Originally conceived as a loose sequel to On the Town, It’s Always Fair Weather serves as the other bookend to the Donen-Kelly partnership and a bittersweet elegy to the fading glory days of the Hollywood musical and the legendary Freed Unit. In spite of Donen’s trademark joyous dance numbers, which include Kelly tap dancing on roller skates and a dazzling Cyd Charisse sparring with a room full of boxers, a distinctly cynical undercurrent runs throughout the film’s brisk satire of Madison Avenue, television and Fifties American values in general and the corrosive effects of time and distance on even the most heartfelt of friendships. Donen’s last film at MGM, It’s Always Fair Weather is a fittingly nostalgic farewell to the studio that gave him his start.