Daddy Long Legs [DVD] [1955]

The point of a Fred Astaire movie is Fred Astaire dancing. Daddy Long Legs is an uncomfortable attempt to do two additional things. First, to take advantage of the emerging popularity of Leslie Caron, who had caught the American public's attention with her first movie, An American in Paris, made when she was just 20. Caron at that age had an endearing, innocent quality, a delightful accent, and the American public loved it. Second (and in order to accomplish the first point), to meld Astaire's style of easy, graceful sophistication with what Caron was most comfortable with, ballet. The result is a musical that has many good things, but is probably one of the weaker of the Fred Astaire films.

Jervis Pendleton III (Fred Astaire), a rich, charming, middle-aged American businessman from a mainline family of inherited wealth, comes across an orphanage in France while on a high-level government-sponsored trip to Paris. By chance he sees a young woman taking care of the orphans and is charmed by her vitality and simplicity. The girl, he learns, is 18 years old and is called Julie Andre (Leslie Caron). She is an orphan, too. When he realizes her future is probably to age into eventually running the orphanage herself or to marry a chubby French farmer, he takes steps to whisk her to America, enroll her in exclusive Walston College and see to it that she has every advantage. All this he does anonymously. Then he forgets about her. His assistant, Griggs (Fred Clark) and Griggs' assistant, Alicia Pritchard (Thelma Ritter), keep track of Julie, monitor her progress and file the letters she writes to her anonymous benefactor, whom she has come to call Daddy Long Legs. Eventually, the two meet. Jervis realizes he loves Julie. Julie realizes she loves Jervis and that he had been her benefactor. After a few misunderstandings are cleared up, they dance away together to the strains of Johnny Mercer's "Dream."

Why is this movie, for me, so unsatisfying? First, the age difference is noticeable. Astaire was 56 when he made the movie; Caron was 24. Well, Astaire was 58 when he made Funny Face with Audrey Hepburn. She was 28, but the disparity there wasn't so apparent. With Daddy Long Legs, I think it's because Caron, at this point in her career, wasn't a very good actress. She seems unformed, both as an actress and as a person. To show excitement, she simply shakes her hands and cries, "Ooo la la!." Playing against a man 32 years older than she, she just seems too malleable for comfort. Second, Astaire was a great dance stylist, but ballet-influenced routines never showed him at his best. Caron was a competent ballet dancer and there are two long ballet sequences for her, one involving Astaire, to show her off. They were choreographed by Roland Petit to suit her strengths. In my opinion, they're journeyman works. When paired with Astaire for two dances, Caron seems stiff and sometimes looks like she's concentrating on what she's doing. They just don't make a good match. Third, the movie is long, over two hours. Much of the time is spent with Julie Andre. Once Andre's character and situation are established, however, there's not much to keep us involved with her.

And why is this movie worth looking at? Well, first, Astaire is a joy to watch even if he's just walking down the street. He has three good dance routines. "History of the Beat" is a fast tap number that also shows his skill at the drums, not to mention with drum sticks. He can make drumsticks do things in a dance that most dancers can't do with their feet. Then there's "Sluefoot," a jitterbug number at the college dance. It's satisfying to see the old smoothie show the youngsters how things are really done. And there's "Something's Gotta Give," a romantic, graceful dance number, sung by Astaire and then performed with Caron. If it's not at the level of "I'm Old Fashioned," which he did with Rita Hayworth more than a decade earlier, it'll do. Second, there are the songs written by Johnny Mercer. They're smart, hip and easy to listen to. One, "Something's Gotta Give," hit the charts and became a classic. A great song Mercer wrote earlier, "Dream," drifts in and out of the movie like a wisp of sleepy romance. Third, Astaire is backed by two great Hollywood character actors, Fred Clark as his exasperated right-hand man and Thelma Ritter as the tough talking secretary who finally takes things in hand.

All in all, Daddy Long Legs has a number of good things. After watching the movie once, however, I think you're going to want to use the fast-forward button to get to them. The DVD features an excellent picture and audio.

Excellent movie, even if a trifle old-fashioned by today's standards. But then again, while the story line is quite good (but old hat), it's the cast that counts - and, if you go for quality, how can you go past Fred Astaire and Lesie Caron!
A nice movie to keep on the shelf for the 'oldies' but also one that some of the younger generation might enjoy, too.

I love the 'old' films with actors who were real stars and who had so much talent. This is a must for anyone who loves great dancing and a decent storyline.