The Illusion of Depth

In many ways, Singin' in the Rain and The Band Wagon are companion films. Released just one year apart, both films were produced by MGM's highly successful "Musical" department, run by Arthur Freed. Both films have witty, razor-sharp scripts by the writing team of Betty Comden & Adolph Green. Both films were explicitly built around an existing song catalogue: the songs of Arthur Freed & Nacio Herb Brown for Singin' in the Rain ; the songs of Howard Dietz and Arthur Schwartz for The Band Wagon . Both films were vehicles for MGM's biggest musical stars (Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire, respectively) and both films are thinly-disguised fables about the trials and tribulations of producing musicals in real life. While Singin' in the Rain dealt with Hollywood's extremely bumpy transition from silent to sound, The Band Wagon tells the story of Tony Hunter, a veteran song-and-dance movie star whose career has hit something of a speed bump. When his ol...

 Those of you who came to the screening of Singin' in the Rain a few months ago may recall that I made a comment that evening which raised a question I promised I would address in the future. I had said that although Singin' in the Rain was one of my favourite films , it was not one of my favourite musicals . Inevitably, I was asked which film was my favourite musical, and I promised to return to that subject at a future date.  That date has not quite arrived , despite what I said at the end of last Thursday's event. Sorry. I know I promised everyone my favourite musical next Thursday, but on careful reflection I have decided to postpone that occasion by one week. In a last minute substitution, I have chosen an earlier film which also ranks very highly on my list of all-time-great musicals (not that I am admitting to the existence of such a list). 42nd Street is the original "Backstage Musical". It tells the story of the director and cast of a Broadway Musical ...