Prompt: Consider Sinatra's relationship to women in films. Also, consider what model of masculinity he and his male co-stars each represent.
The film of the week was On the Town, which I have seen multiple times and own. I think Betty Garrett (who plays the character of Hilde the cab driver) is hilarious, and that Ann Miller (the character of Claire Huddesen) is such a fun dancer to watch. On the Town is an interesting film to look at because Sinatra is paired with two male foils, and they each show somewhat different types of masculinity in my opinion. Frank Sinatra is once again placed in uniform, this time as a Navy sailor named Chip. Gene Kelly plays the character of Gabey, and Jules Munshin is Ozzie. The three friends have a 24 hour leave in New York City, and are determined to make the best of their day off.
I feel that this male character that Sinatra is portraying is one step closer to the image of masculinity that he is most remembered by today, and is also one step farther in the evolution of his screen persona. Chip seems to have a little more game when it comes to the ladies, but he is still more reserved than his friends in terms of pursuing women. Chip does join in with Gabe and Ozzie in making the wolf whistle, but then he seems to revert back to the more naive and inexperienced guy that we've seen him play before. When all three of them are talking about what they're going to do during their day, Ozzie and Gabe want to go and find some women, but Chip really wants to go sightseeing; this is Chip's chance to see a big city and experience things that he wouldn't see in the small town of Peoria where he's from. Chip sometimes gets talked down to like a kid, which seems to be a common theme throughout his early movies. One example is when Chip asks Gabe why he has to run after girls all the time, and Gabe says he'll tell Chip the answer to that once Chip's voice changes. Gabe also calls Chip 'junior' on a few occasions, and even Hilde calls Chip 'kid.' Towards the end of the movie, when talking about Chip, Hilde describes him as being a "skinny little runt," which echoes a lot of the actual descriptions of Sinatra at the time.
It was very interesting to watch this film and consider the prompt question, because I noticed that there were alternating moments where Chip would be very forward with Hilde or clueless and scared. Hilde the cab drive is EXTREMELY direct with her intentions towards Chip, and has no reservations about going after what she wants. This is really the first time that we've seen Sinatra's character paired with a woman who openly and actively pursues him, so that is interesting. It seems that she takes on the more traditionally masculine role of the forward pursuer, but there are also moments where Chip takes the lead in their relationship. Hilde will only drive the guys around if Chip sits up front next to her, and within a few minutes of their interaction she invites him up to her place. Chip tries to rebuff her and says that he really wants to go see the sights of New York, to which Hilde says "stick with me kid, I'll show you plenty" (lots of sexual innuendo in that), tries to get Chip to kiss her, and throws her legs over his lap. Chip doesn't know what to make of these advances, and seems like a scared little boy who isn't sure how he got put in this situation. Eventually, however, Hilde wears him down and gets him to go up to her apartment. As soon as they get up there, the 'little boy Chip' disappears and is replaced by a man who certainly knows how to embrace a woman and kiss her passionately. The not so smooth Chip re-appears when they're at the top of the Empire State Building and he's completely ignoring Hilde and looking through the telescope at Manhattan. Once he realizes she's really sore though, he throws his guide book over the railing and focuses on her. Another similarity that I found between Sinatra in this movie and others that we've watched of him is that he always becomes extremely more confident in himself and his relationships once he starts singing. When they're at the top of the Empire State Building he tells Hilde that he can't whisper sweet nothings in her ear because the words get all tangled up, but he can sing to her and let her know that he cares. Sinatra's strongest talent is his ability to sing, so once again that is played up to his character's advantage to help him get the girl. Gene Kelly is the strongest in his dancing, so it is perfect that he's paired with Vera-Ellen who is quite a talented dancer, in my opinion, and can keep up with him.
Gabe is once again the guy who seems to feel that he has to put on a big show to impress a girl, and that he also has to play up his exploits for the other guys in the service. Once Gabe realizes that acting cocky and condescending is not the way to impress Ivy, his shell disappears and he is very nice and humble. Just like in Anchors Away when Joe makes up a big story about the dames they found to impress the other servicemen at the hostel, Gabe kind of does the same thing here. He can't resist bragging about having a date with Miss Turnstiles that night, and how she was attracted to him because of his sheer magnetism. Even though he has that cocky exterior, he really does fall hard for Ivy Smith (played by Vera-Ellen) and tells her that he wants something serious that will last beyond his one day on leave. Ozzie is the guy who continuously makes jokes, but gets down to business when it comes to wooing Claire. Claire seems to be a good match for him because she has a very dry sense of humor and can hold her own in her interaction with Ozzie.
As I was looking back through my notes from the movie earlier, I noticed that I have a few on the interesting relationship between Sinatra and Kelly's characters. In one of my other classes, Men in America, Women in America, we have been reading and talking about same sex relationships and friendships and how they've changed over the centuries. Back in the 19th century it was not unusual for men to form extremely close relationships with one another, or to be affectionate in their letters. Having that kind of relationship and expressing their affection for one another did not necessarily mean that they were having a sexual relationship of any kind, which is the stigma that gets attached to people today who show loving emotions for someone of the same sex (especially males). In the two movies that we have seen Kelly and Sinatra in, even though they have a very close relationship, do almost everything together, and look out for one another I do not feel that there is any insinuation of homosexuality. I might be alone in thinking that however. I feel like at the time when these movies were released though they were just seen as devoted friends and nothing more, and that it was still okay for men to display their close relationships with friends. One scene in On the Town that really stands out to me is when Chip is worried about Gabe being upset and depressed because Ivy ditched him. When Chip expresses his concern and knows Gabe is taking it hard, Gabe replies "I know you know, that's why I love ya." I feel like in films and on tv today you would rarely see one guy say I love you to another guy who was not related to him.
As I was searching online for things about this movie, I came across this event from a few years ago where On the Town was played in the middle of Times Square in NY. I thought it sounded pretty cool!
http://www.timessquarenyc.org/about_us/MemorialDayMovie.html
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