This charming musical from Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, based on a script from the reliable team of Adolph Green and Betty Comden, casts Gene Kelly (who also choreographed) and Frank Sinatra in the same film.
The plot, based on their Broadway hit, is simple enough: Three sailors on a 24-hour pass in New York, New York meet and fall for three of the City Girls, each representing a type.
Gabey (Gene Kelly) falls hard for a “model” who poses for the Miss Turnstiles advertisements, thinking she’s a high society debl; she is really a “cooch” dancer at Coney Island.
Chip (Frank Sinatra) gets literally highjacked by an aggressive female cab driver named (ready?) Brunhilde Esterhazy (Betty Garrett).
Ozzie (Jules Munshin) hooks up with a gorgeous anthropologist who thinks he’s the perfect reincarnation of a “prehistoric man.”
The singing and dancing is nothing short of exuberant, and the Oscar for Scoring to Roger Edens and Lennie Hayton is well deserved.
Oscar Nominations: 1
Scoring: Roger Edens and Lennie Hayton
Oscar Awards: 1
Running time: 98 Minutes.
Released: December 30, 1949 Wide
DVD: May 2, 2000
MGM
