My, Donald O'Connor is dreamy. Those big blue eyes, those precise, seemingly effortless dance steps and the voice. Heaven help me, the voice; so velvety smooth and as mesmerizing as any crooner of the day.
I saw a Letterboxd comment about how they never thought of Donald O'Connor as handsome until this film. I always see the boyish charm. And the problem with all velvety smooth voices is that they're in Crosby's shadow. I'm sure there are those who would name other crooners they like more, but Bing is the Michael Jordan of crooners and I agree with that majority.
That said, DOC can do it all. He's like Danny Kaye in that respect except you want to hang out with Donald, and he's genuinely funny. Kaye is only childishly amusing.
Vera Ellen is the one I think of more as the troubled soul. I haven't done a deep dive into her eating disorder, but it seems like it kept her from superstardom even more than her (sorry) weak acting. She reminds me of Eleanor Parker (the Queen of Tap), where the dancing makes up for the acting, but Parker had a Fred Astaire quality where she makes you believe the dance routines were planned by her as well as executed. Vera Ellen is more like the world's greatest stuntman, and whatever crazy move you need executed, she's the one to do it, without being worried about the grace of her posture like Cyd Charisse.
The only thing I don't like about the night-time duet dance is that some of her dance steps get lost under all those beautiful yards of tulle.
The wife said that too. "Her dresses are great, but there's so much of them."
My dad hates Ethel Merman, but my dad hates a great many things; coconut, Paris, boat rides, roller coasters... I took his disdain as a type of challenge and came to love those things he didn't.
I know this isn't my first Ethel, but it feels like her signature role. I know there was Annie Get Your Gun, but Betty Hutton owns that role for me (an opinion much despised by fans of musical history.) I wish she got to do the film version of Gypsy. Much as I love Rosalind Russell, "Everything's Coming Up Roses" was made for Merman.
From here we get the insanity of DOC and Merman singing two different songs at the same time,
I really like this and Irving Berlin in general, but I have a pet peeve about reprises. They sing their songs separately, then together and then together again (same lyrics each time) and then the song is reprised at the end a few times through! Ugh! At least bring in some more lyrics and preferably use the song sparingly, so it leaves the audience wanting more, not less.
I've never had a problem with reprises. I prefer when a song returns with new meaning, like "Master of the House" being more menacing each time the music comes back in Les Mis, or a recent example in Moana when "How Far I'll Go" returns as "Song of the Ancestors". I get used to musicals from this period ending with a montage of all the hit songs.
and Donald O'Connor doing a drunk dance with props and while popping balloons with his feet. This was the film being worthy of the talent.
So this begs the question, who's drunk dance is better, O'Connor or Astaire?

O'Connor slips in and out of it while Astaire commits to being near-blackout drunk the whole way through. The dance here takes a bit from Astaire's drunk dance, throws in some of the firecracker pops, a touch of "Make 'Em Laugh" slapstick and a helping of "Moses Supposes". In other words, it's good but a rehash of older, familiar elements.