There's not really any substance to this musical at all but you'd have to have a cold heart indeed not to find the fun in it.
Sailors Gabey (Gene Kelly), Chip (Frank Sinatra) and Ozzie (Jules Munshin) have 24 hours shore leave in New York City and are keen to see the sights and pick up some women. On the subway, they see a poster for the month's 'Miss Turnstiles', Ivy Smith (Vera-Ellen) and Gabey quickly falls for her. The trio attempt to track her down and along the way Chip falls for cab driver Hildy (Betty Garrett) and Ozzie falls for anthropologist Claire (Ann Miller).
This is essentially a film about three sailors who want to have sex and they all meet women who are equally, if not more so, up for it. Some lines are pretty raunchy for 1949 and whilst the film obviously goes nowhere near a sex scene it explicitly suggests that several of the characters had intercourse during the 24 hours.
The songs are very much of their day, especially lyrically, but work well enough. There are several instrumental sections which depicted as sort of dream sequences on a stage and seem to exist to show off Gene Kelly's dancing. Obviously, his dancing is incredible but I always think there has to be a good reason within the film to include stuff like this and there wasn't at all here.
Indeed, there is very little plot to the film at all. A fair chunk of it is the six main characters having a jolly good time in New York, and that's fine. There are a few attempts to inject some drama, but it never really convinces, and it is difficult for a viewer to be too bothered about Gabey losing Ivy when he has only just met her. I actually think it would be a better film if it didn't try to insert more plot and kept it more about the characters having fun. It's infectious and you want to keep watching it.
The cast ably lead the film- I wouldn't say most of the them were brilliant actors but Gene Kelly is a great dancer and everyone can sing well so it holds up. The best performance in the film comes from Ann Miller who arrives with a really fun song about her fantasies about prehistoric men, does some incredible tap dancing and remains hugely fun throughout. Her performance makes Claire feel more of a well-rounded character than any of the others.
A film that certainly doesn't have anything to say about the world but has a great time nonetheless.
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