It's Always Fair Weather (1955)

We've been fans of MGM musicals for many years, but somehow we never got around to watching this. I'm afraid we were left wondering what went wrong, as it is a long way from MGM's best. The first half hour contains a far-too-long (and not very good) dance sequence and a lot of poor dialogue. Then the film sinks into a rather sour flavour and the second-rate song and dance routines do little to lift the mood. The stand-out segment (sadly much too short) is Kelly's 'I like Myself' on roller skates, which is a classic warm & happy MGM number with glorious, flowing music and lush orchestration. There is a happy ending, but not before a rather depressing TV show scene. I think this story would have been far better as a non-musical drama, as the bitter taste and social comment does not lend itself to the classic MGM musical style. It pains me to give MGM such a low score, but it's a 4 from me.

My observations: First of all, you know that my favorite movies are song and dance, with costuming, hair and makeup other favorite areas of critiquing. This movie does not disappoint.Gene Kelly tap dancing on roller skates is one of my favorite dance scenes of all time. I love tap dancing AND roller skating, plus ice figure skating. I do all three.I loved Cyd Charisse's dance with all the boxers, starting with the fight manager who sang and danced with Cyd. Those boxers could dance, and sing, too, and quite well. Who'da thought it? Cyd's dressy clothing was a colorful contrast to their gym clothes and boxing gloves. I liked the combination of her lighter green blouse with darker green skirt. When she later put on the chartreuse jacket, it looked a little much, but at least it was a third shade of green -- and coordinated with the green blouse and skirt combination.It was good to see Dolores Gray. She did an excellent job. I just loved her slinky red outfit. I liked her diva-routine, since I felt it was a satire of real 1950s TV-radio hosts/hostesses. She held the entire audience in thrall, and I loved it when she made our three ex-GIs her guests of the evening. The walking soap-boxes reminded me of 1950s TV commercials about Chesterfield Cigarettes, when the dancers walked on wearing the giant cigarette packages and had their legs hanging out the bottom.Cyd thought Gene was a dummy, but when Gene corrected her Shakespeare she was shocked. I was waiting for him to tell her he was actually a college graduate and former law school wannabe, but he only told her about the boxing connection. She was certainly a boxing expert. He called her Einstein.I liked seeing Michael Kidd, early in the movie, with his Le Cordon Bleu cookbook. I really enjoyed his great dancing and choreography in this movie.I loved Dan Dailey in There's No Business Like Show Business, where he played the father of Donald O'Connor, Mitzi Gaynor and Johnny Ray, plus the husband of Ethel Merman. In "Fair Weather", in the 1955 sequence, he plays a disillusioned man who has the stereotypical ulcer(s) of overworked 1950s admen. As an acting student, I really enjoyed where he played drunk and danced his routine at the same time. Not a lot of actors/dancers can pull this off; acting drunk is a refined skill - not to mention successfully creating and executing the dance concurrently. Wearing the lampshade just added to the comical drunk stereotype, and I feel Dan Dailey did all of it so remarkably convincingly.Finally, in the 1945 sequence (going backward), there was way too much reliance on drinking alcohol the whole night. One writer says the three men drank at Tim's and then parted, to meet 10 years later. In actuality, they drank tons of booze, going to bar after bar after bar. Perhaps the actors actually drank iced tea or colored water, or even 1-2 sips for each different bar scene, but it was all very convincing. I thought that all three would fall on their keisters.Men in those days died in their 40s and 50s, and some lived to their 60s or even 70s+. This movie shows the 1940s-1950s strong bad habits like too much alcohol and cigarette smoking, IMO. Some of the actors died early from heart attacks. I would bet in those days that actors, as well as most people, did not get much exercise, and loved to subsist on a diet of chicken fried in lard, pork chops fried in grease, pies made with lard pie crust, tons of coffee sweetened with tons of sugar, not to mention the proverbial cigarette chain smoking and exceedingly high alcohol consumption. The Fatso guy reminds one of how men were allowed to gain a ton of weight, but women always had to "watch their figures".The makeup: Stage makeup is not just face paint or clown white, but actually hair extensions and additions. A writer said Dan Dailey was the only character aged 10 years because of his mustache (or brush, as Michael Kidd said). In my stage makeup course we tried on stage mustaches, beards, wigs, hairpieces, sideburns, all I think with a little spirit gum. Dailey's mustache looked natural.Cyd Charisse's makeup looked natural, and offset her dark hair. Her bright red lipstick was a nice touch. Dolores Gray's makeup looked like she was a total tart, but perhaps for TV cameras this was necessary. At any rate, we as viewers saw 1950s actual TV shows shot in glorious black and white.Hair: Gene's receding hairline made him look older. He was born in 1912, and Dailey and Kidd born 1915, making Gene three years older. Gene was around 43 years old when this movie was made, with Dailey and Kidd being 40. As old as they were, I felt that they still did a great job portraying their younger 1945 selves.

The film begins with three very obnoxious soldiers in a bar. They are celebrating because the war is over and they are all about to go home. However, before they go, these lifelong friends vow to reunite in 10 years.Ten years pass. Doug (Dan Dailey) has NOT become a great bohemian painter but a very stodgy business with a busted marriage. Ted (Gene Kelly) did NOT marry the girl of his dreams but is a gambler and boxing promoter who has contempt for women. And, the most innocent of the three, Angie (Michael Kidd), is pretty happy--owning a burger joint and having a wife and kids. But, what they really discover about each other is that they have nothing in common and don't even like each other any more. And, in some cases, they also see that they don't even like themselves. Fortunately, through the course of the film this meeting ends up changing Ted and Doug for the better. And, it also provides a very strange opportunity to redo this reunion.Considering this film stars Dan Dailey and Gene Kelly, it's not surprising that it's a musical. As for Michael Kidd, most folks won't even recognize him but he was also an exceptional dancer. I honestly think the reason the studio picked this unknown guy was entirely because Frank Sinatra couldn't be in the film, so the producer found the actor who looked the most like Sinatra as possible. To heighten it, they also dressed Kidd like Sinatra and had him imitate his style. Kidd was fine in the film, but they really did NOT need to do this.So is it any good? Well, yes and no. As for the songs, some were absolutely hilarious--which is a shame, as apparently no one went to see the film when it came out in 1955. I loved the song where the three guys sang inside their heads about how much they hated their 'friends' when they reunited! It was hilarious. I also loved the surreal song and dance number in the gym. The song's lyrics were great but it was also great how cute these palookas were! You just have to laugh when they sing and behave so gentlemanly. But, on the other hand, a lot of the other songs fell a bit flat. The story itself was original but it also suffered, a bit, because at first it was very tough to like two of the three leading men--they WERE jerks. But, at least they changed! Plus, it also had a nice sense of humor that picked it up a bit--such as the ultra-horrible TV host! She was a hoot. I also was amazed seeing Kelly dancing on roller skates!! Wow...and a far cry from his embarrassing roller skating in "Xanadu". So overall, is it worth seeing? Well, if you like musicals, of course. If not, you might want to try another one first. Of course, even if you don't like musicals, you might want to see it so you can get a glimpse of Cyd Charisse in a sweater!

"It's Always Fair Weather" is based on three GI's who are returning home after WWII. After everything that they have gone through, the three friends are certain that they will remain friends forever. Before going on their merry ways, they promise to reunite in ten years at the exact bar that they are at. The bartender who works there disagrees and comments that they won't even remember each other and a bet is made. Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly present a great montage sequence following this scene. The montage highlights the important events during this time and I was able to see how each character differed from the others. I really enjoyed the dance sequences and thought that all three actors did a great job throughout the film. I've never really invested enough time into musicals so I'm not able to compare it too specifically, but it did remind me of 'Singing in the Rain.' It was a playful musical that was easy to like. I thought Gene Kelly, Dan Dailey, and Michael Kidd did a great job on acting. I thought Gene Kelly did a fabulous job on the dancing. I noticed that there were some references to television at the time, and it's competition with film. I found it funny that it poked fun at the television industry, I thought that was really interesting. I do think that the musical was too easy to follow and rather predictable. It wasn't hard for me to keep focused, but I wish that it hasn't so simple. I liked that there was a nice balance between dancing and the singing, it wasn't overbearing. Overall, this musical was enjoyable and entertaining, but not excellent. It was a bit too simple for me. If you aren't too familiar with musicals however, I do recommend seeing this because there is the perfect amount of dancing and singing without getting obnoxious.