I also loved "How could you believe me when I said I loved you when you know I've been a liar all my life?" This number was extremely funny and how unsettling was it to see Jane Powell, in a black wig as a tough-talking, gum-chewing moll? Another forgotten classic from this film that always gets overlooked because Fred danced on the ceiling later.
shareI'd seen the movie before - and had simply forgotten that amazing number. I'd seen Astaire as a tough guy before (e.g., a Mickey Spillane or Raymond Chandler kind of detective in, I think The Bandwagon) but I hadn't recalled seeing Jane Powell do ANYTHING like this
- and she was FANTASTIC. Jane Powell really impresses me in this movie - I'd thought of her as very sweet - rather sugary - and she's really not.
See her interactions with Astaire or with everyone else in the film for that matter - her character's rather spoiled, not that kind to her brother (she's so often caustic), deceptive - and yet still likable because Jane Powell is just so likable. So we care what happens to her - but she's quite real.
I have to say that the ending just completely grabs me - totally, powerfully. It made me wish strongly that there were a sequel - with one couple in England and the other in America - getting together with children some five years later.
For me, this movie is like comfort food - I just revel in it.
My favorite scene in the movie. I think I once heard Alan Jay Lerner say that song has the record for the longest title in the history of song titles.
And Jane Powell is terrific. She is not a little sweetie at all, but something of a tease. In fact, she is juxtaposed with Lawford's character as being the female comp of a male roue.
In 7 Brides for 7 Brothers she is also pretty tough. Hardly a sweet little thing or cutesy pie.
I love that number and I love her skirt. At one time my mother made me a striped skirt with that as the inspiration. I would compare it to Astaire and Garland doing We're a Couple of Swells which I also enjoy every time I see it.
shareIt was an impressive sequence in terms of choreography and how Astaire/Powell conveyed their respective characters for the sequence.
"I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not".