This utterly exhilarating landmark movie musical gave Gene Kelly and choreographer Stanley Donen their directing break, and eventually led to the splendours of Singin' in the Rain and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. The opening sequence is magnificent, as three sailors (Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Jules Munshin) hail the delights of New York, New York in Manhattan itself - it was unusual for MGM to leave its Hollywood lot. There are minor flaws: the substitution of dancers for Sinatra and Munshin in the ballet - it worked on stage in Oklahoma!, it's a distraction here. But the rest - the exuberance of the title number, Ann Miller extolling the virtues of Prehistoric Man, Alice Pearce as Lucy Shmeeler, Sinatra and Betty Garrett, the delights of Main Street - is a joy.

Three sailors wreak havoc as they search for love during a whirlwind 24-hour leave in New York City.