LEGS

US, 1983, 91 minutes, Colour.
Gwen Verdon, John Heard, Sheree North, Maureen Teefey.
Directed by Jerrold Freedman.

Legs is an enjoyable telemovie about Radio City Music Hall and the famous Rockettes who have danced there for decades. The sound of the music by Lee Holdridge as well as the staging of the musical numbers is surely reminiscent of A Chorus Line (although this film preceded the film version by two years).

The film was co-written by its director Jerrold Freedman. It delineates its characters quite well - the would-be dancers, the veteran choreographer, the photographer from California, the demanding mother...

John Heard is the photographer, Sheree North, a dancer in her own time, especially in the '50s, is the mother, but Gwen Verdon has a good role as the former dancer-turned-choreographer.

The film treads familiar ground - the hopefuls, the rehearsals, the limited positions and the number of girls wanting to reach the top, the good-hearted choreographer, relationships and decisions.

1.Enjoyable telemovie - New York background, Radio City Music Hall and its reputation throughout the world? A story about show business?

2.New York settings, Radio City Music Hall itself, the rehearsal rooms? The streets of New York City? The staging of performances, choreography? Music and lyrics? Echoes of A Chorus Line?

3.The title, the focus on the dancers, their physical ability and beauty, choreography, costumes and decor, style - and the response of the audience?

4.The situation in Radio City Music Hall - full-time employment and part-time? Aspiring dancers? The three girls who train - Lisa and her marriage, background with the Rockettes, wanting to return? The daughter of the Rockette and the demands her mother made on her, her arrogance with the rest of the girls? Melissa, the young girl from the ordinary background, the hopeful? Their training and their dancing? Their interactions with the rest of the girls? The scenes at rehearsal, exercise, in the dressing-room? Fights, friendships and clashes? Performance?

5.Maureen and her background, so many decades with the Rockettes, a good dancer, her experience, choreographer? Her ability to work with the girls? The personal dilemmas, her handling of them? The decisions about the replacement? Getting the veteran dancer to retire, choosing the new leader and asking her for confidentiality - which was not given? Her final decisions? Her discussion with the veteran dancer pressurising her daughter?

6.The mother and daughter, memories of the Rockettes? Pressures? Success and wealth? - As a career, working with a troupe, learning to be part of the team rather than as an individual dancer? The consequent demands? The effect of dancing for many years - and the women retiring hoping for a future?

7.Dan, the photographer from Los Angeles, the audience observing the life in Radio City Music Hall through his eyes, photography, understanding? The encounter with Lisa, the attraction, outings, the beginnings of the affair? His wanting her to go back to California, her wanting to stay? Parting amicably?

8.Melissa and the young stage attendant - friendship, his wanting to date a Rockette, their outings together, home, the movies? Her not getting the job - but his still wanting to go out with her? Her feeling of affirmation, determination to go on?

9.The daughter and her confrontation with her mother, her self-sacrifice in giving up the position, wanting to be part of a team, benefiting by the experience? Lisa, the broken marriage, her child, wanting to make a comeback, her skills, success?

10.The background of American show business and the American Dream? The scenes of the audiences appreciating the shows? Familiar characters and situations - but done with some liveliness - for the wide television audience?