Rating: 
Summary: I'm a new fan of the movie musical
Review: On The Town is a great movie. Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Jules Munshin star as three sailors on 24 leave in the Big Apple. This movie was so much fun to watch. The big dance numbers are hilariously entertaining. THE GIRLS: Ann Miller has a big dance number in a museum that really showcases her talent as a dancer. Betty Garrett is hilarious as a cab driver who develops an immediate crush on Frank Sinatra. She was my favorite character in the film. Vera-Ellen was good but she was mainly used as a plot device so she didn't get as much screen time as the other two. THE BOYS: Frank Sinatra's character is more interested in seeing the New York sights than romancing the pretty cabbie, but everything changes when he sings, "You're Awful" to her. I wish someone would sing that to me. Jules Munshin is hilarious. I've never heard of him before and that's a real shame because he's great in this movie. Gene Kelly (a.k.a. the reason I saw this movie) is great. His character is sweeter that the one he played in "Anchors Aweigh." All I want to know is, can we clone him?
Rating:
Summary: Exuberant, Joyous . . . and a Trend-Setter
Review: Some critic--I can't remember who--defined the musical parts of a musical as "explosions of joy." Which makes 1949's "On the Town" one of the most joyfully explosive movie musicals ever. Before the three sailors (Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Jules Munshin) get to leave their ship on 24-hour shore leave, they are "serenaded" by a heavy-equipment operator who stretches and musically moans "I feel like I'm not out of bed yet." A digital ticket-tape-type clock marks the exact time our boys can leave ship as they launch into the theme song, "New York, New York, a Wonderful Town," (which was bowdlerized from "a Helluva Town" on Broadway). The plot is a nifty number where all three gobs pick up gals but one of them loses his--through neither of their fault--then spends the rest of the day looking for her. The satiric vein is mined along the day with references to museum snobs, overcrowded nightclubs, hillbilly music, taskmaster Russian ballet coaches and that Manhattan favorite--eavesdropping on the subway. Just briefly, there are two paradoxical reasons why I think this film works so well. First, we have here a repertory cast whose areas of expertise hadn't quite jelled yet. So Frank Sinatra was allowed to play a shy kid instead of a heavy, Ann Miller was allowed to play light comedy instead of just tap-dance, and Betty Garrett was allowed to BE in the movie before her husband crossed the red-baiters of the Fifties (back then, the idea usually was to blacklist first and ask questions later). Gene Kelly seems to be at his relaxed and versatile best, and Vera-Ellen is a simply wonderful dancer. The second reason this flick is so good is that it pioneered techniques that were new to movies at the time, particularly a mixture of location and studio shooting (try to figure out when the cast is on top of the REAL Empire State Building and when it's the MGM lot); musical numbers that advanced the plot instead of just providing entertainment (clearly, Hollywood had been looking at Broadway, in particular Rodgers and Hammer-stein's "South Pacific"); and the dream-ballet complete with symbolic decor and an ever-frustrated Gene Kelly symbolically looking for and losing love. (This particular device shows up in "An American in Paris," "Oklahoma," and in backstage form in many other flicks, not necessarily musicals.) There are people who don't like this movie. It's a little too street-wise or proleterian, call it what you will. But their numbers are in decline, possibly because the Manhattan this movie celebrates has ceased to exist and in the long view has become almost as synthetic and charming as a backstage movie lot. If you think you can handle real-life locations, go with this one; you won't be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Not the Broadway version, but still a great movie musical
Review: Three sailor friends take a zany, madcap tour of New York City in the Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green musical ON THE TOWN -- refashioned here as an MGM vehicle for Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Jules Munshin as the sailors and Vera-Ellen, Betty Garrett, and Ann Miller as their girlfriends-for-a-day. Although I think that the original stage score, composed wholly by Bernstein, is superior, the movie does have several fine "new numbers," including "Prehistoric Man" (in which Miller, in a stunning tap dance routine, proves herself to be no cold scientist but a hot-blooded woman) and "You're Awful" (a golden vocal moment for Sinatra) -- as well as Bernstein's "I Feel Like I'm Not Out of Bed Yet," "New York, New York (A Wonderful Town)," "Come Up to My Place," and the ballet "A Day in New York." Usually thought of as one of Kelly's "big three" MGM films (along with AN AMERICAN IN PARIS and SINGIN' IN THE RAIN), ON THE TOWN in fact has no real "star"; the roles are all about equal in size. Kelly, so often cast in "tough" roles, is here touching in his pursuit of the lovely and talented "Miss Turnstiles" (Vera-Ellen). Sinatra is charmingly boyish and Munshin adorably hilarious, while their "girlfriends" -- Garrett the comedienne and Miller the dancer -- are well contrasted. "A Day in New York" is a highlight and prefigures both "Broadway Melody" in SINGIN' IN THE RAIN and "An American in Paris" -- two other "dream ballets" in which Kelly's character is the sad and dejected lover. This movie may not be Broadway's ON THE TOWN, but it is a colorful MGM musical with a first-rate cast.
Rating:
Summary: New York, New York......
Review: It's a wonderful town! And a wonderful movie as well. One of the best of Gene Kelly's career (part of the three year stretch that produced 'Singin' In the Rain' and 'An American in Paris'), this movie has everything. Singing, dancing, and comedy. Ann Miller shines in her "Prehistoric Man" number, one of the best to showcase her talents. And Gene Kelly, well, he's Gene Kelly.
Do I really have to elaborate on that. The cast also includes the comedy of Jules Munshin and Betty Garrett, the dancing talents of the lovely Vera Ellen, and, of course, the riot-inducing crooning of a pre Rat Pack Frank Sinatra. The plot (three sailors on a twenty-four hour leave) is somewhat thin, but the musical numbers more than make up for that. I've never seen or heard the original play, but I understand they cut quite a few of the original numbers out and changed some others. Chalk it up to politics of the time and the strict Hays Office. It doesn't undermine the spectacular peformances that are given in this movie. Definitely one of the gems of MGM.
Rating: 
Summary: Not the best, by a long shot
Review: Although Kelly, Donen, and Comden/Green would go on to movie greatness together ("Singing in the Rain", 1952) this one comes up short. The problem is simple: MGM didn't respect the original material enough (the Bernstein/Comden/Green Broadway musical of the same name)-- most of the fine Bernstein songs were jettisoned in favor of distinctly second-rate stuff ("Main Street", "You're Awful", etc.), as well as dumping all the great dance numbers save two ("A Day in New York", "Miss Turnstiles"). The other problem is that after Gabey, Ivy, and their friends finally get together atop the Empire State Building, the movie really goes downhill; the whole denouement at Coney Island is silly and takes much too long. There are some good performances, esp. from the women (Betty Garrett and Ann Miller really give the movie oomph and a sense of fun, and Alice Pearce's "I got the gargle!" bit is classic). Sinatra and Kelly are fine as always, but you have to be a big Jules Munshin fan to weather his supershticky performances, both here and in "Take me Out to the Ball Game" (also with Sinatra, Kelly, and Garrett). I know this movie is a big fan favorite; I just hope that people who think On the Town is a fine musical take the time to check out the really superior products of MGM's famous Freed unit: "Singing in the Rain", "Gigi", "Meet me in St. Louis". When the Freed unit clicked on all cylinders, as they did in those three movies, nobody made better movies of ANY kind.
Rating:
Summary: Exuberant, Joyous . . . and a Trend-Setter
Review: Some critic--I can't remember who--defined the musical parts of a musical as "explosions of joy." Which makes 1949's "On the Town" one of the most joyfully explosive movie musicals ever. Before the three sailors (Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Jules Munshin) get to leave their ship on 24-hour shore leave, they are "serenaded" by a heavy-equipment operator who stretches and musically moans "I feel like I'm not out of bed yet." A digital ticket-tape-type clock marks the exact time our boys can leave ship as they launch into the theme song, "New York, New York, a Wonderful Town," (which was bowdlerized from "a Helluva Town" on Broadway). The plot is a nifty number where all three gobs pick up gals but one of them loses his--through neither of their fault--then spends the rest of the day looking for her. The satiric vein is mined along the day with references to museum snobs, overcrowded nightclubs, hillbilly music, taskmaster Russian ballet coaches and that Manhattan favorite--eavesdropping on the subway. Just briefly, there are two paradoxical reasons why I think this film works so well. First, we have here a repertory cast whose areas of expertise hadn't quite jelled yet. So Frank Sinatra was allowed to play a shy kid instead of a heavy, Ann Miller was allowed to play light comedy instead of just tap-dance, and Betty Garrett was allowed to BE in the movie before her husband crossed the red-baiters of the Fifties (back then, the idea usually was to blacklist first and ask questions later). Gene Kelly seems to be at his relaxed and versatile best, and Vera-Ellen is a simply wonderful dancer. The second reason this flick is so good is that it pioneered techniques that were new to movies at the time, particularly a mixture of location and studio shooting (try to figure out when the cast is on top of the REAL Empire State Building and when it's the MGM lot); musical numbers that advanced the plot instead of just providing entertainment (clearly, Hollywood had been looking at Broadway, in particular Rodgers and Hammer-stein's "South Pacific"); and the dream-ballet complete with symbolic decor and an ever-frustrated Gene Kelly symbolically looking for and losing love. (This particular device shows up in "An American in Paris," "Oklahoma," and in backstage form in many other flicks, not necessarily musicals.) There are people who don't like this movie. It's a little too street-wise or proleterian, call it what you will. But their numbers are in decline, possibly because the Manhattan this movie celebrates has ceased to exist and in the long view has become almost as synthetic and charming as a backstage movie lot. If you think you can handle real-life locations, go with this one; you won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Not the best, by a long shot
Review: Although Kelly, Donen, and Comden/Green would go on to movie greatness together ("Singing in the Rain", 1952) this one comes up short. The problem is simple: MGM didn't respect the original material enough (the Bernstein/Comden/Green Broadway musical of the same name)-- most of the fine Bernstein songs were jettisoned in favor of distinctly second-rate stuff ("Main Street", "You're Awful", etc.), as well as dumping all the great dance numbers save two ("A Day in New York", "Miss Turnstiles"). The other problem is that after Gabey, Ivy, and their friends finally get together atop the Empire State Building, the movie really goes downhill; the whole denouement at Coney Island is silly and takes much too long. There are some good performances, esp. from the women (Betty Garrett and Ann Miller really give the movie oomph and a sense of fun, and Alice Pearce's "I got the gargle!" bit is classic). Sinatra and Kelly are fine as always, but you have to be a big Jules Munshin fan to weather his supershticky performances, both here and in "Take me Out to the Ball Game" (also with Sinatra, Kelly, and Garrett). I know this movie is a big fan favorite; I just hope that people who think On the Town is a fine musical take the time to check out the really superior products of MGM's famous Freed unit: "Singing in the Rain", "Gigi", "Meet me in St. Louis". When the Freed unit clicked on all cylinders, as they did in those three movies, nobody made better movies of ANY kind.
Rating:
Summary: Wow! What a movie!
Review: I actually haven't seen the whole thing, but I couldn't stop myself from writing a review! I've looked for it everywhere, but I can't find it! From what I saw of it, I know it is a wonderful movie. The "New York, New York" sequence at the start really gets you into it! I loved it, it's definitely one of a kind. I reccomened to everyone who likes Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra, who are both great in this movie. Of course it's hard to forget Vera Ellen, who is very talented and beautiful in this movie. I wish someday to see the rest of it, and I am going to keep looking for it everywhere. Watch it now!
Rating:
Summary: Music, dancing, fun, laughter, and more Music!!!
Review: This is an absolute must-see. Being a Gene Kelly fan it was easy for me to like, but my friend who has seen very little of old movies also thought that it is an automatic classic!
Rating:
Summary: MGM Heaven!
Review: I thought that "On the Town" was one of the best musicals I've ever seen. Being a New yorker, I like the way New York is portrayed as 'the place where dreams come true'. The plot is hilarious and the dance/song numbers are just swell. I also like the way this film portrays how true love makes anything possible.
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