On the Town

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On the Town

Released Dec 30, 1949

1h 38m

Musical

Comedy

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Popcornmeter

94%

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32 Reviews

83%

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10,000+ Ratings

Fun-loving sailors Gabey (Gene Kelly), Chip (Frank Sinatra) and Ozzie (Jules Munshin) have 24 hours of shore leave in New York City, and they want to make every second count. While Chip hooks up with loudmouth cab driver Brunhilde (Betty Garrett) and Ozzie swoons for prim anthropologist Claire (Ann Miller), Gabey falls in love with an actress he sees in an advertisement, Ivy Smith (Vera-Ellen). Leonard Bernstein, with lyricists Betty Comden and Adolph Green, provides the music.

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Critics Consensus

Overflowing with infectious enthusiasm, On the Town is an exhilarating musical ride across the real streets of New York featuring another graceful performance from Gene Kelly.

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Bob Thomas

Associated Press

A bright Christmas confection.

Jun 19, 2019

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Adam Kempenaar

Filmspotting

It's hard to make a good musical with mediocre songs... One exception... the sweetness and gracefulness [of Gene Kelly and Vera-Ellen] in "Main Street."

Rated: 2.5/5

Apr 22, 2019

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Ian Nathan

Empire Magazine

Delightful, athletic stuff with some unusual -- but wonderful -- location shooting. New York never looked better.

Rated: 4/5

May 3, 2013

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Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

Remains an entertaining vehicle and stepping-stone for its star Kelly, who also co-directed with Stanley Donen.

Rated: 7/10

Mar 17, 2025

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Tony Sloman

Radio Times

This utterly exhilarating landmark movie musical gave Gene Kelly and choreographer Stanley Donen their directing break.

Rated: 5/5

Aug 22, 2024

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Danielle Solzman

Solzy at the Movies

On the Town features splendid performances and wonderful music in a spectacular directorial debut for Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen.

Rated: 4/5

Aug 7, 2022

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Susan M

A golden oldie. Charm, music and talent to spare. A 1945 treasure.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/28/24

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Eye C

What a cute and beautiful movie, love it. Frank Sinatra singing by the ear to the girl that she's awfull is the most hot of the movie.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

06/26/25

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Audience Member

My mother-in-law told me I HAVE to see this and claimed that it was funny, romantic and a Golden Age of films classic. I thought it blew chunks. Aside from a nice song or two and a couple of nice dance numbers, it was a big downer for me because it was so immature vapid--cringey and seemed to be aiming for an audience that had never been off the farm and gawked at them big ol buildings. The "Come up to my place," song was embarrassing. Ann Millers dancing had nothing to do with anything other than showing how many taps she could do per second and she looked sort of possessed when she was doing it. Frank Sinatra always seemed like a tough nut to me in real life, but here he ran like a girl everywhere he scurried off to. And although you get to see New York, the scenarios made it seem like a bad advertising commercial. Mostly though, it's not very funny and only mildly adventurous.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

12/11/24

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Liam D

Classic Musical with star and co-director Gene Kelly (The Tunnel of Love) Frank Sinatra (Tony Rome) director Stanley Donen (Saturn 3) and composer Leonard Bernstein (On the Waterfront) combined together to create a blast and fun time

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/10/24

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Alec B

Once you've become more familiar with the original stage production and it's score this film adaption seems less like a classic and more like a missed opportunity. It's fun and the cast has some truly terrific performers but the removal of most of Bernstein's original music in favor of mostly lackluster songs is frustrating.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

12/14/23

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Nizar N

Another classic from Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra… Astounding visuals as usual, and an entertaining series of events. The only drawback would be the musical numbers that might not be very memorable, but are not so bad either, and they are redeemed by the impressive choreographies.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/19/23

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Stanley Donen

Director

Gene Kelly

Director

Gene Kelly

Gabey

Frank Sinatra

Chip

Ann Miller

Claire Huddesen

Vera-Ellen

Ivy Smith

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Synopsis

Fun-loving sailors Gabey (Gene Kelly), Chip (Frank Sinatra) and Ozzie (Jules Munshin) have 24 hours of shore leave in New York City, and they want to make every second count. While Chip hooks up with loudmouth cab driver Brunhilde (Betty Garrett) and Ozzie swoons for prim anthropologist Claire (Ann Miller), Gabey falls in love with an actress he sees in an advertisement, Ivy Smith (Vera-Ellen). Leonard Bernstein, with lyricists Betty Comden and Adolph Green, provides the music.

Director: Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly
Producer: Arthur Freed
Screenwriter: Adolph Green, Betty Comden
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Warner Home Vídeo, MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc.
Production Co: Metro Goldwyn Mayer
Genre: Musical, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 30, 1949, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 1, 2009
Runtime: 1h 38m

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