Films about Christmas are ten a penny, but "Easter Parade" is one of the few celebrating the other major Christian festival. Or at least mentioning it in its title, because the film isn't really about the theological implications of Easter. The "Easter parade" of the title was an event in New York when the city's society ladies would parade through the streets in their finery. The action supposedly takes place in 1912, although many of the costumes and hairstyles would suggest a rather later date. (These things changed more rapidly in the early twentieth century than they do today).
Like many American musicals from the forties, this one is set in the world of the theatre. Don Hewes, a Broadway star, has recently split with his dancing partner, Nadine Hale, who wants to go solo. (The name "Nadine" is pronounced, in American style, as "NAY-deen"). Don selects a chorus girl named Hannah Brown and trains her as his new partner. The plot is essentially the story of how Hannah, initially clumsy and inexperienced, becomes a star in her own right and of how love blossoms between her and Don. A complicating factor is the fact that Don's friend Johnny is in love with Hannah, while Nadine is in love with Johnny.
Gene Kelly was originally cast as Don and Cyd Charisse as Nadine, but both had to withdraw from the production after suffering injuries and were replaced by Fred Astaire and Ann Miller. All four actors were known for their dance skills, but Kelly and Charisse had quite different dancing styles from Astaire and Miller, so the film might have looked quite different if they had taken the roles.
The song-and-dance numbers are all very professionally put together, and the costumes, even if not always historically accurate, are spectacular, although I felt that more could have been made of the final "Easter parade" scene. Garland showed yet again just what a fine voice she had, and Miller gets a chance to showcase her tap-dancing skills in one enthralling sequence. (She was so good in this scene that it made me think that Nadine was entirely justified in her decision to pursue a solo career and that Don was acting selfishly in trying to persuade her to stay with him).
Astaire, although undoubtedly a gifted dancer, always struck me as indifferent as a singer and as an actor. He was often cast as the love-interest of leading ladies much younger than him, and never seemed comfortable in such roles. With his first and best-known dancing partner, Ginger Rogers, the age difference was not too great or too noticeable, but in his later films he was cast opposite a series of ever-younger partners (Rita Hayworth, Charisse, even Audrey Hepburn) and never made his supposed romances with them seem credible. It's the same here with Judy Garland. The film is ostensibly a love story, yet the emotional temperature remains cool and we don't get much sense of passion between Don and Hannah. At most, his feelings seem like a sort of fatherly affection for a girl twenty-odd years his junior. The film would probably have been better with Kelly, a better actor and closer in age to Garland.
The emotional temperature isn't really raised by the music. Irving Berlin's songs are tuneful, often with clever lyrics, yet as often with Berlin I felt there was something missing. His songs do not have the same emotional power found in those written by other musical composers of the period, particularly Rodgers and Hammerstein, but also by the likes of Hammerstein and Jerome Kern in "Show Boat", Bernstein and Sondheim in "West Side Story" or Lerner and Loewe in "My Fair Lady". The difference, I always think, is that while Berlin could write about love, those other composers could actually express it in their words and music- and not just love, but also joy, grief, merriment and disappointment. There's a lot to admire in "Easter Parade", but little I could really love. 7/10
A goof. In the number "We're a Couple of Swells", Don and Hannah sing about playing tennis "dressed in shorts". Shorts for tennis players were an innovation of the 1930s; in 1912 male players would have worn long trousers similar to cricket whites and female ones would have worn long skirts.
Like many American musicals from the forties, this one is set in the world of the theatre. Don Hewes, a Broadway star, has recently split with his dancing partner, Nadine Hale, who wants to go solo. (The name "Nadine" is pronounced, in American style, as "NAY-deen"). Don selects a chorus girl named Hannah Brown and trains her as his new partner. The plot is essentially the story of how Hannah, initially clumsy and inexperienced, becomes a star in her own right and of how love blossoms between her and Don. A complicating factor is the fact that Don's friend Johnny is in love with Hannah, while Nadine is in love with Johnny.
Gene Kelly was originally cast as Don and Cyd Charisse as Nadine, but both had to withdraw from the production after suffering injuries and were replaced by Fred Astaire and Ann Miller. All four actors were known for their dance skills, but Kelly and Charisse had quite different dancing styles from Astaire and Miller, so the film might have looked quite different if they had taken the roles.
The song-and-dance numbers are all very professionally put together, and the costumes, even if not always historically accurate, are spectacular, although I felt that more could have been made of the final "Easter parade" scene. Garland showed yet again just what a fine voice she had, and Miller gets a chance to showcase her tap-dancing skills in one enthralling sequence. (She was so good in this scene that it made me think that Nadine was entirely justified in her decision to pursue a solo career and that Don was acting selfishly in trying to persuade her to stay with him).
Astaire, although undoubtedly a gifted dancer, always struck me as indifferent as a singer and as an actor. He was often cast as the love-interest of leading ladies much younger than him, and never seemed comfortable in such roles. With his first and best-known dancing partner, Ginger Rogers, the age difference was not too great or too noticeable, but in his later films he was cast opposite a series of ever-younger partners (Rita Hayworth, Charisse, even Audrey Hepburn) and never made his supposed romances with them seem credible. It's the same here with Judy Garland. The film is ostensibly a love story, yet the emotional temperature remains cool and we don't get much sense of passion between Don and Hannah. At most, his feelings seem like a sort of fatherly affection for a girl twenty-odd years his junior. The film would probably have been better with Kelly, a better actor and closer in age to Garland.
The emotional temperature isn't really raised by the music. Irving Berlin's songs are tuneful, often with clever lyrics, yet as often with Berlin I felt there was something missing. His songs do not have the same emotional power found in those written by other musical composers of the period, particularly Rodgers and Hammerstein, but also by the likes of Hammerstein and Jerome Kern in "Show Boat", Bernstein and Sondheim in "West Side Story" or Lerner and Loewe in "My Fair Lady". The difference, I always think, is that while Berlin could write about love, those other composers could actually express it in their words and music- and not just love, but also joy, grief, merriment and disappointment. There's a lot to admire in "Easter Parade", but little I could really love. 7/10
A goof. In the number "We're a Couple of Swells", Don and Hannah sing about playing tennis "dressed in shorts". Shorts for tennis players were an innovation of the 1930s; in 1912 male players would have worn long trousers similar to cricket whites and female ones would have worn long skirts.