IMDb RATING
6.7/10
6.1K
YOUR RATING
A brother and sister dance act encounter challenges and romance when booked in London during the Royal Wedding.A brother and sister dance act encounter challenges and romance when booked in London during the Royal Wedding.A brother and sister dance act encounter challenges and romance when booked in London during the Royal Wedding.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 win & 1 nomination total
Bea Allen
- Dancer in Haiti Number
- (uncredited)
Wilson Benge
- Minor Role
- (uncredited)
Margaret Bert
- Ellen's Maid
- (uncredited)
Francis Bethencourt
- Charles Gordon
- (uncredited)
Lulu Mae Bohrman
- Royal Attendant
- (uncredited)
Jack Boyle
- Dancer
- (uncredited)
John Brascia
- Dancer in Haiti Number
- (uncredited)
William Cabanne
- Dick
- (uncredited)
Gary Casteel
- Child Singer
- (uncredited)
Andre Charisse
- Steward
- (uncredited)
Bill Chatham
- Dancer in Haiti Number
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn an interview given shortly after the film was released, Fred Astaire revealed that he had tried dancing with more than 30 commercially available hat racks before the studio had the prop department design and build the one in the film at a final cost of over $900 (over $9000 in 2021 dollars). The hat rack disappeared shortly after the film wrapped.
- GoofsOn the day of the wedding, many of the British flags in the streets are hung upside down. The wider diagonal white stripe of the Union Flag should always be uppermost next to the top of the flagpole.
- Crazy creditsThe opening credits are displayed on engraved invitation pages.
- Alternate versionsThere is an Italian DVD edition of this movie, distributed by DNA Srl, entitled "Royal Wedding". The movie was re-edited with the contribution of the film history scholar Riccardo Cusin. This dvd contains the movie with its original aspect ratio and a new version adapted in 1.78:1 anamorphic for 16:9 screens. This version is also available in streaming on some platforms. This DVD also contains another movie with Fred Astaire: "Second Chorus" (1941).
- ConnectionsEdited into Your Afternoon Movie: The Royal Wedding (2022)
Featured review
Even with its shortcomings, there are many delightful things here
Royal Wedding may not be one of the classic musicals and everybody involved have been in and done better things, but any fans of great choreography and dancing and Fred Astaire will find plenty to like about it. It does have a good shortcomings, that are thankfully outweighed by the many things that are delightful.
Starting with what didn't come off so well, the story is as thin as a wafer and occasionally loses momentum when there's no singing or dancing. The script is very commonplace, and while it mostly flows well, reads well tonally and has entertaining moments some of the comic moments fall limp and it's cringe-worthingly stereotypical in places(i.e. Keenan Wynn's slang). The songs and choreography are top notch, but the (slightly) clumsily staged finale was an exception. Two performances don't work. Peter Lawford has to work with a dully written character that often felt incidental to the plot, and he brings very little personality or charm to it. Even worse is Sarah Churchill, she is incredibly wooden here and doesn't ever look comfortable with what she's given. Her chemistry with Astaire completely lacks warmth, and veers on non-existent on occasions.
The production values are very colourful however, not quite lavish but very beautiful nonetheless, and the photography shows adept technical skills and very good attention to detail. The songs are great, with three being particularly memorable. One is the Oscar-nominated Too Late Now, which has a lot of emotional resonance and is performed with just as much by Jane Powell(though maybe Judy Garland may have given it more heft if she was cast). Two is How Could You Believe Me..., which benefits from some of Lerner's funniest and cleverest lyric writing and a genuinely easy-going natural chemistry between Astaire and Powell. Last is the infectiously catchy I Left My Hat in Haiti. The choreography is even better, there is so much energy and sparkle to it and the two highlights both feature Astaire and are among his best and most iconic. One being Sunday Jumps, with the most inventive use of a duet with a hat-rack you'll ever find in a film, and the other being his dancing on the walls and ceiling in his hotel room in You're All the World to Me which is the epitome of jaw-dropping.
Royal Wedding may not be perfect in the writing department, but it's not too slow-going(even those bits lacking momentum don't hurt the film that badly) and has an endearingly light-footed, good-humoured(though not always) and warm-hearted quality, in a way also that often entertains and never talks down. So while there are flaws in the writing, the spirit and tone are just right. The characters are not too original and Lawford and Churchill's are not interesting at all, but the rest of the characters are very likable and engaging. Stanley Donen's direction is very accomplished technically and in terms of pacing and balancing everything is very assured also. The performances on the whole are fine, Keenan Wynn is amusing and Jane Powell is a more than worthy partner for Astaire and plays her role with plenty of attractive spunk and graceful charm. But it is Astaire who is the main reason to see the film, he was one of the dance world's greatest and one of the all-time greats at interpreting songs in musicals. While he didn't have the best voice in the world, though it was still an above-pleasant one, his dancing is masterful and he exudes complete confidence.
Overall, has shortcomings and falls short of being great(like it could have been considering it had Astaire and was directed by Donen). But these shortcomings are far outweighed by the good things, and the good things are delightful and a good many. 7/10 Bethany Cox
Starting with what didn't come off so well, the story is as thin as a wafer and occasionally loses momentum when there's no singing or dancing. The script is very commonplace, and while it mostly flows well, reads well tonally and has entertaining moments some of the comic moments fall limp and it's cringe-worthingly stereotypical in places(i.e. Keenan Wynn's slang). The songs and choreography are top notch, but the (slightly) clumsily staged finale was an exception. Two performances don't work. Peter Lawford has to work with a dully written character that often felt incidental to the plot, and he brings very little personality or charm to it. Even worse is Sarah Churchill, she is incredibly wooden here and doesn't ever look comfortable with what she's given. Her chemistry with Astaire completely lacks warmth, and veers on non-existent on occasions.
The production values are very colourful however, not quite lavish but very beautiful nonetheless, and the photography shows adept technical skills and very good attention to detail. The songs are great, with three being particularly memorable. One is the Oscar-nominated Too Late Now, which has a lot of emotional resonance and is performed with just as much by Jane Powell(though maybe Judy Garland may have given it more heft if she was cast). Two is How Could You Believe Me..., which benefits from some of Lerner's funniest and cleverest lyric writing and a genuinely easy-going natural chemistry between Astaire and Powell. Last is the infectiously catchy I Left My Hat in Haiti. The choreography is even better, there is so much energy and sparkle to it and the two highlights both feature Astaire and are among his best and most iconic. One being Sunday Jumps, with the most inventive use of a duet with a hat-rack you'll ever find in a film, and the other being his dancing on the walls and ceiling in his hotel room in You're All the World to Me which is the epitome of jaw-dropping.
Royal Wedding may not be perfect in the writing department, but it's not too slow-going(even those bits lacking momentum don't hurt the film that badly) and has an endearingly light-footed, good-humoured(though not always) and warm-hearted quality, in a way also that often entertains and never talks down. So while there are flaws in the writing, the spirit and tone are just right. The characters are not too original and Lawford and Churchill's are not interesting at all, but the rest of the characters are very likable and engaging. Stanley Donen's direction is very accomplished technically and in terms of pacing and balancing everything is very assured also. The performances on the whole are fine, Keenan Wynn is amusing and Jane Powell is a more than worthy partner for Astaire and plays her role with plenty of attractive spunk and graceful charm. But it is Astaire who is the main reason to see the film, he was one of the dance world's greatest and one of the all-time greats at interpreting songs in musicals. While he didn't have the best voice in the world, though it was still an above-pleasant one, his dancing is masterful and he exudes complete confidence.
Overall, has shortcomings and falls short of being great(like it could have been considering it had Astaire and was directed by Donen). But these shortcomings are far outweighed by the good things, and the good things are delightful and a good many. 7/10 Bethany Cox
helpful•70
- TheLittleSongbird
- May 28, 2015
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- Königliche Hochzeit
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $1,590,920 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 33 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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