VeteranLight I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Lumsdal Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

ShangLuda Admirable film.

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

jfarms1956 The Belle of New York may best be appreciated by baby boomers. Young children 4 to 9 years of age may also enjoy the movie. This is a good movie for grandparents to watch with their grandchildren to maybe show what good entertainment is to their grandchildren. I enjoy these shows within a show. I love to watch the song and dance routines within a show, especially when they are good. With Fred Astaire in the mix, the dance is always good. The songs are fairly good as well. This is an anytime movie when the family can get together and watch a nonviolent movie that is fun. The plots in these kind of movies are simple and predictable. So what. The movie provides light hearted entertainment. Grab the popcorn or bring the pizza. You will enjoy the movie.

bkoganbing Arthur Freed reached way back into the last decade of the last century for this film. The Belle Of New York was a musical back then making its Broadway debut in 1897, but you'll hear nary a note from that score. Freed was wise enough to use some more modern composers mostly Harry Warren and Johnny Mercer as the writers for the songs that Fred Astaire and Vera-Ellen sang and danced to.Apparently Freed also had been considering this for Fred Astaire since Astaire got free from his original studio contract at RKO. But when he finally got around to making this film, Astaire was 53 years old and looked it. Just a little bit ridiculous to be playing a young playboy of the Gay Nineties. Fred's a playboy who won't settle down to the consternation of his rich aunt Marjorie Main who supports him. He's had to pay off several fiancés, but when he meets of all people, Salvation Army worker Vera-Ellen it just might be the real thing. Well that plot certainly worked before, but a whole lot better in the modern Guys And Dolls.I can't fault Fred's dancing though it's the best part of The Belle Of New York. And his best number by far is the Currier&Ives vignette. It's a long number, almost like Gene Kelly's American In Paris ballet of the same film. The Belle Of New York might have worked better and been more believable had Fred done this back in 1940 or thereabouts.

joseph952001 In Fred Astairs autobiography "Steps In Time" he admits that he had been avoiding making this film for years. He had retired from the movies, but came back to replace Gene Kelly in "Easter Parade" because, so the excuse goes, that he broke his ankle playing touch-football, but the fact was that Kelly just didn't want to do the film, so the broken ankle was just was it was - a ply to get out of making the movie! So, back on the M.G.M. lot, once again, Fred finally came to grips with the fact that he would have to, once and for all, make the film he was dreading to make, and if he had not come out of retirement, he would never have had the attempt making it.So, what's wrong with Belle of New York? Acutually nothing. It was a fantasy and Astaire didn't feel to good about making a fantasy film. He admits in his autobiography that he believed that the film would play very well today. It was just the wrong timing, and here we go with the films that flop, like a bottle of wine, age with time and finally become the hit they should have in their initial release.But, there are good songs and dance numbers. Once again, Anita Ellis ghost sings for Vera Ellen in "Naughty Butg Nice". Majorie Main is, well, Marjorie Main, but the dancing in the air over the city is a little much even for Fred Astair and at the end when he and Vera Ellen finally fall in love and dance over the city in the air, Astaire stated that he knew where they stood with this one when he and Vera Ellen are dancing in the air at the end and some woman watching the end said in earshot of Astaire, "Well, how silly can you get!" And Astaire said, "We then knew where we stood with this one!" But, he also said that even if the movie is a flop or not, at least you get paid, and how much did he admit to, "Once again, for making the film, I got a fortune!" It one of the That's Entertainment movies, Debbie Reynolds had us see how much of a perfectionist Astaire was by screening the different versions of "I Wanna Be A Dancin' Man" side by side, and in another That's Entertainment movie, Gene Kelly asked Fred Astaire, "Is it true that you once said that all you wanted to do was be a dancin' man, and Astaire said, "That's not true at all! I never said that!" And immediately, they played the number from "The Belle of New York"! But, Fred was right about one thing, the movie DOES play very well today, and is very entertaining. Once again, it was just too far ahead of its time and needed to age like a good bottle of wine! Guess what? It aged beautifully!

Terrell-4 This was one of Astaire's few critical and box office losers. The flaws, in hindsight, are obvious. The New York playboy Astaire plays is charming but an emotional light-weight. He finds love eventually and he never loses his charm. Still, he's a shallow guy. The Salvation Army-type lass he falls in love with is played by Vera-Ellen, who was always perky and a supremely proficient dancer. Still, there's something chilly, to my mind, about her dancing. She can do any step Astaire does, but does it with little spontaneity. The smile on her face while she dances never changes. The comedy relief doesn't seem very amusing. The story serves merely as a quick bridge between extended musical numbers. I don't mind this at all, but it does make the story seem like an afterthought. But the good things are fine. The 1880's Currier and Ives look is warm and charming. The Harry Warren and Johnny Mercer songs are easy to listen to. Most of all, there is Astaire and his dancing. The film features, I think I got this right, eight musical sequences, most of them major productions. Astaire is in all but one. The highlights for me are: --"Baby Doll," a sweet. wooing number sung by Astaire to Vera-Ellen and then danced in a relaxed and easy-going style by the two. --"Seeing's Believing" has Astaire singing and dancing around and on the Washington Square Arch. The idea is that love has him floating. The routine uses camera tricks and false backgrounds to create the illusion he's on the top of the arch teetering and tapping. Not for viewers who suffer acrophobia, but this extended Astaire routine is a lot of fun. --"I Wanna Be a Dancin' Man," is a classic. It's just Astaire, a stage and some sand on the floor. Everything works in this number, including the Warren-Mercer song:I wanna be a dancin' man while I can, / Gonna leave my footsteps on the sands of time, / If I never leave a dime. Never be a millionaire, I don't care, / I'll be rich as old King Midas might have been, / Least until the tide comes in. The Belle of New York is a proficient movie, and you don't have to spend much time waiting for the next dance number to arrive.