Synopsis
Don Hewes (Astaire) and Nadine Hale (Miller) are elegant dancers. Nadine leaves the act — and Don — for a starring role on Broadway. Disconsolate, Don gets drunk and declares that he can take any woman and make her into as good a dancer as Nadine. He picks Hannah Brown (Garland) out of a chorus line. The next day, Easter Sunday, Don and Hannah walk in the Easter Parade. Nadine walks by them, elegantly dressed and posing for many photographs. Dons says that next year Hannah will get the attention. He changes Hannah's name to Juanita and attempts to develop her into an elegant dancer similar to Nadine. Hannah tries, but she is terrible. Don realizes, however, that Hannah is a wonderful singer who can put over a popular song and light dance. Their act is named Hannah and Hewes. Hannah is falling in love with Don, but he remains indifferent to her personally.
Hannah meets Jonathan Harrow III (Lawford), an old friend of Don and Nadine, who sympathizes with her attempts to please Don and make him forget Nadine. The night Hannah and Hewes have a big hit, they go out to celebrate and take in Nadine's show. Nadine steps forward, introduces Hannah and Hewes, and gets Don to dance with her. Hannah, upset and jealous, leaves before the dance is over. The next day, Jon talks to her and convinces her that Don loves her. The day is Easter Sunday. Hannah goes to Don's apartment. She is elegantly dressed and brings an Easter bonnet for herself and a top hat for Don. They walk in the Easter Parade where Hannah is photographed frequently.
Discussion
This enjoyable, colorful musical comedy pairs Fred Astaire and Judy Garland for the only time in their careers. They mesh beautifully, whether conversing, singing, or dancing. Garland's warm, appealing personality complements Astaire's similarly engaging, but more low-key, persona. The high quality music and lyrics are Irving Berlin standards. The title song, written in 1933, was first performed by Marilyn Miller and Clifton Webb in the stage production As Thousands Cheer. The early 1910s setting of the film allows for colorful costumes and settings, especially during the Easter Parade sequences. The ankle length dresses and large hats of the period complement Garland and Miller. Astaire and Lawford look debonair and jaunty.
In Easter Parade, Astaire adapts his dancing to the styles of his
costars. With Ann Miller he performs fast paced dances, involving complex steps.
With Garland, the dances are simpler in design and matched to the lyrics and mood
of a vocal duet. The Garland and Astaire rendition of
We’re a Couple of Swells,
written by Berlin for the film, is a high point
in musical comedy history.
Easter Parade was originally intended for Garland and Gene Kelly,
however Kelly dropped out after breaking his ankle. Fred Astaire, who had
announced his retirement in 1945, saying that he was tired of dancing for a
living, and the public had become indifferent to him, agreed to take the role. By
late 1947, Astaire was telling The New York Times that his hiatus had been
a mental retirement
; he had desired to rest from creating new steps and
ideas for dance numbers, but he was not tired of dancing. Astaire prided himself
on thinking up new steps for the dances in every film, and a great deal of mental
effort went into each dance. After two years of rest he was ready for renewed
mental and physical efforts. Although nearing fifty in 1948, Astaire's career
renewal lasted for the next ten years during which time he stared in a series of
memorable musicals, including The Band Wagon (1953) and
Funny Face (1957).
Judy Garland’s career arc after Easter Parade was the opposite of Astaire's. Only 26 years old, her film career was nearing an end. Subjected from a young age to tremendous stress and ill treatment by film executives, mental and physical breakdowns shortened her career and, ultimately, her life. Easter Parade was a hit, and MGM scheduled Garland and Astaire for a follow-up film. But Garland was breaking down and had to rest; Ginger Rogers was brought in to pair with Astaire in The Barkleys of Broadway (1949). After three more films, Garland's career at MGM ended in 1951 when her unreliability due to drug and alcohol addiction led to her termination by the studio. Three years later, she made her final musical, A Star Is Born (1954).
Director Charles Walters first appeared on Broadway as a teenage performer in 1927. After ten years of dancing, he worked as a choreographer from 1938 to 1946. His final Broadway assignment was as Judy Garland's director for Judy Garland at the Palace, Two-a-Day (1951-52). Walters went to Hollywood in 1942, at the request of Gene Kelly, to direct the dance sequences for Du Barry Was a Lady (1942). He continued as a dance director for several years, including on Judy Garland's films Girl Crazy (1943) and Meet Me in St Louis (1944). His first directorial assignment was Good News (1947). His next film was Easter Parade after Vincente Minnelli left the project. (Garland's psychiatrist recommended she not work with Minnelli, who was her husband.) Walters also directed The Barkleys of Broadway (1949). In all, Walters directed about twenty films, mostly musicals. He worked with the leading female musical comedy stars of the time, including Esther Williams, Leslie Caron, Debby Reynolds, and Doris Day. His final film, Walk, Don’t Run (1966), starred Cary Grant in his last role, and made a rather limp ending to both their careers. After another ten years working in television, Walters retired in 1976 after a successful, if not outstanding, career as a film and television director. He turned out enjoyable, handsome, professionally made musical comedies. However, his films lack the significant touches that raise a film from pleasantly competent to exceptional. His leading actresses are fun to watch, but they never sparkle under his direction. Easter Parade is probably his finest film.
Further Reading