Why a box-office failure became one of the greatest musicals in cinema history

Entertainment · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: The 1953 film The Band Wagon was initially a financial disappointment, losing over one million dollars for MGM. Yet, this backstage musical, starring Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse, is now celebrated as a masterpiece of technical accomplishment, famously cited by Martin Scorsese as his favorite musical of all time.

Directed by Vincente Minnelli, The Band Wagon follows Tony Hunter, a fading musical star attempting a Broadway comeback. The plot centers on a pretentious director, Jeffrey Cordova, who forces a lighthearted musical into a dark, experimental retelling of Faust. This meta-narrative mirrors the film's own production, which featured songs by Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz, including the iconic anthem That's Entertainment! written specifically for the movie.

The film is renowned for its seamless integration of musical numbers, such as the famous Dancing in the Dark sequence and the Mickey Spillane-inspired Girl Hunt Ballet. Notably, the production showcased the only instance of Fred Astaire dancing on-screen with a black partner, the uncredited Leroy Daniels, in the number A Shine on Your Shoes. Behind the scenes, the film was a massive collaborative effort, utilizing the talents of choreographer Michael Kidd and designer Oliver Smith, who worked on his first motion picture for this project.

Despite its initial $1,185,000 loss, the film's reputation grew over decades. In 1995, it was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry for its cultural and aesthetic significance. Critics like Pauline Kael and Leonard Maltin have lauded its sophisticated, high-level technical execution. The film's legacy persists through its influence on later works, including Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal music video and the 2024 film Joker: Folie à Deux, which incorporated the song That's Entertainment! into its narrative.

General information, not professional advice. Spotted an error? Flag the card or see corrections and complaints.

Intellect Plus is a visual educational discovery platform for exploring fascinating facts and ideas. Brain Food, Not Brain Rot. What is Intellect Plus?

Related

• Why the greatest dance musical of the 1930s left its stars bruised and bleeding
• Why Fred Astaire smashed his iconic top hat after filming this 1957 musical
• The 1929 musical that revolutionized Hollywood now survives only in fragments of its color
• Why a film designed to be a total disaster became a box office flop
• A lavish 1969 musical flop that became a surprising cultural touchstone for later generations.
• Can a film about a tragic misunderstanding be a masterpiece of visual storytelling?
• A violent director's gentlest film captures the fading spirit of the American West.
• In 1915, Charlie Chaplin traded his iconic Tramp persona for a humble bank janitor
• Six tales of the American frontier reveal the Coen brothers' dark, musical vision.
• A 1954 Hollywood drama inspired a culinary empire and a professional wrestler's persona
• The secret mission behind the 2019 action film The Balkan Line
• A cinematic blockbuster commissioned to commemorate a century of Chinese Communist Party history

More in Films · More in Entertainment · Latest · A–Z · All topics