Anchors Aweigh (1945)
Like the best Astaire movies, the plot is just a flimsy excuse to string a bunch of music and dance numbers together. Unlike those wonderful Astaire films, I fast-forwarded through most of the singing and quite a bit of the dancing.
The difference seems to be that Astaire & Rogers infused their dancing with humor and seemed to love what they were doing. Kelly, on the other hand, seems to love that people are looking at him and every movement shouts, "Look at me! I'm amazing!" Well – you're not. In the one dance sequence he shared with Sinatra, it was Frank I watched – no, he's not as technically good as Gene, but he's human.
I find that most of Kelly's movies have a theme of smarminess - they're always somewhat dirty and I just can't get behind them in a joyful way. Leading lady Grayson was as wooden as Andie MacDowell on her worst days and I still can't understand why people would want to listen to that operatic type of voice she possesses! Yuck on all levels (except the sweet Sinatra level).
D+
The difference seems to be that Astaire & Rogers infused their dancing with humor and seemed to love what they were doing. Kelly, on the other hand, seems to love that people are looking at him and every movement shouts, "Look at me! I'm amazing!" Well – you're not. In the one dance sequence he shared with Sinatra, it was Frank I watched – no, he's not as technically good as Gene, but he's human.
I find that most of Kelly's movies have a theme of smarminess - they're always somewhat dirty and I just can't get behind them in a joyful way. Leading lady Grayson was as wooden as Andie MacDowell on her worst days and I still can't understand why people would want to listen to that operatic type of voice she possesses! Yuck on all levels (except the sweet Sinatra level).
D+
posted by MeMe | 2:30 PM
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