by Judy Geater
Director: Charles Walters
Producers: Arthur Freed/Roger Edens
Music and lyrics: Irving Berlin
Screenwriters: Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Sidney Sheldon, Guy Bolton (uncredited)
Choreographers: Fred Astaire/Charles Walters
Cinematographer: Harry Stradling Sr
Studio: MGM
Main actors: Judy Garland, Fred Astaire, Peter Lawford, Ann Miller
****
It’s hard to imagine a sunnier musical than Easter Parade. Everything fits together perfectly, from the sublime song-and-dance pairing of Judy Garland and Fred Astaire to the score packed with great Irving Berlin standards. Yet this brightly-coloured holiday favourite was at first intended to be darker and sadder, and it almost came together in its final form by a series of accidents.
This backstage tale is set in the vaudeville days of 1912, centred around New York’s famous Easter Parade. It has a warm, nostalgic flavour to it, though the gorgeous costumes would have been fashionable in the 1940s as well as in the period being portrayed. There are plenty of lavishly produced musical numbers, including scenes from the Ziegfeld Follies, but there are also scenes of Garland singing in a dingy nightclub, and glimpses of quirky vaudeville attractions such as a number featuring performing dogs. There is very little dialogue between the songs by comparison with most musicals, but it doesn’t feel too sparse, because every line is made to count. (more…)