Gene Kelly

The Post-Umbrella Fella

After Singin' in the Rain, it wasn't always fair weather for Gene Kelly, but he made several very good films later in his career.

I hope you're enjoying my Essential Gene Kelly Film Collection guide.  If you haven't read the first installment, or if you'd like to revisit any of the films discussed therein, please click on the link to return to The Essential Gene Kelly Film Collection, Part I.  In this second and final part of the guide, I enumerate the best films of the later years of Gene Kelly's career.

After finishing Singin' in the Rain, Gene Kelly moved his family to Europe for eighteen months.  He had multiple reasons, one of which was to benefit from a new income tax law.  Also, political pressure directed against Hollywood liberals like Kelly and especially his wife made leaving town for an extended period appealing.  While abroad, Gene made two mediocre war movies (The Devil Makes Three and Seagulls Over Sorrento) and began work on his pet project, Invitation to the Dance.

For years he had dreamed of making an all-dancing film.  With his revolutionary ballet in An American in Paris, Kelly demonstrated that audiences would accept lengthy dance sequences in popular movies; his Singin' in the Rain ballet offered further proof of that fact.  These past successes convinced producer Arthur Freed to allow Gene to pursue his dream on a London soundstage in 1952.

Having recruited the best dancers from around the world, Kelly choreographed and directed three half-hour segments, "Circus," "Ring Around the Rosy," and "Sinbad the Sailor," each of which features a different style of dance.  The story is conveyed entirely through movement; there is neither dialogue nor singing.  Worried that the dancers lacked widespread name recognition, Freed and M-G-M required Kelly appear in all three segments.  For more about this unique and interesting film, click on the link to read My Review of Invitation to the Dance.  M-G-M shelved Invitation to the Dance for four years with fears the film was too artistic to do well at the box office, finally releasing it in 1956.  VHS copies seldom appear on eBay and tend to receive lots of bids.  Search eBay for Invitation to the Dance.

Les Girls (1957) was Kelly's last film at M-G-M.  It's the story of Barry Nichols (Kelly) and Les Girls (Mitzi Gaynor, Kay Kendall, and Taina Elg), a dancing act in Paris which becomes the center of a court trial when one of the girls sues another for libelling her in a tell-all book.  Each girl testifies to a different love story, claiming a different girl was romantically involved with Barry.  The various versions are shown in flashback.  It's up to Nichols to take the stand and set the record straight in a surprise ending that will shock the courtroom and audience.  Les Girls is a fun story with a quick pace that keeps you guessing about the truth.  This very enjoyable musical was a fitting capstone to Kelly's years at M-G-M.  Search eBay for Les Girls.

Starring Kelly and Natalie Wood, Marjorie Morningstar (1958) is the film adaptation of Herman Wouk's coming-of-age novel about a college student, Marjorie (Wood), who gets a job as a summer camp counselor and meets famous, egotistical theater director Noel (Kelly), who longs for Broadway success.  Despite their significant age difference--Noel is in his thirties, though Kelly was in his mid-forties--Marjorie and Noel fall in love.  The story follows their stormy romance, the opposition from her parents on account of his age and occupation, and the couple's multiple breakups and reunions.  Marjorie must decide whether to stay with the unreliable and destructive Noel or marry the safe and successful Wally (Marty Milner).  Kelly gives an excellent performance, portraying a character at once charming and deplorable.  Though melodramatic, the film maintains your interest in which man Marjorie will choose and makes you wonder whether she makes the right choice.  Search eBay for Marjorie Morningstar.

Gene Kelly had been appearing in dramatic films throughout his career, but he got the most acclaim for his role in Inherit the Wind (1960).  The story follows a Scopes-like court trial in a Midwestern town of a school teacher, Bertram T. Cates (Dick York), who is arrested for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution.  Famous lawyer Henry Drummond (Spencer Tracy) arrives to defend Cates, bringing with him sharp-tongued reporter E.K. Hornbeck (Kelly), who describes his character to Cates with the great line, "I may be rancid butter, but I'm on your side of the bread."  Drummond's old friend, Creationist and politician Matthew Harrison Brady (Fredric March) prosecutes with all his energy, and the two lawyers engage in the debate of their lives and Cates', with Hornbeck covering every word for his big-city newspaper.  Everyone in the film turns in an excellent performance.  The scenes between Tracy and March are some of the most intense in any film, and Kelly's caustic and witty remarks lend just the right amount of humor.  This is a superb film which is as apt today as it was in 1960, and as it was in the 1920s, when the Scopes trial took place.  Search eBay for Inherit the Wind.

In What a Way to Go! (1964), Kelly has one of his funniest roles as Pinky Benson.  This Shirley MacLaine comedy follows her four cursed marriages in flashback.  Each time she gets married, her happy husband is doomed to become very successful, leaving her lonely while he pursues riches.  He then dies in some bizarre, outrageous accident.  This film has a great cast (MacLaine, Dean Martin, Dick Van Dyke, Paul Newman, Robert Mitchum, and Kelly) and a hilarious script.  Gene plays the fourth husband, who becomes a movie star and has his mansion and everything in it painted pink.  He even wears a ridiculous pink cape.  For an in-depth look at this movie, please click on the link to read My Review of What a Way to Go!  Search eBay for What a Way to Go!

Gene won the Emmy for Outstanding Children's Program for his 1967 television special Jack and the Beanstalk.  This animated/live-action version of the classic tale has the added character Jeremy (Kelly), who sells Jack the beans, accompany the young boy to the giant's castle in the sky.  The best scene has Gene dancing with a pair of strange animated birds.  To read more about this excellent hour-long family program, click on the link for My Review of Jack and the Beanstalk.  Search eBay for Jack and the Beanstalk.

If you enjoyed Jacques Demy's musical The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964), you'll really like his follow-up to that film, The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967).  When casting the role of the American composer who comes to grant the wishes of one of the title girls, who else could bring the talent, charisma, and stature required than Gene Kelly?  However, if you are anticipating Kelly's return to his An-American-in-Paris form, you will be disappointed: Demy had Kelly lipsynch to a Frenchman's voice; you'll see Kelly, but you won't hear him.  The Young Girls of Rochefort is full of vibrant colors and enthusiastic dancing, with fine performances and memorable music.  Though at 125 minutes it's a bit long, this is a very good musical, as we would expect from Demy, the French master of that genre.  Search eBay for The Young Girls of Rochefort.

In his later years, Gene Kelly directed films in which he didn't star.  Two of his best are the musical Hello, Dolly! (1969), starring Walter Matthau and Barbra Streisand, and The Cheyenne Social Club (1970), a comedic western starring Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda.  Despite the fact that Streisand drove Kelly absolutely mad and contradicted him at every turn, Hello, Dolly! is a top-rate musical with an excellent cast.  The back lot at 20th Century Fox Studios was constructed specifically for this film.  Search eBay for Hello, Dolly!  The Cheyenne Social Club has Stewart and Fonda as Texan cowboys who inherit a brothel in Cheyenne.  Two magnificent performances, a great pair of characters, and a funny plot make this film very enjoyable.  For more about this movie, click on the link to read My Review of The Cheyenne Social Club.  Search eBay for The Cheyenne Social Club.

To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of M-G-M, a documentary highlighting the best of the studio's musicals was planned.  Interest grew as the project progressed, and the documentary evolved into the successful That's Entertainment! (1974).  (The title comes from the song "That's Entertainment" in The Band Wagon, starring Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse.)  Clips of the most famous scenes from M-G-M's musicals are introduced by the stars, including Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Elizabeth Taylor, Jimmy Stewart, Debbie Reynolds, Donald O'Connor, Liza Minnelli for her parents Judy Garland and director Vincente Minnelli, and Mickey Rooney.  Kelly continued to support the efforts begun in this film.  He hosted and narrated That's Entertainment, Part II (1976) with Fred Astaire and That's Entertainment III (1994).  These documentaries are a great introduction for those who want to start watching movie musicals, and they'll delight viewers who saw the wonderful pictures years ago and want to relive the best moments.  Search eBay for That's Entertainment.

Although it is not a film, one of Gene's most memoable appearances was as the guest on the first episode of the fifth season of The Muppet Show in 1980.  Mistakenly thinking Kermit has invited him to the theatre to watch the show and not be in it, Kelly arrives and resolutely remains in the wings, even after Kermit tries to coax him into performing.  Gene announces that, above all, he refuses to do what he is always asked: to sing "Singin' in the Rain."  Kelly teaches Kermit how to dance--we actually see all of Kermit's limbs moving at once!--and serenades Miss Piggy and then Gonzo with "You Wonderful You."  When Rowlf plays the classic "Singin' in the Rain" introductory vamp on the piano, the rest of the Muppets gather around Gene, but he coyly uses that intro to launch into several songs from his other films.  Finally relenting, Kelly sings "Singin' in the Rain," pleasing Kermit, the other Muppets, and us.  It's a great episode of a fun television series.  Search eBay for Gene's episode of The Muppet Show.

The last project Gene worked on was the animated feature Cats Don't Dance (1997), which stars the vocal talents of Scott Bakula, Natalie Cole, and a host of veteran character actors.  Kelly consulted filmmakers on the choreography, and the movie explicitly pays homage to many of Kelly's films, especially Singin' in the Rain.  The story follows Danny the cat (Bakula), who leaves his hometown to make it big in Hollywood during the Golden Era.  He and the other oppressed animal actors in Tinsel Town must defeat the wicked child actress Darla Dimple in order to gain their own fame.  Adults will enjoy the many references to famous movie stars and classic movies, while kids will be entertained by the memorable characters, fun song-and-dance sequences, and exciting plot.  Unfortunately, Gene passed away on February 2, 1996, before Cats Don't Dance was released.  The film is dedicated to him.  Search eBay for Cats Don't Dance.

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