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On the Town

Play trailer Poster for On the Town 1949 1h 38m Musical Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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94% Tomatometer 31 Reviews 83% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
Fun-loving sailors Gabey (Gene Kelly), Chip (Frank Sinatra) and Ozzie (Jules Munshin) have 24 hours of shore leave in New York City, and they want to make every second count. While Chip hooks up with loudmouth cab driver Brunhilde (Betty Garrett) and Ozzie swoons for prim anthropologist Claire (Ann Miller), Gabey falls in love with an actress he sees in an advertisement, Ivy Smith (Vera-Ellen). Leonard Bernstein, with lyricists Betty Comden and Adolph Green, provides the music.
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On the Town

On the Town

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Critics Consensus

Overflowing with infectious enthusiasm, On the Town is an exhilarating musical ride across the real streets of New York featuring another graceful performance from Gene Kelly.

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Critics Reviews

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Bob Thomas Associated Press 06/19/2019
A bright Christmas confection. Go to Full Review Adam Kempenaar Filmspotting 04/22/2019
2.5/5
It's hard to make a good musical with mediocre songs... One exception... the sweetness and gracefulness [of Gene Kelly and Vera-Ellen] in "Main Street." Go to Full Review Ian Nathan Empire Magazine 05/03/2013
4/5
Delightful, athletic stuff with some unusual -- but wonderful -- location shooting. New York never looked better. Go to Full Review Mike Massie Gone With The Twins Mar 17
7/10
Remains an entertaining vehicle and stepping-stone for its star Kelly, who also co-directed with Stanley Donen. Go to Full Review Tony Sloman Radio Times 08/22/2024
5/5
This utterly exhilarating landmark movie musical gave Gene Kelly and choreographer Stanley Donen their directing break. Go to Full Review Danielle Solzman Solzy at the Movies 08/07/2022
4/5
On the Town features splendid performances and wonderful music in a spectacular directorial debut for Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Susan M 05/28/2024 A golden oldie. Charm, music and talent to spare. A 1945 treasure. See more nancy b Jan 11 Many talented people involved in this movie, but for me it fell flat. It should have had more bouncy fun like from Betty Garrett and less Gene Kelly dream sequence dancing. The energy ran out by the end. Ann Miller and Vera-Ellen are in fine form here but Kelly does the exact same mugging and dancing as in American in Paris. See more Eye C @ECinc Jun 26 What a cute and beautiful movie, love it. Frank Sinatra singing by the ear to the girl that she's awfull is the most hot of the movie. See more lawrenceb56 @Trexian 12/11/2024 My mother-in-law told me I HAVE to see this and claimed that it was funny, romantic and a Golden Age of films classic. I thought it blew chunks. Aside from a nice song or two and a couple of nice dance numbers, it was a big downer for me because it was so immature vapid--cringey and seemed to be aiming for an audience that had never been off the farm and gawked at them big ol buildings. The "Come up to my place," song was embarrassing. Ann Millers dancing had nothing to do with anything other than showing how many taps she could do per second and she looked sort of possessed when she was doing it. Frank Sinatra always seemed like a tough nut to me in real life, but here he ran like a girl everywhere he scurried off to. And although you get to see New York, the scenarios made it seem like a bad advertising commercial. Mostly though, it's not very funny and only mildly adventurous. See more Liam D @Mediawatcher2003 03/10/2024 Classic Musical with star and co-director Gene Kelly (The Tunnel of Love) Frank Sinatra (Tony Rome) director Stanley Donen (Saturn 3) and composer Leonard Bernstein (On the Waterfront) combined together to create a blast and fun time See more Alec B @Alec97 12/14/2023 Once you've become more familiar with the original stage production and it's score this film adaption seems less like a classic and more like a missed opportunity. It's fun and the cast has some truly terrific performers but the removal of most of Bernstein's original music in favor of mostly lackluster songs is frustrating. See more Read all reviews
On the Town

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Cast & Crew

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Stanley Donen

Director

Gene Kelly

Director

Gene Kelly

Gabey

Frank Sinatra

Chip

Ann Miller

Claire Huddesen

Vera-Ellen

Ivy Smith

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On the Town

Poster Art On the Town (1949) On the Town (1949) On the Town (1949) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Fun-loving sailors Gabey (Gene Kelly), Chip (Frank Sinatra) and Ozzie (Jules Munshin) have 24 hours of shore leave in New York City, and they want to make every second count. While Chip hooks up with loudmouth cab driver Brunhilde (Betty Garrett) and Ozzie swoons for prim anthropologist Claire (Ann Miller), Gabey falls in love with an actress he sees in an advertisement, Ivy Smith (Vera-Ellen). Leonard Bernstein, with lyricists Betty Comden and Adolph Green, provides the music.
Director
Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly
Producer
Arthur Freed
Screenwriter
Adolph Green, Betty Comden
Distributor
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Warner Home Vídeo, MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc.
Production Co
Metro Goldwyn Mayer
Genre
Musical, Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 30, 1949, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 1, 2009
Runtime
1h 38m
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