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Information
- Year
- 1953
- Runtime
- 112 min.
- Director
- Vincente Minnelli
- Genres
- Romance, Comedy, Musical
- Rating *
- 7.6
- Votes *
- 5,873
- Checks
- 3,276
- Favs
- 206
- Dislikes
- 32
- Favs/checks
- 6.3% (1:16)
- Favs/dislikes
- 6:1
Top comments
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Siskoid
There's something autobiographical about The Band Wagon, in which Fred Astaire is painted as a has-been tapping around in old-fashioned entertainments and being told he needs to reinvent himself. Was he feeling this in 1953 at the age of 54? If so, this flighty musical is a statement. It denies the need for reinvention and affirms the relevance of the kind of song and dance shows he does best. In the story, he is roped into doing a Broadway show with a maverick director who proceeds to change everything so it will become an "important" work, a premise that provides a lot of funny comedy, especially if you know theater people. We're told the original script of the show had "just enough plot" to hang musical numbers on, and folks, that's exactly how The Band Wagon works. At times, it feels like a collection of musical numbers the production wanted to do, plot be damned, but see, it gave itself permission to do that, so you can't get too frustrated. It's all worth it anyway for that expressionistic musical film noir number (the one that inspired Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal video), which is incredible. And look, Cyd Charisse is in this and I'm not made of wood. I don't think there's a more precise and beautiful dancer in all of cinema. 6 years 5 months ago -
Brantastic16
Surprisingly enjoyable. I do like musicals but I didn't expect this one to be as good as it was. 13 years 7 months ago
Friends
Login to see which of your friends have seen this movie!In 14 official lists
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This movie ranks #6 in BFI's 100 Film Musicals
BFI's 100 Film Musicals
6 -
This movie ranks #38 in A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese
A Personal Journey with …
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This movie ranks #58 in The New York Times's Book of Movies
The New York Times's Boo…
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This movie ranks #83 in Cahiers du Cinéma's 100 Films for an Ideal Cinematheque
Cahiers du Cinéma's 100 …
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This movie ranks #104 in Halliwell's Top 1000: The Ultimate Movie Countdown
Halliwell's Top 1000: Th…
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This movie ranks #172 in Library of Congress's National Film Registry
Library of Congress's Na…
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This movie ranks #221 in Emma Beare's 501 Must-See Movies
Emma Beare's 501 Must-Se…
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This movie ranks #228 in BFI's 360 Classic Feature Films Project
BFI's 360 Classic Featur…
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This movie ranks #249 in TSPDT's 1,000 Greatest Films
TSPDT's 1,000 Greatest F…
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This movie ranks #257 in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
1001 Movies You Must See…
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This movie ranks #268 in Roger Ebert's Great Movies
Roger Ebert's Great Movi…
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This movie ranks #333 in Sight & Sound's The Greatest Films of All Time
Sight & Sound's The Grea…
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This movie ranks #345 in Jonathan Rosenbaum's Essential Cinema
Jonathan Rosenbaum's Ess…
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This movie ranks #456 in David Thomson's Have You Seen?
David Thomson's Have You…
456