Give a Girl a Break (1953)

Simply Perfect

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Give a Girl a Break (1953) ** 1/2 (out of 4)A Broadway show is about to open but the main star walks out over a disagreement. The producers go into a panic but decide to hold an open audition. Ted Sturgis (Gower Champion) wants his ex-wife (Marge Champion) to get the part. Leo Belney (Kurt Kasznar) wants his discovery Joanna Moss (Helen Ross) to get the role while Bob Dowdy (Bob Fosse) wants his amateur (Debbie Reynolds) to get the part.GIVE A GIRL A BREAK isn't going to be mistaken for a masterpiece but if you're a fan of the Musical genre then it's certainly worth watching and especially since you've got some famous faces before they were well-known. This here was meant to be a showcase for the Champion team but the film ended up bombing and the two of them were pretty much done with the movies. Of course, when viewing this today the main focus will be on the Reynolds-Fosse connection.In my opinion those two legends are the main reason to watch this as they actually make for a pretty cute couple and both of them turn in fine performances. This is especially true for Fosse who really delivers a believable performance and I thought he was extremely entertaining int he role of the producer who is often pushed around. Reynolds is as beautiful and charming as ever and there's no question that very few couple pull off that small town girl better. The rest of the cast members were okay in their parts but there's no question that they take a back seat.The biggest problem with this film is that there's really not that much of a story. We basically have the competition thrown in so that we can get various dream sequences, which usually lead to a variety of dance numbers. In all honesty, I thought the dance numbers were decent but there's certainly nothing great here. I'd also argue that there weren't any great musical numbers either. It seems MGM was wanting to show off what talent they had on hand without giving away any great moments or musical numbers.

Give a Girl a Break is a 1953 musical that uses the show-within-a-show convention to present some wonderful dancing. A Broadway revue is being cast and three women are up for the female lead. The three actresses are Debbie Reynolds, Helen Wood and Marge Champion. All three acquit themselves as actresses, but their dance talents are fantastic.The actors who play the lead roles in this film are adequate, but sometimes stiff, in their acting. Perhaps because Bob Fosse and Gower Champion were picked more for their dancing.In any event, I say watch this movie for its dancing. There is enough of it to be interesting. The film is directed by Stanley Donen and has numerous similarities to Singin' in the Rain, released the year before. A good pedigree. Gower Champion, Stanley Donen and Bob Fosse choreographed. Although Fosse's idol was Astaire, you can definitely see similarities to Gene Kelly's dance style. The rooftop dance is jazzy (highlighting the great music in this film), and might be seen to predate West Side Story.For me, the best part is the trio of dream sequences, each featuring one of the three actresses and her admirer. I could write paragraphs about them. The dance that features reverse motion might be gimmicky, but it's clever.The movie's end is anticlimactic, there are some awkward choices in staging, and other production aspects might have been sacrificed for quality dance numbers, but if you watch it just for the dance, it delivers.The plot is really about the sacrifices that dancers make for their craft. To paraphrase one character: You can always get another husband, but this is a once in a lifetime (dance) part. How can you go wrong with the cute-but-sometimes-sexy Reynolds, the classy Marge Champion, Helen Wood (yowza!), smooth Gower Champion, and the dynamic Bob Fosse?

Certainly not as major a a combined financial and critical success or as familiar to the millennium public as are the iconic 1933 42nd STREET or the 1975 A CHORUS LINE on the same subject, its commercial release apparently started out with bad luck when MGM refused to give it a class A promotion or first run theater distribution. The considerable talents of Ira Gershwin and Stanley Donen showcase the considerable talents of Marge Champion, Debbie Reynolds, Bob Fosse and Gower Champion in a story making the final candidates to hastily replace the name star quitting mid rehearsal a classical ballerina, a faded former star performer and a scared novice with an overbearing mother, each the fantasy girl friend of someone having influence in determining the replacement casting. This meld of extraordinary talents showcases the historic dilemma of which dance direction professional musicals should take in the changing times of the 1950's. It does not fend off continuous barbs of an 82 minute show borrowing from ZIEGFELD GIRL, ON THE TOWN,and too many other more famous and more successful films.

Don Adams (as Maxwell Smart) used the line "missed by that much" a lot and that is the way this film hit me. It had great actors, fantastic dancers, good direction and yet, for me, it was second rate. I know most of the other reviewers will disagree with me but I just couldn't get into it. Some musicals (Singin' In The Rain, Showboat, Kiss Me, Kate and a lot more) grab you from the first frame but this one just didn't do it for me. It was wonderful as always to see the Champions (I always had a crush on Marge) and Debbie Reynolds and Bob Fosse were good as always, but the film just didn't click with me, It is well worth watching at least once (you'll find it often on TCM) but I will never be able to rate it as a favorite.