I Love Melvin

Breezy musical about a romance between a photographer’s assistant and an aspiring starlet.  The film reunites Donald O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds from Singin’ in the Rain, and although it doesn’t nearly reach those heights, it’s pretty fun.  Even if none of the songs are especially memorable, there’s not a bad one in the bunch, and there’s some nice choreography including Reynolds playing a football (you read that right) and O’Connor tap-dancing in roller skates.  The two leads have a sweet chemistry together… the roadblocks in their romance aren’t especially compelling, but it’s just nice to watch them bounce off each other.  You do have to suffer through some rather lame comedy (and a few extremely brief racist stereotypes), but Jim “Thurston Howell” Backus is kinda funny and for once the precocious little sister is an asset rather than a hindrance.  Lightweight but entertaining and bubbly.  Rating: Good

IMDb