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The Band Wagon

Directed by Vincente Minnelli

United States • 1953 • 112 mins.

Showtimes & Past Screenings

This Technicolor extravaganza came at a time when MGM could do no wrong, especially the Freed Unit (named for producer Arthur Freed), which released the justly famous Singin’ in the Rain the prior year to rapturous critical and audience reception. Minnelli’s film—produced by Freed and written by the same team behind Singin’—while lesser known, offers much of the same visual and aural pleasure and self-reflexivity while adding a melancholic edge, focusing on declining star Tony Hunter (Fred Astaire), who seeks to revitalize his career on Broadway. However, Tony, along with co-star Gaby (Cyd Charisse), must overcome a pretentious director who seeks to turn a light comedy into a retelling of the Faust legend—and, somehow, fall in love on the way to saving the show.

Genres: Musical

Appears in: The Art of Reinvention: Paul Thomas Anderson & His Influences

The Northwest Film Center recognizes and honors the Indigenous peoples of this region on whose ancestral lands the museum now stands. These include the Willamette Tumwater, Clackamas, Kathlemet, Molalla, Multnomah and Watlala Chinook Peoples and the Tualatin Kalapuya who today are part of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, and many other Native communities who made their homes along the Columbia River. We also want to recognize that Portland today is a community of many diverse Native peoples who continue to live and work here. We respectfully acknowledge and honor all Indigenous communities—past, present, future—and are grateful for their ongoing and vibrant presence.