IT’S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER [1955 / 2016] [Warner Archive Collection] [Blu-ray] [USA Release] M-G-M’s Newest Musical in Eastmancolor and CinemaScope!
When Gene Kelly teams with Arthur Freed, Stanley Donen, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, the result is pure movie-musical alchemy like ‘On the Town,’ ‘Singin' in the Rain’ and of course ‘IT’S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER.’
Sparkling with wit and exuberant numbers, ‘IT’S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER’ centres on three World War II buddies Gene Kelly, Dan Dailey and Michael Kidd who vow to reunite for old time's sake in 10 years. They do. And find their friendship has fizzled – until a day of tangling with romance, the fight game, the ad biz and a new medium called Television it restores their bond. Highlights include the buddies’ high-spirited romp that uses trash-can lids as dancing shoes, elegant Cyd Charisse's knock out of a routine with broken-nosed pugilists, and Gene Kelly's joyful astonishing tap dance on roller skates. Wow!
FILM FACT No.1: Awards and Nominations: 1956 Academy Awards®: Nominated: Best Writing, Story and Screenplay for Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Nominated: Best Music Scoring of a Musical Picture for André Previn. 1956 Writers Guild of America: Nominated: Best Written American Musical for Betty Comden and Adolph Green.
FILM FACT No.2: Gene Kelly asked his old friend and collaborator Stanley Donen to co-direct with him. Stanley Donen, who had just scored a major success with ‘Seven Brides for Seven Brothers’ with Michael Kidd as the choreographer, well Stanley Donen did not want to go back to collaborating with Gene Kelly, but he reluctantly agreed. The two men clashed over creative differences in the film, with Stanley Donen tending to side with Michael Kidd against Gene Kelly. Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly never worked together again after this film, and their friendship ended permanently, as Stanley Donen later acknowledged. According to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer records the film earned $1,380,000 in the US and Canada and $994,000 elsewhere resulting in a loss of $1,675,000.
Cast: Gene Kelly, Dan Dailey, Cyd Charisse, Dolores Gray, Michael Kidd, David Burns, Jay C. Flippen, Betty Arlen (uncredited), Phil Arnold (uncredited), Sybil Bacon (uncredited), Walter Bacon (uncredited), Al Bain (uncredited), Jimmy Baird (uncredited), Alex Ball (uncredited), Tom Bernard (uncredited), Madge Blake (uncredited), Eugene Borden (uncredited), Sven Hugo Borg (uncredited), John Breen (uncredited), Ralph Brooks (uncredited), Paul Bryar (uncredited), Benny Burt (uncredited), Steve Carruthers (uncredited), James J. Casino (uncredited), Dick Cherney (uncredited), Beulah Christian (uncredited), John Cliff (uncredited), Betty Comden (voice) (uncredited), Bing Conley (uncredited), Jud Conlon (singing voice) (uncredited), Gene Coogan (uncredited), Russell Custer (uncredited), Linda Danson (uncredited), Tony Dante (uncredited), Gary Diamond (uncredited), Dan Dowling (uncredited), Dwight D. Eisenhower (archive footage) (uncredited), Marietta Elliott (uncredited), Bill Filippo (uncredited), Duke Fishman (uncredited), June Foray (voice) (uncredited), George Ford (uncredited), Alex Gerry (uncredited), Frank Gerstle (uncredited), Kenneth Gibson (uncredited), James Gonzalez (uncredited), Dick Gordon (uncredited), Sol Gorss (uncredited), Herschel Graham (uncredited), Robert Haines (uncredited), Stuart Holmes (uncredited), Jimmie Horan (uncredited), Shep Houghton (uncredited), John Indrisano (uncredited), Colin Kenny (uncredited), Johnny Kern (uncredited), Donald Kerr (uncredited), Henry Kulky (uncredited), Richard LaMarr (uncredited), Luana Lee (uncredited), Peter Leeds (uncredited), Lou Lubin (uncredited), Herbert Lytton (uncredited), Hal March (uncredited), Nancy Matthews (uncredited), Paul Maxey (uncredited), Bert May (uncredited), Frank Mitchell (uncredited), Steve Mitchell (uncredited), Mike Morelli (uncredited), Charles Morton (uncredited), Ben Moselle (uncredited), Forbes Murray (uncredited), Frank Nelson (uncredited), Barry Norton (uncredited), William H. O'Brien (uncredited), Monty O'Grady (uncredited), Christian Pasques (uncredited), Gerald Pierce (uncredited), Murray Pollack (uncredited), Pope Pius XII (archive footage) (uncredited), Fred Rapport (uncredited), Thurl Ravenscroft (voice) (uncredited), Carol Richards (uncredited), Leoda Richards (uncredited), Suzanne Ridgway (uncredited), Cosmo Sardo (uncredited), Jeffrey Sayre (uncredited), Bernard Sell (uncredited), Almira Sessions (uncredited), Sammy Shack (uncredited), Jeanne Shores (uncredited), Dick Simmons (uncredited), Carl Sklover (uncredited), Ralph Smiley (uncredited), J. Lewis Smith (uncredited), Cap Somers (uncredited), Norman Stevans (uncredited), Gloria Stone (uncredited), Charles Sullivan (uncredited), Hal Taggart (uncredited), Jack Stewart Taylor (uncredited), Harry S. Truman (archive footage) (uncredited), Renata Vanni (uncredited), Herb Vigran (uncredited), Tito Vuolo (uncredited), Jeri Weil (uncredited), Harry Wilson (uncredited), Terry Wilson (uncredited) and Wilson Wood (Roy the TV Director) (uncredited)
Directors: Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly
Producers: Arthur Freed and Roger Edens (uncredited)
Screenplay: Betty Comden (story/screenplay) and Adolph Green (story/screenplay)
Composer: André Previn (uncredited)
Costume Design: Helen Rose
Eastmancolor Color Consultant: Alvord Eiseman
Cinematography: Robert J. Bronner (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p (Eastmancolor)
Aspect Ratio: 2.55:1 (CinemaScope) (Anamorphic)
Audio: English: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
English: 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio
Subtitles: English
Running Time: 101 minutes
Region: All Regions
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer / Warner Archive Collection
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: ‘IT’S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER’ [1955] After returning from World War II, three soldiers Ted Riley [Gene Kelly], Doug Hallerton [Dan Dailey] and Angie Valentine [Michael Kidd] share a drink in a New York City bar. Together, they agree to return to the same location in 10 years. When the appointed date arrives, the three men reunite – only to discover that none of them has achieved their goals. However, when the programme coordinator Jackie Leighton [Cyd Charisse] catches wind of their meeting, she thinks it would make great television, and arranges to televise the event.
Cooked up by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and ‘IT’S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER’ could well have been titled ‘On the Town Ten Years Later.’ Like 1949's ‘On the Town’ (also a Betty Comden and Adolph Green collaboration), this Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical follows the exploits of three servicemen buddies, played by Gene Kelly, Dan Dailey and Michael Kidd. The difference here is that the threesome has just been discharged from the armed service.
The boys agree to get together again exactly ten years after their parting. Flash-forward to 1955: Gene Kelly, who had dreamed of being a show biz entrepreneur, is a small-time boxing promoter, heavily in debt to the Mob; so Dan Dailey has abandoned his plans of becoming an artist in favour of a stuffy, grey-flannel existence as an ad executive; and Michael Kidd, who'd aspired to being a master chef, is running a modest diner. On behalf of TV-personality Dolores Gray, network-staffer Cyd Charisse contrives to reunite the three men on a “This is Your Life” style TV special, but all three are hostile to the notion.
Cyd Charisse is a very welcome presence in the film among all the pessimism stemming off the three men. While she often displayed her dancing skills in musicals, she only has one number in ‘IT’S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER’ called “Baby You Knock Me Out,” which sees her dancing alongside boxers in a gym as she shows off her knowledge on the sport. This was also Cyd Charisse’s third and last film with Gene Kelly, following her big break in the “Broadway Melody” number in ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ and a proper on-screen partnership in the film ‘Brigadoon.’ Though they had filmed a musical number together, the scene didn’t make the cut so the two didn’t share any dances in their final film together. Fortunately the scene has now been restored for the film’s Blu-ray release.
Known today as the film that “is the scene where Gene Kelly is tap dancing on roller skates” does his brilliant dance routing for the 1955 ‘IT’S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER’ and pretty well much marked the end of the Golden Age of big Hollywood movie musicals. Coming from the famed Freed Unit, with Stanley Donen directing and Betty Comden and Adolph Green writing, this film was expected to be a huge hit, especially since it was conceptually a sequel to the fantastic ‘On The Town’ film.
The film’s dénouement is pure Frank Tashlin, with emotional redemption processed by television and choreographed to have women dressed as cereal boxes, which culminated with Stanley Donen’s experiments in the brilliant film ‘Cover Girl’ [1945], where Gene Kelly dances brilliantly with his own shadow, and in the film ‘Anchors Aweigh’ [1945], where Gene Kelly performs with an actual M-G-M cartoon character, Jerry the Mouse. But the crowning moment in ‘IT’S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER’ is when Gen Kelly puts of a pair of roller skates and does the most amazing dance routine and to crown it all, he tap dances on roller skates in the wonderful number ‘I LIKE MYSELF’ which was so inventive and is of course something only Gene Kelly could think up and again be so inventive, that is why Gene Kelly is a true professional performer, and to me, is that I feel Gene Kelly is the original inventor of Roller Disco.
The closing shot, where you have a telephoto zoom away from the departing friends to a wide angle view of New York at night, seems to crown the happy ending, but is a repeat of the shot early on in the film when the friends had their last fatefully departure, and their lives all fell apart. This repetition qualifies any hopes for their future happiness, either together or apart. If this sounds bleak, things were pretty gloomy off-screen, too, as an informative featurette on this Blu-ray demonstrates. In the six years between ‘On the Town’ and ‘IT’S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER,’ Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen had reached the pinnacle of their careers with the film ‘Singin’ in the Rain,’ but had also worked separately, with mixed results. From then on Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen never worked together again and fell out big time, with big animosity towards each other.
While not a massive big box office hit with audiences at the time, but despite this ‘IT’S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER’ has aged very well. Released in 1955 near the end of the Hollywood musical genre’s popularity, it’s also considered the last of the major Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer dance-oriented musicals. Unlike most musicals of that era, it’s much more grounded in its reality of post-war America, but at the same time it’s a clever satire of the American dream and the television industry. Filled with characters that are more drawn out than what can be found in a typical musical, ‘IT’S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER’ is well worth checking out.
IT’S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER MUSIC TRACK LIST
MARCH, MARCH (1955) (uncredited) (Music by André Previn) (Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green) [Performed by Gene Kelly, Michael Kidd (dubbed by Jud Conlon) and Dan Dailey]
MEDLEY: LETTER/DRINKING MONTAGE/THE BINGE (1955) (uncredited) (Music by André Previn) Performed by Gene Kelly, Dan Dailey and Michael Kidd]
THE TIME FOR PARTING (1955) (uncredited) (Music by André Previn) (Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green) [Performed by Gene Kelly, Dan Dailey and Michael Kidd and dubbed by Jud Conlon]
THE BLUE DANUBE (I Shouldn't Have Come) (uncredited) (Music by André Previn) (Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green) [Performed by Gene Kelly, Dan Dailey and Michael Kidd and dubbed by Jud Conlon]
THANKS A LOT, BUT NO THANKS (1955) (uncredited) (Music by André Previn) (Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green) [Performed by Dolores Gray]
I SHOULDN’T HAVE COME (1955) (uncredited) (from "The Blue Danube Waltz, Opus 314") (1867) (Music by Johann Strauss) (Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green) [Performed by Gene Kelly, Dan Dailey and Michael Kidd and dubbed by Jud Conlon]
MUSIC IS BETTER THAN WORDS (1955) (uncredited) (Music by André Previn) (Lyrics by Betty Comden, Adolph Green and Roger Edens) [Performed by Dolores Gray]
STILLMAN’S GYM (1955) (uncredited) (Music by André Previn) (Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green) [Performed by Lou Lubin, Harry Wilson and chorus]
BABY, YOU KNOCK ME OUT (1955) (uncredited) (Music by André Previn) (Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green) [Sung by Cyd Charisse (dubbed by Carol Richards) and chorus] [Danced by all in Stillman's Gym]
ONCE UPON A TIME (1955) (uncredited) (Music by André Previn) (Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green) [Performed by Gene Kelly, Dan Dailey and Michael Kidd (dubbed by Jud Conlon) and reprised by them later, and by David Burns and off-screen chorus at the end]
SITUATION-WISE (1955) (uncredited) (Music by André Previn) (Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green) [Performed briefly by Paul Maxey and guests] [Reprised by Dan Dailey]
I LIKE MYSELF (1955) (uncredited) (Music by André Previn) (Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green) [Performed by Gene Kelly on roller skates]
JEANIE WITH THE LIGHT BROWN HAIR (1854) (uncredited) (Written by Stephen Foster) [Sung a bit by Dan Dailey in the "Saturation-Wise" number]
BE MY LOVE (1950) (uncredited) (Music by Nicholas Brodszky) (Lyrics by Sammy Cahn) [Sung a bit by Dan Dailey in the "Saturation-Wise" number]
WILLIAM TELL OVERTURE (1829) (uncredited) (Written by Gioachino Rossini) [Played a bit in the "Saturation-Wise" number]
THANKS A LOT, BUT NO THANKS (1955) (uncredited) (Music by André Previn) (Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green) [Performed by Delores Gray]
MIDNIGHT WITH MADELINE (1955) (uncredited) (Music by André Previn) (Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green) [Performed by Delores Gray]
THE TIME FOR PARTING [Reprise] (1955) (uncredited) (Music by André Previn) (Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green) [Performed by Gene Kelly, Dan Dailey and Michael Kidd and dubbed by Jud Conlon]
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Blu-ray Image Quality – Warner Archive Collection presents us ‘IT’S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER’ with a brand new 1080p remastered vivid Eastmancolor image, which was once a faded Eastmancolor image is now revelatory and of course is enhanced with a 2.55:1 (CinemaScope) aspect ratio. The image is brighter and bolder, grain is slightly reduced, and all the errant speckles that dotted the previous print are gone. Some issues, however, still remain. The horrific muddiness that overwhelms the picture during a couple of long-zoom effects shots looks as bad as ever, and the edge-of-frame distortion that plagued many early CinemaScope films is tough to ignore as well. Okay, we knew going into this film it probably would not yield perfect results; two pivotal moments in particular plagued by an optical zoom; the image very fuzzy to downright out of focus in all its gloriously flawed 2.55:1 Cinemascope aspect ratio and we can sincerely overlook this. Marvellous clarity and rich blacks invigorate the image, as do colourful accents like Cyd Charisse's emerald green outfit and Dolores Gray's red dress. Flesh tones remain stable and natural, and close-ups nicely render facial details. Early Eastmancolor comes with its own assortment of shortcomings; as did Ansco Color, later preferred and used on M-G-M’s CinemaScope product. Generally, herein the colour is very good, leaning a bit unhealthily toward the cyan spectrum with some fairly pinkish flesh tones. But overall, the thing clings together with much resolved grain structure, some fairly impressive contrast, deeply saturated black levels and some very nice shadow detail. Remember, Warner Archive Collection has set a high standard. If this disc does not quite attain those heights, it is certainly not for their lack of trying. Despite these slight setbacks, I still enjoyed viewing this film.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – Warner Archive Collection brings us the film in a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio experience, and best reason to enjoy ‘IT’S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER’ with its early six track Cinemascope stereo. Enhanced fidelity and tonal depth are the most noticeable improvements, especially during the musical numbers. André Previn's lush and bouncy orchestrations burst with vitality and Dolores Gray's mellifluous alto sounds gloriously rich and full. A wide dynamic scale handles all the blaring brass and weighty percussion without a hint of distortion, and solid mixing always puts the vocals front and centre and the surround sound activity is reserved for the songs, and the stereo separation nicely complements the CinemaScope visuals, widening the soundscape and providing a more immersive experience. Lovingly reproduced in this newly remastered Blu-ray release and I can definitely say that it “baby, it knocked me out!”
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Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Special Feature: It's Always Fair Weather: Going Out on a High Note [2006] [1080p / 480i] [2.55:1 / 1.37:1 / 1.78:1] [16:22] This was originally featured on the inferior DVD release of ‘IT’S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER’ and includes footage and discussion by historians and participants tracing the films history through interviews. Contributors include: Stephen M. Silverman [Synaley Donen biographer], John Kendrick [Musical Historian], Betty Comden [Songwriter] (archive footage), Adolph Green [Songwriter] (archive footage), Michael Kidd [Choreographer/Actor] (archive footage), Casey Nicholaw [Director/Choreographer], André Previn [Composer/Conductor] (archive footage), Ray Faiola [Film Score Restorationist], Cyd Charisse [Actress] (archive footage), Susan Stroman [Director/Choreographer] and Stanley Donen [Director] (archive footage).
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Special Feature: M-G-M Parade: Excerpt from Episode #1 with Cyd Charrise[1955] [480i] [1.37:1] [4:36] Here we have a promotional film hosted by George Murphy promoting the M-G-M studio's past and its current release of ‘IT’S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER.’ On top of all that here we see Host George interviews with the musical star Cyd Charisse, where we also see scenes with the actress in IT’S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER.’
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Special Feature: M-G-M Parade: Excerpt Episode #2 with Gene Kelly [1956] [480i] [1.37:1] [4:57] Here we have another promotional film hosted by George Murphy and here he interviews Gene Kelly and talks about his latest film IT’S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER’ where we again get to see some more clips from the film IT’S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER.’
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Special Feature: M-G-M Vintage Cartoon: Deputy Droopy [1955] [1080p] [1.37:1] [6:35] Droopy is put in charge of guarding the safe in the sheriff’s office and told to alert him by making any noise if any outlaws show up. Two outlaws did show up to steal the gold, trying to be as quiet as possible, but Droopy got them to run out of the office and make noise by hurting them in different ways, despite having gotten bound and gagged by them. Voice Cast: Bill Thompson (Droopy), Tex Avery (Droopy/Short Robber) (uncredited) and Daws Butler (Sheriff/Tall Robber) (uncredited).
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Special Feature: M-G-M Vintage Cartoon: Good Will To Men [1955] [1080p] [2.55:1] [8:30] ‘Good Will To Men’ is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon short directed by William Hannah and Joseph Barbera, about a post-apocalyptic world populated only by animals. It is a CinemaScope remake of an earlier 1939 cartoon ‘Peace on Earth.’ A group of young mice is in the ruins of a church, practicing singing for an upcoming service. After singing an adulterated version of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” the mice wonder about the last line, “Good will to men.” One of them asks the chorus master, an old mouse, "What are men?" The old mouse explains that they all killed each other off by building bigger and more destructive weapons, first guns, then missiles, then bombs. At the end of the fighting, clouds are seen, implying that nuclear weapons were used by each side. The old mouse shows the boys some rules to live by that men seem to have forgotten. The old mouse is reading from a Bible. Voice Cast: Daws Butler (Preacher Mouse) (uncredited).
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Special Feature: Outtakes: Here we get to view four deleted musical numbers that were deleted from the film ‘IT’S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER’ that were included on the inferior DVD release and was from material found in the M-G-M archives and they are as follows:
Jack and the Space Giants [1955] [1080p] [2.55:1] [5:43] This was meant to be Michael Kidd's star turn, as Valentine and performs wonders in the kitchen while telling his children a story. Please note, that up to 1:06 there is no sound, and then from 1:34 to 2:22 there is no sound again. Once again from 2:34 to 3:00 there is no sound again. All in all, this is one of the worst thing I have ever had to endure and the overall aspect of this ridiculous number, you can see why it was not suitable to be in the film as it would sure have held up the flow of the film.
Love is Nothing but a Racket [1955] [1080p] [2.55:1] [6:40] Set in the costume shop for Madeline's TV show, the choreography involves an array of quick changes, and the outfits end up upstaging the stars. Gene Kelly reportedly hated the scene, and it's not surprising that it was cut. Once again from 0:00 to 1:31 there is no sound.
The Binge [1955] [1080p] [2.56:1] [0:52] Here we get to view a a very short deleted scene taken from the film ‘IT’S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER’ opening number.
I Thought They'd Never Leave (audio only) [1955] [1080p] [1.78:1] [2:31] This song would have been performed by Cyd Charisse's character Jackie who was dubbed by singer Carol Richards. You get to view one single image from the film ‘IT’S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER.’
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Theatrical Trailer [1955] [1080p] [2.55:1] [3:13] This is the Original Theatrical Trailer for the film ‘IT’S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER.’ The voice over proclaims “The forecast is for bright days ahead in this theater! Happiness for everyone!”
Finally, the film ‘IT’S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER’ is a total screen original, which makes it more of a gamble than most of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s big musicals and it was not adapted from Broadway or an older catalogue of hit tunes. As with ‘Singin’ in the Rain,’ the story is just as important as the songs, some of which admittedly take a few viewings to stick in one’s memory. The film is less cuddly and more satirical than ‘Singin’ in the Rain,’ and its observations about disillusioned ex-soldiers are well thought out. It also directly criticizes commercial culture. Not many mainstream 1955 entertainments do that. When Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was almost a ghost town, the Arthur Freed unit hit one last ‘special’ factory musical out of the park with this strangely melancholy ode to faded ambitions. Gene Kelly, Cyd Charisse, Dan Dailey and Michael Kidd put in great, memorable work, while the glorious Dolores Gray is practically a living Tex Avery cartoon. And it’s designed to be viewed in wide, wide CinemaScope. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
