![[IMAGE]](athena3.jpg)
CREDITS
1954, 96 minutes, Eastmancolor.
Producer, Joe Pasternak; Director, Richard Thorpe; Screenplay, Leonard Spielgass and William Ludwig; Cinematography, Robert Planck; Music Director, Georgie Stoll; Choreography, Valerie Bettis.
CAST
Athena, Jane Powell; Adam Shaw, Edmund Purdom; Minerva, Debbie Reynolds; Johnny Nyle; Vic Damone; Grandpa Mulvain, Louis Calhern; Beth Hallson, Linda Christian; Grandma Mulvain, Evelyn Varden; Mr. Tremaine, Ray Collins; Niobe, Virginia Gibson; Mr. Grenville, Howard Wendell; Steve Reeves.
SONGS
The Girl Next Door; I Never Felt Better; Love Can Change The Stars; Venezia; Imagine; Vocalize by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane; Chacun le Sait by Donizetti.
PLOT SYNOPSIS
"Already engaged to a socially proper young woman (Linda Christian), a stuffy lawyer and budding politician (Edmund Purdom) finds he is willing to risk everything when he encounters Athena (Jane Powell), a beautiful but eccentric health nut. Before long, she has him munching vegetables, star gazing and lifting barbells, all under the watchful and guiding eye of her grandparents (Louis Calhern and Evelyn Varden). At the same time, one of Athena's six sisters (Debbie Reynolds) has a similar effect on a popular TV/nightclub crooner (Vic Damone)."
- Liner Notes from Turner/MGM/UA Laserdisc
NOTES
"Athena, dedicated to the proposition that a healthy body and a healthy mind are the prerequisites for romance and everlasting happiness, wrapped a slight, and slightly off-beat, story in a routine screenplay. . .and an equally routine set of songs. . ."
- Clive Hirschhorn, The Hollywood Musical
"Promising but unfulfilling light musical which smothers a good idea in routine treatment."
- Halliwell's Film Guide
![[IMAGE]](athena1.jpg)
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