On the Town (1949), starring Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra (VIDEO)

Watch the trailer for On the Town, starring Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra; No. 10 on our list of the 100 best New York movies.

By Alison Willmore Tue Jul 3 2012

New York movies: On the Town (1949)

There are few more exuberant evocations of a visit to NYC than Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen’s adaptation of Leonard Bernstein’s musical, in which a trio of sailors (Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Jules Munshin) spend their shore leave out and about, romancing three different women. They sing, dance, flirt and even fit in a visit to the Empire State Building, with the stakes no higher than having a great time before they head back to sea. The film’s sheer, frantic joy finds time for the still-useful directional advice that “the Bronx is up, but the Battery’s down.”—Alison Willmore

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