Small Town Girl
Screening on Film
Directed by Busby Berkeley and Leslie Kardos.
With Jane Powell, Farley Granger, Ann Miller.
US, 1953, 35mm, color, 93 min.
With Jane Powell, Farley Granger, Ann Miller.
US, 1953, 35mm, color, 93 min.
Farley Granger plays a wealthy playboy arrested for speeding in a small town. Jane Powell co-stars in the title role as the judge’s daughter who takes it upon herself to reform the ne’er-do-well Granger. The story is razor-thin and merely a set piece around which to build some inspired musical numbers by Berkeley, including a frenetic performance of “Street Dance” by Bobby Van, in which he bounces around town like a human pogo stick, and “I’ve Got to Hear that Beat,” in which a showgirl played by Ann Miller maneuvers her way around a group of disembodied hands playing musical instruments.