Vintage

Every month we throw the spotlight on an actor or actress who exemplifies what it means to be a class act. As always, we welcome your emails if you have a suggestion for a future Star of the Month. The Midnight Palace is pleased to present the Star of the Month for July 2008: Gene Kelly.

Date of Birth
August 23, 1912, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Date of Death
February 2, 1996, Los Angeles, California

Birth Name
Eugene Curran Kelly

Nickname(s)
Gene

Height
5' 7"

Overview:

In the fall of 1933, a young man sat in a lecture hall at law school, half-heartedly listening to a lecturer discuss the differences between corporate and mercantile law. The young man was paying more attention to the dance steps moving around in his head, imagining himself spinning and jumping around a stage. It dawned on him with startling clarity that his future was not in a courtroom, but on a New York stage. That afternoon, Gene Kelly sold his law books and went home to tell his family of his decision.

Eugene Curran Kelly was born August 23, 1912 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the third child of five children born to Harriet and James Patrick Joseph Kelly. As soon as they were old enough, Harriet enrolled all five children - James Jr., Harriet (her nickname was Jay), Gene, Louise and Fred – in music and dance lessons. Fred showed that he had a gift for dancing and entertaining, and it was on him that his mother pinned her hopes. Gene, she decided, would be a lawyer.

In truth, Gene hated taking dancing lessons. He wanted to be outside, playing sports with the neighborhood kids. There must have been times when his parents wondered if he was even going to survive childhood: he was always sick (he had every childhood disease while his siblings caught none of them) or having accidents. At the age of six, riding a tricycle without handlebars in front of his house, he fell onto an exposed piece of cast iron, which left a deep gash in his left cheek. A doctor stitched up the wound, but Gene would carry a half-moon scar on his face the rest of his life.

While he hated dancing lessons because he did not want to be labeled a sissy, Gene showed a natural talent for it. He picked up new steps with ease. But he hated performing in front of other people, especially fellow students, until he realized he was good at it. He also had a good tenor voice, and was often given the solos in school performances. When he entered high school, he realized his performing abilities were getting him noticed by the girls, and this was very important to the awkward young boy. He excelled at gymnastics, and combined with his dancing, he began to develop his unique athletic dancing style.

His mother became involved in the administrative side of Fred’s dancing school, where Gene would eventually become a teacher. The two brothers developed an act, and performed around the Pittsburgh area for a while. But as the dance school grew in popularity, Harriet decided to open a second dance school in nearby Johnstown. Between college, teaching at the dance schools and summer jobs, Gene was a very busy young man. One of his early students in Pittsburgh was a seven-year-old girl named Jeanne Coyne, who would become his second wife in 1960.

By the time Gene graduated from college in 1933 with a degree in economics, the two studios were doing very well. After he gave up law school, he devoted himself to learning new dance techniques and continued to teach. But by 1936, Gene began to realize that he had gone as far as he could in Pittsburgh. If he wanted to go further, he would have to go to New York. His first chance came in the summer of 1937, when he was offered the chance to choreograph one number in a new Broadway show. But when Gene arrived in New York, he discovered that they merely wanted him to dance in the number. Humiliated, Gene returned home. It was another year before he realized that if he was going to make a name for himself, he would have to start all over at the bottom. With a one-way ticket in his hand, Gene kissed his mother goodbye, boarded the train, and went to New York.

For the next two years, Gene worked his way up, making brief appearances in show after show. He gave his all every time he went in front of an audience, and people began to notice. And he didn’t just dance; he was also choreographing entire shows, just as he had done in Pittsburgh. His big break came in 1940, when George Abbott, along with Rodgers and Hart, decided to produce John O’Hara’s short story, Pal Joey, about a hoofer who does whatever he has to and uses whoever he has to in order to get what he wants. The show debuted on Christmas Eve 1940 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Reviews for the musical were mixed, but Gene learned the important lesson of how to manipulate the audience and make them respond to him. The most important thing that happened during the run of Pal Joey was the attendance of a MGM writer, who liked what he saw and called Louis B. Mayer, who in turn, contacted Gene for an appointment. After their meeting, Mayer offered him a contract, assuring him that he would not have to do a screen test. But a week later, someone from the studio showed up with a letter stating that no contract would be signed without a screen test. Gene’s mistrust of studio people developed from this incident. Two months after firing off a terse letter to Mayer, Gene signed a contract with David Selznick, Mayer’s son-in-law, and MGM.

Gene arrived in Hollywood in November 1941 with his new bride, dancer Betsy Blair. But it would be five months before Gene started working. For Me and My Gal was the story of a dancer named Harry Palmer, his partner Jo Hayden (Judy Garland) and her boyfriend Jimmy. The usual love triangle happens: Jimmy is in love with Jo, Jo is in love with Harry, and Harry loves Harry. When the war begins, Harry smashes the lid of a trunk onto his hand in order to avoid enlisting. When Jo and Jimmy find out, they leave him. Harry realizes how wrong he is, joins the army, becomes a hero and gets the girl in the end.

The role of Jimmy was intended for Gene, with the role of Harry going to actor George Murphy. But director Arthur Freed realized how similar the role of Harry was to the role Gene had played in Pal Joey, so he gave the role of Harry to Gene. Murphy was furious, and the atmosphere on the set was very uncomfortable for Gene, who did not get along with director Busby Berkeley. It was Judy who stood by Gene during those weeks of filming, and they remained lifelong friends.

Over the years, Gene had become a perfectionist, and when he saw himself onscreen for the first time, he was appalled. A dance that could cover five minutes on a stage could last for a minute on film. The “eye” of a camera is not the same as the eye of a person. He realized that he would have to invent a whole new way of dancing for the camera, which he would not totally perfect until two of his greatest films, An American in Paris and Singin’ in the Rain.

Cover Girl would be his biggest success in 1944. Rusty Parker (the lovely Rita Hayworth) is a nightclub singer who wins a contest to be a cover girl. She leaves behind her true love, Danny (Gene), who is upset that she will find success without him. Danny and his sidekick, Genius (Phil Silvers) go overseas to entertain the troops. As the story progresses, the publisher of the magazine reveals that Rusty reminds him of a girl who left him at the altar many years ago. The girl was Rusty’s grandmother. She deserted the publisher at the altar because she loved someone else. Rusty herself becomes engaged to Noel Wheaton, enamored with him because of his success and wealth. But she, like her grandmother before her, comes to realize that she must follow her heart and marry the man she truly loves, Danny. The movie has one bright spot, known as the alter ego dance, when Danny spies his reflection in a window. The reflection becomes real, steps down from the window and begins to dance with Danny. The two dance in unison for a few minutes, and then begin to compete with each other (much like Gene’s real personality); trying to outdo each other until Danny wins.

Gene was beginning to make a name for himself in Hollywood when he was given the opportunity of a lifetime: to dance with Fred Astaire, who was considered the dancer in Hollywood. There was no one better. They danced together in one number for the movie Ziegfeld Follies. The number was better suited for Gene because it was similar to For Me and My Gal, but to see these two great dancers together was pure magic. Gene once said he could not understand why people compared the two men: Astaire was elegance and sophistication who wore a suit and tie; Gene was the everyday man who used his athleticism to convey his emotions and wore blue jeans, sweatshirts and sneakers.

Gene had been trying for over a year to convince the studio to let him enlist, but he was proving to be a useful commodity, and Mayer was loath to let him go. But in November 1944, he allowed Gene to enlist in the Navy. After basic training, Gene was sent to the East Coast to work on a movie for navy personnel who were suffering from battle fatigue. He spent the remainder of his service working for the photographic division of the Naval Air Force.

Upon his return to California in 1946, Gene realized that he would have to start all over again proving himself to the studio and the public. He did Living in a Big Way with Marie McDonald in 1947; The Pirate, working once again with Garland; and The Three Musketeers with Lana Turner, June Allyson, Van Heflin and Vincent Price in 1948. Gene was scheduled to work with Garland in Easter Parade, but during a Sunday afternoon volleyball game at his house, he broke his ankle, and recommended Astaire for the role. He would team up with Frank Sinatra, who he worked with in 1945’s Anchors Aweigh, for two back to back movies, Take Me Out to the Ball Game, with Sinatra and Esther Williams, and On the Town, with Sinatra, Vera Ellen, Ann Miller, Betty Garrett and Jules Munshin in 1949.

The early 1950s would produce two of Gene’s greatest movies, and his last collaboration with Garland, 1950’s Summer Stock. The movie came near the end of her time with MGM, as well as the end of her marriage to director Vincente Minnelli, and she was emotionally and physically unstable. But Gene, who remembered how she stood up for him when they worked together in For Me and My Gal, stood by her side and helped her get through filming. Her number “Get Happy”, in which she wears a tuxedo jacket and black fedora, is still considered one of her best performances and is a sad reminder of what might have been if things had been different.

Producer Arthur Freed was listening to George Gershwin’s An American in Paris suite with Gershwin’s brother Ira one evening, when he mentioned that he always wanted to make a movie in Paris. Freed asked if Ira would be interested in selling the music to him. Ira agreed, on the condition that they used his brother’s music for the whole movie. Minnelli was selected to direct, and Gene was chosen to play the lead. Freed, Minnelli and Gene then approached head of production Dore Schary with their idea, who gave them the green light to proceed, even though he had no clue what in the world they were talking about. Take a look at this short clip from the film:

The story, set in Paris, is about a painter, Jerry Mulligan (Gene), who is living happily on the Left Bank until he meets two women who turn his world upside down. Milo Roberts (Nina Foch) is a beautiful, rich woman who arranges an exhibition in order to win Jerry’s affection. But a young girl, Lise Bouvier, captures his heart, though she is engaged to someone else.

But who would play Lise? Two years earlier, Gene had attended a ballet in Paris, where he had seen a beautiful dancer named Leslie Caron. He knew that she would be perfect for the movie, and after seeing her screen test, Minnelli agreed. The centerpiece of An American in Paris is the full-scale ballet which appears at the end of the movie and features Gershwin’s An American in Paris suite. It turned into the most expensive ballet filmed at the time, using over 500 costumes, six weeks to film, lasted seventeen minutes and cost a staggering $450,000. Using the paintings of Renoir, Utrillo, Rousseau and Van Gogh, the painter expresses his feelings in a burst of colors and dance. When the mood changes at the end from ecstasy to disillusion, the people disappear and the painter is left alone with just a rose in his hand. All the hard work paid off. An American in Paris was nominated for eight Oscars, and won six, including Best Picture.

I'm Laughing at Clouds...

The apex of Gene’s career was 1952’s Singin’ in the Rain. (Please see our review on this excellent movie.) He took his family to Europe to take advantage of a tax break that was being offered in 1951, and the movies he filmed during this time were failures. By the time he returned to the States in 1953, Mayer had been removed as head of MGM and Schary had taken over. The studio system was failing by this time, and there was no money available for elaborate production numbers or location shoots. He did other musicals – 1954’s Brigadoon, 1955’s It’s Always Fair Weather, and his last MGM film and last major musical, 1957’s Les Girls. None of them were the major hits that his two previous musicals had been. In April 1957, Gene and Betsy were divorced, sharing custody of their daughter, Kerry. In 1958, he co-starred in Marjorie Morningstar with Natalie Wood, and in 1960, he played a reporter in Inherit the Wind. He married Jeanne Coyne in 1960, with whom he had two children, Bridget and Tim. Gene kept busy doing movie and TV work, and began to take on more directing jobs. He would direct Barbra Streisand and Walter Matthau in 1969’s Hello Dolly!; in 1970, he directed Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda in The Cheyenne Social Club. While working on a theatrical production called Clownaround in 1973, Jeanne passed away from cancer. Gene appeared in all three That’s Entertainment specials, and two TV mini-series in 1986. He married Patricia Ward in 1990, and in 1996, after a series of strokes, quietly passed away in his sleep.

Even today, his dance legacy lives on, not just in the films he left behind, but through his family. Two of his nieces run successful dance studios in Alabama and Arizona respectively. Come rain or come shine, people still “gotta dance”.

Our Gene Kelly Film Reviews:
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
The Lucille Ball Film Collection: Dubarry Was A Lady (1943)
The Frank Sinatra & Gene Kelly Collection
The Literary Classics Collection: The Three Musketeers (1948)

Special Links of Interest:
Gene Kelly on IMDB
Gene Kelly and His Many Faces
The Gene Scene

Downloads:
Gene Kelly SOTM Wallpaper (1024x768)
Gene Kelly SOTM Wallpaper (800x600)

The author would like to cite Gene Kelly: A Biography, written by Clive Hirschhorn for some of the information on this page.