Cinco DeNio

To be fair he started smoking as a way to cope with with a mule talking to him.

That's the weird part. They were in NYC, not Mexico. I thought only Montezuma's Revenge made you dance like that. Update: LONDON, not NYC.

The other charmless number for me is the first dance in Brigadoon. He and Van Johnson have stumbled into the village and take part in the wedding celebrations (at the groom's insistence). When they are dancing celebrating the groom Gene and Van start off with their own "modern" number. Now the focus is on them. I just realized this could be their way of introducing themselves than the intrusion I've thought of it as previously. It just always seemed like a "show-off" dance but may not be as malicious as I inferred. It still seems like Gene is working hard where Van is somewhat effortless. I guess the effect may be Gene having to work with partners who weren't up to his level so he let them be the picture and he was the frame. [media=''] [/media] Anyway, they start in with a complicated dance and get egged on to continue. Now comes out the synchronized dance. Does this mean (spoiler alert) Gene's character is going to teach these dances and all kinds of modern things through the years? Isn't that kind of against the whole reason for Brigadoon what it is?

I think for me with Gene Kelly it's all about how he is at the moment. I also admit I have seen and rewatched far more Gene Kelly movies. For instance, Singin' in the Rain is absolutely charming because he's happy and the dance is pure exuberance. I also love Good Morning where they are simply celebrating having the idea that will (spoiler alert) save the movie and their careers. Effortless charm and dancing. As someone said earlier, look at Moses Supposes and there's not the same charm as the others. (ETA: Maybe because the whole point of the number is to tease or make fun of the speech teacher.) [media=''] [/media] (Part 2 coming because I can only embed one video per post.)

From IMDB:

At the risk of piling on I agree. Astaire always seems to be doing it for the sheer joy. (Even the mailman in the animated show has a twinkle in his smile and eyes.) Gene Kelly always seems to be saying "Look what I can do". The Broadway "ballet" in Singin' in the Rain would be an example of this to me. The entire number has no story point that I can find. I understand they're explaining the plot to the studio head but the dance itself doesn't tell a story. Contrast that with Louise's ballet in Carousel. She lives in such a stuffy town and is tormented for being a ne'er-do-well's daughter. To me her dance is her trying to break out to the life she wants and not the one forced on her.

It's not a dance-off but your wish is YouTube's command. [media=''] [/media]

This is a big reason I love discussion forums. Someone is bound to have extensive knowledge or personal experience in any subject brought out. This was well written. Would the "Princess Theater" be part of the transition from film to vaudeville? In Vaudeville there would be all kinds of acts with little-to-no connective tissue. One of my interests in stage-to-film adaptations is what was removed because it was necessary to cover set or costume changes on stage. Those aren't needed on film. ETA: I meant "from Vaudeville to film".

I haven't watched the entire movie yet but does Bates ever say "I have a cunning plan"?

In the meantime may I suggest:

I don't have kids but I can certainly understand your desire. One of the reasons I went ahead and got two kittens was they went off and did their own thing for long stretches of time. I have no idea how I would handle someone always wanting my attention 24/7. I do get frustrated with the cats because they seem to be motion-based. All the toys they love are ones they can hunt but the toy itself has to move. I swing a shoelace around and they grab at it. One lays on the carpet and they could care less.

It reminded me of the club room in Trading Places. Silence wasn't a rule (thank goodness since my favorite part is the waiter's sarcastic response to his Christmas tip) but everyone sat around reading papers. Really?!?! People paid LOTS of dollars to belong to an organization where they drank and read papers. SMH.

I assume there would be some noise just out of necessity in "fucking heaven".

I'm up to

It may be a good endorsement but I just can't see CPR classes teaching the Hands-on method and having classes hum "ah, ah, ah, ah, Top[ Hat, Top Hat" to get the rhythm down. All kidding aside (if you don't know I'm 99.9% smartass by now), I loved Top Hat as well. Like Cameron H., I had a regret for not buying a previous movie so I bought this one on Amazon streaming. It was only $1 more than the cost of renting it twice. I also haven't watched the entire movie yet but feel free to spoil away. The last few films I found i got more enjoyment after reading people's observations.

You think the Depression was bad? Even before the Depression Buster Keaton couldn't afford a hall wide enough and tall enough to comfortably answer the phone! (Is there a way to resize pictures via the forum without manually cropping them beforehand?)

I'm going to make a prediction and guess that Lucille Ball will be the one named Ted Neeley Handsome in this movie.

Of course! How do you think he developed his style? By learning to dodge the Splurge guns and pie throwing.

Even at an early age his fate was set...

I forgot to add #6. 6) I agree that the ending cream pie fight absolutely undermined the movie. Throughout the movie whipped cream means death (or injury -- Fat Sam gets shot in the back at the ambush). Yet EVERY character gets completely covered, INCLUDING being shot with Splurge guns! The entire movie Splurge guns are horrific and now they are no worse than food-based Nerf guns.

I'd say yes. Here's an interesting article about how Fred Astaire's movements made animation easy and a Mickey Mouse cartoon inspired by Top Hat. http://www.printmag.com/design-inspiration/fred-astaire-the-human-mickey-mouse/ [media=''] [/media]

I finally finished watching this (had to take it in small doses) and just a couple thoughts. 1) SPLURGE gun! What kind of name was that supposed to be? A splurge is a spending spree or an "extravagant" purchase when you can't afford it, not a name for a whipped cream grenade. 2) They found the guns because the name of the company was right on the crates. They could have just gone to the NY Public Library and asked if there were any businesses with the name Splurge in the area. Some hiding place, at the manufacturer! 3) I wasn't as bothered with the ADR. The kid/adult thing bothered me a little but I could allow for that. What did bother me was that everyone was basically unlikable or unremarkable. Fat Sam was a total jerk and seemed to learn nothing (except for the quick turnaround at the ending). Dan and his guy had Sam on the ropes the entire movie yet Bugsy helps Sam. Sam is still treating everyone the same way, especially Tallulah and Fizzy. 4) As others have said Jodie Foster was the standout but everyone else (especially Scott Baio) was forgettable. The only one I liked was Fizzy. He kept trying even when it seemed to be hopeless. 5) The music certainly seemed to be written for adult singers, especially Blousy's number. I am almost glad adults sang the parts because I couldn't imagine kids singing these songs. I will have to watch some of the school performances on YouTube and see how it works. It must work because so many schools do this musical.

Given the Bugsy Malone/Rent discussion I'm not sure "exposed to this" is a good thing.

I don't know how YouTube renting works but they offer it for $2.99 SD/$3.99 HD. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZnblFRKjAk

The trailer [media=''] [/media]