With special guests including: Debbie Reynolds, Leslie Caron, John Wilson, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies
The wonderful world of the MGM Musical will be celebrated at BFI Southbank throughout November and December. From composers such as Cole Porter and Irving Berlin, choreographers and actors including Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire to the greatest musical singing and dancing stars including Judy Garland, Ann Miller and Cyd Charisse – they will all be presented in their full glory on the big screen. Many musicals will screen in newly restored prints and there will be some very special guests and events, including Debbie Reynolds and Leslie Caron, each discussing their remarkable careers, and John Wilson providing insight to the scores of MGM musicals and his orchestrations of them. As a centrepiece of this season, BFI Distribution will release two of the most dazzling titles – An American in Paris (1952) and Meet Me in St Louis (1944) – nationwide and each will screen in an Extended Run at BFI Southbank. This instalment will conclude with a very rare outing for Ken Russell’s The Boy Friend (1971), a comic pastiche of the roaring 1920s starring Twiggy; the renowned composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, who arranged the soundtrack, will appear in conversation, joined by the RAM Manson Ensemble for a live performance of music from the film. This exuberant selection of MGM Musicals season will also herald an ongoing tribute to the musical genre from the BFI, throughout the next three years.
This golden era of Hollywood song and dance will begin with fare from the dazzling 1930s. With Joan Crawford and Clark Gable in Dancing Lady (1933), a time when Eleanor Powell began tapping her way to fascinating rythms in Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937) and Judy Garland was brought in to replace Shirley Temple as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz (1939). By the 1940s Vincente Minnelli was in the director’s seat with Cabin in the Sky (1943) and Meet Me in St Louis, before presenting The Band Wagon (1953). Charles Walters directed Fred Astaire in Easter Parade (1948) and The Barkleys of Broadway (1949), the latter reuniting Astaire with Ginger Rogers. Singers such as Frank Sinatra became box-office hits with films including On the Town and Take Me Out to the Ball Game (both made in 1949), while Olympic medal winner Esther Williams became an underwater sensation in films such as Dangerous When Wet (1953).
The dynamic directing partnership of Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly was truly established with the event of the first musical feature to be shot on location – the Oscar-winning On the Town. They would go on to direct one of the most widely loved musicals, Singin’ in the Rain (1952), along with It’s Always Fair Weather (1955). Musical adaptations were aplenty with Show Boat (1951), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), High Society (1956) and even Shakespeare was turned to as a basis for Kiss Me Kate (1953), which will be presented in 3D.
These titles are just an example of the glorious Technicolor spectacles that will be offered throughout MGM Musicals. And for viewers who want to understand more about the genre there will be an accompanying course: MGM: a new kind of Musical, running from 2 November – 14 December, and Oklahomo!, an investigation into the campness of the genre with writer and broadcaster David Benedict, with a little help from Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand and friends. For those keen to take advantage of a wide range of MGM-viewing there will be a special 3 for 2 ticket offer. Stay tuned for further details…
![Interview: Terence Davies on Distant Voices, Still Lives [from the CU Archive]](http://www.close-upfilm.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/terence-davies-150x150.jpg)
