Easter Parade

m. From here on in, this plot is fairly predictable so don't expect anything remotely left-field. What we do get, though, is a classy and charming romance that's peppered with half a dozen energetically choreographed routines that prove quite a feat for a woman usually wearing six-inch heels and an ankle-length skirt! Obviously, everyone does their own singing - to the likes of Irving Berlin's "It Only Happens When I Dance With You"; "A Couple of Swells" and the title track and these songs showcase not just the powerful voice of Garland, but also of the fainter but equally soothing dulcets of the dapper Astaire too. Lawford doesn't really trouble the scorers but does enough and Miller plays the increasingly irked "Nadine' - "Shakin' the Blues Away", quite entertainingly as the film gathers pace. It's precision film-making at it's most natural, is colourful, lively, occasionally quite pithily written and well worth a watch.