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IMDbPro

The Band Wagon

  • 19531953
  • PassedPassed
  • 1h 52m
IMDb RATING
7.4/10
12K
YOUR RATING
Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse in The Band Wagon (1953)
Watch Trailer
Play trailer3:10
2 Videos
99+ Photos
ComedyMusicalRomance
A pretentiously artistic director is hired for a new Broadway musical and changes it beyond recognition.A pretentiously artistic director is hired for a new Broadway musical and changes it beyond recognition.A pretentiously artistic director is hired for a new Broadway musical and changes it beyond recognition.
IMDb RATING
7.4/10
12K
YOUR RATING
    • Vincente Minnelli
  • Writers
    • Betty Comden(story by)
    • Adolph Green(story by)
    • Norman Corwin(uncredited)
  • Stars
    • Fred Astaire
    • Cyd Charisse
    • Oscar Levant
    • Vincente Minnelli
  • Writers
    • Betty Comden(story by)
    • Adolph Green(story by)
    • Norman Corwin(uncredited)
  • Stars
    • Fred Astaire
    • Cyd Charisse
    • Oscar Levant
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 126User reviews
    • 63Critic reviews
    • 93Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 3 Oscars

    Videos2

    Trailer
    Trailer 3:10
    Watch Trailer
    The Band Wagon
    Trailer 3:10
    Watch The Band Wagon

    Photos171

    Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse in The Band Wagon (1953)
    Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse in The Band Wagon (1953)
    Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse in The Band Wagon (1953)
    Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse in The Band Wagon (1953)
    Fred Astaire, Sue Casey, Leroy Daniels, Michael Economides, and Gwenn Fields in The Band Wagon (1953)
    Fred Astaire, Jack Buchanan, and Nanette Fabray in The Band Wagon (1953)
    Fred Astaire in The Band Wagon (1953)
    Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse in The Band Wagon (1953)
    Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse in The Band Wagon (1953)
    Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse in The Band Wagon (1953)
    Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse in The Band Wagon (1953)
    Easter Parade (1948)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Fred Astaire
    Fred Astaire
    • Tony Hunter
    Cyd Charisse
    Cyd Charisse
    • Gabrielle Gerard
    Oscar Levant
    Oscar Levant
    • Lester Marton
    Nanette Fabray
    Nanette Fabray
    • Lily Marton
    Jack Buchanan
    Jack Buchanan
    • Jeffrey Cordova
    James Mitchell
    James Mitchell
    • Paul Byrd
    Robert Gist
    Robert Gist
    • Hal Benton
    India Adams
    India Adams
    • Gabrielle Gerard
    • (singing voice)
    • (uncredited)
    Fred Aldrich
    Fred Aldrich
    • Hot Dog Vendor
    • (uncredited)
    Richard Alexander
    Richard Alexander
    • Stagehand
    • (uncredited)
    Ernest Anderson
    Ernest Anderson
    • Train Porter
    • (uncredited)
    Barbara Bailey
    Barbara Bailey
    • Dancer
    • (uncredited)
    Patsy Bangs
    • Dancer
    • (uncredited)
    Lysa Baugher
    • Dancer in Troupe
    • (uncredited)
    Mary Bayless
    • Theatre Patron
    • (uncredited)
    Brandon Beach
    • Auction Guest
    • (uncredited)
    Ralph Beaumont
    • Dancer in Troupe
    • (uncredited)
    Don Beddoe
    Don Beddoe
    • Producer
    • (uncredited)
      • Vincente Minnelli
    • Writers
      • Betty Comden(story by)
      • Adolph Green(story by)
      • Norman Corwin(uncredited)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      In the DVD bonus features, Nanette Fabray stated that Oscar Levant was difficult to work with. Whenever something would go wrong or he would make a mistake, he would blame whomever was around. This included stage hands, other actors, lighting technicians, or whoever was handy. She said that, since she was usually closest, she caught the brunt of it. Following a botched take, he again blamed her for something. She lost her temper and told him off using unladylike language. Everyone on the set applauded. After that, he was much easier to work with.
    • Goofs
      At the New York opening night, the theater name on the marquee is Alcott Theatre, but the program cover has Stratton Theatre.
    • Quotes

      Gabrielle Gerard: Oh, that's a very early Degas, isn't it?

      [examines painting]

      Gabrielle Gerard: 1877.

      Tony Hunter: [playing up their age difference] Yeah, I swiped it from his desk in school. Was he sore.

    • Connections
      Edited into Hollywood: The Dream Factory (1972)
    • Soundtracks
      By Myself
      (1937) (uncredited)

      Music by Arthur Schwartz

      Lyrics by Howard Dietz

      Performed by Fred Astaire twice

    User reviews126

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    10/10
    "Sends You Out, With A Kind Of A Glow"
    The Bandwagon may yet prove to be the best of backstage musicals. It certainly is Fred Astaire at his best, probably his best film when he did not partner with Ginger Rogers.

    Arthur Freed had great success with two previous song catalog musicals, An American In Paris with the music of George Gershwin and Singing in the Rain which utilized the songs that he wrote with Nacio Herb Brown. His source for this film were the songs of Howard Dietz and Arthur Schwartz.

    Dietz and Schwartz were an interesting pair of writers. Howard Dietz worked right at MGM in their publicity department. In fact it was Dietz who invented MGM's famous Leo the Lion. Song lyrics were in fact an avocation. Arthur Schwartz was a lawyer who just one day gave up the practice of law to devote himself to songwriting. They wrote some of the best music of the Thirties. After which Dietz devoted himself to publicizing MGM and Schwartz worked with other lyricists.

    They wrote revues and this is where the source material for The Band Wagon comes from. In fact one of their revues was entitled The Band Wagon and starred none other than Fred and Adele Astaire. However the team got together again and wrote one new number for the film, the legendary That's Entertainment.

    This The Band Wagon is not a revue. The plot concerns an aging musical film star Fred Astaire, talked into coming east by husband and wife writing team Nanette Fabray and Oscar Levant. They want him to do a Broadway show to revive his career. They get Broadway wunderkind Jack Buchanan to direct it and later on classical ballet star Cyd Charisse to team with Astaire.

    Buchanan is outrageously funny as he first tries to get them to do an avant garde musical about the Faust saga. When that flops, he's a good enough trooper to put ego aside and do some serious rewriting. And this man certainly has one Texas size ego. According to a book on the Arthur Freed musicals, Buchanan was in a lot of pain from arthritis and doing some of those numbers, especially Triplets was agony for him.

    That was not the only problem on the set. It was a pretty grim place. Oscar Levant had suffered a heart attack before the production and he was ten times his normal hypochondriac self. And Fred Astaire's wife was terminally ill at home.

    Cyd Charisse gauging the mood of her fellow cast members just kept to herself, but Nanette Fabray who is an exuberant personality did not go over well as Miss Perky. She recorded it was one of her worst film experiences.

    Still this monumental triumph of a film got made. My favorite of all the numbers besides That's Entertainment is the soft shoe duet that Fred Astaire and Jack Buchanan partner in. It's all grace and elegance and so typically Fred Astaire. And it's probably what most people know of Jack Buchanan. Over in the United Kingdom he was a leading stage and screen performer. Until The Band Wagon was made he was probably best known to American audiences as Jeanette MacDonald's leading man in Monte Carlo.

    Cyd Charisse dances divinely as she always does, never better than in the finale, The Girl Hunt Ballet with Astaire. I still wonder why she never starred at MGM with her husband Tony Martin.

    When one is asked what the American musical film ideal is, one of the best answers you can give is The Band Wagon.
    helpful•16
    1
    • bkoganbing
    • Nov 18, 2007

    FAQ1

    • How was the "Triplets" number done? Was it a special lens that shortened the legs? Were they on their knees? Was it puppetry of some sort? Anybody know?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • August 7, 1953 (United States)
      • United States
      • English
      • French
      • German
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 1 hour 52 minutes

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