Royal Wedding (1951)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Stanley Donen

Writers:

Alan Jay Lerner (story)
Alan Jay Lerner (screenplay)

Release Date:

23 March 1951 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical | Romance

Plot:

Tom and Ellen Bowen are a brother and sister dance act whose show closes in New York. Their agent books...

Plot Keywords:

Dance | Royal Wedding | Dancing | Wedding | Steamship

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Fred Astaire	...	Tom Bowen
Jane Powell	...	Ellen Bowen
Peter Lawford	...	Lord John Brindale
Sarah Churchill	...	Anne Ashmond
Keenan Wynn	...	Irving Klinger / Edgar Klinger
Albert Sharpe	...	James Ashmond

Also Known As:

Wedding Bells (UK)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Canada:F (Ontario) | Canada:G (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Quebec) | Australia:PG (video rating) | Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | UK:U

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Charles Walters was originally signed to direct the film, but he quit when Judy Garland replaced June Allyson, as he refused to work with Garland again after Summer Stock (1950).

Quotes:

Chester: Have you ever considered getting married, sir?
Tom Bowen: I was engaged once.
Chester: What happened?
Tom Bowen: The girl changed her mind at the last minute.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Going Shopping (2005)

Soundtrack:

OPEN YOUR EYES

Astaironomically Brilliant!

Fred Astaire's gravity-be-damned four-wall dance solo was imbued with choreographic wonder and sprinkled judiciously with humor. He did it all because of a woman!!! Tom Bowen is a male dancer who is pure male but the most important woman in his life is not the one who had him defying gravity. It is his sister, Ellen: his equal on the terpsichorean turf. Their Runyonesque number was pitch perfect with lyrical precision provided by Alan Jay Lerner, who obviously spent quality time (physically or spiritually) with Damon Runyon. For the script and acting per se–with Keenan Wynn as a stupendous "double agent" –A Royal Wedding is worth the price of admission. Fred Astaire and Jane Powell give award-winning performances but their dancing puts this film on the top shelf of cinematic history. The hat-rack dance, the turbulent ship dance and–of course–the ceiling dance owe a debt to Ernie Kovacs, the man who dovetailed comedy, art, and special effects before George Lucas was born. Too bad "Kovackian" is such a cumbersome word. A personal aside: I was once invited to Alan Jay Lerner's Park Avenue home. The invitation came from the furniture company whose products Mrs. Lerner had ordered. AJ wasn't home. So be it.