The Band Wagon

About The Band Wagon

The Band Wagon (1953) is a musical comedy film that many critics rank (along with Singin' in the Rain) as the finest of the MGM musicals, although it was only a modest box-office success. It tells the story of an aging musical star who hopes a Broadway play will restart his career. However, the play's director wants to make it a pretentious retelling of Faust, and brings in a prima ballerina who clashes with the star.

It stars Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Oscar Levant, Nanette Fabray and Jack Buchanan. The film was written by Comden and Green and Alan Jay Lerner (uncredited), directed by Vincente Minnelli, and produced by Arthur Freed.

The music was written by Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz originally for the 1931 Broadway play, also called The Band Wagon, with a book by George S. Kaufman and starring Fred Astaire and his sister Adele. The film popularized the song "That's Entertainment!", which has become a standard. Another song, "Dancing in the Dark", is considered part of the Great American Songbook.