"Daddy Long Legs" was originally filmed back in 1919 and it starred Mary Pickford. I saw this film and enjoyed it very much--giving the film a score of 8. In 1955, Twentieth Century-Fox released a new version--a musical starring Fred Astaire and Leslie Caron. Is it as good as the original or better? The film's plot is very similar. A rich guy (Astaire) notices a sweet orphan (Caron) and is so captivated by her, he arranges to send her off to school and make her a woman. However, this is all done without revealing who her benefactor is. Eventually, the man falls in love with her and,...well, you see the rest."Daddy Long Legs" (1955) has two major problems. First, seeing a middle-aged Fred Astaire falling for a MUCH younger Caron is pretty creepy--especially in light of their relationship. Second, and I am surprised by this, but the musical numbers SEVERELY hampered the film--often derailing the plot. Many of these songs are pretty bad and the film lacks the wonderful dance numbers you'd expect in an Astaire film. Overall, I say see the 1919 version. Despite being a silent, it's a delight. The 1955 version is anything but a delight.

In the mid 1950s, Astaire inexplicably turned into Cary Grant, romancing women less than half his age in this film and his next, "Funny Face." In this musical based on the popular children's novel, he is a 50-something millionaire who sponsors a French teenager's education in the U.S. and then falls in love with her. As in "Funny Face," where Astaire lusted after Audrey Hepburn, it is not only embarrassing but downright icky watching this May-December romance. The musical numbers are actually not bad, but the film far outstays its welcome at a running time of over two hours. Caron plays basically the same role she did in "An American in Paris" and "Gigi."

Other than the opening drum sequence this is a slow moving humorless musical. I'm a big Fred Astaire fan and loved the Band Wagon, Funny Face, and Silk Stockings but this movie never gets off the ground. Shot in Cinemascope it has that annoying static camera work, making the movie feel more like a filmed play. Cinemascope was one of the worst fads in cinema history. It reduced most camera movement to slow pans with little inter cutting and NO CLOSE UPS. Another film victim of cinemascope to avoid is: How to Marry a Millionaire, In addition the great actress Thelma Ritter is wasted in a small inconsequential role and there is perhaps the worst musical number of all time the awful Egg Head song when Leslie Caron enters the college.

One of the better late Fred Astaire musicals, since his advancing years are made part of the plot, and his non-conformist role suits his aloof and chilly persona. He probably was never more charming than the Prom scene in this film -- first ruefully contemplating his own irrelevance among the college-age studs, and then out-dancing them all in the "Sluefoot" number. Too bad his partner is the chunky and gauche Leslie Caron, who ruins the big romantic dance by waddling through it in a bouffant skirt. (In the 1935 farce "In Person," Ginger Rogers wore a disguise consisting of buck teeth, glasses and a horsehair wig, and managed to look just like Caron.) Thanks to DVD you can fast-forward through the gawdawful dream ballet -- every other musical after "Oklahoma" had to have one, it seems, and this is one of the worst.