Summer Stock
1950 // USA // Charles Walters
Letterboxd (LINK)
Far more entertaining than I expected but I am ultimately let down by the predictable scheme when Jane (Judy Garland) ultimately substitutes her sister Abigail (Gloria DeHaven) as the love interest of Joe (Gene Kelly) and the main performer of the final show. Made when Garland was enduring her personal and career crisis, SUMMER STOCK features a great number of remarkable performances from Garland and Kelly individually and as a duo. The climactic “Get Happy” from Garland is fun but the lyrics about Judgement Day is too uncanny for my taste, still Garland looks magnificent on her tuxedo and her performance is absolutely enchanting, it’s hard to imagine that part of the film was shot 2 months after the rest of the film with Garland lost 20 pounds from the help of hypnosis. The solo dance of Kelly inside a dark, empty barn while he’s utilizing a newspaper and a creaking board as pros is truly ingenious, it basically presages the “Singin’ in the Rain” sequence two years later in the creative standpoint.
Still, my love on SUMMER STOCK is limited to the aforementioned as I always find myself at odds to musical sequence with lyrics that’s unrelated to the plot itself. And the story overall is merely serviceable. How Orville (Eddie Bracken), Jane‘s original fiancé, transforms from a father-boy to a dominating ‘husband’ is arguably the most prominent character development here, only seconded by Jane‘s realization of her desire from being a farm girl to performing on stage and her unflinching power against the patriarchy. It’s too convenient for Jane and Joe to be together when Abigail suddenly leaves the theater trope of which she invites to Jane’s farm house unannounced in the first place. Nonetheless, it’s not such a big deal when the story itself is entertaining and fun, thanks to Marjorie Main’s great performance as the sarcastic Esme, the caretaker of the farmhouse. Conversely, the film is undermined by the irritating presence of Phil Silvers as Herb in a supporting role, her comedic performance is getting more and more overtly exaggerated when the story unfolded. SUMMER STOCK is far from the best musicals but it’s absolutely a must-watch for fans of Judy Garland and Gene Kelly.
Film’s Trailer
The Films in My Life (OnCriterion) 