The Belle of New York (1952)

Director:

Charles Walters

Writers:

C.M.S. McLellan (play)
Chester Erskine (adaptation)
(more)

Release Date:

22 February 1952 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

M.G.M's Gay TECHNICOLOR Musical!

Plot:

In squeaky-clean New York at the turn of the century, playboy Charlie Hill falls so much in love that he can walk on air...

Plot Keywords:

Dance | Remake | Based On Play

Cast

Fred Astaire	...	Charlie Hill
Vera-Ellen	...	Angela Bonfils
Marjorie Main	...	Mrs. Phineas Hill
Keenan Wynn	...	Max Ferris
Alice Pearce	...	Elsie Wilkins
Clinton Sundberg	...	Gilford Spivak
Gale Robbins	...	Dixie 'Deadshot' McCoy
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Oliver Blake	...	Currier (Wedding Portrait) (uncredited)
George Boyce	...	Bowery Bum (uncredited)
Carol Brewster	...	One of Frenchie's Girls (uncredited)
Dorinda Clifton	...	One of Frenchie's Girls (uncredited)
James Conaty	...	Supper Club Extra (uncredited)
Jean Corbett	...	One of Frenchie's Girls (uncredited)
Charles Cross	...	Bowery Bum (uncredited)
Nova Dale	...	Waltz Girl (uncredited)
Roger Davis	...	Hills' Butler (uncredited)
Pamela Drake	...	One of Frenchie's Girls (uncredited)
Tom Dugan	...	With Wedding Gift of Stolen Silver (uncredited)
Joe Evans	...	Bowery Bum (uncredited)
Lisa Ferraday	...	Frenchie (uncredited)
Mary Jane French	...	One of Frenchie's Girls (uncredited)
Al Gallagher	...	Bowery Bum (uncredited)
Shirley Glickman	...	Waltz Girl (uncredited)
Suzy Greene	...	Waltz Girl (uncredited)
Billy Griffith	...	Ives (Wedding Portrait) (uncredited)
Percy Helton	...	Presents Angela with Flowers (uncredited)
Lola Kendrick	...	One of Frenchie's Girls (uncredited)
Donald Kerr	...	Bowery Bum Wearing Red Bow Tie (uncredited)
Helen Kimbell	...	One of Frenchie's Girls (uncredited)
Judy Landon	...	Waltz Girl (uncredited)
Meredith Leeds	...	One of Frenchie's Girls (uncredited)
Cissy Marr	...	Waltz Girl (uncredited)
Sandee Marriott	...	Bowery Bum (uncredited)
Harold Miller	...	Supper Club Extra (uncredited)
Joe Niemeyer	...	Bowery Bum (uncredited)
Betty O'Kelly	...	Waltz Girl (uncredited)
Betty Jean Onge	...	One of Frenchie's Girls (uncredited)
Jetsy Parker	...	One of Frenchie's Girls (uncredited)
Bud Penny	...	Bowery Bum (uncredited)
Walter Ridge	...	Bowery Bum (uncredited)
Buddy Roosevelt	...	Cab Driver (uncredited)
Reginald Simpson	...	Casino Headwaiter (uncredited)
Henry Slate	...	Police Sgt. Clancy (uncredited)
Harry Tenbrook	...	Bowery Bum Wearing Dark Reddish Coat (uncredited)
Beverly Thomas	...	One of Frenchie's Girls (uncredited)
Mitzie Uehlien	...	Waltz Girl (uncredited)
Dick Wessel	...	With Wedding Gift of Stolen Silver (uncredited)
Lyn Wilde	...	One of Frenchie's Girls (uncredited)

Directed by
Charles Walters

Writing credits
C.M.S. McLellan		(play) (as Hugh Morton)
Chester Erskine		(adaptation)
Robert O'Brien		&
Irving Elinson

Produced by
Arthur Freed	....	producer
Roger Edens	....	associate producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Alexander Courage		(uncredited)
Adolph Deutsch		(uncredited)
Conrad Salinger		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Robert H. Planck		(director of photography) (as Robert Planck)

Film Editing by
Albert Akst

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons
Jack Martin Smith

Set Decoration by
Richard Pefferle
Edwin B. Willis

Costume Design by
Helen Rose		(costumes: women)
Gile Steele		(costumes: men)

Makeup Department
Sydney Guilaroff	....	hair designer
William Tuttle	....	makeup designer

Production Management
Hugh Boswell	....	unit manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Al Jennings	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording supervisor
Joe Edmondson	....	sound (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Warren Newcombe	....	special effects
Irving G. Ries	....	special effects

Music Department
Robert Alton	....	musical numbers staged and directed by
Maurice De Packh	....	orchestrator (as Maurice DePackh)
Adolph Deutsch	....	musical director
Conrad Salinger	....	orchestrator
Alexander Courage	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Robert Franklyn	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Robert Tucker	....	vocal arranger (uncredited)

Other crew
James Gooch	....	technicolor color consultant
Henri Jaffa	....	technicolor color consultant
Marilyn Christine	....	assistant choreographer (uncredited)
Alex Romero	....	assistant choreographer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1952) (USA) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (video)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

82 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | Australia:G (TV rating)

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

The "walking/dancing on air" SPFX were done with a traveling matte. This is especially evident when Fred Astaire is dancing alone near the top of the monument. His cigarette smoke is visible only so long as it is over his body, vanishing immediately as it moves to the side.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: During the "Currier and Ives" segment they are skating on a frozen pond in the "Winter" sequence. The refrigerant pipes for freezing the pond are clearly visible under the ice in several shots.

Quotes:

Charlie Hill:Peanuts. I only wish they were diamonds.
Angela Bonfils:That's silly, you can't eat diamonds.
Charlie Hill:Diamonds buy a lot of peanuts.
Angela Bonfils:I got a lot of peanuts.

Movie Connections:

Featured in That's Entertainment, Part II (1976)

Soundtrack:

Oops

Since when didn't Kelly want to make EASTER PARADE?

Although I have no quarrel with Joseph's mostly astute comments about THE BELLE OF NEW YORK, I must question his assertion that Gene Kelly never wanted to do EASTER PARADE and faked an injury to get out of it. Can Joseph cite a source for this assertion? There are many sources that cite Kelly's injury as a real one. (As a contract player, how could he have faked it, anyway?) The only controversy at the time was that Kelly told MGM he'd hurt his foot during rehearsals, when in reality he'd broken it at his home playing one of his fiercely competitive games of football. Judy Garland -- Irving Berlin -- Arthur Freed producing -- why wouldn't Kelly have wanted to get in on such a project? It had "hit" written all over it, and of course that's exactly what it turned out to be when it was finally released with Astaire in Kelly's role.

-- Preston Neal Jones