Daddy Long Legs

Originally published on social media on May 26th, 2022

When I was looking over films to review in honor of my Grandma Oma, my mom kept mentioning how much she loved this one. Not only did she love this film, but she loved the book too and apparently read out loud when my mom was little. Imagining that scene makes my heart happy.

Here’s another great film for a rainy day! Embodying all the nostalgic French and New York vibes, this musical will make you feel like your in a vintage vogue. At the same time, you will also feel like your in a fairy tale of sorts. This unique combination embraces both the little girl ideals and the classy things about being a woman. Who doesn’t love the idea of a gentleman blessing you with a college education, great clothes, and prospects for the future? Also bonus, they fall in love.

Everything about this film is cheery and has a vintage femininity to it, which I think Grandma loved. The color design and costumes contribute to the tone and in general make the cinematography pop. The music is delightful and the song “C-A-T Spells Cat” gets in my head often.

Grandma loved Leslie Caron, and she is her adorable self in this movie and brings so much joy to this film. She’s also a really talented dancer and singer, and this film gives her lots of room to perform. Typically, I have a challenging time with Fred Astaire because of his typical irritating character tropes, but his character is lovable in this film and his dancing and singing are enjoyable too! Fred Astaire and Leslie Caron have believable chemistry in this film.

There are a couple of “dream ballet” sequences, but both are made so engaging by the sets design and interesting performances. Sometimes dream ballets go on too long, but this film times them out well!