of producer Irwin Allen's best disaster extravaganzas, The Towering Inferno is 165 minutes of top quality mindless entertainment. Cramming a dizzying number of movie stars into a building and setting it ablaze is a sure-fire (sorry) way to draw a crowd. And thanks to an endless array of special effects, explosions and stunts, the film delivers. The fire starts early and spreads quickly, there is not much time wasted in talk or prolonged drama. The characters are introduced briskly and in broad strokes, and then left to either burn to a crisp, struggle heroically, or survive.

In a rare example of cooperation, 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. decided to collaborate rather than compete on what had been two separate building-on-fire movies. The result is a script that combined elements from two books, The Tower and The Glass Inferno. Director John Guillermin keeps the focus on the out-of-control fire, then goes looking  for cliff-hangers where characters are trapped by the lapping flames. Bigelow and Lorrie are surrounded by the fire in the executive floor after a love-making session; Roberts, Lisolette and a couple of kids are stuck in a collapsed emergency exit staircase; and a whole bunch of folks are trapped in an outside elevator, suspended by a sole cable.

And when it's time to thin out the cast and have some characters perish, Guillermin does not blink. The stuntmen do an excellent job as some characters turn into flaming marshmallows, while quite a few fall spectacularly to their death, either spit out of the building by fiery explosions or victims of malfunctioning rescue pulleys and wobbly external elevators.

The talent in front of the camera represented some of the biggest stars of the era. The first and only teaming between McQueen and Newman included the former insisting on the same salary and the same number of lines for the two of them. With McQueen only entering the movie about 45 minutes in, and never being an actor who enjoyed delivering plenty of lines to begin with, this awkward arrangement resulted in more lines than needed for McQueen's O'Hallorhan and some stiff stretches when Newman's Roberts seems strangely untalkative. Although both get to be heroic in the old-fashioned risk-everything-to-save-a-life way, neither seem ever fully comfortable in a movie where acting takes a distant back seat behind the pyrotechnics, with nothing resembling rapport ever developing between them.

Meanwhile, in the crowded party room at the top of the tower where the dignitaries are dressed to the nines, tempers start to rise and panic sets in as the seriousness of the situation starts to become apparent and one evacuation route after another is cut off by the fire. William Holden as the host James Duncan tries to maintain a stoic and calm presence as his dream project goes up in smoke. Roger Simmons, the villain of the piece played with perfect I'm A Slimy But Rich Contractor smarm by Richard Chamberlain, eventually reveals his true colours. But apart from Jennifer Jones as Lisolette, the ladies are given not much to do, with Faye Dunaway sleep-walking through the film in a trance despite a fetching dress, while fashion model Susan Blakely as Patty fixes her husband Simmons with the occasional glare, then wonders where her career will go from here (the answer: television!).

But ultimately, The Towering Inferno has one objective only, and that is to create an overwhelmingly hot and gripping adventure in a tall burning building. And in that, it is a smoking success.

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Movie Review: Silk Stockings (1957)

Fred Astaire's final musical is a befitting exclamation mark to his film dancing career. A musical remake of Ninotchka (1939), Silk Stockings has humour, romance, colourful secondary characters, enough of a story to provide weight, and a luminous Cyd Charisse to help Astaire shine one last time.

In Paris, American film producer Steve Canfield (Astaire) has recruited Soviet music composer Peter Boroff (Wim Sonnefeld) to score his latest movie. This causes panic in the Soviet Union, where Boroff is perceived as a national treasure not to be associated with enemy Western influences. The authorities quickly dispatch three agents, Comrades Brankov (Peter Lorre), Bibinski and Ivanov to bring Boroff back home. But Canfield smoothly convinces the three agents to enjoy the Parisian life, corrupting them into a prolonged stay at a luxury hotel.

The horrified Soviets counter by sending their best operative, the incorruptible no-nonsense agent Nina Yoschenko (Charisse) to Paris, to retrieve Boroff and the three bungling Comrades. But Canfield is not to be easily dissuaded from his plans, and sets about the difficult task of seducing Nina, romancing her with his chivalry and the charming beauty of Paris.

Silk Stocking forgoes any of the special effects or camera tricks that had crept into popular musicals earlier in the 1950s, and just focuses on showcasing two magnificent dancers. Rouben Mamoulian gives both Astaire and Charisse plenty of opportunities to sparkle to the music of Cole Porter, and they reward him with performances of the highest calibre.

Charisse is at her prime in Silk Stockings, and once she enters the fray, she elevates the movie with a series of lusciously fluid performances. In her title tune ballet dance, Charisse no less than makes love to the camera, in a sensual awakening of what it means to be a woman rather than a comrade. In All Of You with Astaire, she demonstrates remarkably flowing movements in the plainest of communist dresses, and she matches him stride for stride (or is he matching her?) in the light hearted Fated To Be Mated. Back in Russia, Red Blues finds her leading a high energy number to bring life to grim housing compound.

At 58 years old, Astaire holds his own with dancing that is more smooth and supportive of Charisse than dynamic, but saves his best till last. The Ritz Roll and Rock simultaneously satirizes and acknowledges a seismic shift in the musical landscape with the emergence of something called Rock 'n Roll, Astaire recognizing that his type of music was coming to an end, and gracefully bowing out.

In support, Peter Lorre is the funniest of the three Soviet agents who quickly succumb to the elegant luxuries of Paris, and his other two cohorts (played by Jules Munshin and Joseph Buloff) bring robust and grizzled relief while contributing to the resolution of the romance across the Iron Curtain.

Silk Stockings marked the end of an era. The grand, light-hearted, gentlemanly and suave song and dance screen musical had run its course. If there had to be an end, Silk Stockings proved to be a fine denouement and final salute to one of Hollywood's golden genres.

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Movie Review: The Band Wagon (1953)

An old fashioned musical with plenty to celebrate but also some prolonged stretches of mediocre inspiration, The Band Wagon is worth jumping on but parts of the ride are bruising.

Tony Hunter (Fred Astaire) is an ageing Hollywood entertainer, written-off by the critics. With no new movie projects coming his way, he accepts an invitation by his east coast friends, married couple Lester and Lily Marton (Oscar Levant and Nanette Fabray), to appear in a stage musical. The celebrated and egotistical Jeffrey Cordova (Jack Buchanan) is chosen to direct the show, and after convincing ballerina Gabrielle Gerard (Cyd Charisse) to play the female lead opposite Hunter, Cordova transforms the production from a light-hearted musical to a dark Faustian drama.

Hunter and Gerard get off on the wrong foot and stay there for a long time. She thinks he is too old; he believes her to be a stuck-up ballerina. They make up just in time for the new show to premiere, and the colossal failure of Cordova's vision forces Hunter to take charge in an attempt to rescue the production by re-capturing the original fun-oriented spectacle.

The Band Wagon has three magical moments. The introduction of the song That's Entertainment into movie folklore is the liveliest sequence in the film's rather trudging first hour. The second pulse elevator features Astaire and Charisse finally making peace with each other and dancing through Central Park in white after a harmonious horse carriage ride. The final highlight is part of the finale, the quite brilliant Girl Hunt Ballet, a slick film noir sequence one generation ahead of its time and which would go on to inspire the new school of dancers and choreographers, not least Michael Jackson and his series of slick 1980s videos.

These scenes give the movie a huge boost, but the rest of the experience is somewhat of a let-down. The other songs are distinctly unmemorable, the overrated Triplets sequence is a lot more creepy than pleasant, and overall, there is too little of Charisse, her charisma, dancing skills and knock-out legs muffled under a clumsy storyline that takes forever to shift out of first gear. Oscar Levant and the energetic Nanette Fabray come across as tired and underutilized respectively.

Regardless of the deficiencies, director Vincente Minnelli adds gloss and many arresting visual touches. The Band Wagon is always a colourful feast, whether in recreating New York's theatre district for Shine On Your Shoes, or in the grand Cordova mansion, where the many doors are used to good humorous effect as Jeffrey gives a hyper animated summary of the Faustian play to a group of enthralled financial backers.

As can be expected from the genre, The Band Wagon largely abandons swaths of plot and logic as it progresses towards an all-singing, all-dancing climax, and leaves unanswered questions related to Cordova's sudden loss of self-admiration and the never-fully-coloured-in relationship between Gerard and choreographer Paul Byrd (James Mitchell).

The road is sometimes rough, but star power and strong production values help to pull The Band Wagon through the muddy patches.

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