Royal Wedding

Fred Astaire and Jane Powell play a famous brother-sister dancing team… Astaire a confirmed bachelor, and Powell flitting from one fella to another.  When they get booked for a run in London during the “royal wedding season”, naturally they find love there.  Not with each other, of course… nothing is said about how weird it is to have siblings playing romantic couples onstage, except maybe for a quick joke near the end.  The plot is pretty much forgettable, with the usual roadblocks being easily overcome in the blink of an eye.  Astaire’s romance (Sarah Churchill, with red hair made for Technicolor) is more charming than Powell’s (Peter Lawford at his dullest), but really neither one is that compelling.  The comedy is hit or miss, with some good bits but also dumb gags involving Keenan Wynn in a double role.  The songs are a mixed bag as well.  I’ve griped about Powell’s ballad vocals before, and here she bores us with two of them.  The livelier dance numbers go over much better, including “I Left My Hat in Haiti” (lousy song, but great production) and Astaire steppin’ with a hat rack.

And then, of course, there’s “You’re All the World To Me” which by itself is worth the price of admission.  This is the famous “dancing on the ceiling” number, a piece of cinematic wizardry as fine as any other.  Even knowing how it’s done takes away none of its magic, it’s simply captivating to watch Astaire’s effortless choreography in concert with the ingenious set engineering.  It elevates a pleasant but mediocre film into something a little more special.  Rating: Good

IMDb