This is set up to be a vehicle for Jane Powell, and that's where the problems begin. She gets several solos, all immediately forgettable, and then concludes the movie with the flabbiest, most uninspired rendition of the Halleluiah Chorus from Handel's Messiah that I have ever heard. Since her dialogue is uninteresting, this left her with nothing to work with.
Farley Grainger, her co-star, is even worse off. He couldn't dance or sing - we get to hear how badly he sang several times - so he had nothing to work with either. And there is NO chemistry between the two.
What's left to save the show? Bobby Van gets several spectacular dance numbers - he is the real star of the movie, no matter how the billing is set up - and Ann Miller gets two impressive but unmemorable tap numbers.
Those aren't great, but they are the only four numbers worth watching in this otherwise bland feature.
When you think that MGM was making musicals like *Singing in the Rain* at the same time, you can't help but wonder how the studio could have let such doomed-to-failure films as this get out at the same time.
Even if you love Jane Powell, there's nothing for you here. Just watch the Bobby Van dance numbers and forget the rest.
Farley Grainger, her co-star, is even worse off. He couldn't dance or sing - we get to hear how badly he sang several times - so he had nothing to work with either. And there is NO chemistry between the two.
What's left to save the show? Bobby Van gets several spectacular dance numbers - he is the real star of the movie, no matter how the billing is set up - and Ann Miller gets two impressive but unmemorable tap numbers.
Those aren't great, but they are the only four numbers worth watching in this otherwise bland feature.
When you think that MGM was making musicals like *Singing in the Rain* at the same time, you can't help but wonder how the studio could have let such doomed-to-failure films as this get out at the same time.
Even if you love Jane Powell, there's nothing for you here. Just watch the Bobby Van dance numbers and forget the rest.