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On the Town | 
| Directors: Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly
Actors: Murray Alper, Walter S. Baldwin, Florence Bates, Bea Benaderet, Eugene Borden
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: CDN$ 13.94
Buy New: CDN$ 6.56
You Save: CDN$ 7.38 (53%)
New (11) Used (1) from CDN$ 6.56
Rating:  33 reviews
Format: Import, Dubbed, Ntsc, Subtitled
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), French (Dubbed)
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 1000036353
UPC: 883929005956
EAN: 0883929005956
ASIN: B00143XE1E
Theatrical Release Date: December 30, 1949
Release Date: May 13, 2008
Availability: Usually ships within 1 - 2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Delivery from the USA in 10-14 Days via Canada Post (Max 21 Days). Brand New and Factory Sealed Product.
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| Editorial Reviews:
From Amazon.co.uk
New York, New York--it's a helluva town; the Bronx is up and the Battery's down; the people ride in a hole in the ground ... Well, you get the idea. Those lyrics (by Betty Comden and Adolph Green), set to Leonard Bernstein's music, have made On the Town a permanent part of the psychological landscape of New York City. The story (inspired by Jerome Robbins's ballet Fancy Free) is pretty slight: Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Jules Munshin play sailors with 24 hours' leave to take their bite out of the Big Apple. When they meet, and then lose, this month's Miss Turnstiles (Vera-Ellen), they scour the town in search of her, bumping into a lady anthropologist (Ann Miller) along the way. Shot mostly in the studio but with location exteriors all over town, from Coney Island to the Statue of Liberty to Central Park, this 1949 gem was the first of three great musicals codirected by Kelly and Stanley Donen, followed by Singin' in the Rain (1952) and the underrated It's Always Fair Weather (1955). --Jim Emerson
Amazon.com Essential Video
New York, New York--it's a helluva town; the Bronx is up and the Battery's down; the people ride in a hole in the ground.... Well, you get the idea. Those lyrics (by Betty Comden and Adolph Green), set to Leonard Bernstein's music, have made On the Town a permanent part of the psychological landscape of New York City. The story (inspired by Jerome Robbins's ballet Fancy Free) is pretty slight: Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Jules Munshin play sailors with 24 hours' leave to take their bite out of the Big Apple. When they meet, and then lose, this month's Miss Turnstiles (Vera-Ellen), they scour the town in search of her, bumping into a lady anthropologist (Ann Miller) along the way. Shot mostly in the studio, but with location exteriors all over town, from Coney Island to the Statue of Liberty to Central Park, this 1949 gem was the first of three great musicals codirected by Kelly and Stanley Donen, followed by Singin' in the Rain (1952) and the underrated It's Always Fair Weather (1955). --Jim Emerson
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| Customer Reviews: Read 28 more reviews...
 Not the best, by a long shot May 11, 2004
B. Sloane (Los Angeles, CA USA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Although Kelly, Donen, and Comden/Green would go on to movie greatness together ("Singing in the Rain", 1952) this one comes up short. The problem is simple: MGM didn't respect the original material enough (the Bernstein/Comden/Green Broadway musical of the same name)-- most of the fine Bernstein songs were jettisoned in favor of distinctly second-rate stuff ("Main Street", "You're Awful", etc.), as well as dumping all the great dance numbers save two ("A Day in New York", "Miss Turnstiles"). The other problem is that after Gabey, Ivy, and their friends finally get together atop the Empire State Building, the movie really goes downhill; the whole denouement at Coney Island is silly and takes much too long. There are some good performances, esp. from the women (Betty Garrett and Ann Miller really give the movie oomph and a sense of fun, and Alice Pearce's "I got the gargle!" bit is classic). Sinatra and Kelly are fine as always, but you have to be a big Jules Munshin fan to weather his supershticky performances, both here and in "Take me Out to the Ball Game" (also with Sinatra, Kelly, and Garrett). I know this movie is a big fan favorite; I just hope that people who think On the Town is a fine musical take the time to check out the really superior products of MGM's famous Freed unit: "Singing in the Rain", "Gigi", "Meet me in St. Louis". When the Freed unit clicked on all cylinders, as they did in those three movies, nobody made better movies of ANY kind.
 Not the Broadway version, but still a great movie musical February 12, 2004
Three sailor friends take a zany, madcap tour of New York City in the Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green musical ON THE TOWN -- refashioned here as an MGM vehicle for Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Jules Munshin as the sailors and Vera-Ellen, Betty Garrett, and Ann Miller as their girlfriends-for-a-day. Although I think that the original stage score, composed wholly by Bernstein, is superior, the movie does have several fine "new numbers," including "Prehistoric Man" (in which Miller, in a stunning tap dance routine, proves herself to be no cold scientist but a hot-blooded woman) and "You're Awful" (a golden vocal moment for Sinatra) -- as well as Bernstein's "I Feel Like I'm Not Out of Bed Yet," "New York, New York (A Wonderful Town)," "Come Up to My Place," and the ballet "A Day in New York." Usually thought of as one of Kelly's "big three" MGM films (along with AN AMERICAN IN PARIS and SINGIN' IN THE RAIN), ON THE TOWN in fact has no real "star"; the roles are all about equal in size. Kelly, so often cast in "tough" roles, is here touching in his pursuit of the lovely and talented "Miss Turnstiles" (Vera-Ellen). Sinatra is charmingly boyish and Munshin adorably hilarious, while their "girlfriends" -- Garrett the comedienne and Miller the dancer -- are well contrasted. "A Day in New York" is a highlight and prefigures both "Broadway Melody" in SINGIN' IN THE RAIN and "An American in Paris" -- two other "dream ballets" in which Kelly's character is the sad and dejected lover. This movie may not be Broadway's ON THE TOWN, but it is a colorful MGM musical with a first-rate cast.
 It's the Best December 17, 2003
On The Town is the best movie I've seen in my whole lifetime. I find it enjoyable for the family and musical lovers. You can watch it over and over again. It's funny and the best songs ever (I can't get them out of my head!). It was a wonderful production.
Wow! What a movie! October 27, 2003
I actually haven't seen the whole thing, but I couldn't stop myself from writing a review! I've looked for it everywhere, but I can't find it! From what I saw of it, I know it is a wonderful movie. The "New York, New York" sequence at the start really gets you into it! I loved it, it's definitely one of a kind. I reccomened to everyone who likes Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra, who are both great in this movie. Of course it's hard to forget Vera Ellen, who is very talented and beautiful in this movie. I wish someday to see the rest of it, and I am going to keep looking for it everywhere. Watch it now!
New York, New York...... June 12, 2003
Melanie (Alma, AR USA)
It's a wonderful town! And a wonderful movie as well. One of the best of Gene Kelly's career (part of the three year stretch that produced 'Singin' In the Rain' and 'An American in Paris'), this movie has everything. Singing, dancing, and comedy. Ann Miller shines in her "Prehistoric Man" number, one of the best to showcase her talents. And Gene Kelly, well, he's Gene Kelly.
Do I really have to elaborate on that. The cast also includes the comedy of Jules Munshin and Betty Garrett, the dancing talents of the lovely Vera Ellen, and, of course, the riot-inducing crooning of a pre Rat Pack Frank Sinatra. The plot (three sailors on a twenty-four hour leave) is somewhat thin, but the musical numbers more than make up for that. I've never seen or heard the original play, but I understand they cut quite a few of the original numbers out and changed some others. Chalk it up to politics of the time and the strict Hays Office. It doesn't undermine the spectacular peformances that are given in this movie. Definitely one of the gems of MGM.
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