Royal Wedding (MGM) is a 1951 Hollywood musical comedy film set in London in 1947 at the time of the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Phillip, and stars Fred Astaire, Jane Powell, Peter Lawford, Sarah Churchill and Keenan Wynn, with music by Burton Lane and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. The film was directed by Stanley Donen.
Astaire and Powell play a brother and sister song and dance duo, echoing the real-life theatrical relationship of Fred and Adele Astaire. Powell, who was not first choice for the role, surprised her colleagues with her all-round ability. She falls for Lawford, who plays an English aristocrat - mirroring Adele Astaire's romance and eventual marriage to Lord Charles Cavendish, son of the Duke of Devonshire.
Royal Wedding is one of several MGM musicals (another being Till the Clouds Roll By) that have lapsed into public domain. As such it is widely available on Video and DVD, but the quality of these versions varies. In February 2007, Warner Home Video announced plans to issue a restored version of Royal Wedding on DVD
"How Can You Believe Me When I Said I Love You When You Know I've Been A Liar All My Life" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cm8WG2UVz0 This is considered the longest title of any song in MGM musical history. For the first time in his career,[1] Astaire successfully casts aside all pretension to elegance and indulges in a deliberately vulgar comic song and dance vaudeville-style routine with Powell. The routine recalls the "A Couple Of Swells" number with Judy Garland in Easter Parade. Here, for the second time in the film, he seems to parody Gene Kelly by wearing the latter's trademark straw boater, and employing the stomps and splayed strides which originated with George M. Cohan, and were much favored in Kelly's choreography.
"Open Your Eyes" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnANrgMTiZ4 This lilting waltz is sung by Powell at the beginning of a romantic routine danced by Powell and Astaire in front of an audience in the ballroom of a transatlantic liner. Soon, a storm rocks the ship and the duet is transformed into a comic parody with the dancers sliding about to the ship's motions. This number is based on a real-life incident which happened to Fred and Adele Astaire as they traveled by ship to London in 1923.
