The 1953 musical featuring Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse in the famous “Dancing in the Dark” number is The Band Wagon.
Directed by Vincente Minnelli for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the film casts Astaire as Tony Hunter, an aging musical star trying to revive his career on Broadway. Cyd Charisse plays Gabrielle Gerard, the ballerina brought into an ambitious new production. Their romantic dance through Central Park is one of the most celebrated screen duets in Hollywood musical history.
“Dancing in the Dark” originated in the 1931 Broadway revue The Band Wagon, whose score was written by Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz. The film also introduced “That’s Entertainment!”, which became a standard and later lent its name to MGM’s influential compilation-film series.
A common mix-up is with An American in Paris and Singin’ in the Rain, two other major MGM musicals from the same era. Neither features Astaire and Charisse in this particular number.