On the Town (1949)

Three sailors on a day of shore leave in New York City look for fun and romance before their twenty-four hours are up.

Directors:

Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly

Writers:

Adolph Green (screenplay), Betty Comden (screenplay)

Stars:

Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Betty Garrett

Won 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Gene Kelly	...	Gabey
Frank Sinatra	...	Chip
Betty Garrett	...	Brunhilde Esterhazy
Ann Miller	...	Claire Huddesen
Jules Munshin	...	Ozzie
Vera-Ellen	...	Ivy Smith
Florence Bates	...	Mme. Dilyovska
Alice Pearce	...	Lucy Shmeeler
George Meader	...	Professor

Storyline

Three sailors - Gabey, Chip and Ozzie - let loose on a 24-hour pass in New York and the Big Apple will never be the same! Gabey falls head over heels for "Miss Turnstiles of the Month" (he thinks she's a high society deb when she's really a 'cooch dancer at Coney Island); innocent Chip gets highjacked (literally) by a lady cab driver; and Ozzie becomes the object of interest of a gorgeous anthropologist who thinks he's the perfect example of a "prehistoric man". Wonderful music and terrific shots of New York at its best.

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Plot Keywords:

shore leave | central park | empire state building | hippodrome | rockefeller center | 

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Taglines:

They Paint The Town With Joy!

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Genres:

Comedy | Musical | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 December 1949 (USA)

Also Known As:

Un día en Nueva York

Filming Locations:

Third Avenue El, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,111,250 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Claire first meets Ozzie, she tells him she loves his brachycephalic head. She means his head is as wide as it is long. If his skull had been longer than it was wide, it would have been called dilococephalic. In between, it would have been mesocephalic. In the 1940s anthropologists were hard at work trying to find skeletal differences between populations.

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Goofs

When the boys dance on a bench atop the Empire State Building, the blinds on the other side of the wall wobble as the move, revealing the wall is really a set.

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Quotes

Officer Tracy, Car 44: [to his patrol car partner, after hearing about the dinosaur collapsing] Collapse? That's terrible. She's my favorite singing star, that Dinah Shore!
[the other officer rolls his eyes]

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Crazy Credits

Before the actual credits the film opens with an embossed card on a silver dish, reading: "A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Silver Anniversary Picture." Most of the studio's 1949 releases opened with this.

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Connections

Referenced in Bunheads: Blank Up, It's Time (2012)

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Soundtracks

A Day in New York
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Danced by Gene Kelly, Vera-Ellen, Carol Haney, and dancers

User Reviews

'On the Town' paints the town red!

I have found that On the Town is one of the best movies from the 1940's. It has the perfect chemistry for a movie. From the all-star cast of Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Ann Miller, Vera Ellen and others to the script itself written by the wonderful Betty Comden and Adolph Green, it is no wonder that this movie is still around. When 3 sailors have a leave in NYC, and their main objective is to pick up girls, you know that you are in for some laughs. From the dinosaur to the cab drivers, this movie is a score on my list. The dancing is also great. Ann Miller taps her heart away and Gene Kelly amazes us yet again. This movie is here to stay!