Happy Easter Weekend! Due to the holiday, I didn’t want to make this post (or this introduction) too long. So without further ado, here are 4 ½ facts about the delightful Easter Parade (1948), which starred Fred Astaire and Judy Garland, and costarred Ann Miller and Peter Lawford.
In my post about my favorite Fred Astaire movies, I mentioned how Astaire stepped out of retirement to replace Gene Kelly, who broke his ankle a month before rehearsals began. But Easter Parade almost had a different director and supporting actress as well. Cyd Charisse was going to play Nadine Hale before she became unavailable (her role went to Ann Miller). Vincente Minelli was also set to direct, but he was replaced by Charles Walters. (This was apparently advised by Judy Garland’s psychiatrist, who claimed it would be too much strain for Garland if her husband was also her director). For Kelly's part, he “was pleased to be responsible for getting Fred back [from retirement], but that every time he saw the scene in which Fred and Judy sang ‘A Couple of Swells,’ he got a twinge of regret.”
When it premiered, Ginger Rogers sent producer Arthur Freed a telegram saying how much she enjoyed it, and offered her congratulations. Rogers ended up replacing Judy Garland in Astaire's next film, The Barkleys of Broadway, which became the first time in 10 years that Fred and Ginger made a movie together.
In Summer Stock, Judy Garland wears a fedora and the top half of a tuxedo for the number “Get Happy.” But she first wore the iconic outfit in Easter Parade! Her solo, called “Mr. Monotony," was cut from the final film, but you can watch the scene here.
A bittersweet side note about Summer Stock:
Gene Kelly was paired with Garland for his first film at MGM, For Me and My Gal (1942). In 1950, they starred together in Summer Stock, which turned out to be Garland’s last film for MGM.
In one of the numbers, in which their characters are billed as “Juanita and Hewes,” Garland wears a feathered dress that molts as she dances; a reference to Ginger Rogers’ dress in Top Hat that famously prompted Astaire to nickname her “Feathers.”
Easter Parade is available to stream for a fee from: Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, and Fandango at Home.
You may also be able to find the DVD at your local library.
Sources:
Griffin, M. (2010). A hundred or more hidden things: The life and films of Vincente Minnelli. Da Capo Press.
Pickard, R. (1985). Fred Astaire. Crescent Books.
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