On The Town (1949)

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 a model he sees in an advertisement, Ivy Smith (Vera-Ellen). Leonard Bernstein, with lyricists Betty Comden and Adolph Green, along with Roger Edens, provides the music. Gene Kelly got a directing credit on this film, but did he use his star power to force his way into that position? What happened to all of Leonard Bernstein's music from the play? Was the famous line "New York New York It's A Wonderful Town" almost something else? And who had padding in the buttocks of their sailor suit? James and Lara break it down in this episode about a musical that is light and sweet like a cupcake.