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.

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

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

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.

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.

Silly, but watchably fun MGM musical, that benefits greatly from its' opening, With on location scenes in New York, and the great chemistry of the three leads, Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Jules Munshin, as sailors on 24 hr shore leave. But, the fantastic opening scene is so strong, the rest of the movie suffers in comparison, as our trio seek out romance and get into all kinds of wacky situations. A little more editing would've helped, especially during the film's weakest moment, the Prehistoric Man number in the museum. Yikes! That was bad. Despite that, this movie is a pleasant diversion.

Good Solid Golden Era Musical. The acting is good even though the characters are very one dimensional but they are brought to life by the actors charm and good chemistry between them. The Cinematography is the best part of the film overall with the setting of The Big Apple making everything stand out and pops on screen. The editing is very well done allowing the performers to showcase their dance and song talents in long takes and carrying over well to story segments. The pacing is good also with this being on the shorter side keeping things moving briskly but sometimes feels like it loses focus because of a lack of a cohesive plot. The plot biggest problem of the film as it feels like there is none at times but its still charming, entertaining and a surprisingly great chase sequence at the end that makes you able to look past it. The songs overall are good and well done. Prehistoric Man definitely does not live up to the quality of the rest of the soundtrack and is not good but is the only one. Some are stronger than others being more catchy but overall there very solid. I wouldn't call this a classic on its own rights but more a classic Gene Kelly & Sinatra musical showcasing their talents well. Definitely worth a watch if your a fan of either of them.

Gene Kelly has worst singing, speaking voice in world. Dance like circus animal. Music meh. NYC look historically interesting.

On the Town is something of a stepping stone among musicals; no example of the genre today would try to shoehorn in an extended dance sequence with no lyrics (as was the style of many Golden Age musicals in the era of early talkies, hinging on a single finale with massive setpieces), but few film musicals before had tried to incorporate so much on-location shooting to take the audience off the soundstage. The film has slipped through the cracks as an artifact of pop culture, with the most relevant reference of the past few decades being an homage to "New York, New York" from Bart Simpson ... in 1993. If you consider musicals to be bits of vibrant escapism, On the Town hits the correct tone but has a tendency to be a bit low-risk and somewhat dull in places; I wouldn't call it a definitive film for either Kelly or Sinatra, instead just a more or less decent representative of their styles. Weirdly enough, this was the second MGM film in three weeks (by release date) to feature crossdressing as a prominent plot point, coming off Adam's Rib. (3/5)

Yeah, it's a little hokey and dated. But it's Gene kelly and Frank Sinatra. It's impossible to dislike.

Supreme dancing, with music by Bernstein.

I did my usual fast forward through the music and dance scenes in the film as they're just so boring and irritating. Rest of the film is simple but has its sweet moments. Pretty camp film all round but can get through it just about.

Aimless comedy that just drags along with little plot

When it sticks to the source material, Gene Kelly, and Frank Sinatra, it’s one of the greatest musicals. The ‘A Day in New York’ dance sequence is pure gold. Kelly and Bernstein a triumphant combo. But..... MGM messed with the original score so much, thinking it too Highbrow, that it has some genuinely horrible moments too. The ‘Prehistoric Man’ number is about the dumbest, cheesiest piece of junk you’ll find in any musical. ‘Count on Me’ and ‘You’re Awful’ are contrived, useless, and a teensy bit awful too. Just enjoy Kelly at his near best,

Take the cast of TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME and plop them in the plot of ANCHORS AWEIGH, keeping the chauvinist nativism of both yet abandoning most of Bernstein's score from the stage show, all while adding a dash (but never enough) of that magical Gene Kelly athleticism.

I watched this twice now just to see what I've missed, and I have come to the conclusion that I've seen it all. It's just not very good. A below-average film that scores well because of the actors involved (perhaps). The music was all big band stuff and had no melodies; nothing you could sing the next day or the next week. It was a failure in all these regards. Tap dancing never entertains me and this is a tap dancing film. The only positive thing about this movie is that it travels around during the first part, although the second half of the movie finds us in the Hollywood backlots and not New York. But, at least, some scenes were original -- which was mighty unusual for an MGM movie.

The best musical movie ever made! With the best movie song ever sung: New York, New York!

I’m a big fan of Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra, so I have no idea why On the Town was not part of my regular musical rotation growing up. Both of those legends get to display their talents in this film. Sinatra croons a couple of tunes perfectly, and Kelly dances like few others have before or since. There’s also Jules Munshin who’s thrown in for some comedy slapstick and goofy faces. I thought the trio all added something to the film even though they didn’t have a ton of time hanging out together. The ladies that they get paired up with are delightful. I love how they don’t beat around the bush and create this mystery about which guy will pair with which girl. These guys only have one night, so there’s no time for that indecision, and so we get quick and obvious pairs formed in a matter of minutes. These ladies share the singing and dancing skills so they can keep pace with the guys throughout the movie. Also, I think I have a crush on Ann Miller after her performance in this film, because she was a particular delight. The songs are fun to listen to, even if they don’t stick with you for hours afterwards. The shortcoming of On the Town is probably in the plot. They don’t have a lot to do, and most of the film is just everyone randomly running around the city. It doesn’t amount to much of anything, and even the one dilemma is so simple it can be resolved in seconds. Yet somehow the film still works. It’s not about the story as much as it’s about having fun and going along for the ride. On the Town is a joyous musical that should satisfy all fans of the genre.

New York, New York; it's a hell of a town and this is a hell of a movie! Once again Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra are sailors on leave and searching for dames. Fans of White Christmas will recognize Vera-Ellen who pairs with Gene Kelly for some great dance sequences.

"On the Town" is a film adaptation of the classic Bernstein musical. This adaptation was subsequently boycotted by Bernstein as the majority of his operatic songs were replaced with Hollywood rewrites. While this rating is based solely on the quality of the film, I do think that it was a pretty sleazy move by MGM to keep the story but rewrite the music. One of the only songs that were preserved from the stage show is "New York, New York" (not the Sinatra version that you are thinking of). Coincidentally, it is the best song in the film and perhaps some of Bernstein's other pieces would have also been well-received if left in the score. As a film viewed without relationship to its stage version, "On the Town" is very entertaining. When you put together the likes of Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Jules Munshin, Ann Miller, Betty Garrett, and Vera-Ellen, a high-energy song-and-dance extravaganza is inevitable. Much of the story is farfetched but the dance numbers keep us interested while the vocalists steal our hearts. The cute insult-turned-compliment one-liners of "You're Awful" are a highlight, as are the tap numbers and the superb "Comedy in Three Acts" ballet sequence that retells the story through dance. "On the Town" falls short of the classic film musicals ("Singing in the Rain," "Oklahoma," "Little Shop"), but it is nice to take a break from the same old shows and remember what it is like to watch a show without knowing all of the lyrics.