Gene Kelly was initially set to star alongside Judy Garland in this cheery MGM musical, but broke his ankle just before production started. He managed to coax Fred Astaire out of retirement – his first retirement, anyway – to replace him, marking the only time Astaire and Garland ever shared the screen. It’s an Easter miracle! Well, maybe not for Gene. But it was great for audiences: Seventy-something years later, even the TikTok generation will be charmed by numbers like ‘Steppin’ Out with My Baby’ and ‘A Couple of Swells’.
For a holiday celebrating a miracle, Easter gets short shrift in the movies. Sure, there are plenty of faith-based flicks covering the reason for the season, but for those who celebrate the day in a more non-secular fashion, there’s really no It’s a Wonderful Life or Planes, Trains and Automobiles – an instant go-to to put you in the mood for a day of hunting for painted eggs and inhaling jellybeans. If you want to find a film the whole family can enjoy, you have to hunt. But that’s what we’re here for. On this list, we’ve turned over every proverbial rock, log and couch cushion to uncover the Easter movies most worth streaming this year – and, in lieu of actually having anything to do with the holiday, at least heavily involve candy and/or rabbits.
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