EASTER PARADE

Easter Parade
(aka Irving Berlin's Easter Parade)
MGM, 1948, Color, 104 minutes, ****
Premiere release June, 1948
General release July, 1948
True classic. Fred Astaire and Judy Garland - the only film in which they appeared together. Don Hewes (Fred Astaire) is unexpectedly dumped by dance partner Nadine (Ann Miller), breaking up the act. Hewes is not a happy camper, and in a fit of temper he brags he could take any ordinary chorus girl and turn her into as big a star as Nadine has become. To prove his point, he selects (who else?) Judy from the chorus line at Pastini's bar & grill and offers to pay her a handsome salary while training her to be his new partner. Of course, Judy takes him up on his offer, and their act is a major sensation. Somewhere along the way they fall in love, and after a major spat or two they finally marry. Highlights include Astaire's "Drum Crazy" and "Steppin' Out with My Baby," Ann Miller's "Shaking the Blues Away," and Judy and Fred's vaudeville medley and their comic number, "A Couple of Swells."

Produced by: Arthur Freed
Directed by: Charles Walters
Screen Play by: Sidney Sheldon, Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett
Original Story by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett
Lyrics and Music by: Irving Berlin
Musical Numbers Staged and Directed by: Robert Alton
Music Direction: Johnny Green
Orchestration: Conrad Salinger, Van Cleave, Leo Arnaud
Vocal Arrangements: Robert Tucker
Art Directors: Cedric Gibbons and Jack Martin Smith
Set Decorations: Edwin B. Willis
Associate: Arthur Krams
Women's Costumes by: Irene
Men's Costumes by: Valles
Hair Styles Designed by: Sydney Guilaroff
Make-Up Created by: Jack Dawn
Recording Director: Douglas Shearer
Director of Photography: Harry Stradling
Special Effects: Warren Newcombe
Color by Technicolor
Technicolor Color Director: Natalie Kalmus
Associate: Henri Jaffa
Film Editor: Albert Akst

Awards: Academy Award for Best Score - Musical (Johnny Green and Roger Edens)

Cast: Judy Garland [Hannah Brown], Fred Astaire [Don Hewes], Peter Lawford [Jonathan Harrow III], Ann Miller [Nadine Gale], Jules Munshin [Francois, the Head Waiter], Clinton Sundberg [Mike, the Bartender], Jeni Le Gon [Essie], Jimmy Bates [Boy with Don in toyshop], Richard Beavers [Leading Man, Singer on Rooftop], Dick Simmons [Al, the Stage Manager], Dee Turnell [Specialty Dancer], Lola Albright, Joi Lansing [Showgirls], Wilson Wood [Marty], Lynn and Jean Romer ["Delineator" Twins], Peter Chong [Hewes' Valet], Nolan Leary [Drug Clerk], Benay Venuta [Bar Patron], Frank Mayo [Headwaiter], Doris Kemper [Mary], Hector and His Pals [Dog Act], William Frawley [cameo as policeman]

Musical Program: [0:00] Easter Parade (sung by Chorus behind titles), [0:01] Happy Easter (sung by Fred Astaire, Fashion Models and Chorus), [0:03] Drum Crazy (sung and danced by Fred Astaire in toy store), [0:09] It Only Happens When I Dance with You (sung by Fred Astaire, danced by Fred Astaire and Ann Miller); [0:15] Everybody's Doin' It Now (played by small band [onscreen],danced by Chorus Girls, one of which is Judy Garland), [0:17] I Want to Go Back to Michigan (Down on the Farm) (sung by Judy Garland), [0:28] Beautiful Faces Need Beautiful Clothes (danced by Fred Astaire and Judy Garland), [0:36] A Fella with an Umbrella (sung by Peter Lawford and Judy Garland), [0:40] Medley: I Love a Piano / Snookey Ookums / Ragtime Violin / When the Midnight Choo-Choo Leaves for Alabam' (sung and danced by Fred Astaire and Judy Garland), [0:57] Shaking the Blues Away (sung and danced by Ann Miller), [1:06] It Only Happens When I Dance with You (reprised by Judy Garland); [1:09] Steppin' Out with My Baby (sung and danced by Fred Astaire and Chorus), [1:16] A Couple of Swells (sung and danced by Fred Astaire and Judy Garland), [1:22] The Girl on the Magazine Cover (sung by Richard Beavers and Chorus and danced by Ann Miller and Mens Chorus), [1:27] It Only Happens When I Dance with You (instrumental arrangement danced by Fred Astaire and Ann Miller); [1:30] Better Luck Next Time (sung by Judy Garland), [1:40] Easter Parade (sung by Judy Garland, Fred Astaire and Chorus)