On Your Toes *** (1939, Vera Zorina, Eddie Albert, Alan Hale Sr, Frank McHugh) – Classic Movie Review 3631

Director Ray Enright’s disappointingly flat-footed 1939 Warner Bros film version of the great 1936 Broadway hit musical by George Abbott, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart unfortunately lacks the spark and most of the music of the marvellous original show. There is no singing, though some of the songs from the Broadway score are used as background music.

However, it is saved by the wonderful ‘Slaughter on Tenth Avenue’ ballet, which does appear at the end of the film, in a sequence choreographed by George Balanchine and photographed by Sol Polito, as well as the hot numbers ‘There’s a Small Hotel”, ‘Quiet Night’ and ‘On Your Toes’. It is one of eight films that Balanchine choreographed.

Also there is sprightly playing from Eddie Albert as a vaudeville dancer who writes a jazz ballet for a Russian troupe and smashing dancing from the legendary Vera Zorina as the intemperate ballerina. Though no dancer, Albert manages neatly with the aid of a double for one or two shots and post-synched taps.

And of course this is still a great show as George Abbott’s own spectacular Eighties Broadway and London revival proved. This revival opened on March 6, 1983 at the Virginia Theatre where it ran for 505 performances, with a cast including Natalia Makarova, Christine Andreas, George de la Peña, George S. Irving and Dina Merrill. Makarova also came on to perform it in London. The first Broadway revival, directed by Abbott and choreographed by Balanchine, opened on 11 October 1954 at the 46th Street Theatre, with a cast including Vera Zorina, Bobby Van and Elaine Stritch.

It is adapted by Sig Herzig and Lawrence Riley, and written by Richard Macauley and Jerry Wald. It also features Leonid Kinskey, Gloria Dickson, James Gleason, Erik Rhodes, Berton Churchill and Donald O’Connor.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 3631
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