Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

MGM

August 6, 1954

Musical, Historical Comedy
DVD
D

As unpalatable as I always imagined, although I did tune out before the kidnappings.  This is based on Stephen Vincent Benet's short story "The Sobbin' Women," and directed by Stanley Donen, whose movies in this project have been hit or miss.

The Pajama Game

The Pajama Game

Warner Bros.

August 29, 1957

Musical, Romance

DVD
C-

One of those musicals where the songs are better than the characters or the story.  Richard Bissell helped adapt his novel 7 1/2 Cents, first into a stage musical and then this movie, with director George Abbott.  And Stanley Donen is also credited as director.

On the Town

On the Town

MGM

December 30, 1949

Musical, Comedy, Romance

DVD
B-

Released at the very end of the '40s, this is chockful of still gettable topical references, like about Dr. Kinsey and Dinah Shore.  (Well, if you're over 50 and/or know the twentieth century.)  At its best, it is joyous and infectious, with an eager, charismatic cast, including a cast-against-type Sinatra.  Unfortunately, there are parts that don't click, like one of those "modern ballet" sequences that would also mar co-directors Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly's Singin' in the Rain a couple years later.  I've seen this movie once before, maybe a decade ago, and I was looking forward to watching it again.  I think if I had fast-forwarded, I'd rank the movie higher.  Still, I know I'll watch it again someday.

Indiscretion (1958)

Indiscretion (1958)

Warner Bros.

July 26, 1958

Romance?

DVD
C-

Kind of flat.  Stanley Donen directed.

Funny Face

Funny Face

Paramount

March 28, 1957

Musical, Comedy, Romance

DVD
B-

I'd heard of this movie for years but didn't actually know much about it until I watched it over the last few days.  It turns out to be an uneven-- at times annoying or boring, at others charming and stunning-- movie, which pairs Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn romantically at a time he was about double her age, but Kay Thompson steals every scene she's in, especially the musical numbers.  The '50s take on beatnik philosophers vs. the fashion industry is delightfully dated, the sex-role propaganda, less delightful.  Stanley Donen directed, six years after Astaire's Royal Wedding and the year before Damn Yankees.

Royal Wedding

Royal Wedding

MGM

March 23, 1951

Musical

DVD
C-

I wasn't really drawn into this story of a brother-and-sister dance team (with Jane Powell definitely looking three decades than Astaire), although it's mostly innocuous.  Stanley Donen directed.  This is on a "Fred Astaire" DVD collection, with two more coming up.

Damn Yankees

Damn Yankees
Warner Bros.
September 26, 1958
Musical, Fantasy, Sports Comedy
DVD
C

I actually tried to watch this movie a couple years ago, after hearing about it for decades, but it didn't capture my interest.  I did decide to give it a quarter-hour this time, to at least see how uninterested I was.  So, yeah, a C, "almost interested."

George Abbott, who adapted the play he co-wrote with Douglass Wallop, who wrote the book this is based on, co-directed with Stanley Donen.  And, yes, 35-year-old Jean Stapleton already seems middle-aged a dozen years before All in the Family.