Relevant element: The title song, along with a few smartly choreographed set pieces
Why it resonated: This functions as a classic example of the grand Hollywood musical, with high-energy productions of songs already popular or intended to become popular, strung together as gamely as possible with an overarching plot. It's a basic formula done very well here: a little song, a little dance, a little cake in the face....
General comments on the film: The elements of this film that struck me most were the self-conscious industry bits. This is, after all, a movie made in 1952 about the advent of talking pictures in 1927. While focusing on a silent film star whose voice would doom her career might seem a bit obvious, the scenes dealing with the silent stars spitting venom at each other while filming a love scene and the sound not syncing with the image are playful and clever. Anyone who has watched early sound films has to laugh with recognition at the ploys the director uses to capture the actors' voices, like putting a microphone in a conspicuously placed bush and anchoring the actors around it.
It's hard not to be won over by the charm of the leads, the snappy old-time-Hollywood line delivery, and the remarkably choreographed numbers with few obvious cuts. The continuity suffers at times, especially in the surprisingly draggy falling-in-love song and the overlong New York/"Gotta Dance" passage, but the films within films and the persistently cheerful energy of the movie dare you to be grumpy about such quibbles.
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