Easter Parade
1948 film by Charles Walters
Add new record
- As Hannah indicates, Easter Sunday did, in fact, fall on April 7 during 1912, the year this movie is set (according to the marquee for the Ziegfeld Follies of 1912).
- Ann Miller danced with pinched nerves in her back. She was also taller than Fred Astaire, so she had to wear flats in her scenes with him. This can be seen towards the end of the movie. When she finishes the number "The Girl I Love" she goes behind the curtain wearing red high heels; when she comes back out in front of the audience to entice Astaire to dance with her to their old song "It Only Happens When I Dance With You", she's wearing red flats.
- Gene Kelly was originally scheduled to play Don, but he broke his ankle when he stamped his foot in anger after losing a volleyball game. It was at his suggestion that he be replaced by Fred Astaire. Cyd Charisse was up for the role of Nadine, but a torn ligament in either one or both of her knees forced her to drop out. She was replaced by Ann Miller. Although she had been a star for years, Judy Garland had never met Astaire before, and was afraid to speak to him until they were properly introduced.
- The film deleted a musical number, "Mr. Monotony," in which Judy Garland wears the same costume she would immortalize two years later in Summer Stock (1950) in the number "Get Happy"; the costume was a man's tuxedo coat and hat. For years, there were rumors that "Get Happy" was cut from another film and inserted into Summer Stock (1950). It is believed that this song being removed from "Easter Parade" is the origin of that rumor. An abbreviated version of the "Mr. Monotony" number was included in That's Entertainment! III (1994), and the complete number is included as an extra on the Warner Home Video "Easter Parade" DVD.
- Judy Garland's husband, Vincente Minnelli, was originally slated to direct, but her psychiatrist advised them not to work together.
- This picture, which began its run nationally on July 8, 1948, was the second-biggest moneymaking film of the year, directly after the Crosby-Hope-Lamour "Road" trip to Rio, which was launched nationally on Christmas Day of 1947. The critical and financial success of the Garland-Astaire pairing chiefly "made up" for the mixed reviews and poor box office (except in a few large cities) of Judy Garland's prior musical, The Pirate (1948), which had opened nationally on June 11, only a month before her frolic with Mr. Astaire was seen by moviegoers.
- Jules Munshin's film debut.
- The dye from the feather on Judy Garland's hat in "Fella with an Umbrella" song, ran all over her face and jacket, so they coated it with vaseline. The feather looks different in two different shots.
- This is the second time that a character says to Judy Garland: "Why didn't you tell me I was in love with you?" in a film. The first was Gene Kelly in For Me and My Gal (1942).
- The shedding feathered gown worn by Judy Garland when she dances with Fred Astaire in one number is an inside joke reference to Ginger Rogers' problematic gown dancing with Fred Astaire in Top Hat (1935). An ostrich feather broke loose from Ginger Rogers' elaborate gown and stubbornly floated in mid air around Astaire's face.