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Plot summary
Three U.S. Navy sailors, Gabey, Chip and Ozzie, come ashore in New York for a single day of shore leave. On the subway, Gabey spots a poster for the newly named Miss Turnstiles, Ivy Smith, and meets her for a moment when she poses for a promotional photograph. After she boards the next train, he vows to find her again, and his friends help him search the city. Chip, who arrived with an outdated guidebook and plans to sightsee, is instead pursued by Hildy Esterhazy, a taxi driver who will not let him go. Ozzie catches the eye of Claire Huddesen, an anthropologist who takes him for the prehistoric man she has been looking for.
Cast
- Bette Arlenas Dancer in 'Day in New York' Ballet
- Anne Beckas Nightclub Patron
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about On the Town (1949)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Most of Leonard Bernstein's score was dropped from the film in favour of new songs by Edens, who found Bernstein's music too complex and too operatic for film audiences; Bernstein boycotted the film in response.
- Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen wanted to shoot in New York City, but MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer refused, citing the studio's New York backlot sets; the pair held their ground and Mayer relented, allowing a limited number of location days.
- The production's biggest problem was crowds of Frank Sinatra's fans, so some shots were filmed with the camera placed inside a station wagon to keep the shooting out of public view.
- The Breen Office of the MPAA refused to allow the word "helluva" in the song "New York, New York", so the lyric was changed to "wonderful".
- The musical numbers staged on location in New York were the first time a major studio had done this, and the New York location shoot took nine days.
