GENE KELLY: Hollywood Heartthrob
Gene Kelly left an indelible mark on the Hollywood musical with his innovative athletic dance style, unforgettable charm and handsome good looks. He created the 2 most important tour de forces of the film musical genre and he did it over a very short period of time: An American in Paris (1951) and Singing' in the Rain (1952). Kelly masterminded both along with Stanley Donen on the latter. With huge amounts of choreography designed and performed flawlessly by wonderful casts, both movies deserve their revered place in Hollywood's hall of fame as does Kelly himself.
Brought up in an Irish/American family of boys, the Kellys were prolific dancers and teachers. After studying law, Gene left home for NYC and Broadway fame to ultimately move to Los Angeles. His film career spanned from 1943 to 1956, short for such an extensive body of work. He changed Hollywood musicals, integrating plot and characterization and in the process making movie musicals much more entertaining and watchable even to this day. His dance style is incredibly difficult technically with many physical challenges so gracefully executed. All his dances were filmed full frame with few if any edits. If there was any doubt about his looks, see Kelly without edifice in this promotional film made by MGM.
Brought up in an Irish/American family of boys, the Kellys were prolific dancers and teachers. After studying law, Gene left home for NYC and Broadway fame to ultimately move to Los Angeles. His film career spanned from 1943 to 1956, short for such an extensive body of work. He changed Hollywood musicals, integrating plot and characterization and in the process making movie musicals much more entertaining and watchable even to this day. His dance style is incredibly difficult technically with many physical challenges so gracefully executed. All his dances were filmed full frame with few if any edits. If there was any doubt about his looks, see Kelly without edifice in this promotional film made by MGM.
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MGM celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1949 with a filmed dinner attended by all the greats of the time. This is a long clip. If you move to the 4:25 mark you will see the parade of stars and at the 5:37 mark you see Howard Keel and Gene Kelly, 2 of the handsomest men in film.
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If you want to see Gene Kelly at his strongest and most talented
make sure to watch the little known La Cumparsita
from 1945's Anchors Aweigh.
See it below.
make sure to watch the little known La Cumparsita
from 1945's Anchors Aweigh.
See it below.
Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, a productive relationship.
Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen: One of the reasons for Kelly's remarkable success was his close relationship with Stanley Donen, a dancer who became an outstanding choreographer, director and producer in his own right. Their association spanned from the beginning of Kelly's career in 1940 and extended into the making of Singin' in the Rain in 1952. It's Always Fair Weather (1955) marked the end of their remarkably creative relationship. Together they co-directed and co-choreographed 2 of Hollywood's best musicals, On the Town (1949) and Singin' in the Rain (1952).
Donen was only 16 when he met Kelly after auditioning for the chorus of Pal Joey, the 1940 Broadway musical that made Kelly a star. (And rightly so. I have seen amateur film of Kelly in that play and it is as if a light shown from within him. You absolutely could not take your eyes off this charismatic actor.) Donen followed Kelly to Hollywood and became his assistant to eventually share choreography and directing duties. The pair were notorious on film sets. They demanded perfection from their dancers and were ruthless in that pursuit.
Donen was instrumental in particular in what is often called a dance masterpiece, a scene from Cover Girl (1944) called Alter Ego in which Kelly does a duet with himself. Donen came up with the idea of Kelly's alter ego dancing side by side with the real man. It was an extremely difficult scene to shoot as every step of the dance was counted, filmed with the 2 Kellys and coordinated exactly. It took Donen over a year to edit the piece. It is included in the film clips below. Nowadays, this kind of editing is easy with the use of computers. At that time, Donen was backstage yelling out each count as Kelly filmed these 2 different characters dancing side by side. It is considered genius by film buffs.
A preview of their later success came with On The Town (1949), the engaging musical costarring Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Jules Munchin as three sailors on a 24 hour leave in Manhattan with Vera Ellen, Ann Miller and Betty Garrett as the girls they meet. Kelly and Donen co-directed and co-choreographed this delightful and enjoyable film, as enjoyable watching today as ever. It was the first movie musical to be filmed on location. "New York, New York, it's a wonderful town. The Bronx is up and the Battery's down. The people ride in a hole in the ground." The lyrics and song are part of movie and New York history. The clip of that scene is included below.
Donen was only 16 when he met Kelly after auditioning for the chorus of Pal Joey, the 1940 Broadway musical that made Kelly a star. (And rightly so. I have seen amateur film of Kelly in that play and it is as if a light shown from within him. You absolutely could not take your eyes off this charismatic actor.) Donen followed Kelly to Hollywood and became his assistant to eventually share choreography and directing duties. The pair were notorious on film sets. They demanded perfection from their dancers and were ruthless in that pursuit.
Donen was instrumental in particular in what is often called a dance masterpiece, a scene from Cover Girl (1944) called Alter Ego in which Kelly does a duet with himself. Donen came up with the idea of Kelly's alter ego dancing side by side with the real man. It was an extremely difficult scene to shoot as every step of the dance was counted, filmed with the 2 Kellys and coordinated exactly. It took Donen over a year to edit the piece. It is included in the film clips below. Nowadays, this kind of editing is easy with the use of computers. At that time, Donen was backstage yelling out each count as Kelly filmed these 2 different characters dancing side by side. It is considered genius by film buffs.
A preview of their later success came with On The Town (1949), the engaging musical costarring Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Jules Munchin as three sailors on a 24 hour leave in Manhattan with Vera Ellen, Ann Miller and Betty Garrett as the girls they meet. Kelly and Donen co-directed and co-choreographed this delightful and enjoyable film, as enjoyable watching today as ever. It was the first movie musical to be filmed on location. "New York, New York, it's a wonderful town. The Bronx is up and the Battery's down. The people ride in a hole in the ground." The lyrics and song are part of movie and New York history. The clip of that scene is included below.
The best movie musical of all time: Singin' in the Rain.
Eventually Kelly and Donen went on to create, direct and choreograph what many feel is the best musical every filmed, Singin' in the Rain (1952). What a great movie that stared Donald O'Connor, a teenage Debbie Reynolds, long legged Cyd Charisse and the hysterical Jean Hagen. This is not only a great musical but a very funny and entertaining movie as well in telling the story of how Hollywood movies went from being silent to talkies.
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One of the standouts from this movie is Jean Hagen playing the role of a beautiful and glamorous silent movie star who has an awful shrieking voice and as a result has problems making the transition to talkies. She has to take diction lessons in this hilarious short scene.
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The marvels of this movie are legendary, from the delightful Donald O'Connor in Make em Laugh to the 19 year old Debbie Reynolds who performs an outstanding job as actress and dancer under very stressful circumstances to the other breakout star of the movie, Cyd Charisse who received well deserved notoriety as the long legged vamp in the last section of the movie. The music, the delightful comedy, the interesting plot and of course the fantastic dancing make this a true American film masterpiece. Donen and Kelly deserve all the credit they receive.
One outcome of their unusual closeness was that they both married the same woman. Jeanne Coyne married Stanley Donen in 1948 and then married Gene Kelly in 1960. (Coyne worked during many of those years as assistant choreographer to the pair.) After they went their separate ways, Donen spoke bitterly about Kelly and Kelly spoke condescendingly about Donen while making significant efforts to diminish Donen's contributions. They disagreed over who deserved more credit for their joint projects. One result: Singin' in the Rain is today widely thought of as Kelly's masterpiece, instead of the Kelly/Donen tour de force it actually was. In the film clips below of Kelly's best dances, a "K/D" notation is made on the films that Donen strongly influenced.
Donen went on to direct and produce work on his own including Royal Wedding (1951), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), Funny Face (1957), Indiscreet (1958) and Charade (1963). He is often considered a master genius of Hollywood film.
One outcome of their unusual closeness was that they both married the same woman. Jeanne Coyne married Stanley Donen in 1948 and then married Gene Kelly in 1960. (Coyne worked during many of those years as assistant choreographer to the pair.) After they went their separate ways, Donen spoke bitterly about Kelly and Kelly spoke condescendingly about Donen while making significant efforts to diminish Donen's contributions. They disagreed over who deserved more credit for their joint projects. One result: Singin' in the Rain is today widely thought of as Kelly's masterpiece, instead of the Kelly/Donen tour de force it actually was. In the film clips below of Kelly's best dances, a "K/D" notation is made on the films that Donen strongly influenced.
Donen went on to direct and produce work on his own including Royal Wedding (1951), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), Funny Face (1957), Indiscreet (1958) and Charade (1963). He is often considered a master genius of Hollywood film.
Invitation to the Dance
Kelly's last musical project was Invitation to the Dance (1956), a film without dialog: only dance, mime and music. It was Kelly's ultimate undertaking but it was not successful at the box office. It is well worth watching for its beautiful stories and dance, melding ballet and modern, animation and reality. The last section of the movie, Sinbad the Sailor, set to Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, has Kelly dancing with animated and real characters. An absolutely charming duet between Kelly and the real life 12 year old David Kasday is in the beginning of the piece. Kelly had a charismatic relationship with children in film and this piece highlights it.
Kelly's athletic style of dance
Kelly's style of dance required great strength, especially in the legs. Plank jumps (jumping the whole body while in the Yoga plank position), deep lunges and extreme knee strain included. There are many examples throughout his dances of steps that frankly no one else could do nor would even try to. He felt that dance was an athletic sport and that the best way to train for dance was through sports.
Method of working with his dancers: Kelly often did not work directly with dancers. Neither did Kelly and Donen when they co-directed. Jeanne Coyne (1923-1973) and Carol Haney (1924-1964) were professional dancers, brilliant in their own right who became their assistant choreographers. The dances were created using these talented women with the resultant choreographies taught to the film's dancers by the assistants. That for example is how Kelly worked with Leslie Caron during the preparation for filming An American in Paris. Carol Haney worked with Caron to find out where Caron's strengths were. Then Kelly developed the choreography with Haney and Haney taught the choreography to Caron.
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Carol Haney assisted Kelly from 1949-1956. She helped create Kelly and Donen's most important works including Kelly's solo outings in An American in Paris and Invitation to the Dance. She was a fantastic dancer in her own right. Both Coyne and Haney are in the cast of Kiss Me Kate and On the Town.
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Haney longed to be a big star in musicals but it was not to be. Kelly wanted her for Cyd Charisse's role in Singin' in the Rain as the vamp but the studio resisted, believing that she was not attractive enough. This dance was the opportunity of her career and the rejection hurt her deeply. Even more difficult was the fact that she had to train Charisse in the role, something that must have broken her heart. She went on to work with Bob Fosse on Broadway and finally achieved fame in the Pajama Game piece Steam Heat (the movie version is shown above with Haney as the center dancer). In 1954, Haney injured her ankle in a Wednesday matinee and an unknown Shirley MacClaine took over her role. (That first appearance of MacClain's became legendary when she loudly exclaimed "sh*t" on stage upon dropping her hat.) MacClaine shot immediately to stardom. Haney died 9 months later of pneumonia and alcoholism. Coyne herself died at the age of 50 from leukemia. Such sad losses of 2 exceptional artists.
Gene Kelly was responsible for Fred Astaire's second career.
Gene Kelly was a very aggressive person and extremely competitive. He had weekly athletic parties at his home with his wife and a coterie of people flocking to his charisma. One notable party involved volleyball games. There were 2 leagues, the A and B teams. The B teams would play first followed by the mainliners. One day Kelly got so pissed that the B team was taking too long that he kicked a door and injured his foot. He could no longer fulfill his contract to star in 1948's Easter Parade and personally called up Fred Astaire to ask him to take over his role. Fred had retired from film 2 years before. He came out of retirement for that film and made some of his most successful films after that.
So Gene Kelly is responsible for Fred Astaire's second career which consisted of 10 movie musicals including: Easter Parade (1948) with Judy Garland and Ann Miller, The Barkleys of Broadway (1949) his last film with Ginger Rogers, Three Little Words (1950) with Vera Ellen, Royal Wedding (1951) which contained the spectacular ceiling dance, The Band Wagon (1953) with Cyd Charisse, Daddy Long Legs (1955) with Leslie Caron, Funny Face (1957) with Audrey Hepburn and Silk Stockings (1957) with Cyd Charisse. Astaire finally retired from movie musicals in 1957 at the age of 58.
So Gene Kelly is responsible for Fred Astaire's second career which consisted of 10 movie musicals including: Easter Parade (1948) with Judy Garland and Ann Miller, The Barkleys of Broadway (1949) his last film with Ginger Rogers, Three Little Words (1950) with Vera Ellen, Royal Wedding (1951) which contained the spectacular ceiling dance, The Band Wagon (1953) with Cyd Charisse, Daddy Long Legs (1955) with Leslie Caron, Funny Face (1957) with Audrey Hepburn and Silk Stockings (1957) with Cyd Charisse. Astaire finally retired from movie musicals in 1957 at the age of 58.
Kelly's favorite dance step: The Airplane".
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The Airplane: This is a dance move that Kelly uses frequently. He demonstrates it at the end of this adorable film clip from An American in Paris as he charmingly shows Parisian children different American dance steps. Look for this step at the 3:15 mark. It is very difficult to do correctly. It also is a step that occurs in dance styles all over the world. The step is one of Kelly's trademarks. He even did this step dancing in roller skates, difficult and dangerous. Watch for it in all his films.
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According to Latcho Drom, a 1993 French film that documents the movement of the Romani people, the step originated in East Indian dance.
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Gene Kelly's most memorable dances: Many of these film clips are quite old and film quality varies. For some with low audio you will need to turn up the volume. Click on the bottom right segmented box to see the clip in full screen mode.
Films which Stanley Donen made significant contributions
to are noted as K/D in the film clips below.
to are noted as K/D in the film clips below.
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DuBarry was a Lady (1943)
Do I Love You is one of Kelly's magnetic dances from a somewhat less than magnetic movie. Look for the plank jumps at the 2:26 mark as dancers jump over him. Incredibly difficult to execute. |
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Thousands Cheer (1943)
Let Me Call You Sweetheart finds Kelly dancing with a broom in his classic athletic energetic style, leaping over furniture. |
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Cover Girl (1944) K/D
Alter Ego is the brilliant collaboration between Kelly and Stanley Donen, so difficult to film and coordinate. Two different versions of the dance, timed precisely to appear as if they dance with together. |
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Anchors Aweigh (1945) K/D
The Worry Song is Kelly's first effort at dancing in synch with animation as he dances with Jerry the Mouse. Stanley Donen was responsible for much of the innovation. The result is infectious and charming. La Cumparsita is another film clip from the movie that is an incredible tour de force showing Kelly's athletic style. This dance displays his amazing capabilities as he utilizes a Flamenco style in a dramatic way. Notice that he looks down throughout instead of his characteristic happy upward grin. |
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Words and Music (1948)
Slaughter on 10th Avenue is my favorite Gene Kelly dance. It is revolutionary in its use of dance as characterization. Vera Ellen and Kelly rock film history as they descend the stairs at the 4:08 mark. See more about this piece here. |
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On The Town (1949) K/D
What a great movie. You really should see the whole film. It is filled with delight. Here we see the three sailors arrive in Manhattan at the beginning of the movie. |
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Summer Stock (1950)
You, Wonderful You has Kelly dancing with a newspaper. Brilliant yet simple, this piece amply displays Kelly's innovative genius. |
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An American in Paris (1951)
Our Love Is Here To Stay is the simple and charming yet affecting duet between Leslie Caron and Gene Kelly. Caron was a ballet star and quite young at the time. |
The American in Paris ballet sequence Kelly is famous for is no longer available online. That is unfortunate for it is one of Kelly's greatest masterpieces. Extremely long for movie standards, the ballet portrays Paris landscapes as French Impressionist paintings. The costumes and the dancing are magnificent.
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Singin' in the Rain (1952) K/D
There are so many great dances in this movie. We start with the most famous. It is said that Kelly was sick with the flu when this piece was filmed. Here are the 2 sequences in the film that highlight Cyd Charisse. The vamp and her fantasy romantic image in white. Carol Haney was instrumental in both sections, teaching the choreography to Charisse as well as managing the airplane engine which made the ultra long fabric sail. The latter was a difficult production task which required a number of takes to get the fabric to match the music. I always feel sorry for Charisse in this white dance. Her legs and feet are uncovered and the stage is cold. It must have been uncomfortable. |
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It's Always Fair Weather (1955) K/D
I Like Myself is Kelly's dance on roller skates (he used his own everyday skates). So difficult, the moves in this piece would have broken most of our backs. Look for The Airplane in the ending sequence. Dangerous. |
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Invitation to the Dance (1956)
2 dances from the Sinbad the Sailor section of the movie. This first one is so darling. It is a duet between Kelly and David Kasday playing the boy as they mimic each other. Another example of Kelly's ever-present charm. This second piece is from the animated part of the section as Kelly dances with his young cartoon love. Carol Haney performed this dance part and the animation team modeled the result from her steps. |
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Gene & Donald O'Connor (1959)
Here is an extra added attraction, a Kelly/O'Connor duet from Gene's live TV production. O'Connor is a wonderful dancer as this clip shows. |
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