It's Always Fair Weather (1955)

Three soldiers meet 10 years after their last meeting in New York, and find out that they have little in common now.

Directors:

Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly

Writers:

Betty Comden (story), Adolph Green (story)

Stars:

Gene Kelly, Dan Dailey, Cyd Charisse

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Gene Kelly	...	Ted Riley
Dan Dailey	...	Doug Hallerton
Cyd Charisse	...	Jackie Leighton
Dolores Gray	...	Madeline Bradville
Michael Kidd	...	Angie Valentine
David Burns	...	Tim
Jay C. Flippen	...	Charles Z. Culloran

Storyline

Ted, Doug, and Angie are three ex-G.I.s who vow to meet again at a New York bar on October 11, 1955. They all show up on the appointed day, but quickly find that their friendship isn't what it used to be. However, a program coordinator wants to bring the three men together again on a live TV show. Circumstances are further complicated by a group of gangsters who are after Ted.

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Plot Keywords:

gangster | bar | friendship | claim in title | brawl | 

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Taglines:

M-G-M's Gigantic and Joyous Musical

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Musical | Romance

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

2 September 1955 (USA)

Also Known As:

Fair Weather

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$2,062,256 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System) (35 mm optical prints) 4-Track Stereo (Western Electric Sound System) (35 mm magnetic prints)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Cyd Charisse's singing was dubbed by Carol Richards, Michael Kidd's by Jud Conlon.

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Goofs

In the opening montage of the three soldiers returning home in 1945 after the war, there is a shot of an ocean liner in New York harbor. The ship is the Italian liner Andrea Doria, which did not make its maiden voyage until 1953 (and which sank after a collision in 1956). Also, if the Doria is meant to be the ship the men are returning home on, it is facing the wrong way, headed out of the harbor instead of into it.

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Quotes

Doug Hallerton: Somebody stole my moustache. Fielding, I want that moustache returned, every hair in place.

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Connections

Featured in That's Entertainment! III (1994)

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Soundtracks

I Shouldn't Have Come
(1955) (uncredited)
from "The Blue Danube Waltz, Opus 314" (1867)
Music by Johann Strauss
Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green
Performed by Gene Kelly, Dan Dailey and Michael Kidd (dubbed by Jud Conlon)

User Reviews

A Unique Hybrid Of A Musical

Keep in mind that the era of the movie musical was pretty much in the dust when IT'S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER hit the screens in 1955. Yet the story is an odd hybrid for benign musicals, and a rather dark story of three GI's coming home from the war, vowing a loyal, buddy-buddy reunion, then, upon reuniting years later, realizing they have outgrown one another and have virtually nothing in common. There is a reunion dinner at a posh nightclub, and try as they might, hostility and acrimony flare up among the men as they gradually discern they have now little in common. The movie also teams Dan Daily and Michael Kyd with Kelly, a Grade A, winning combination for the few, but excellent numbers, they perform.

However, this movie should be seen for one and one reason only: Gene Kelly's dance on roller skates to one of the most beautiful tunes ever written by Comden and Green. As the story goes, Kelly had been searching for just the right opportunity to dance on skates in a film for years. Betty Comden has said she lived close to Kelly in Beverly Hills and that he had purchased skates years before at a hardware store near-by and that she'd watched Kelly take his daughter skating many times. It's not a stretch that Kelly spent a lot of hours imagining just where and when he'd do a roller skates number as he flew around Beverly Hills on wheels.

Another delight is the very robust and creative "trash can lids" number featuring Kelly, Dan Daily, and Michael Kyd. With a trash can lid stuck to one foot, the trio bounce up and down a street to a snappy melody while still in uniform. For those who thought lanky Dan Daily was "just another hoofer," this number proves he could hold his own with the best of them.

I have heard Comden and Green also relate the story that after the movie opened someone told them they had seen the film in a drive-in. "I knew that the end had come," (for the movie musical) commented Adolf Green.

IT'S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER is very much worth seeing for being one of the last studio movie musicals of its kind. Moreover, the novelty of watching Kelly teamed with Dan Daily and Michael Kyd--the only time those three dancers appeared together--is supremely enoyable. IT'S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER remains underrated to this day and serves as one of the final signposts for the demise of the great screen musical.

Dennis Caracciolo