People are voting emotionally.

Good concept, poorly executed.

Fresh and Exciting

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Royal Wedding is a must-see film simply for two of Astaire's best solo numbers, one involving a hat rack and the other involving the defiance of gravity. There are also a couple of solid number with his co-star Jane Powell, one a bit of bad-boy shtick and the other a very funny dance on a rocking boat.The movie begins well. Astaire and Powell are a sibling dance team off to England. Inveterate flirt Powell meets her match in an English lord, while Astaire falls for a pretty dancer (played by one of Winston Churchill's daughters!).The early scenes are notable for an unusually casual approach to romance, but of course things get serious later on. And as they do, the frothy start gives way to the grind of a standard Astaire story complete with mild obstacle and easy resolution.Powell sings several forgettable songs in her annoying operatic voice and there are some other decent dance numbers, including one set in Haiti that pretends Haiti that ignores that the country is almost entirely populated by the descendants of African slaves. There's also a lot of English people going "pip pip," and I have no idea if that's any more accurate than the Haiti stuff. It comes across as rather cartoonish, but who knows?Anyway, it's a fun movie. Not great, but enjoyable.

Fred Astaire and Jane Powell play a brother-and-sister dance team Tom and Ellen Bowen. The siblings get the chance of a lifetime gig; their manager(Keenan Wynn)books the team to perform in London during the royal wedding of Princess Elizabeth in 1947. On the way to England, carefree and naive Ellen falls head over heals for a dashing Lord Brindale(Peter Lawford). Nothing real new, because Ellen seems to fall in love as the wind blows. While holding dance auditions confirmed bachelor Tom finds a romance of his own in a young dancer Ann Ashmond (Sarah Churchill). Will the dance team be broken up because of the new love interest? This song and dance musical comedy is very typical until the ever nimble Astaire does his incredible dance number on the ceiling and walls. A few of the memorable songs: "Too Late Now", "Ev'ry Night at Seven" and "What a lovely day for a Wedding". Kudos to director Stanley Donen and Alan J. Lerner doing his first screenplay. Can you imagine a royal wedding taking backseat to a dance team?

This is a movie loosely based on Fred Astaire and his sister who used to dance with Fred until she married royalty. Jane plays his sister in the movie. It is believable to me even though Fred was in his 50's and Jane was 21. Fred and Jane basically tour the world and entertain with their song and dance. Fred does some of the most memorable dances as a solo act in the film. He does the dance with the wooden coat rack. He also does my all time favorite where he dances on all sides of a room. He and Jane do a couple of really original song and dance scenes. The first one is where they sing and dance on a ship as it goes thru a storm. They slip and slide around in an entertaining scene. This scene actually happened to Fred and his real life sister. They also do a funny vaudeville-like scene where they stomp on each other. Winston Churchill's daughter plays Fred's love interest and Peter Lawford plays Jane's. Keenan Wynn is his usual funny self in a dual role.

This just misses the Olypic Gold because despite Fred Astaire being on top of his game he is lumbered with an inept leading lady and a wooden 'second' leading man. On the other hand Alan Jay Lerner and Burton Lane (later to team again on the Broadway Show On A Clear Day You Can See Forever) deliver a standout score including all-time Great ballad Too Late Now totally thrown away on Jane Powell, an an equally Great 'patter' number in How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Loved You When You Know I've Been A Liar All My Life.The plot is wafer-thin and based loosely on Astaire's real life early partnership with his sister Adele, who actually did marry into the British peerage, and feature's a brother-sister song and dance team who travel to England at the time of the Royal Wedding, meet new partners and heigh-ho. If Sarah Churchill and Peter Lawford were passengers the compensations outweigh the cost of the freight in the shape of Astaire's two all-time great dance sequences first in the gym and later on the walls and ceiling of his London apartment. These sequences alone put this in the ten-star category and make it a Must for Astaire devotees.