Waste of Money.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, Peter Lawford and Ann Miller star in this grand movie musical about a dancing team (Fred and Ann) who break up when Ann Miller decides she has bigger aspirations and leaves the act. Fred then in turn in emotional haste states that she is replaceable and that he can teach anyone to dance as well as she does. Enter Judy Garland. I can't believe I haven't reviewed this film before now, and I don't know if I can contain myself enough to write one. This is absolutely one of my top five musicals of all time, OF ALL TIME! How could I possibly be unbiased! There is not one moment, scene, song or feeling that feels false or weak. Much has been said about the "A Couple of Swells" number in this movie, but every single musical number is great, with "Steppin' Out with My Baby" arguably being the highlight. But even the slow songs that Judy Garland sings are great. There are lots of great crooners and/or vocalists in American music history, but Judy Garland had her distinctive way of reaching her listeners and making you feel in in her place. See the "Better Luck Next Time" number. It goes without saying that Fred is excellent here, and Ann Miller has always been my favorite dancer, who held a record at one time with the most taps in one minute. See her "Shakin' the Blues Away." And, Peter Lawford sings! How can you not like this film! I say it every Easter that this film is too good to only watch once a year. See it right now! See it next month! Watch it for July 4th! See for yourself why this is a great example of MGM movie musicals at their best!!

First, a personal note: While I had watched this previously on an independent TV station in Jacksonville, FL, during the '90s, I had a little child visitor at the time who wanted to play some games while the movie was running so I obliged him and missed some of the movie as a result. I had recently watched this on one DVD bought by my father years ago but that pixilated during Ann Miller's number "Shakin' the Blues Away" so I managed to see the rest from another one I borrowed from the library a few days ago. Okay, so when Fred Astaire retired after completing Irving Berlin's Blue Skies in 1946, he was going to keep busy raising horses and building his dance studios around the country. But only two years later, he seemed to want to come back and got an opportunity quicker than expected when Gene Kelly injured his ankle in an off-screen game and told Fred he'd be doing him a favor in agreeing to replace him. So Fred did and in doing so was not only reunited with the songs of Berlin but also got to team with Judy Garland for what turned to be the only time in their careers. Also, Ann Miller-after years of being in Columbia B-features-also got to appear in an M-G-M movie for her first time in her life! So with those three cast, it's no wonder this was such an enjoyable picture to watch, musical-wise! The plot, well, it's another in the dance man-loses-one-partner-gains-another-one done many times before. What matters is how great many of the numbers are like Asaire's "Drum Crazy" with the way he uses his feet on those things! Or Miller's number I mentioned earlier. And how about Fred and Judy's hilarious comic number "We're a Couple of Swells" with their being dressed as bums pretending to be rich aristocrats! Also, Astaire's "Steppin' Out with my Baby" with his slow-motion sequence was another highlight! Had Garland's "Mr. Monotony" also been kept in (Great outtake was eventually publicly shown in That's Entertainment, Part III) it would have been even better! Oh, and Peter Lawford wasn't bad with "A Fella with an Umbrella", either. So on that note, I highly recommend Easter Parade. P.S. In once again making note of people associated with my favorite movie-It's a Wonderful Life-with other things, here, it's screenwriters Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett who wrote that and this one.

Don Hewes (Fred Astaire) and Nadine Hale (Ann Miller) are a dancing team. But she signs a contract to do her own show. Then Don claims that he can pick any girl from the restaurant dancing troop to replace Nadine. Hannah Brown (Judy Garland) just happens to be that any girl. He teaches the young dancer who has trouble differentiating left and right. They eventually become a good dancing team. Don's friend Jonathan Harrow III (Peter Lawford) falls for the lovely Hannah, but it's too late. She's already fallen for her dance partner.Fred Astaire is a bit too old for Judy Garland. Gene Kelly would have been a better fit. Judy Garland is hilarious and charming. How she attracts men is as funny as heck. This is the teaming up of Astaire and Garland with the great Irving Berlin. The big three is enough to recommend this for all musical lovers. It is chalk full of songs and dances. The dance I love the most is the one where he's dancing in slow motion while the back ground is happening in normal speed. It's a fun effect.

In both comedies and dramas, Judy Garland always had a tendency to rely on her girlish indignation (audiences must have enjoyed watching her rigid-side thaw and soften under the tutelage of a persistent male). In Charles Walters' "Easter Parade", she's a bit more flexible than usual after initially getting her feathers ruffled by hoofer Fred Astaire, who needs a replacement for sassy Ann Miller after Miller moves onto Broadway. Pairing Garland with Astaire was an inspired idea, however the teaming never quite catches fire (the plot mechanisms surrounding them being far too trite). Impertinent Ann Miller easily steals the show, however Astaire's jazzy opening number is one of his best. Peter Lawford, that perennial hole in the screen, rounds out the romantic foursome, though it's almost impossible to care who ends up with who. ** from ****