Gene Kelly

What a Glorious Dancer

Gene Kelly is one of the greatest performers in American cinema history.  More than one of the two best male dancers on the screen (the other being Fred Astaire), Kelly was also an accomplished director, choreographer, singer, and actor.  He earned an Emmy and an Honorary Academy Award, and the AFI ranked his performance of the title number in Singin' in the Rain as the third best song from a film and declared that picture the greatest movie musical, with Kelly's An American in Paris also making the top ten.

Everyone can enjoy the wonderful films of Gene Kelly.  They are among the most entertaining and often most artistic motion pictures made during Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's golden era of movie musicals.  This guide enumerates many of Gene Kelly's best films (and a few lesser ones) with the hope that you will share in the delight of watching them.  After exploring Kelly's work on the screen, you'll see that it's true--they don't make 'em like they used to!

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1912, Gene Kelly initially had no intention of becoming a professional dancer.  He engaged in many sports as a child and dreamed of playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Prone to accidents, Kelly was in a tricycle accident when he was six years old; a piece of iron cut his left cheek, leaving a scar he kept for life.  He learned to dance at a young age as part of a family vaudeville act, often performing with his brother Fred.  When he was older, Gene taught at his own dance studio, which had two branches, one in Pittsburgh, the other in Johnstown.  He made the transition to Broadway in the late 1930s as a dancer and choreographer.  His breakthrough role was as the star of Pal Joey.

Kelly attracted Hollywood's attention and eventually ended up at M-G-M, where in 1942 he made his first motion picture, For Me and My Gal, with Judy Garland.  His character in that film, Harry Palmer, was not dissimilar to his Pal Joey role.  As a vaudevillian with ambitions of playing the Palace in New York, Kelly and Garland unite in an act and a growing romance, but miscommunication and the looming draft threaten their attempts to succeed at either.  The ending to the film was altered after preview audiences objected to the development of Kelly's character and who wound up with Judy.  The quick-fix quality of the conclusion and the change in tenor stand out from the rest of the film noticeably, but the movie is still overall enjoyable.  The best scene is Garland's and Kelly's performance of the title song.  Search eBay for For Me and My Gal

Featuring almost every famous face in M-G-M's impressive arsenal, Thousands Cheer (1943) has Kelly playing a maladjusted soldier in love with the colonel's daughter (Kathryn Grayson).  The real focus of the movie, though, is a series of performances in a show given for the soldiers, both onscreen and off, including Mickey Rooney impersonating Lionel Barrymore and Clark Gable.  In the Kelly canon, this film is notable for his mop dance, the dance which brought Gene his first acclaim in Hollywood as a choreographer.  In this number, Kelly dances with a mop while cleaning the army base; he then aims his dance partner like a gun at a poster portraying Hitler.  Search eBay for Thousands Cheer

M-G-M, lacking a role appropriate for Kelly, lent him to Columbia to play the male lead in a Rita Hayworth muscial, Cover Girl (1944).  The studio would never let Kelly work in another studio's film again after seeing his remarkable performance.  The search for the pearl in the oyster and fun number "Make Way For Tomorrow," featuring Hayworth, Kelly, and the always entertaining Phil Silvers, is a memorable sequence in the movie.  However, the highlight of the picture is Kelly's alter ego dance.  Please read further in My Review of Cover Girl by clicking on the link.  Search eBay for Cover Girl

Anchors Aweigh (1945) is one of the most important Gene Kelly films for several reasons.  First, Kelly's performance earned him his only Academy Award nomination, for Best Actor in a Leading Role.  (The Oscar went to Ray Milland for his powerful portrayal of an alcoholic in The Lost Weekend.)  Second, the film marked the first of three successful pairings of Kelly and Frank "The Voice" Sinatra.  Kelly and Sinatra make a great duo, because the one can dance well and sing a bit, the other can sing better than most anybody and do a little hoofing, and their character types (confident ladies' man Kelly and bashfully naive wimp Sinatra--remember this was Sinatra in his early career, long before his starring role in the film version of Pal Joey and his later "My Way" persona).  Third, Anchors Aweigh was Kelly's first excursion into the fusion of live action and animation.  In the famous "King Who Couldn't Dance" sequence, Gene sings "The Worry Song" and dances with Jerry the Mouse of Tom and Jerry fame.  Originally, M-G-M sought Walt Disney's permission to use Mickey Mouse for this landmark performance, but Disney refused to lend his icon to another studio, and Jerry inherited the biggest role of his career.

Anchors Aweigh features Sinatra and Kelly as two sailors on leave in L.A. who meet a young boy (the sweet Dean Stockwell) and his aunt Susie (Kathryn Grayson).  Sinatra immediately falls for Aunt Susie and promises to get her a singing audition with Jose Iturbi, a famous conductor at the film studio.  Sinatra has no connection to the studio or Iturbi, but he and Kelly are determined to fulfill the offer and win the girl.  Don't miss the "I Begged Her" number, with Frank and Gene hopping across the room on mattresses in synchronization with each other to the rhythm of the music, and, of course, Kelly's dance with Jerry.  Search eBay for Anchors Aweigh

Ziegfeld Follies (1946) is a revue-style film comprised of several discrete musical performances by M-G-M stars.  This picture is significant because it is the only onscreen pairing of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly (prior to their collaboration in the That's Entertainment documentaries).  They sing and dance together in "The Babbitt and the Bromide" (written by George and Ira Gershwin) sequence, which tells the story of two men who meet and chat briefly a few times in their lives, with each occurence separated by many years and ending in heaven.  It's a very enjoyable song-and-dance number, performed in Astaire's style, though whatever is meant by Gene's salutation "Olive oil!" remains a mystery.  Search eBay for Ziegfeld Follies

The Pirate (1948) is my favorite Gene Kelly movie.  Though it did badly at the box office and has only recently begun to receive the attention it deserves, this film is well worth repeated viewings.  Kelly is reunited with Judy Garland and an excellent supporting cast under Vincente Minnelli's direction.  Though filmed entirely on a sound stage, The Pirate features colorful settings and excellent direction from Minnelli.  Kelly and Garland both deliver top-rate performances, and my only real complaint is the ridiculous mustache worn by Kelly throughout the film.  I have much more to say about this film, so please read My Review of The Pirate by clicking on the link.  Search eBay for The Pirate

While best known for his movie musicals, Kelly makes an outstanding d'Artagnan in the fun 1948 version of Dumas' classic tale The Three Musketeers.  Condensing the extensive story of the novel into a 125-minute film causes some disjointedness and changes of mood in the plot, but the emphasis of The Three Musketeers is not on the plot--the action is what matters.  In that respect, this version of d'Artagnan's daring adventures is superb.  Kelly brings his athleticism to the fore in the very exciting swordfights, which are the best scenes in the film.  Kelly is part Fairbanks, part Flynn, and all flair.  Be sure to see this movie.  Search eBay for The Three Musketeers

Take Me Out To The Ball Game (1949) was the result of a thin story fabricated by Kelly and Stanley Donen, a younger dancer and friend Kelly met on Broadway, as they drove from New York to L.A.  Donen and Kelly collaborated on many projects, especially as codirectors, and Donen went on to achieve several successes of his own, including Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954).  M-G-M assigned Busby Berkeley to direct Take Me Out To The Ball Game, and Kelly frequently expressed disagreement with Berkeley's use of the camera, particularly the high angle shots which were Berkeley's signature.

The story, which makes up with enthusiasm what it lacks in complexity, follows the lives of turn-of-the-century baseball players on the pennant-winning Wolves club, whose new highly involved owner, K.C. Higgins, turns out to be a woman (Esther Williams).  However, these are not your ordinary sluggers.  Star shortstop Kelly and second baseman Frank Sinatra are vaudevillians in the off-season.  Higgins' strict policies limit the social life of Kelly, who encourages Sinatra to woo her to enable them and pitcher Jules Munshin to live it up.  Kelly realizes he loves Higgins, and a forceful and funny Betty Garrett convinces Sinatra that she is his type.  When a fat-cat gambler bets against the Wolves, he protects his bet by offering Kelly his own show filled with dancing girls.  Playing baseball during the day and rehearsing dance numbers at night, Kelly begins to make errors that cost the team games, and their chance to repeat the pennant win is quickly slipping away.  A hilarious, chase-around-the-bases conclusion caps this all-American, fun film.  Also humorous is the final dance number, in which Garrett and Williams irk the boys by mentioning "rivals" Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby.  Search eBay for Take Me Out To The Ball Game

Gene Kelly broke new ground again in his third picture with Sinatra, On the Town (1949), which Kelly codirected with Stanley Donen.  Jules Munshin, Sinatra, and Kelly play three sailors on leave in New York City for only 24 hours.  That's one day to see all the sights and pick up a date with Ann Miller, Betty Garrett, and Vera-Ellen.  On the Town is significant because it was the first musical shot on location.  Kelly and Donen took the revolutionary step of filming a musical on the streets and on the skyscrapers of New York.  This was very difficult, because shooting musicals requires the actors to dance and lipsynch to the prerecorded songs.  The playback had to be very loud to be heard over the city noises, and opening scenes for the "New York, New York" number shot blocks apart had to be planned precisely so that they would fit together seamlessly in editing.  On the Town is bursting with the actors' ebullience and the visual excitement of New York.  Search eBay for On the Town

Summer Stock (1950) was the third of the three Gene Kelly-Judy Garland pictures.  It was also Garland's final film for M-G-M.  The material is below both Garland and Kelly, but that doesn't stop the film from being enjoyable.  Learn more by reading My Review of Summer Stock.  This movie features one of my favorite Gene Kelly songs, "You Wonderful You," and one of his most creative dances, in which he attains remarkable results using a creaky board and a newspaper.  He actually had the prop master search all over L.A. and collect dozens of newspapers to find the particular L.A. Times edition which yielded the best sound!  Search eBay for Summer Stock

An American in Paris (1951) was the triumph of Kelly's career (until he would best himself the following year).  Also starring Leslie Caron, a French ballet dancer whom Kelly discovered, Georges Guetary, and the incomparable Oscar Levant, this film draws on the extensive George and Ira Gershwin catalogue for such timeless classics as "I Got Rhythm," "Our Love is Here to Stay," and "'S Wonderful."  Kelly plays a G.I. who, instead of returning to the U.S., stays in Paris to paint.  He attracts the attention of a wealthy American patroness (Nina Foch).  He, however, is interested in Caron, a young French girl he meets.  Things become complicated when it is revealed that Caron is both Kelly's girlfriend and Guetary's fiancee.

The film makes history with its revolutionary resolution, which features the nearly seventeen-minute "An American in Paris" ballet.  Shot incorporating the styles of famous French painters as a backdrop to a retelling of the love story, the ballet follows Kelly's pursuit of Caron through beautiful Paris in dance.  Kelly showed that art could be brought to the screen and used the cinematic medium to create a ballet which could only exist in film.  An American in Paris won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and, as praise for his positive representation of Paris and French culture to the world, Gene Kelly was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor in France in 1960.  Search eBay for An American in Paris

While Kelly was still shooting An American in Paris, producer Arthur Freed and writers Comden and Green were already hard at work developing a script that would highlight songs written by Freed and Nacio Herb Brown.  Starting with a song list, Comden and Green began to formulate a story about Hollywood during the advent of talking pictures.  The resulting plot follows the careers of successful silent-film actors Don Lockwood (Kelly) and Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) as they must reinvent themselves for the new era.  The film, of course, is Singin' in the Rain (1952).  When Lina's grating voice proves useless in sound pictures, Kathy Seldon (Debbie Reynolds), a young singer, dancer, and aspiring actress, dubs her voice.  Don falls in love with Kathy, but Lina turns out to be a real snake when she refuses to allow the studio to reveal Kathy's talent.

Singin' in the Rain features great number after great number.  Donald O'Connor's "Make 'Em Laugh" routine is by far his best onscreen performance and one of the most memorable moments in all movie musicals, as is Kelly's legendary "Singin' in the Rain" dance, during which he was suffering from a high fever.  The water laced with milk (necessary to make the rain show up on camera) actually shrunk Gene's wool suit around his body, and it caused a water shortage in the surrounding neighborhoods in L.A.  The Kelly-O'Connor-Reynolds number "Good Morning" is also among my favorites.  Kelly again incorporates an excellent ballet in which he dances with Cyd Charisse.  If you can, buy the Two-Disc Special Edition DVD, which includes very interesting bonus features and clips from the films in which Freed's and Brown's songs were originally performed.  Search eBay for Singin' in the Rain

Brigadoon (1954) was a popular Broadway show which was then adapted for the screen with less success.  Starring Kelly, Van Johnson, and Cyd Charisse, the story revolves around two lost Americans hunting in Scotland who inadvertantly come across the mysterious village of Brigadoon, which because of an enchantment only exists on Earth for one day every hundred years.  Kelly falls in love with a girl there, played by Charisse, but when the village disappears into the ether, he is left pining.  If only he could get back to Brigadoon....  Kelly and director Minnelli lobbied to shoot on location in Scotland, but budget concerns at M-G-M condemned them to a sound stage.  The starring role in the Broadway show was intended for a man with better singing abilities than Kelly.  Gene was tutored by a singing coach.  "The Heather on the Hill" number between Kelly and Charisse is superbly danced, and the romance and magic of the story maintain their appeal.  Search eBay for Brigadoon

It's Always Fair Weather (1955) marks the beginning of the end for M-G-M's golden era of movie musicals.  The film explores how three soldiers (Kelly, Dan Dailey, and Michael Kidd) who were once great friends have changed after ten years.  It's up to Cyd Charisse and a cheesy human-interest TV show to bring them together again.  The most outstanding moments are Gene's dance on roller skates to the aptly titled "I Like Myself" and Cyd's show-stopper with the boxers at the gym.  Kelly brought Donen in to codirect, but the two argued incessantly and their friendship waned thereafter.  For a lot more about the movie, read My Review of It's Always Fair Weather at the link.  Search eBay for It's Always Fair Weather

To learn about the best films from the later years of Gene Kelly's career, please click on the link to read The Essential Gene Kelly Film Collection, Part II.