ROYAL WEDDING

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CREDITS

1951, 93 minutes, Technicolor.
Producer, Arthur Freed; Director, Stanley Donen; Screenplay, Alan Jay Lerner; Cinematography, Robert Planck; Choreography, Nick Castle; Music Director, Johnny Green.

CAST

Tom Bowen, Fred Astaire; Ellen Bowen, Jane Powell; Lord John Brindale, Peter Lawford; Anne Ashmond, Sarah Curchill; Irving/Edgar Klinger, Keenan Wynn; James Ashmond, Albert Sharpe; Sarah Ashmond, Viola Roache.

SONGS

You're All the World to Me; How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Love You When You Know I've Been a Liar All My Life?; Sunday Jumps; Every Night At Seven; Open Your Eyes; The Happiest Day Of My Life; I Left My Hat in Haiti; Too Late Now; What a Lovely Day for a Wedding by Alan Jay Lerner and Burton Lane.

PLOT SYNOPSIS

"Royal Wedding is a show business story set during Princess Elizabeth's wedding to Philip Mountbatten. A brother-sister dance team (Astaire and Powell) goes to London to take part in the festivities. But once there, they become preoccupied with romance. He is beguiled by a music hall dancer (Sarah Churchill). She falls for a handsome young Lord (Peter Lawford). The question: will love and marriage break up the act?"
- Liner Notes from Turner/MGM/UA Laserdisc

NOTES

"An exhilarating Technicolor entertainment."
- Clive Hirschhorn, The Hollywood Musical

"A lively lot of dancing and some pleasantly handled songs. . .graced with Fred Astaire beating his tootsies and Jane Powell beating her gums. . .The couple shimmy-shammy and knock each other - and the audience - dead."
- Bosley Crowther, The New York Times

"The director, Stanley Donen, tries to make this musical buoyant. . .but the magic isn't there. It's jaunty at times, but not more than that."
- Pauline Kael, 5001 Nights At The Movies


ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATION:
Best Song - "Too Late Now"

June Allyson, then Judy Garland, were both cast in the lead role before Jane Powell was assigned to it; Charles Walters was originally set to direct the film.

This was the film debut of Sarah Churchill (Winston's daughter), the solo directorial debut of Stanley Donen, and the screenwriting debut of Alan Jay Lerner.

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