Film

Athena

Other titles called Athena: the 2022 film.

A 1954 musical comedy about a stuffy lawyer undone by a health-obsessed woman and her eccentric, athletic family. It's frothy, charming, and entirely uninterested in realism—a showcase for MGM's contract players in their singing and dancing prime. For anyone who loves the tactile joy of Technicolor and earnest mid-century optimism.

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Seven Brides for Seven Brothers1954

Released the same year, this is the gold standard of MGM musicals: a zany premise (seven backwoods brothers kidnap brides) executed with genuine wit, choreography that still dazzles, and performances that commit fully to the absurdity.

But The gender politics are dated and the kidnapping plot is presented as romantic. It's also genuinely demanding—the dancing scenes require real stamina to keep up with.

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers poster

Singin' in the Rain1952

The ultimate expression of what these musicals were aiming for: perfect precision, infectious joy, and stars who could actually dance. Debbie Reynolds appears here too, and watching her career arc reveals how studios deployed their talent.

But At over two hours, it's long even by today's standards. Some viewers find the relentless cheerfulness exhausting rather than charming.

Singin' in the Rain poster

The Music Man1962

Another tale of a smooth talker meeting his match in a small town, but with better songs and a genuine warmth underneath the salesmanship. Robert Preston is magnetic, and the Americana nostalgia actually feels earned.

But It's actively sentimental about small-town America in ways that haven't aged well. The pacing drags in the second half when plot matters more than spectacle.

The Music Man poster

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A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum1966

Both believe a musical's job is to delight through performance rather than narrative—but where Athena is wholesome and starry-eyed, Forum is anarchic and earthbound. Same engine, completely different register.

A musical comedy that decided to be genuinely silly instead of earnestly romantic. It's brash, vulgar, and energetic—the opposite of Athena's wide-eyed innocence. But it shares the same commitment to spectacle and the same willingness to let the plot stop dead for a song.

But The humour is mostly lowbrow slapstick and sexual innuendo. If you're looking for sophistication or genuine plot momentum, you won't find it.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum poster
More like this (8)

Royal Wedding1951

Fred Astaire and Jane Powell (your film's star) in a breezy, romantic vehicle with some genuinely inventive dance sequences. It captures that specific MGM magic: lightweight but technically perfect.

But The plot is gossamer-thin and exists only to string together musical numbers. If you're not there for the dancing, there's nothing to hold you.

Royal Wedding poster

An American in Paris1951

A bigger, more ambitious musical about American optimism abroad, with Gene Kelly at his peak. The final ballet sequence alone justifies the runtime, and the supporting cast is excellent.

But The romance at the center is fairly generic, and the film assumes you're okay with extended sequences of pure dancing that have zero plot function.

An American in Paris poster

The Band Wagon1953

Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse in what many consider the smartest MGM musical: it's actually funny, the dancing is astounding, and it has something real to say about theatre and ego beneath the gloss.

But The backstage Broadway plot gets tangled and the satire of pretentious modernism lands less sharply now. Charisse's role is smaller than her screen presence deserves.

The Band Wagon poster

Funny Face1957

Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire together, set in Paris, with a knockout score by the Gershwins. It's elegant, witty, and Hepburn's dancing—she trained for this—is a revelation.

But The fashion industry plot feels quaint now, and there's an uncomfortable age gap in the romance. Some sequences drag when the film prioritizes mood over momentum.

Funny Face poster

Kiss Me Kate1953

A film musical that's actually adapted from a Broadway show that works. Katharine Hepburn and Howard Keel spar intelligently, the Cole Porter score is superb, and it doesn't insult your intelligence.

But The backstage comedy scenes don't land reliably and some of the wider supporting cast feels like padding. The pacing is uneven between talky bits and musical numbers.

Kiss Me Kate poster

The Belle of New York1952

Fred Astaire and Vera-Ellen in a light confection about redemption and romance. It's minor Astaire, but there are moments of genuine grace and the Technicolor is ravishing.

But Even by 1952 standards, the plot feels thin and the supporting cast fades into the scenery. Some viewers find Fred's charm work in this one feels automatic rather than genuine.

The Belle of New York poster

Ratatouille2007

The plot is almost identical in structure—uptight protagonist meets unsettling family with unexpected wisdom—but where Athena celebrates the past through spectacle, Ratatouille tells the same story through contemporary animation. Both films trust their central idea completely.

An animated film with an eccentric family that lives by different rules, teaching a rigid outsider to loosen up and find joy. It has the same DNA: earnest optimism, technicolor-bright visuals, and characters who are right even though they seem ridiculous at first.

But It's a family film and lacks the glamour and star-power that makes the MGM musical so intoxicating. The pace is deliberate and there's no dancing or live performance to carry you through slow moments.

Ratatouille poster

The Egg and I1947

Same plot engine as Athena—fish-out-of-water romance with class collision—but told as a smart romantic comedy instead of a musical. No songs or dancing, no family spectacle. It's what Athena's story becomes if you drain away the show.

Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray in a romantic comedy where a refined woman is transplanted into rural chaos and has to adapt. It's sharper and more acerbic than Athena, but pursues the same question: can a serious person learn to play?

But It's not a musical and the screwball comedy style feels dated now. The portrait of rural life is patronizing and some of the supporting performances are broad to the point of cringe.

The Egg and I poster

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