The Band Wagon

I bought this 2-disc edition of The Band Wagon for The Husband because it's his favorite movie of all time. I'd never seen it, and he suggested The Daughter and I watch it with him tonight. I think The Daughter and I are still amazed that this, of all movies, is his favorite. It does have Cyd Charisse in it, and it seems to be universally well-loved but still... We just don't get it.

The Band Wagon is a 1953 musical comedy directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse.

trailer:


Senses of Cinema compares it favorably with Singin' in the Rain. Roger Ebert includes it on his list of great movies. Slant Magazine gives it 3 out of 5 stars and closes with this: "But only musical theater people will plug into this love-fest, breaking their arms patting themselves on the back. That's entertainment?" The New York Times says it "respectfully bids for recognition as one of the best musical films ever made." FilmReference.com says it

represents one of the most important of the MGM musicals of the 1950s, indeed in the history of this Hollywood genre. In particular, The Band Wagon stands as one of the masterworks to emerge from the very productive musicals unit that producer Arthur Freed controlled at MGM during the late 1940s and early 1950s.