The Band Wagon

"I should have listened to my mother. She told me only to be in hit shows."

Tony Hunter (Astaire) is a veteran song and dance man, but his career is in decline.  His good friends Lester (Levant) and Lily (Fabray) Marton have written a new musical specifically for him.  They also have the biggest director, Jeffrey Cordova (Buchanan), for the show.  Cordova is a big name in theater and is currently running 3 other productions while starring in one.  He wants ballerina Gabrielle Gerard (Charisse) as the female lead, and gets her boyfriend Paul Byrd (Mitchell) to choreograph the show to ensure that she will be in the show.

The Martons' have written a light-hearted musical, but Cordova envisions a modern version of Faust, in which he plays the Devil.  From the beginning Gerard and Hunter don't get along and aren't sure if they can merge their dance styles.  Can the show survive the ever changing script/vision for the show and the the bickering stars?


This backstage musical, written by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, is partly based on reality.  Comden and Green based the characters of Lester and Lily Marton on themselves.  The main character Tony Hunter is based on star Fred Astaire, who was considering retirement because his career was stalling.  The character of Jeffrey Cordova is based on actor Jose Ferrer and other actor/director/producers.  And the Gabrielle Gerard character was modeled after French ballerina Zizi Jeanmarie.

The songs were composed by Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz.  Some of the songs appeared in other shows, but the breakout hit is "That's Entertainment" that is considered one of the anthems of Broadway.  The songs are decent, but the standouts are "That's Entertainment" and the dances.  The songs are choreographed by Michael Kidd.  Astaire and Cyd Charisse are incredible dancers and are well-matched here.  This was their first pairing, they also appeared in Silk Stockings in 1957.

The show title was taken from a Broadway show Astaire did with his sister Adele Astaire in 1931.  A few of the songs from that show also appeared in the film (the songwriters for both were Schwartz and Dietz).  The script has several little in-jokes about the cast/crew and their previous projects.

The cast is good.  Astaire and Charisse are great dancers, but not the best actors.  Thankfully, the rest of the cast is there to help carry that burden.  Oscar Levant is cranky, but endearing as Lester.  Nanette Fabray lights up the screen as Lily.  She gets a couple good songs and dances.  Jack Buchanan is mesmerizing as Jeffrey Cordova.  He is ridiculous, but in the best way.

A stage version of the show, called "Dancing in the Dark" debuted in San Diego in 2008 with aspirations to move the show to Broadway, but that never panned out.  It was revamped in 2014 for a New York City Center Encores! performance.

A good musical, not quite as memorable as it's contemporaries, but still a fun ride.

The Band Wagon (1953) 112 minutes
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Starring: Fred Astaire as Tony Hunter
Cyd Charisse as Gabrielle Gerard
Oscar Levant as Lester Marton
Nanette Fabray as Lily Marton
Jack Buchanan as Jeffrey Cordova
James Mitchell as Paul Byrd
Robert Gist as Hal