The Band Wagon
Encyclopedia
The Band Wagon is a 1953 musical comedy film
that many critics rank, along with Singin' in the Rain
, as the finest of the MGM musicals, although it was only a modest box-office success. It tells the story of an aging musical star who hopes a Broadway
play will restart his career. However, the play's director wants to make it a pretentious retelling of Faust
, and brings in a prima ballerina who clashes with the star.
The songs were written by Arthur Schwartz
and Howard Dietz
, and some were created for the original 1931 Broadway
musical also called The Band Wagon
, with a book by George S. Kaufman
and starring Fred Astaire and his sister Adele
. (Fred Astaire also stars in the movie.) The song "That's Entertainment!
", which Schwartz and Dietz wrote specifically for the film, was a hit and has become a standard. Another song orchestrated by Conrad Salinger
, "Dancing in the Dark", is considered part of the Great American Songbook
and was from the original Broadway production.
The film was nominated for Academy Awards
for Best Costume Design, Color
, Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture
and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay. Screenwriters Betty Comden and Adolph Green, who received the nomination for the screenplay, patterned the film's characters Lester and Lily Marton after themselves, although the fictional characters were a married couple and Comden and Green were not romantically involved.
In 1995, The Band Wagon was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry
by the Library of Congress
as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In 2006, this film ranked #17 on the American Film Institute
's list of best musicals
.
Tony signs up, despite misgivings after the director, Jeffrey Cordova, changes the light comedy into a dark reinterpretation of the Faust
legend, with himself as the Devil
and Tony as the Faust character. Tony also feels intimidated by the youth, beauty, and classical background of his female co-star, noted ballerina
Gabrielle "Gaby" Gerard. Unbeknownst to him, she is just as insecure in his presence, awed by his long stardom.
Eventually, it all proves too much for Tony. He walks out, but Gaby speaks with him alone and they work out their differences. They also begin to fall in love, though she already has a commitment to the show's choreographer Paul Byrd.
When the first out-of-town tryout in New Haven proves to be a disaster, Tony persuades Jeffrey to let him convert the production back into what the Martons had originally envisioned. Tony takes charge of the production, taking the show on tour to perfect the new lighthearted musical numbers. Since the original backers have walked out, Tony finances it by selling his personal art collection. Byrd walks out, but Gaby remains.
The revised show proves to be a hit on its Broadway opening. Afterwards, Gaby lets Tony know how she feels about him.
One musical number shot for the film, but dropped from the final release, was a seductive dance routine featuring Charisse performing "Two-Faced Woman". As with the other Charisse songs, her singing was dubbed by India Adams. Adams' recording of the song was reused for Torch Song
for a musical number featuring Joan Crawford
. The retrospective That's Entertainment! III released the Charisse version to the public for the first time. This footage was also included with the most recent DVD release of The Band Wagon itself.
stage adaptation, titled "Dancing in the Dark," premiered at The Old Globe Theatre
(San Diego) March 4-April 20, 2008, with plans to bring the show to Broadway
. Gary Griffin directs, with a book by Douglas Carter Beane
and choreography by Warren Carlyle. The cast includes Patrick Page
as the "deliciously pretentious" director-actor-producer Jeffrey Cordova, Mara Davi
playing Gabrielle Gerard and Scott Bakula
as "song-and-dance man" Tony Hunter.
In the Variety
review of the musical Bob Verini wrote: "There's no reason this reconstituted "Band Wagon" can't soar once it jettisons its extraneous and self-contradictory elements. But "Dancing" is some distance from finding its footing, despite finale's admonition to "Admit we're a hit and we'll go on from there." Not yet."
According to an October 16, 2008 article in Playbill, this musical is undergoing revision.
in his music video for "Smooth Criminal
" pays tribute to the Fred Astaire film in his dance sequence in the 1930s or 1940s style lounge as in the Astaire film where the bar fight takes place. Dancers can be seen doing similar moves as female dancers wear similar designed outfits in Jackson's video. Jackson wears a white suit with a blue collar shirt underneath and a white hat with a black stripe on it paying tribute to what Astaire was wearing in The Band Wagon's finale, "The Girl Hunt Ballet". "Billie Jean
's" music video also features similar elements as those of the same number: The storefront scenery through which the paparazzo conducts his manhunt and the animal print cloth he finds for a clue are two very distinct allusions. Using the line "she came at me in sections" for the titular song of his album Dangerous, Jackson notably pays homage to the film on at least three successive albums.
Steve Martin
and Gilda Radner
perform a seriocomic parody homage to the "dancing in the dark" dance segment on an episode of Saturday Night Live
, originally broadcast on April 22, 1978.
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
that many critics rank, along with Singin' in the Rain
Singin' in the Rain
Singin' in the Rain is a 1952 American comedy musical film starring Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds and directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, with Kelly also providing the choreography...
, as the finest of the MGM musicals, although it was only a modest box-office success. It tells the story of an aging musical star who hopes a Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
play will restart his career. However, the play's director wants to make it a pretentious retelling of Faust
Faust
Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend; a highly successful scholar, but also dissatisfied with his life, and so makes a deal with the devil, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. Faust's tale is the basis for many literary, artistic, cinematic, and musical...
, and brings in a prima ballerina who clashes with the star.
The songs were written by Arthur Schwartz
Arthur Schwartz
Arthur Schwartz was an American composer and film producer.Schwartz supported his legal studies at New York University and postgraduate studies at Columbia University by playing piano before concentrating his talents on vaudeville, Broadway theatre and Hollywood.Among his Broadway musicals are The...
and Howard Dietz
Howard Dietz
Howard Dietz was an American publicist, lyricist, and librettist.-Biography:Dietz was born in New York City and studied journalism at Columbia University...
, and some were created for the original 1931 Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
musical also called The Band Wagon
The Band Wagon (musical)
For the film, see The Band WagonThe Band Wagon is a musical revue with book by George S. Kaufman and Howard Dietz, lyrics by Howard Dietz and music by Arthur Schwartz. It first played on Broadway in 1931, running for 260 performances...
, with a book by George S. Kaufman
George S. Kaufman
George Simon Kaufman was an American playwright, theatre director and producer, humorist, and drama critic. In addition to comedies and political satire, he wrote several musicals, notably for the Marx Brothers...
and starring Fred Astaire and his sister Adele
Adele Astaire
Lady Charles Cavendish , better known as Adele Astaire, was an American dancer and entertainer. She was Fred Astaire's elder sister. Her birthdate was often given as 1897 or 1898, but the 1900 U.S...
. (Fred Astaire also stars in the movie.) The song "That's Entertainment!
That's Entertainment! (song)
"That's Entertainment!" is a popular song with music written by Arthur Schwartz and lyrics by Howard Dietz. The song was published in 1952 and was written especially for the 1953 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical film The Band Wagon...
", which Schwartz and Dietz wrote specifically for the film, was a hit and has become a standard. Another song orchestrated by Conrad Salinger
Conrad Salinger
Conrad Salinger was an American arranger, orchestrator and composer, who studied classical composition at the Paris Conservatoire. He is credited with orchestrating nine productions on Broadway from 1931 to 1938, and over seventy-five motion pictures from 1931 to 1962...
, "Dancing in the Dark", is considered part of the Great American Songbook
Great American Songbook
The Great American Songbook is a hypothetical construct that seeks to represent the best American songs of the 20th century principally from Broadway theatre, musical theatre, and Hollywood musicals, from the 1920s to 1960, including dozens of songs of enduring popularity...
and was from the original Broadway production.
The film was nominated for Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for Best Costume Design, Color
Academy Award for Costume Design
The Academy Award for Best Costume Design is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for achievement in film costume design....
, Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture
Academy Award for Original Music Score
The Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay. Screenwriters Betty Comden and Adolph Green, who received the nomination for the screenplay, patterned the film's characters Lester and Lily Marton after themselves, although the fictional characters were a married couple and Comden and Green were not romantically involved.
In 1995, The Band Wagon was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...
by the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In 2006, this film ranked #17 on the American Film Institute
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
's list of best musicals
AFI's 100 Years of Musicals
Part of the AFI 100 Years… series, AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals is a list of the top musicals in American cinema. The list was unveiled by the American Film Institute at the Hollywood Bowl on September 3, 2006...
.
Plot
Stage and screen star Tony Hunter, a veteran of musical comedy, is concerned that his career might be in decline. His good friends Lester and Lily Marton have written a stage show that they believe is perfect for his comeback.Tony signs up, despite misgivings after the director, Jeffrey Cordova, changes the light comedy into a dark reinterpretation of the Faust
Faust
Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend; a highly successful scholar, but also dissatisfied with his life, and so makes a deal with the devil, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. Faust's tale is the basis for many literary, artistic, cinematic, and musical...
legend, with himself as the Devil
Devil
The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
and Tony as the Faust character. Tony also feels intimidated by the youth, beauty, and classical background of his female co-star, noted ballerina
Ballerina
A ballerina is a title used to describe a principal female professional ballet dancer in a large company; the male equivalent to this title is danseur or ballerino...
Gabrielle "Gaby" Gerard. Unbeknownst to him, she is just as insecure in his presence, awed by his long stardom.
Eventually, it all proves too much for Tony. He walks out, but Gaby speaks with him alone and they work out their differences. They also begin to fall in love, though she already has a commitment to the show's choreographer Paul Byrd.
When the first out-of-town tryout in New Haven proves to be a disaster, Tony persuades Jeffrey to let him convert the production back into what the Martons had originally envisioned. Tony takes charge of the production, taking the show on tour to perfect the new lighthearted musical numbers. Since the original backers have walked out, Tony finances it by selling his personal art collection. Byrd walks out, but Gaby remains.
The revised show proves to be a hit on its Broadway opening. Afterwards, Gaby lets Tony know how she feels about him.
Cast
- Fred AstaireFred AstaireFred Astaire was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute...
as Tony Hunter - Cyd CharisseCyd CharisseCyd Charisse was an American actress and dancer.After recovering from polio as a child, and studying ballet, Charisse entered films in the 1940s...
as Gabrielle Gerard - Oscar LevantOscar LevantOscar Levant was an American pianist, composer, author, comedian, and actor. He was more famous for his mordant character and witticisms, on the radio and in movies and television, than for his music.-Life and career:...
as Lester Marton - Nanette FabrayNanette FabrayNanette Fabray is an American actress, comedienne, singer, dancer, and activist. She began her career performing in vaudeville as a child and then became a musical theatre actress during the 1940s and 1950s, winning a Tony Award in 1949 for her performance in Love Life...
as Lily Marton - Jack BuchananJack BuchananWalter John "Jack" Buchanan was a British theatre and film actor, singer, producer and director. He was known for three decades as the embodiment of the debonair man-about-town in the tradition of George Grossmith Jr., and was described by The Times as "the last of the knuts." He is best known in...
as Jeffrey Cordova - James MitchellJames Mitchell (actor)James Mitchell was an American actor and dancer. Although he is best known to television audiences as Palmer Cortlandt on the soap opera All My Children , theatre and dance historians remember him as one of Agnes de Mille's leading dancers...
as Paul Byrd - Ava GardnerAva GardnerAva Lavinia Gardner was an American actress.She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers . She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses, considered one of the most beautiful women of her day...
as herself (cameo)
Musical numbers
in order of appearance- "By Myself" — Tony (introduced in the stage musical Between the DevilBetween the DevilBetween the Devil is a musical comedy with book and lyrics by Howard Dietz and music by Arthur Schwartz.-Production and background:The musical opened in pre-Broadway tryouts in New Haven and Philadelphia in October 1937. The original plot had the leading man, Jack Buchanan, as an Englishman who...
) - "Shine on Your Shoes" — Tony and Arcade shoeshine man (Leroy Daniels) (introduced in the stage musical Flying Colors (musical)Flying Colors (musical)Flying Colors is a musical revue with a book, lyrics, and music by Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz and sketch contributions by George S. Kaufman, Corey Ford, and Charles Sherman....
) - "That's Entertainment!That's Entertainment! (song)"That's Entertainment!" is a popular song with music written by Arthur Schwartz and lyrics by Howard Dietz. The song was published in 1952 and was written especially for the 1953 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical film The Band Wagon...
" — Jeffrey, with Tony, Lester and Lily. - "The Beggars Waltz" — danced by Cyd Charisse, James Mitchell, and corps de ballet
- "Dancing in the Dark" — Tony and Gabrielle
- "You and the Night and the Music" — Chorus, danced by Tony and Gabrielle
- "Something to Remember You By" — Chorus
- "High and Low" — Chorus
- "I Love Louisa" — Tony, Lester, and Lily
- "New Sun in the Sky" — Gabrielle
- "I Guess I'll Have to Change My PlanI Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan"I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan" is a popular song.The music was written by Arthur Schwartz; the lyrics by Howard Dietz. The song was published in 1929....
" — Tony and Jeffrey - "Louisiana Hayride" — Lily and Chorus (introduced in the stage musical Flying Colors (musical)Flying Colors (musical)Flying Colors is a musical revue with a book, lyrics, and music by Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz and sketch contributions by George S. Kaufman, Corey Ford, and Charles Sherman....
) - "Triplets" — Tony, Jeffrey, and Lily (The three performers dance on their knees, costumed in baby attire) (introduced in the stage musical Between the DevilBetween the DevilBetween the Devil is a musical comedy with book and lyrics by Howard Dietz and music by Arthur Schwartz.-Production and background:The musical opened in pre-Broadway tryouts in New Haven and Philadelphia in October 1937. The original plot had the leading man, Jack Buchanan, as an Englishman who...
) - "Girl Hunt Ballet" — Tony and Gabrielle
Torch Song
Torch Song was a British synthpop and dance band of the early 1980s consisting of William Orbit, Laurie Mayer and Grant Gilbert. In 1985, Grant left to pursue other projects and long-time friend Rico Conning officially joined the group. After the release of 'Exhibit A' in 1987, Torch Song as a...
for a musical number featuring Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....
. The retrospective That's Entertainment! III released the Charisse version to the public for the first time. This footage was also included with the most recent DVD release of The Band Wagon itself.
Stage adaptation
A musicalMusical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
stage adaptation, titled "Dancing in the Dark," premiered at The Old Globe Theatre
Old Globe Theatre
The Old Globe is a professional theatre company located in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. It produces about 15 plays and musicals annually in summer and winter seasons...
(San Diego) March 4-April 20, 2008, with plans to bring the show to Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
. Gary Griffin directs, with a book by Douglas Carter Beane
Douglas Carter Beane
Douglas Carter Beane is an American playwright and screenwriter. Born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and raised in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, Beane now lives in New York...
and choreography by Warren Carlyle. The cast includes Patrick Page
Patrick Page
Patrick Page is an American actor and playwright living in New York City.-Career:Page’s Broadway credits include originating the role of The Grinch in Dr...
as the "deliciously pretentious" director-actor-producer Jeffrey Cordova, Mara Davi
Mara Davi
Mara Davi is an actress, singer and dancer who made her Broadway debut as Maggie Winslow in the 2006 revival of A Chorus Line. Davi joined the now-closed The Drowsy Chaperone on Broadway on July 30, 2007 succeeding Sutton Foster in the lead role of Janet van de Graaff...
playing Gabrielle Gerard and Scott Bakula
Scott Bakula
Scott Stewart Bakula is an American actor, known for his role as Sam Beckett in the television series Quantum Leap, for which he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama in 1991 and was nominated for four Emmy Awards. He also had a prominent role as Captain Jonathan...
as "song-and-dance man" Tony Hunter.
In the Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
review of the musical Bob Verini wrote: "There's no reason this reconstituted "Band Wagon" can't soar once it jettisons its extraneous and self-contradictory elements. But "Dancing" is some distance from finding its footing, despite finale's admonition to "Admit we're a hit and we'll go on from there." Not yet."
According to an October 16, 2008 article in Playbill, this musical is undergoing revision.
Music videos
Michael JacksonMichael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
in his music video for "Smooth Criminal
Smooth Criminal
"Smooth Criminal" is the seventh single from Michael Jackson's 1987 Bad album. The song contains a fast-paced beat intertwined with Jackson's lyrics about a woman named Annie, who has been attacked in her apartment by a "smooth" assailant. It was released as a single on October 24, 1988 and peaked...
" pays tribute to the Fred Astaire film in his dance sequence in the 1930s or 1940s style lounge as in the Astaire film where the bar fight takes place. Dancers can be seen doing similar moves as female dancers wear similar designed outfits in Jackson's video. Jackson wears a white suit with a blue collar shirt underneath and a white hat with a black stripe on it paying tribute to what Astaire was wearing in The Band Wagon's finale, "The Girl Hunt Ballet". "Billie Jean
Billie Jean
"Billie Jean" is a dance-pop/R&B song by American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was written, composed, and co-produced by Jackson, and produced by Quincy Jones from the singer's sixth album, Thriller . Originally disliked by Jones, the track was almost removed from the album after he and...
's" music video also features similar elements as those of the same number: The storefront scenery through which the paparazzo conducts his manhunt and the animal print cloth he finds for a clue are two very distinct allusions. Using the line "she came at me in sections" for the titular song of his album Dangerous, Jackson notably pays homage to the film on at least three successive albums.
Steve Martin
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....
and Gilda Radner
Gilda Radner
Gilda Susan Radner was an American comedian and actress, best known as one of the original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, for which she won an Emmy Award in 1978.-Early life:...
perform a seriocomic parody homage to the "dancing in the dark" dance segment on an episode of Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
, originally broadcast on April 22, 1978.