I Love Melvin (1953)

Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor reunite after Singin' in the Rain to make this little gem.

we are the gentlemen of the press
yes we are, yes we are yes indeed indeed we are

Musicals get a really bad rap, but that's probably thanks to those overblown spectacles of the early sixties -- think Sweet Charity, Sound of Music, and Bye Bye Birdie.  Yes, Rogers and Hammerstein wrote some great numbers, and yes, Shirley MacLaine was a fantastic actress back in the day, but overproducing these shows turns them sour.  Perhaps this is because musicals are so fake in the first place, and so we prefer not to be distracted by elaborate sets, dresses which scream for attention, perfectly manicured chorus girls mugging the camera, et cetera...

The point of musicals is to be cute and light and not make you think too much.  They're always best if the songwriting is good and if the leads know how to dance.  Sometimes, song and dance numbers can be really good!  Fortunately, they hired the right people for this one.

oh where oh where oh where did you learn to dance?
 

I was surprised by the subtlety of the acting; Donald's never seemed a guy to take himself too seriously, and when he gets a clever or funny line, he doesn't milk it for all it's worth.  This is a good thing, but I found myself doing a double take at certain bits; I think I expect actors to ham it up a bit more.  Debbie Reynolds is sweet and likeable, and she can dance too!

Quite frankly, I'm having a hard time remembering how the story goes, but that's not the point, and the director was smart enough to not bring too much attention to the rather formulaic plot.  I love movies where they don't try too hard and just let the film ride on its own merits.  It Should Happen to You was another one like that.


The morons at imdb give this a rating of 6.5/10, which is probably because they have no taste.