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The Band Wagon

The Band Wagon

Comedy · Romance · 1953

A Broadway artiste turns a faded film star's comeback vehicle into an artsy flop.

Movie details

The Band Wagon

“Get Aboard!”

1953 Comedy · Romance 1h 52m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.2 / 10

Community rating

A Broadway artiste turns a faded film star's comeback vehicle into an artsy flop.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Band Wagon?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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The Purple Rose of Cairo

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Vincente Minnelli

Written by

Betty Comden · Adolph Green

Fred Astaire

Fred Astaire

Tony Hunter

Cyd Charisse

Cyd Charisse

Gabrielle Gerard

Oscar Levant

Oscar Levant

Lester Marton

Nanette Fabray

Nanette Fabray

Lily Marton

Jack Buchanan

Jack Buchanan

Jeffrey Cordova

James Mitchell

James Mitchell

Paul Byrd

Robert Gist

Robert Gist

Hal

Court is in session

Put The Band Wagon on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.