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A pleasing if forgettable minor musical that provides Bob Fosse with one of his few major roles, Give a Girl a Break is just one of many MGM musicals released during the 50s that is more of a trial run for up-and-coming talent than anything else. After all, there’s a precocious Debbie Reynolds fresh off Singin’ in the Rain and Gower and Marge Champion trying out for the Fred and Ginger formula. Although that last bit is also part of the problem.
Gower and Marge Champion are exquisite dancers, best used in specialty numbers or in supporting roles, but limited as actors. He’s very handsome but can’t seem to sparkle like Gene Kelly in front of the camera. Give a Girl a Break does provide Champion and Fosse with the opportunity to dance together, and that’s really something. Now if this had given the main roles to Fosse and Reynolds, we might be talking about this film in a different context. Their major dance scene, “Balloon Dance,” is one of the great sequences in an MGM film where the film runs backwards, forwards, and they twirl through a stylized New York City landscape.
