Style2






(Review originally written at 30 September 2006)

This is a typical 13 in a dozen romantic musical movie from the MGM studio's. It's not any better or worse than most other productions, which means that the genre fans will most likely enjoy this movie.

This is your typical enjoyable lighthearted romantic musical comedy from the MGM studio's, which means that the movie is mostly good looking, has some good musical moments but is predictable and formulaic to watch. Does it really matter all? There only are a handful of MGM musicals that have gained the classic status. About 80% of their musical productions are nothing more than simple lighthearted movies that are pleasant to watch but at the same time also extremely forgettable. These sort of movies are good to kill some time with, of course especially if you're a fan of the genre.

Granted that the love-story is not the most believable or compelling one. I don't know but having a 60 year old playboy prince falling for a 30 years younger blond beauty by todays standards feels more dirty than romantic. Guess in the '40's/'50's this was Hollywoods idea of a romantic story and every young girl dreamed of marrying an older, rich, playboy prince. Who knows. Yet the story still works out alright enough, which is thanks to the actors Lana Turner and Ezio Pinza, who also have some good chemistry together.

Further more the movie is filled with all of the formulaic genre ingredients and most things also don't really come as a surprise. The movie is not as musical filled as perhaps other MGM productions, which might disappoint certain people.

The movie is pretty good looking, with some nice sets, costumes and setting, although it's all obvious fake at times. It helps to give the movie a pretty good light feeling and atmosphere, which helps to make this movie a pleasant one to watch.

The movie features some good other actors such as Sir Cedric Hardwicke and Debbie Reynolds in an early role. Yet most of the other characters are underused in the story, which provide the movie with some missed opportunities. The movie overall as a whole has perhaps a tad bit more misses than hits in it, which does make the movie an uneven one to watch at times.

More of the same all but I'm not complaining about it and so most certainly wouldn't the genre fans. The movie deserves a better reputation, for sure.

6/10

About Frank Veenstra

Watches movies...writes about them...and that's it for now.
«
Next
Newer Post
»
Previous
Older Post

1 reacties:

  1. In its favor is that silly opening number with the four guys in cowpoke get up.

    ReplyDelete


Top