THE BAND WAGON
TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET
What an astounding one-two punch Betty Comden and Adolph Green delivered in movie musical history in the early Fifties. In 1952, they wrote Singin’ in the Rain, starring Gene Kelly, pretty much considered the best movie musical ever made. Then, a year later, they counter-punched with this 1953 classic, starring Fred Astaire. The Band Wagon, like its predecessor, is an absolutely deserving member of TCM’s “The Essentials” – and, also like its predecessor, is a very knowing satire of behind-the-scenes show business. Singin’ in the Rain was all about Hollywood’s transition from silent to sound movies. The Band Wagon is a musical comedy about a creative team’s efforts to mount a show and present it on Broadway. Astaire plays the former musical-comedy star hoping to mount a comeback, and Oscar Levant plays the pretentious director aiming to present an updated version of Faust. Nanette Fabray co-stars, and Cyd Charisse, pictured here with Astaire, is unforgettable as a ballerina hired to enhance the musical’s already lofty artistic pretensions.