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One of the things I notice about IMDB reviews is that most of the classic MGM musicals (other than Singin' in the Rain) routinely get good but relatively unimpressive scores. Anchors Aweigh: 7.0, An American In Paris: 7.1, For Me And My Gal: 7.0, Summer Stock: 7.1, Take Me Out To The Ball Game: 6.6, The Pirate: 6.9, Easter Parade: 7.3, etc. Even The Band Wagon --considered one of the very best of all -- has an average score of only 7.4.

So I guess I shouldn't be surprised that On The Town only has an average score of 7.3.

I don't know what people want from these movies, when you have some of the best musical performers of all time (Gene Kelly, Judy Garland, Fred Astaire, Frank Sinatra, Ann Miller, etc.), some of the best directors, the best songwriters and screenwriters, the best set and costume designers, cinematographers, etc. I just have to conclude that some people here don't like or enjoy musicals very much.

On the Town was the first movie directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, and these two guys, one a movie star and both of them dancers and choreographers, proved they could direct a big movie as skillfully as the best of them (Kelly also choreographed the film). And there was something special about it. It was more energetic, with more vitality than a Vincente Minnelli musical, and it was smarter and more sophisticated than a Charles Walters musical.

The energy and the excitement -- and the humor -- greatly aided by the screenplay by Betty Comden and Adolph Green -- never lets up in this delightful movie about three sailors on a few days' shore leave in New York.

There's also some really impressive choreography and dancing. I don't think everyone appreciates this aspect of movie musicals in this era. Not only is there Vera-Ellen and Ann Miller -- Vera has a very impressive and delightful number ("Miss Turnstiles") near the beginning of the movie that's incredible.

Later, she and Gene (as well as Carol Haney, Jeanne Coyne, and others) perform a ballet the likes of which had never really been seen on the screen before. (Not a traditional ballet, but a "film ballet" in a style developed and perfected by Kelly in his musicals.) This sensuous number has moves that could never have been put on film in a non-musical of the time. Similarly, women's costumes in these shows were much more revealing, with short skirts, etc., than any other movie costumes of those days. Which might be one reason so many men went to musicals in those days.

There's so much wit and humor in the film, and the whole enterprise really gives you a feeling of what it's like to be on a holiday in New York -- partly because it was filmed on location, to some extent (Kelly and Donen fought for that). And the non-location (Hollywood-filmed) scenes represent the brilliance of the MGM special effects and art departments.

Gene Kelly is fantastic -- it's not one of his biggest or arty-est movies but it's still one of his best. Frank Sinatra at that time was still playing a sort of variation on the somewhat naive, enthusiastic young man he had perfected in Anchors Aweigh. Betty Garrett really came into her own in movies with this film and Neptune's Daughter -- likeable and talented. Ann Miller -- great, as usual. Jules Munshin -- perfect. Alice Pearce (later famous for playing Mrs. Kravitz on TV's Bewitched) is hilarious and you can't take your eyes off her when she's on the screen. Even Florence Bates, in a small role as a Russian dance instructor, is very funny.

The song numbers are not all the ones heard in the Broadway show -- since apparently the studio felt Leonard Bernstein's music was too far from what people were used to hearing in movie musicals. Some of the songs he co-wrote with Betty Comden and Adolph Green made it into the film, but others were substituted that were by MGM's vocal coach and Freed Unit staple Roger Edens (again with Comden and Green) -- and they aren't too impressive. But they're presented so well that it almost doesn't matter (in addition to the Bernstein songs, his ballet music was more or less retained -- and its great).

All in all, the movie gives you a lift and doesn't have a dull moment . It's brilliantly presented and never makes you feel you're being talked down to or performed down to, which is a pretty great thing. If you like musicals -- especially the old MGM kind -- this is one of the best, so don't miss it.

This Ross Hunter attempt at a somewhat serious thriller in the Gaslight mode works in some ways and not in others. David Miller (who did it better in Sudden Fear, with Joan Crawford) manages to give it some suspense. It's acted and directed well enough to keep you watching.

Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts wrote the screenplay. They also wrote the screenplay for Ross Hunter's Portrait in Black (from their play). Their greatest accomplishment was probably the screenplay for the James Cagney vehicle, White Heat (1949). They were a good writing team, but some of Midnight Lace seems rather contrived.

The story takes place in London and involves an American heiress, named Kit (Doris Day) married to an English businessman, Tony Preston (Rex Harrison). She's terrorized right from the opening credits by a weird voice saying scary things in a London fog. She also often hears it on the phone.

The film wasn't made in London. (Just some second-unit establishing shots.) It's a major drawback, in 1960, when many films were being made on location. Maybe it would have worked in black & white, but color just exposes the fake quality of everything, from the Universal back lot sets to the phony fog.

Doris Day (who had done terror before, in The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Julie) is appropriately hysterical; almost too emotionally real at times for for this glossy Ross Hunter production. Apparently Doris even had a breakdown on set, living the emotions of the role, and the movie had to be shut down for a while. She's admirably raw. But somehow it seems wasted on this kind of glamourous entertainment, where Doris is required to wear a new high-fashion outfit in practically every scene.

Rex Harrison is a good choice for the husband, suave and expert. Myrna Loy (as Doris's aunt) is fine and believable. The rest of the cast includes names like John Gavin, Roddy McDowall, Herbert Marshall, John Williams, Natasha Parry, Hermione Baddeley, Richard Ney and Doris Lloyd.

Unfortunately, a lot of these actors and the situations they find themselves in seem too reminiscent of old MGM movies like Mrs. Miniver and Random Harvest.

It's all very Hollywood English, right down to the nice cup of tea, and the old fashioned attitudes.

I also found Doris Day somewhat miscast as an heiress and socialite, a role that might have better suited Grace Kelly (if she'd still been working). She doesn't really even look completely comfortable in her swank wardrobe, which doesn't always suit her.

Having said all that, the movie does have quite a bit of entertainment value, despite being too slick and shallow. As an old-fashioned psychological thriller, it will probably keep you interested until the final fade-out.

I confess I'm not much of a Blake Edwards fan--growing up with a lot of his movies, I thought they were sometimes amusing, sometimes forced, or crude, or pushing for laughs. Around 1979 or '80. I saw The original Pink Panther for the first time, with an audience, and thought it was a totally entertaining, delightful movie.

I had seen several of the other Pink Panthers by then and while they were entertaining and funny, I found them over-the-top and "anything for a laugh". I'm not saying they weren't good for a couple of hours of laughs, but I've forgotten them, while I haven't forgotten the original.

I suspect the things I liked are what some other people here didn't like. The opening with the introduction of the characters and the various locations. The elegance of the settings. That love scene with David Niven and Claudia Cardinale.

Combining a sophisticated, romantic jewel-robbery type of film with the slapstick of Clouseau/Sellars and the other physical comedy scenes was one of the best things Blake Edwards ever pulled off. I really wish all the subsequent Pink Panther films had as much charm and panache.

I feel Peter Sellars was even funnier when he wasn't the focus of the whole movie. I also thought it was great to give him a cheating wife (who can blame her?), who turns out to be a great comic foil for him (Capuchine giving a surprisingly adept comic performance).

Niven and Robert Wagner are both amusing in their different ways, and not only give the movie class, but also weight. Niven, particularly, is a character who has some serious aspects, and you really get involved with him. It doesn't all have to be a laugh a minute.

Though most of the time, the film is quite funny. It just also happens to be witty. And it's in good taste, which was not always the case with a lot of Edwards' later movies, where I felt he was sometimes a bit of a dirty old man leeringly telling creepy sex jokes. And he could get farcical (which he does at some points in this one, but it's not overdone). It's good to catch some directors at a point where they hadn't gone to extremes, yet.

The way this movie balances sophisticated wit with silliness and slapstick has a lot to do with the fact that Peter Sellars replaced Peter Ustinov as Clouseau. While Ustinov was quite funny in a droll and delightful way, Sellars was a comic genius who makes most of his scenes into hilarious little sketches that should seem out of place for a police inspector in a heist picture, but instead are very welcome and just make the movie much more enjoyable. Nonetheless, despite stealing the movie, Sellars is part of an ensemble and I think he's in the film exactly the right amount. Not too much, not too little.

The cinematography here is by Philip H. Lathrop--It's gorgeous. The music is of course by Henry Mancini. In the middle of it all is a song number that shouldn't be there but works beautifully, with singer Fran Jeffries ostensibly performing in the bar/restaurant of a ski resort in Cortina D'Ampezzo but playing directly to the camera--breaking the fourth wall--which makes no sense!--but is wonderful just the same.

This is my favorite Pink Panther movie by far and I know not everyone will agree with me. But it captures a moment in time--and in movies-- that glamorous, comedic early-'60s vibe that might also have something to do with co-screenwriter Maurice Richlin, who also co-wrote Operation Petticoat with Blake Edwards, as well as Pillow Talk, Come September, and other comedies of the era.

Enjoy.