170. ON THE TOWN, 1949
- Jay Jacobson
- Feb 4
- 20 min read
Updated: Feb 8
Three sailors, three girls, and one exhilarating landmark
A shimmering, high-voltage mix of reality and fantasy, “On the Town” is undeniably jubilant entertainment. A benchmark in movie musicals, it also reshaped the genre by pushing its technical, thematic, and narrative boundaries. If you’re in the mood for pure joy wrapped in toe-tapping tunes, dazzling dance numbers, infectious romance, and a vibrant celebration of New York City, this is a must-see.
Made by the greatest maker (MGM studios) and producer (Arthur Freed) of movie musicals, “On the Town” was a resounding success and winner of a Best Musical Score Academy Award. Considered one of the top movie musicals ever made, its lasting appeal earned it a spot as the 19th Greatest Movie Musical of All-Time by the American Film Institute (AFI). A love letter to adventure, romance, and the Golden Age of Hollywood Musicals — it will keep you smiling from the rousing opening to its final frame. I loved it as a kid and still love it today.
“On the Town” opens at 5:57 AM as a crane operator arrives on the docks of the Brooklyn Naval Yard and sleepily belts out the ditty, “I Feel Like I’m Not Out of Bed Yet”. As the clock strikes 6:00 AM, sailors pour out of a Navy destroyer for shore leave. Among them are “Gabey”, “Chip”, and “Ozzie”, who immediately burst into the euphoric "New York, New York”, whose catchy melody, blaring horns, and contagious energy are guaranteed to get your blood rushing. An exhilarating way to start a movie! No surprise AFI named this number the 41st Greatest Song in American movies.
“Gabey”, “Chip” and “Ozzie” are in New York City for the first time, and the film follows them as they see the sights and search for romance. Spotting a poster of the subway’s monthly beauty, “Miss Turnstiles” (“Ivy Smith”), “Gabey” becomes instantly smitten and sets out to find her with the help of his two buddies. Along the way they meet female cab driver “Hildy” (who has the hots for “Chip”) and a flirtatious anthropologist named “Claire” (who falls for “Ozzie”). This simple framework delightfully gives birth to humor, romance, songs, dances, and a tour of New York City.
People who don’t like musicals often say it’s because they don’t understand why characters suddenly burst into song or dance. What they fail to realize is that musicals are not reality based but are escapist, using song and dance to deepen our awareness of characters’ inner lives. An added treat is getting to see powerhouse musical performers at their best, and movie musicals have introduced countless songs to the world that have become standards. In the words of one of those standards, “who could ask for anything more!”.
Perhaps more than any other genre, movie musicals are collaborative, relying not just on the artistry of screenwriters, directors, cinematographers, actors and such, but additionally upon singers, dancers, choreographers, arrangers, and lyricists. Arthur Freed headed his own production unit at MGM and compiled the best of these musical talents in his own stock company known as the Freed Unit, and had the instincts to assign them the right films and the foresight to loosely guide them while letting them do what they did best. As such, Freed virtually ushered in and created the Golden Age of movie musicals (which arguably lasted from 1943’s “Cabin in the Sky” to 1958’s “Gigi”), with “On the Town” being one of the genre’s cornerstones. You can read more about Arthur Freed and the Freed Unit in my posts on "An American in Paris", "Meet Me in St. Louis", "Cabin in the Sky", and "Singin' in the Rain” – just click on the film titles to open the posts.
Art begets art, and “On the Town” began with a controversial 1934 painting by Paul Cadmus titled “The Fleet’s In!”, which depicted flirty sailors on shore leave. That painting inspired dancer/choreographer Jerome Robbins and composer Leonard Bernstein to create a 1944 ballet about three World War II sailors on shore leave in New York City titled “Fancy Free”, which was then adapted into a 1944 Broadway musical titled "On the Town" with music by Bernstein and book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green.
While the Broadway show was in preproduction, MGM bought the screen rights for “On the Town” in 1944, and once the show opened, studio head Louis B. Mayer saw it, despised it, and shelved it as a film project. But by 1948, Freed was interested in making the film, and because he’d garnered so much clout at MGM from producing so many major hits, Mayer gave him the green light.
Freed felt Bernstein’s score was too complex for movies and had Comden and Green rewrite the show's book, tailoring it to the film’s main cast (who were now Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Betty Garrett, Ann Miller, Jules Munshin, and Vera-Ellen), writing new songs with Roger Edens. Edens also wrote the film's score with Lennie Hayton, which earned them a Best Musical Score Oscar. Only part of Bernstein’s music remains in the film, including the iconic “New York, New York”, whose lyrics had to be changed from "a helluva town" to “a wonderful town" per the Motion Picture Production Code (see my "Red Dust" post for more on the Code).
Freed put Broadway dancer and choreographer Gene Kelly under contract in 1942, and by the time of “On the Town”, Kelly had become a movie star and film choreographer who most recently collaborated with dancer/choreographer Stanley Donen on the musical “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”. On it, Kelly and Donen came up with the story, worked with Comden and Green on the film's dialogue and lyrics, and took over much of the film's direction from Busby Berkeley. Though Kelly and Donen never directed a whole film, Freed decided to let them direct and choreograph “On the Town”, which Thomas Schatz says in his book "The Genius of the System", "may have been Freed's single most important decision as an MGM producer”.
That’s because both Kelly and Donen were innovators, and their artistic vision on “On the Town” forever changed the movie musical. They insisted on shooting on location in New York City. MGM felt it was impractical but compromised, allowing them to shoot on location for five days (keeping the bulk of filming on the studio’s California backlot which already had a pre-built “New York street”). It was the first time any major studio sent an entire company to film musical sequences on public sites in New York City.
The bulk of location shots in “On the Town” are seen during the song “New York, New York”, which shows places as varied as the Brooklyn Navy Yard (where Kelly spent a week while serving in the Navy during WWII), the Statue of Liberty, the roof of the RCA Building, under the Third Avenue el train, and atop a double-decker bus on Fifth Avenue. Donen and Kelly meticulously preplanned the shots so they would flow from one to another regardless if they were shot across town or on different days.
Synchronizing action, lip-syncing, and dancing on location had never been done before and presented many challenges. A hidden loudspeaker was needed to play the music which the actors could hear, lip-sync to, and move in time with, which was challenging in far shots, when the camera moved, and in tight spaces. There were also issues with rain, fog, the position of the sun, and crowds watching the filming (one can easily see onlookers at the top of the frame at Rockefeller Center at the end of “New York, New York”).
A couple scenes in other musicals had been shot on location, but because “On the Town” was the first major musical to use location shooting so prominently and in such a variety of locales, the film is cited as being the first to film on location. While that may not be 100% accurate, the effect of the locales in “On the Town” are so powerful, they changed musicals. As Gene Kelly reflected in the book “Sinatra: Hollywood His Way”: “I really believed it would be a milestone… The fact that make-believe sailors got off a real ship in a real dockyard, and danced through a real New York was a turning point in itself”.
Kelly and Donen, both dancers, had worked together on Broadway and co-choreographed dance numbers in a few previous films, and each understood how to cinematically capture musical numbers. Their visionary work changed movies. Donen was largely behind the camera on “On the Town”, and his work with the film’s celebrated cinematographer Harold Rosson (who you can read about in my post on “Bombshell”) was pioneering, especially their use of hidden cameras, 360° pans, and jump cuts in their location shots in New York City. The success of “On the Town” led Donen to a seven-year contract with MGM, and Donen went on to become an acclaimed director of his own, directing films that include "Charade", “Two for the Road", "Royal Wedding”, and "Funny Face". You can read more about the life and career of Stanley Donen in my post on another of his great masterpieces, "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”. Be sure to check it out.
“On the Town’s” choreography (mostly created by Kelly) used musical numbers to advance plot and develop characters in a powerful, new way. A prime example is how dance introduces us to “Ivy” in the “Miss Turnstiles Ballet”, showing us she’s a home-loving girl who loves high society, who studies painting, dance, and is athletic. There’s also the rousingly celebratory “Prehistoric Man”, a number which playfully shows us “Clair’s” weakness for history, men, and “Ozzie”. In these songs and others, lyrics and dance add immense depth to a simple story with simple characters in an irresistibly entertaining way.
The excitement created by Kelly and Donen’s perfect blending of song and dance launched a new direction for movie musicals. As Kelly said in Sheridan Morley and Ruth Leon’s book “Gene Kelly: A Celebration”: “The film was very daring for its time… To make a musical in which people don’t just say ‘I love you’ and then burst into song was real hard work, but we did it. And once I had broken the ice, and ‘On the Town’ had become a hit, [MGM] let me do pretty much what I liked”. As a result, Kelly went on (partially with Donen) to reinvent the movie musical.
Along with directing and choreographing "On the Town", Gene Kelly also stars as “Gabey”, the romantic dreamer. Kelly’s athletic, acrobatic approach to dance (with ballet and modern dance elements) was unique to movies, and you see it best in the dance number “A Day in New York”. In it, “Gabey” reflects on meeting and losing “Ivy” with no dialogue – only dance (by Kelly, Vera-Ellen as “Ivy”, and four dancers substituting for the rest of the main cast). Whether leaping in the air, crouching on the ground, or seductively slinking around a dance barre with "Miss Turnstiles”, Kelly dances with overwhelming emotion, always making it clear what "Gabey" is feeling. It’s the essence of dance. In Kelly’s other big number, the joyfully romantic "Main Street", he dances with "Ivy" as he sings to her of his hometown. They repeat one another’s dance steps as they begin to bond and step in unison as they fall for one another. Watch the way Kelly snuggles up to “Ivy’s” neck when he embraces her while dancing. He puts so much sentiment into the smallest details. Their moves conjure more feeling than words ever could. It’s a glorious demonstration of the power, beauty, and romance of the movie musical.
“On the Town” is truly an ensemble piece, but whether Kelly’s front and center or in the background supporting another actor’s big scene, his infectious sincerity shines. He's truthful, passionate, and has charismatic chemistry with his shipmates. This is a movie star performance from an actor who goes beyond dialogue to bring a character to life – and appealingly so. One can’t help but feel his deep longing when he first sees the poster of “Miss Turnstiles” and says, almost to himself, “Gee, she’s wonderful”, or his overwhelming sadness and sincerity when telling "Lucy", "Somewhere in the world is a right girl for every boy. I guess I found the one for me before I even met you". We identify with and root for Kelly. He is the heart of the film.
Not considered to have had typical movie-star good looks, Gene Kelly’s persona became that of an everyday “Joe”. His muscular build and masculinity showed audiences it was okay for macho guys to dance (a groundbreaking concept at the time), and the fact he mostly danced in trousers and t-shirts rather than suits or tuxedos reinforced that he was just one of the guys, again, proving anyone can dance. Kelly was accessible and relatable, and in that way too he changed the course of movie musicals. ”On the Town” began the height of Kelly's career, which he soon followed with the groundbreaking Best Picture Oscar winner "An American in Paris", directed by Vincente Minnelli (choreographed by Kelly), and “Singin' in the Rain”, directed and choreographed by Kelly and Donen. These three films are considered Kelly's greatest and among the most important and best in the genre. After "On the Town", Kelly directed ten more films (including some non-musicals), and appeared in a total of ten Freed musicals. You can read more about the life and career of Gene Kelly in my posts on "An American in Paris" and “Singin' in the Rain”.
Frank Sinatra stars opposite Kelly as “Chip”, the more shy and reserved of the three sailors. Entirely enjoyable to watch, Sinatra’s very natural in delivering lines like "We're wasting the whole day. Why can't we pick up dates and go sightseeing at the same time? See?", looking at his schedule, "Look, 10:30, the aquarium, then 10:45…". We believe "Chip" is a good and simple guy and Sinatra's wonderful innocence is maximized when trying to fend off “Hildy’s” advances. And when Sinatra sings his two duets with “Hildy”, his smooth and golden voice is something to behold.
Sinatra purportedly wore a hairpiece in the film, and because he was so skinny, was given padding in the rear of his sailor pants. Kelly taught non-dancer Sinatra his dance moves and tailored “Chip’s” choreography to Sinatra’s abilities. In the early 1940s, Sinatra had become a singing phenomenon and teen idol, and because he was constantly mobbed by fans, filming “On the Town” on public streets posed a problem. As Kelly recounted in the book "Conversations with the Great Moviemakers of Hollywood's Golden Age": “We hired Yellow taxis. We would push Sinatra on the floor of the taxi and I’d get on top of him, and Jules Munshin would get on top of me so the taxi would seem empty… We hid the camera in a station wagon, and Hal Rosson and the camera operator would lie down inside on their bellies. When I jumped out of the taxi I’d give a loud whistle, the station wagon would start moving and we’d follow it. I had a stopwatch in my pocket. I’d say, ‘And-a-one, and-a-two, and-a-three and-a-four’. Then we’d say, ‘New York, New York, a hell of a town!”. That’s the way we shot all that stuff – we stole it”.
Sinatra appeared in eleven movies before "On the Town” (all but one a musical), including two MGM hits with Kelly – 1945's "Anchors Aweigh" and 1949's "Take Me Out to the Ball Game”. As big a star as Sinatra was, “On the Town” came at the low point of his career. He had appeared in several movies that flopped, his record sales were down, and he was getting bad publicity for allegedly being connected to the Mafia. He was also in a relationship with actress Ava Gardner while married to his wife Nancy, which would soon become public knowledge and spur more bad press (he married Gardner in 1951 nine days after his divorce). Hitting rock bottom, Sinatra picked himself up and turned himself into a superstar with the help of an Oscar-winning supporting role in the film drama “From Here to Eternity”, and you can read more about the life and career of Frank Sinatra in my post on that classic.
Another atypical aspect of “On the Town” is its depiction of women, and at the front of the line is Betty Garrett as cabdriver “Brunhilde ‘Hildy' Esterhazy”. A female cabdriver is already a stretch for 1940's movies, but to make her sexually aggressive is a complete switch on gender roles. “Hildy” falls for “Chip” immediately, lustily looking him up and down when she first sees him, and within seconds asks him to come home with her and “kiss me”. She even sings about it in the very fun “Come Up to My Place”. With impeccable comedic delivery and priceless expressions, Garrett is fabulous at giving this smart, independent, modern woman warmth, sweetness, and humor, expertly providing much of the film’s comedy. She's a hilarious delight.
Mostly raised in Washington state, Missouri-born Betty Garrett put on musical productions in school and after high school, she moved to New York City and studied acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse with Sandy Meisner. She performed in the Borscht Belt, danced with the Martha Graham company, sang in supper clubs, and made it to Broadway as an understudy in Orson Welles' "Danton's Death" in 1938. Half a dozen Broadway shows later, she found acclaim in the hit musical review "Call Me Mister", which led to a film contract with MGM. Her film debut was as a nightclub performer in the 1938 drama "Big City", and roles in four MGM musicals followed, including Freed's "Take Me Out to the Ball Game” and "On the Town". "On the Town" put Garrett at the height of her movie career. As such, when Judy Garland dropped out of the 1950 MGM musical "Annie Get Your Gun", Garrett was chosen to replace her, but it meant signing another seven year contract with MGM, and her manager told her to hold out for a less binding offer. That was enough for MGM to move on and hire Betty Hutton the role. Sadly, that film probably would have made Garrett a top movie star, which she never quite became.
In 1944, Garrett married actor Larry Parks, and both were briefly members of the Communist Party (not uncommon for Americans at the time). With the rise of McCarthyism (see my post on "High Noon"), Parks was forced to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1951 and was blacklisted, which also hurt Garrett's career. The two toured Britain with a vaudeville act, and Garret worked sporadically on Broadway, in regional theater, and largely on television starting in 1955. In 1973, she began appearing as "Irene Lorenzo" on three seasons of the classic TV series "All in the Family” (which earned her a Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe), and in 1976, became a series regular on five seasons of the hit show "Laverne & Shirley”. She appeared in just nine films, including the musicals "My Sister Eileen” and "Neptune's Daughter”, the film noir "The Shadow on the Window”, and her final, 2008's "Dark and Stormy Night". Her thirty or so TV appearances include stints on "The Golden Girls", "Grey's Anatomy", and "Becker" (which earned her an Emmy Award nomination). She was married to Parks until his death in 1975. Betty Garrett died in 2011 at the age of 91. I have fond memories of running into her at screenings years ago. She’d always say "Hi" with a big smile and lots of warm energy.
Another electrifying female character who knows what she wants and is not afraid to go after it is “Claire Huddesen” played by Ann Miller. This brainy woman describes herself as a cold-blooded scientist, though she’s anything but cold. As she explains to “Ozzie”, "I'd been running around too much with all kinds of young men, I just couldn't settle down. So my guardian suggested I take up anthropology. He thought, if I make a scientific study of man I'd become more objective, get them out of my system, be able to control myself”. But as she talks, she falls hard for “Ozzie”, who she says looks like a “pithecanthropus erectus”, and plants a giant kiss on his lips. Miller is sensational at creating a playful combination of intellect, enthusiasm, humor, and pure animalistic yearnings. Like “Hildy”, “Clarie” wants sex (which went over my head as a kid), and they both often make double entendres, such as “Claire’s” play on the word “bearskin”.
As previously said, movie musicals showcased top talents, and Ann Miller is case in point. Regarded as Hollywood’s best and fastest female tap dancer (she could reportedly produce 500 taps a minute), watching her high-energy tap dancing is one of the great joys in movie musicals, and her show stopping “Prehistoric Man” number doesn’t disappoint for a second. She’s sexy, fun, and fast on her feet, and the speed, precision, and effortless joy of her tapping is quite mesmerizing. Miller had just signed with MGM and appeared in her first MGM film, 1948's "Easter Parade" opposite Fred Astaire and Judy Garland. “On the Town” came two films later. Though often cast as the second female lead, MGM turned Miller into a top musical star, giving her the chance to create unforgettable dance numbers in films like "Kiss Me Kate", "Small Town Girl”, “Hit the Deck”, and more. Though she’s appeared in two previous films on this blog, this is the first in which you get to see her dance. What a treat! For more on the life and career of Ann Miller check out my posts on “Stage Door” and “You Can’t Take It with You”.
Jules Munshin plays “Ozzie”, the third sailor on shore leave eager for romance. Munshin brings the most broad humor to the film, but does so with a wacky charm that turns the character into a plausibly goofy friend. Munshin’s physical humor is beautifully character driven, whether hanging on the edge of a skyscraper or nervous about the police, and his comedic delivery is outstanding, such as when seeing the statue of the pithecanthropus erectus in the Natural History Museum and exclaiming, “I look like that?!!”, then quietly affirming, “I look like that”. It’s moments like these that make this film so much fun.
New York City-born Jules Munshin began performing right after high school in the Borscht Belt, in vaudeville, and as a singer in the George Olsen band. His Broadway debut was in the 1943 Army production "Army Play-by Play". After his service, Munshin returned to Broadway in 1946's "Call Me Mister" (along with Garrett), which led him to MGM and his film debut in a small featured role in Freed's "Easter Parade". He next appeared with Kelly, Sinatra, and Garrett in Freed's "Take Me Out to the Ball Game", and Kelly decided to use the same cast when casting "On the Town". This film contains Munshin's best remembered role. He appeared in supporting and minor roles in eleven films (mostly comedies and musicals), such as "Silk Stockings", "The Midnight Kiss", Disney's "Monkeys, Go Home!", and his final, 1976's "Mastermind". He also appeared on stage, and in just over a dozen TV shows including "The Red Skelton Hour”, “Dr. Kildare”, and "That Girl". He was married twice. Jules Munshin died of a heart attack in 1970, three days before his 55th birthday.
Rounding out the main cast is Vera-Ellen as “Ivy Smith”, aka “Miss Turnstiles” for the month of June. The romance between "Gabey" and "Ivy" is at the core of the film, and Vera-Ellen has the elegance and sincerity to make us believe “Ivy" is the kind of woman "Gabey" would go to such lengths to meet. Her flawless dancing adds to that notion, with her graceful, fluid movements in “Main Street”, and her sultry and gleeful mix of ballet and modern dance in “A Day in New York”. Vera-Ellen was said to have been one of the most gifted and technically proficient dancers in movie musicals, and one can see why in this film.
Ohio-born Vera-Ellen began studying ballet at the age of nine (alongside classmate Doris Day), and by the age of thirteen was pursuing a professional dance career, dancing in night clubs, as a Radio City Rockette, and on Broadway starting with 1939's "Very Warm for May". She grabbed attention on Broadway with Ray Bolger in 1942's "By Jupiter" and 1943's "A Connecticut Yankee", which led film producer Samuel Goldwyn to cast her in her film debut in 1945's "Wonder Man". She made four films under contract to Goldwyn, the others include "The Kid from Brooklyn" and "Three Little Girls in Blue".
Determined to become a star, when her Goldwyn contract ended, Vera-Ellen took lessons to sharpen her acting, singing, and dance skills, and performed in local theaters. Gene Kelly then cast her as his dance partner in the ballet number "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" in 1948's "Words and Music”, which led to a part in the Marx Brothers 1949 film "Love Happy", followed by "On the Town". She was now a movie star. Next came a role opposite Fred Astaire in 1950's "Three Little Words", which cemented her as one of cinema’s top dancers. Vera-Ellen continued in movie musicals until they began to lose popularity, ending her career with 1957’s “Let’s Be Happy”. She appeared in fourteen films, including "White Christmas", "Call Me Madam", and "Happy Go Lucky". At the same time musicals were dying, she was struggling with personal health issues (including anorexia nervosa), and after she lost her only child (who died in 1963 at three months old), she disappeared from public eye. She was married and divorced twice. Vera-Ellen died from cancer in 1981 at the age of 60.
A quick mention of three supporting players , starting with Florence Bates who plays “Madame Dilyovska”, “Ivy’s” alcohol-loving dance teacher. Blog film watchers may recognize her as "Mrs. Van Hopper" in Alfred Hitchcock's 1940 Best Picture winner, “Rebecca", and you can read more about Florence Bates in my post on that film.
Alice Pearce is hysterical as "Lucy Shmeeler", "Claire's" roommate with an eternally runny nose. Pearce was the only member of the original Broadway cast of "On the Town" to reprise their role in the film (Kelly wanted her in the film), and she is superb and very touching in her last scene. This was her film debut.
New York City-born Alice Pearce spent most of her childhood in Europe, returning to the US as a teenager. Starting as a comedienne in nightclubs, she made her way to Broadway in 1943's "New Faces of 1943" and then "On the Town". She was such a hit that she hosted her own short-lived TV series in 1949, "The Alice Pearce Show". Right after that came the film version of"On the Town". Pearce worked in films, TV, and on Broadway up until her untimely death, and is best known for her role as "Gladys Kravitz" in the hit 1960's TV series "Bewitched" (which won her an Emmy Award). Other titles from her fourteen films include "The Thrill of It All", "The Opposite Sex", "The Disorderly Orderly", "Kiss Me Stupid", and her final, "The Glass Bottom Boat". She appeared in over thirty TV shows, including "Hazel", "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour", "Dennis the Menace", and "Jamie". She was married twice, widowed once. Alice Pearce died of cancer in 1966 at the age of 48.
Judy Holliday dubbed one line of dialogue in “On the Town”. It’s when “Gabey” runs into two fellow shipmates at a club and they introduce their girlfriends, one of whom is “Daisy”. “Daisy” says "The grass is always greener if ya know what I mean”, which was supposed to get a laugh but didn’t in previews, so Comden and Green asked their good friend Holliday to re-dub the line. She did, it got laughs, and Holliday’s voice remains in the film (with another actress mouthing the words). You can read more about movie star Judy Holliday in my posts on “It Should Happen to You” and “Born Yesterday”.
“On the Town” contains many references to popular culture at the time (particularly MGM movies and stars), such as “Gone with the Wind”, “Goodbye Mr. Chips”, “Streetcar Named Desire”, “The Lost Weekend”, Clark Gable, Ava Gardner, Dinah Shore, and more.
While retaining all the naiveté and charm of earlier movie musicals, this week’s classic pushed the boundaries of the genre, forever shifting the direction of the movie musical towards a more complex and artistic style. One of the most joyous movies in history, enjoy the effervescent “On the Town”!
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Gladys Kravitz? Who knew? Love this film and your blog.
That Betty Garrett was a "lady taxi driver" in "On The Town" was not a shock to 1948 audiences. Many women took the places of the 13 million men in uniform in the World War II era.
Jay, thanks for the great review. You really do a deep dive. I'm going to get a copy for my wife, she's a big fan of musicals. I also resubscribed. Not sure if the Wix algo got me!