Main Cast: Fred Astaire, Jane Powell, Peter Lawford, Sarah Churchill, Keenan Wynn
Release Year: 1951
Country: US
Run Time: 93 minutes
Plot
Two real-life events were incorporated into the plot of the 1951 MGM musical Royal Wedding. One, the marriage of Fred Astaire's sister Adele to a British nobleman had occurred years earlier; the other, the wedding of England's Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip was only four years in the past. MGM would probably have gotten Royal Wedding out closer to the Elizabeth-Philip nuptials, but the picture had leading-lady problems; every girl who was cast either became pregnant, ill, or otherwise unavailable. Finally, Jane Powell was cast as the sister and partner of American-entertainer Fred Astaire. The plot has Astaire and Powell heading to Merrie Olde England to perform at the palace. Once they've arrived, Powell breaks up the act when she falls in love with blueblooded Peter Lawford. Astaire himself finds romance in the form of Sarah Churchill (daughter of Sir Winston), and the four happy campers gleefully attend the titular Windsor Castle wedding. Also in the cast is Albert Sharpe, fresh from his Broadway triumph in Finian's Rainbow, and Keenan Wynn, hilarious as twin cousins. The plot is so light that it threatens to float away at times, but Royal Wedding sticks in the memory thanks to its first-rate musical numbers. The Astaire/Powell duets are entertaining enough; the real magic, however, occurs in Astaire's two solos: the hat-rack duet and the now-legendary tap-dance on the ceiling (even knowing how this cinematic legerdemain was accomplished does not detract from its brilliance and virtuosity). Because it has slipped into public domain, Royal Wedding is one of the most easily accessible of all the Fred Astaire musicals. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Royal Wedding is an excellent example of a film the strengths of which are so strong as to make its considerable weaknesses almost irrelevant. Among those weaknesses, the most problematic is the screenplay. Alan Jay Lerner's story is commonplace, even if set against the backdrop of the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip. The dialogue is generally good, but the plot offers little in the way of suspense or surprise. The real sizzle and fire come from elsewhere: the cast, the score, and the dancing. Fred Astaire is marvelous, demonstrating in his musical numbers that no other male performer -- even those with technically superior voices -- was better at interpreting a song. His dance numbers here include two of his best: the "Sunday Jumps" gym sequence with the classic hat rack duet and the much heralded "You're All the World to Me," in which he dances up the walls and across the ceiling of his room. Jane Powell is not his equal as a dance partner, but she comes off very well in the amusing "How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Love You When You Know I've Been a Liar All My Life." Powell also gets to handle the beautiful and unfortunately overlooked ballad "Too Late Now," which contains a melody of admirable purity. Stanley Donen's direction is assured, glossing over the film's shortcomings and knowing how to showcase its assets. Royal Wedding may fall just shy of being a classic, but its highlights are among the best the musical film has to offer. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Albert Sharpe - James Ashmond; Wilson Benge - Eddie; Francis Bethencourt - Charles Gordon; Mae Clarke - Phone Operator; Jack Daley - Pop; James Finlayson - Cabby; Bess Flowers - Woman Guest; Alex Frazer - Chester, Tom's valet; John Hedloe - Billy; Henri Letondal - Purser; Richard Lupino - Singing Elevator Boy; Marjorie Main; Phyllis Morris - Singing Woman; Leonard Mudie - Singing Doorman; Kerry O'Day - Linda; Alice Pearce; Albert Pollet - Steward; Jack Reilly - Pete Comberly; Viola Roache - Sarah Ashmond; Gale Robbins; Clinton Sundberg; David Thursby - Singing Bobby; Vera-Ellen; Wilson Wood - Drinker; William Cabanne - Dick; Andre Charisse - Steward; Stanley Mann - Cabdriver
Astaire and Powell play a brother and sister song and dance duo, echoing the real-life theatrical relationship of Fred and Adele Astaire. Powell, who was not first choice for the role, surprised her colleagues with her all-round ability. She falls for Lawford, who plays an English aristocrat - mirroring Adele Astaire's romance and eventual marriage to Lord Charles Cavendish, son of the Duke of Devonshire.
Royal Wedding is one of several MGM musicals (another being Till the Clouds Roll By) that have lapsed into public domain. As such it is widely available on Video and DVD, but the quality of these versions varies. In 2007, however, Warner Home Video issued a restored version of Royal Wedding in a DVD set along with The Belle of New York.
Choreographer Nick Castle collaborated with Astaire on several of the numbers. Although none of the songs are considered standards, dance-wise, it is notable for the inclusion of not one but two Astaire solos, both of which are amongst his best known works. Parody, of himself and of some well-known colleagues, is an important theme of the choreography.
"Ev'ry Night At Seven": A rather tired-looking Astaire (pretending to be a bored king) and a lively Powell sing and dance through this royal-themed number.
Fred Astaire in "Sunday Jumps"
"Sunday Jumps": Astaire credits the idea for this famous solo to his long-time choreographic collaborator Hermes Pan. In it, Astaire parodies himself by dancing with a hatstand and appears to parody his rival and friend Gene Kelly by inserting a mock bodybuilding episode during which he kicks aside some Indian clubs in a reference to Kelly's routine with The Nicholas Brothers in The Pirate. The fame of the dance rests on Astaire's ability to animate the inanimate. The solo takes place in a ship's gym, where Astaire is waiting to rehearse with his partner Powell, who doesn't turn up, echoing Adele Astaire's attitude towards her brother's obsessive rehearsal habits to which the lyrics (unused and unpublished) also made reference. Controversially, in 1997, it was digitally manipulated to show Astaire dancing with a vacuum cleaner in Dirt Devil commercials. In a missive, later published in Time Magazine and Variety[1], Astaire's daughter Ava severely criticized the corporation's president, writing: "Your paltry, unconscionable commercials are the antithesis of everything my lovely, gentle father represented."[2] This number has been referenced by Mel Gibson in What Women Want and by David Byrne in the live film of his band, Talking Heads, as well as parodied by Kermit the Frog in The Great Muppet Caper.
"Open Your Eyes": This lilting waltz is sung by Powell at the beginning of a romantic routine danced by Powell and Astaire in front of an audience in the ballroom of a transatlantic liner. Soon, a storm rocks the ship and the duet is transformed into a comic parody with the dancers sliding about to the ship's motions. This number is based on a real-life incident which happened to Fred and Adele Astaire as they travelled by ship to London in 1923.
"The Happiest Days Of My Life": Powell sings this ballad to Peter Lawford, with Astaire sitting at the piano.
"How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Love You When You Know I've Been A Liar All My Life" has what is considered the longest title of any song in MGM musical history. For the first time in his career,[1] Astaire successfully casts aside all pretension to elegance and indulges in a deliberately vulgar comic song and dance vaudeville-style routine with Powell. The routine recalls the "A Couple Of Swells" number with Judy Garland in Easter Parade. Here, for the second time in the film, he seems to parody Gene Kelly by wearing the latter's trademark straw boater, and employing the stomps and splayed strides which originated with George M. Cohan, and were much favoured in Kelly's choreography.
Fred Astaire in "You're All the World to Me"
"Too Late Now": Powell sings her third ballad, this time an open declaration of love, to Lawford.
"You're All The World To Me": In one of his best-known solos, Astaire dances on the walls and ceilings of his room because he has fallen in love with a beautiful woman who also loves to dance. The idea occurred to Astaire years before, and was first mentioned by him in the MGM publicity publication Lion's Roar in 1945. The number was filmed by mounting the camera and operator in a cage which rotated with the room. The same technique would later be used to simulate a zero gravity environment in 2001: A Space Odyssey, to allow Lionel Ritchie to perform a similar dance in the video for Dancing on the Ceiling, to allow Clark Kent to walk up walls to change a light bulb in the pilot episode of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, and in the music videos for "Fly" by Sugar Ray and "Slash Dot Dash" by Fatboy Slim. Burton Lane's music originally featured in the 1934 Eddie Cantor film Kid Millions, in the number "My Minstrel Man", sung by a ten year-old Harold Nicholas to lyrics by Harold Adamson.
"I Left My Hat In Haiti": This number, essentially the work of Nick Castle, involves Powell, Astaire and chorus in song and dance routine with a Latin theme.
Casting
Jane Powell was far from the first actress approached to play the role of Ellen opposite Astaire. Initially Ginger Rogers was asked, but she declined. Then June Allyson was signed for the role, but had to drop out when she became pregnant. Judy Garland was then signed as Ellen, but due to personal issues was fired from the film (and her MGM contract was terminated). Jane Powell ultimately replaced Garland.[3]
