Theatrical Adventures On Screen and On- and Offstage

Betty Comden and Adolph Green found themselves in 1952 developing for MGM’s Arthur Freed a screenplay using pre-existing songs by Howard Dietz and Arthur Schwartz. The result was the movie The Band Wagon, which starred Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse and was directed by Vincente Minnelli. Not long after they finished writing this they got an urgent call from Broadway director George Abbott. He was working on a new musical, and the show’s star, Rosalind Russell, did not like the songs that had been penned for it. He wondered if they might be willing to write a new score for the show with Leonard Bernstein. They agreed and in four weeks turned out all of the necessary material for the hit musical Wonderful Town.