Small Town Girl (1953 film)

Small Town Girl
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	László Kardos
Produced by	Joe Pasternak
Written by	Dorothy Cooper (story and screenplay) Dorothy Kingsley (screenplay)
Starring	Jane Powell Farley Granger Ann Miller
Music by	Nicholas Brodszky André Previn Albert Sendrey
Cinematography	Joseph Ruttenberg
Edited by	Albert Akst
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release dates	April 10, 1953 (1953-04-10)
Running time	92 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1,438,000^[1]
Box office	$2,127,000^[1]^[2]

Small Town Girl is a 1953 musical film directed by László Kardos and starring Jane Powell, Farley Granger, and Ann Miller. Busby Berkeley choreographed several dance numbers. Bobby Van performed the memorable "Street Dance", in which he hopped all around town. The film features song performances by Nat King Cole. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song, "My Flaming Heart", with music by Nicholas Brodszky and lyrics by Leo Robin.

Plot

Rick Belrow Livingston (Farley Granger), in love with self-obsessed Broadway star Lisa (Ann Miller), is sentenced to 30 days in jail for speeding through a small town. Quite by accident, he meets the daughter of the judge, Cindy Kimbell (Jane Powell). He persuades her to let him out for one night, so that he can visit Lisa on the premise he is seeing his "poor sick mother" (Billie Burke) on her birthday. After tracking him down and bringing him back to town, Cindy starts to fall for Livingston, but Dr. Schlemmer (S.Z. Sakall) wants her to marry his son (Bobby Van) even though he desperately wants a career on Broadway.

Cast

Jane Powell as Cindy Kimbell
Farley Granger as Rick Belrow Livingston
Ann Miller as Lisa Bellmount
S. Z. Sakall as "Papa" Eric Schlemmer
Robert Keith as Judge Gordon Kimbell
Bobby Van as Ludwig Schlemmer
Billie Burke as Mrs. Livingston
Fay Wray as Mrs. Gordon Kimbell
Nat King Cole as himself
Dean Miller as Mac
William Campbell as Ted

Jane Powell as Cindy Kimbell

Reception

According to MGM records the film made $1,365,000 in the U.S. and Canada and $762,000 elsewhere, resulting in a loss of $287,000.^[1]

Legacy

In recent years, the "Jumping Song" performed by Bobby Van has been referenced in commercials and music videos, including one for Goldfrapp's song "Happiness", in which a happy man jumps through the streets, shaking hands with people and playing with garbage can lids. Peter Wolf also recreated the scene the music video for his 1987 song "Come As You Are". Hugh Jackman, in the 2014 Tony Awards, hopped in his intro and referenced Bobby Van's dance by viewing it on a TV backstage.^[3]

References

1 2 3 The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study .
↑ 'The Top Box Office Hits of 1953', Variety, January 13, 1954
↑ Linda Holmes (June 9, 2014). "Hugh Jackman Jumps; Tony Viewers Say, 'What?'". NPR.

External links

Small Town Girl at the Internet Movie Database
Small Town Girl at AllMovie
Small Town Girl at the TCM Movie Database

Busby Berkeley: Choreographer and director

Broadway pre-Hollywood	Holka Polka (chor, 1925) The Wild Rose (chor, 1926) Lady Do (chor, 1927) A Connecticut Yankee (chor, 1927) White Eagle (chor, 1927) Present Arms (chor, 1928) Earl Carroll's Vanities (1928) (chor, 1928) Good Boy (chor, 1928) Rainbow (chor, 1928) Hello, Daddy (chor, 1928) Pleasure Bound (chor, 1929) A Night in Venice (chor, 1929) Broadway Nights (chor, 1929) The Street Singer (dir & prod, 1929) Nine-Fifteen Revue (chor, 1930) The International Review (chor, 1930) Sweet and Low (chor, 1930)

1930s	Whoopee! (chor, 1930) Kiki (chor, 1931) Palmy Days (chor, 1931) Flying High (chor, 1931) Sky Devils (chor, 1932) Girl Crazy (chor, 1932) Night World (chor, 1932) Bird of Paradise (chor, 1932) The Kid From Spain (chor, 1932) 42nd Street (chor, 1933) Gold Diggers of 1933 (chor, 1933) She Had to Say Yes (dir, 1933) Footlight Parade (chor, 1933) Roman Scandals (chor, 1933) Dames (dir mus nmbrs, 1934) Fashions of 1934 (chor & dir mus nmbrs, 1934) Wonder Bar (chor, 1934) Gold Diggers of 1935 (dir & chor, 1935) Bright Lights (dir, 1935) I Live for Love (dir & chor, 1935) In Caliente (chor & dir mus nmbrs, 1935) Stars Over Broadway (chor & dir mus nmbrs, 1935) Stage Struck (dir, 1936) Varsity Show (dir finale, 1937) The Singing Marine (chor & dir mus nmbrs, 1937) Gold Diggers of 1937 (dir mus nmbrs, 1937) The Go Getter (dir, 1937) Hollywood Hotel (dir & chor, 1937) Men Are Such Fools (dir, 1938) Gold Diggers in Paris (chor & dir mus nmbrs, 1938) Garden of the Moon (dir, 1938) Comet Over Broadway (dir, 1938) Broadway Serenade (dir finale, 1939) They Made Me a Criminal (dir, 1939) Fast and Furious (dir, 1939) Babes in Arms (dir, 1939) The Wizard of Oz (Scarecrow's dance-cut, 1939)

1940s	Forty Little Mothers (dir, 1940) Strike Up The Band (dir, 1940) Blonde Inspiration (dir, 1941) Lady Be Good (dir mus nmbrs, 1941) Ziegfeld Girl (dir mus nmbrs, 1941) Babes on Broadway (dir, 1941) For Me and My Gal (dir, 1942) Calling All Girls (chor & dir mus nmbrs, 1942) Born to Sing (dir finale, 1942) Cabin in the Sky (dir "Shine" seq, 1943) The Gang's All Here (dir & chor, 1943) Three Cheers for the Girls (chor, 1943) Girl Crazy (dir "I Got Rhythm", 1943) All Star Musical Revue (dir mus nmbrs, 1945) Cinderella Jones (dir, 1946) Romance on the High Seas (chor, 1948) Take Me Out to the Ball Game (dir, 1949)

1950s	Annie Get Your Gun (dir-cut, 1950) Big Town (dir TV series, 1950) Weeks With Love (chor, 1950) Call Me Mister (chor, 1951) Ticket to Broadway (chor, 1951) Million Dollar Mermaid (chor, 1952) Small Town Girl (chor, 1953) Easy to Love (chor, 1953) Rose Marie (chor, 1954)

1960s	Billy Rose's Jumbo (chor & dir 2nd unit, 1962)

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