Plantiana Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Colibel Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

clanciai Party all the way through all New York and out again, with Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra leading the show, accompanied by a bunch of irresistible girls, like Vera-Ellen and Ann Miller dancing both their shoes and their heads off, but there is an uncountable number of other dancing girls as well. We also have the irresistible Lucy Shmeeler melting into the party and doing all she can to spoil it, particularly by coughing and sneezing, There are other party crashers as well, like their fellow seamen from the same ship, like Simpkins and Gobarsky, and other swell fellas like Ozzy (Jules Munshin) managing to bring down a giant Dinosaur in the museum in a rubble like the Twin Towers, bringing out all New York in chase of him, I think I would choose Lucy Shmeeler and Jules Munshin for my favorites here, and of course Brunhilde Esterhazy (Betty Garrett) as a perfect wedding cake pudding as a taxi driver. Comedy is the mark of this glorious film of entertainment about the hazards of some sailors' permit for one day in all the night clubs and loose ends of New York with glorious music and high gear dancing all through - it should be tiresome with so much constant dancing and entertainment, but it isn't. It works the other way and is only thoroughly enlivening and brilliant cheer of sustained energetic inspiration increasing all the way. The result is one of those films you always will return to in order to laugh some more and get even higher spirits.

gavin6942 Three sailors on a day of shore leave in New York City look for fun and romance before their twenty-four hours are up.You have to love any collaboration between Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen. I am a little less impressed by the singing and dancing of Frank Sinatra, but he is alright in his own way. Vera-Ellen's terrifying waist makes an appearance, and this is a good showcase for her, even though she is now better known for "White Christmas".The Breen Office of the MPAA refused to allow the use of the word "helluva" in the song "New York, New York", and so it was changed to "wonderful". That seems pretty strange, even for the 1940s. Though, I have to wonder, what sort of movies would we have today (2015) if the censors still had this kind of power?

Chris Mizerak I really wanted to like "On the Town" (1949), I really did. It starred Frank Sinatra, one of the musical idols my whole family looks up to, and Gene Kelly, the main lead of "Singin' in the Rain" (1952), together. It's written by the screenwriters who would later write "Singin' in the Rain" and "The Band Wagon" (1953), two of my favorite musicals of all time. It's got some catchy songs, nice costumes, exceptional dance sequences, and it had all this good stuff going for it. But the story is so painfully awkward, thin, and unintentionally semi-cruel that it utterly ruined the experience for me. In New York City, three sailors (played by Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Jules Munshin) begin their shore leave and set out to explore the town. While on a subway, one of them (Kelly) sees an ad for an aspiring actress named Ivy Smith (Vera-Ellen) and decides that he simply must meet her. As they race around the city to find Ivy, they're assisted by two women (Betty Garrett, Ann Miller) whom the other two sailors become romantically involved with. If this plot doesn't sound good to you on paper, then guess what? The story is even worse on film. Don't get me wrong, I don't doubt that there are real-life sailors out there who'd like to meet female celebrities. All I'm saying is that it's simply impractical for a sailor to go to this much trouble for such a woman, especially if it's only for one day. Even putting aside the implausibility, the pure coincidences, and the complete lack of realism that a plot of this sort is certain to have, I still felt it was an awkward story all the way through. The main relationship between Gene Kelly and Vera-Ellen is equivalent to long fingernails on a giant blackboard in terms of its stiffness. It doesn't help that most of the love story is focused more on when they'll see each other again as opposed to them actually sharing a connection with one another. Furthermore, what was the point to having the third sailor (Munshin) around and what contributions did he make to the plot advancement? Not only is this character completely mediocre, but his girlfriend technically contributes more to the plot than he does. What's up with that?! Okay, I should refrain from talking about the story and instead talk about the good aspects of this film. The songs, though they mostly repeat the same rhythm over and over again, are beguiling, namely "You're Awful" sung by Frank Sinatra and "On the Town" performed by the six main leads. I particularly admire how the song "You're Awful" progresses throughout. I like how Sinatra starts out with what sounds like an insult towards his love interest and then it becomes a compliment towards her (You're awful – awful nice to be with). Given that this is a musical that obviously depends on its music more than anything else, good tunes are the least that this film can provide audiences and it does exactly that. The dance numbers aren't bad either, namely the "A Day in New York" dance sequence between Kelly and Vera-Ellen. The way they dominate the area they have to dance in is simply fun to watch. It's not like they're just simply dancing on flat ground either, they have to dance in places where they either have to watch their step or hoist up/climb down a big stair. So that scene pays off pretty well. If "On the Town" had a narrative that was at least tolerable to sit through, maybe it would have had a better chance of working. I give this musical credit for trying to tell a story other than your simple backstage musical plot and whatnot. But based on how much of a mixed bag this film is, it's clear that stories in musicals are still, in the grand scheme of things, a work-in-progress.

secondtake On the Town (1949)There is so much going right with this movie--from the photography (yes) by Harold Rossen and the music (famously) by Leonard Bernstein, from the leading actors (Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly) to the directors (Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly)--it's hard to realize how dated or almost bad some moments have become. This is delightful, fantastic, and inspired stuff, total fun top to bottom. But it also has moments that are cringe inducing.And I like musicals.If you don't like musicals in particular, you should start with specimens with wider appeal, and higher standards: "Singin' in the Rain" and "West Side Story" would work for me, if we're talking classics. Throw in "Swing Time" or "Top Hat" if you want an Astaire classic, too. Or a Garland singing musical.This one is from the amazing run of polished hits by producer Arthur Freed. The choreography varies from excellent to wonderful. If it's choreographed dancing you like, check this out. Some of the format it is from the standard style of the Golden Age, where the characters break into song or dance in the middle of their normal doings--in this case, three sailors racing through Manhattan on 24 hour leave.Other parts have choreography, probably by Gene Kelly, that becomes abstract and cinematic, a Hollywood innovation (also seen, famously, in "Singin' in the Rain" and "An American in Paris"). The scenes, whether stylized or realistic, are fabulous. The standards are high--space, light, and control of color (Technicolor, of course) inside and out.What drags the movie down is some awful writing, both in the dialog and even in some of the songs. I know lots of musical lovers who don't give a hoot if the lyrics make sense or are especially good--they become secondary to the rest of it, and the artifice is part of the game. But I know others who, like me, prefer the clever, the lyric, the original. And there are some real wincing moments.And in fact, the movie as a whole is awkward, a series of vignettes that do eventually string together into a chronology, but they hardly have to. They survive, or struggle, independently. Some of the acting is forced and you may or may not like the sidekicks like the third sailor, who's just too comic and goofy for my taste. Even the lead actresses, Ann Miller and Vera-Ellen, are no match for Debbie Reynolds, let alone Judy Garland.Now, let's finally add--the best of the songs, and the dancing and photography, are top notch. For all musical lovers. The great final pieces at about 1:17 into the movie is amazing stuff.Note: Bernstein's music originated in a ballet, "Fancy Free," which turned into the Broadway play "On the Town" in 1944. But when this film was made, most of Bernstein's music was replaced with new stuff--some of which is the mediocre music that brings the production down a notch.At times the biggest star in the show is New York itself. Love it.