Product Details

• Actors: Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Ann Miller, Jules Munshin, Betty Garrett
• Format: Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: May 13, 2008
• Run Time: 98 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (87 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00143XE1E
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,125 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "On the Town" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

ON THE TOWN - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exuberant, Joyous . . . and a Trend-Setter, April 13, 2001

By 

Allen Smalling "Constant Reader," (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: On the Town [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Some critic--I can't remember who--defined the musical parts of a musical as "explosions of joy." Which makes 1949's "On the Town" one of the most joyfully explosive movie musicals ever. Before the three sailors (Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Jules Munshin) get to leave their ship on 24-hour shore leave, they are "serenaded" by a heavy-equipment operator who stretches and musically moans "I feel like I'm not out of bed yet." A digital ticker-tape-type clock marks the exact time our boys can leave ship as they launch into the theme song, "New York, New York, a Wonderful Town," (which was bowdlerized from "a Helluva Town" on Broadway).

The plot is a nifty number where all three gobs pick up gals but one of them loses his--through neither of their fault--then spends the rest of the day looking for her. The satiric vein is mined along the day with references to museum snobs, overcrowded nightclubs, hillbilly music, taskmaster Russian ballet coaches and that Manhattan favorite--eavesdropping on the subway.

Just briefly, there are two paradoxical reasons why I think this film works so well. First, we have here a repertory cast whose areas of expertise hadn't quite jelled yet. So Frank Sinatra was allowed to play a shy kid instead of a heavy, Ann Miller was allowed to play light comedy instead of just tap-dance, and Betty Garrett was allowed to BE in the movie before her husband crossed the red-baiters of the Fifties (back then, the idea usually was to blacklist first and ask questions later). Gene Kelly seems to be at his relaxed and versatile best, and Vera-Ellen is a simply wonderful dancer.

The second reason this flick is so good is that it pioneered techniques that were new to movies at the time, particularly a mixture of location and studio shooting (try to figure out when the cast is on top of the REAL Empire State Building and when it's the MGM lot); musical numbers that advanced the plot instead of just providing entertainment (clearly, Hollywood had been looking at Broadway, in particular Rodgers and Hammer-stein's "South Pacific"); and the dream-ballet complete with symbolic decor and an ever-frustrated Gene Kelly symbolically looking for and losing love. (This particular device shows up in "An American in Paris," "Oklahoma," and in backstage form in many other flicks, not necessarily musicals.)

There are people who don't like this movie. It's a little too street-wise or proleterian, call it what you will. But their numbers are in decline, possibly because the Manhattan this movie celebrates has ceased to exist and in the long view has become almost as synthetic and charming as a backstage movie lot. If you think you can handle real-life locations, go with this one; you won't be disappointed.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A NIGHT AT HOME ON THE TOWN!, August 31, 2000

By 

Sean Orlosky (Yorktown, IN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: On the Town [VHS] (VHS Tape)

New York, New York, a wonderful town- With Gene, Jules, Frank, and three cute girls around!

In this brilliant collaboration of direction by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, three lovable sailors are on 24-hour leave in the Big Apple. The on-location cinematography and Oscar-winning score provide the backdrop for the rousing, joyous musical. En route to find Gabey's (Kelly) dream girl, Miss Turnstiles of the month, Ivy Smith (Vera-Ellen), he and Ozzie (Jules Munshin) and Chip (Frank Sinatra) encounter a ready-for-love cab driver, Brunhilde ("Hildy") Esterhazy (Betty Garrett), and Claire Huddeson, a tap-dancing anthropologist (Ann Miller). The joyous night on the town spurns many an unexpected surprise for the sailors and their girls: the felling of a prehistoric dinosaur, a glitzy waltz through some of New York's exclusive nightclubs, and the boys dancing in gypsy attire. Other delights to be savored are: Kelly, Munshin, and Sinatra's rendition of "New York, New York, It's A Wonderful Town", Kelly's imaginative dance sequence with Vera-Ellen, and the belting brilliance from the sixsome of the title song make "On the Town" one of MGM's most irrepresibly fun and unforgettable musicals of the '40's. Have a ball tonight and go "on the town"!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Post World War II Comes To Life MGM Style, April 20, 2005

By 

Timothy Kearney (Haverhill, MA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: On the Town (DVD)

One of the most familiar images of an MGM musical would be Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Jules Munshin dressed as sailors singing the catchy words "New York New York's A wonderful town; The Bronx is up and the Battery's down; the people ride in a hole in the ground; New York New York: It's a wonderful town." While the song by Leonard Bernstein is from a Broadway musical called ON THE TOWN, it is MGM's adaptation (Broadway lovers may refer to it a usurpation) that makes the song immortal today.

ON THE TOWN tells the story of three sailors: the lovable, somewhat cocky, but sincere Gabey (Gene Kelly), his clueless friend Chip (played by Frank Sinatra), and the bumbling Ozzie (Jules Munshin) who are on leave in New York City for a day. The three take a taxi where the driver Hilde (Betty Garrett) falls madly in love with Chip. She wants to ditch the other two sailors to be with her new found love, but the Chip will not abandon his two friends. Ozzie finds love when visiting the museum of natural history when he meets the intellectual Claire (Ann Miller). Gabey has yet to find the love of his life, a woman he knows only as "Miss Turnstiles" from a subway poster. He believes she is a famous New York celebrity, but discovers she is a hometown girl. There are also antics that would seem silly to a moviegoer today. The taxi company believes the taxi has been stolen. A skeleton of a dinosaur is damaged at the museum. A police chase ensues. Still, MGM, a studio that turned making unbelievable worlds into reality into an art form, does the same with this film.

There are many reasons this film is considered a classic. While most of the musical numbers from the original Broadway score were believed to be too sophisticated for movie musical audiences and replaced with what some consider inferior music (MGM's Saul Chaplin once said looking back he could hardly believe that Bernstein's music was replaced), somehow the score does work. The dancing numbers are great. Much of the film (a radical idea at the time) was shot on location which makes the city almost a character in the film. Vera-Ellen fans love this film because it showcases her talent. BEWITCHED fans will also enjoy the performance of Alice Pearce as Lucy Shmeeler, Hilde's unlucky in love and chronic cold suffering roommate and back-up romantic partner for Gabey.

This DVD is a just the film and its special features include just a trailer of the movie. It's a fun movie to watch and brings a viewer back to a time when the world was changing and a sense of optimism was real.