mmmkay. So I just finished watching one of my favorite movies for the million and fourth time, Singin' in the Rain. In the midst of singing along to Moses Supposes and putting Visine in my eye on account of the fact that one forgets to blink when Gene Kelly's feet start to move, I started to seriously think about just how talented he is. I mean, think about the stars of today. You have George Clooney who can make conning seem cool in the Ocean's movies or bring the Batman comics to life but can the man sing? I'm guessing no. Dance? Not so much. How about Brad Pitt? He doesn't do much except look pretty on the silver screen (although Burn Before Reading had me cracking up and Fight Club, well, enough said.) Now Gene Kelly, not only could the man act, but he could sing, dance, choreograph, and direct--not to mention being extremely charasmatic and handsome.
Who hasn't seen the iconic image of Gene hanging off the light post or tap dancing in a downpour in Singin' in the Rain. That piece of cinema magic wouldn't have had the lustre and staying power if Gene hadn't lent his dancing genius to both the chroeography and performance. And how about the classic moment when Louis Armstrong serenades Barbara Streisand in Hello, Dolly! Yep, Gene Kelly directed that film. Or how about the number in Always Fair Weather when he tap danced in roller skates. Yes, I do mean roller skates. Then there's the number in Cover Girl when he dances with his own conscious (a mirror image of himself). And it was pretty clear that Gene was destined for stardom from the moment he first appeared on the silver screen with it's biggest star of the time, Judy Garland in For Me and My Gal.
Gene took any business seriously where dancing was involved. When his family could barely scrape by, his mother made sure that enough was save so that Gene and his siblings could have their dancing lessons. At the age of 16 Gene was teaching dance to neighborhood kids at his family's dance studio named after him. After playing the "cloops," (what Gene called the clubs he and his brother performed early in his career. The name is a cross between the work "club" and "coop" as the clubs were very dingy and dirty and the patrons unable to appreciate his talent.) Gene crossed over into the movie industry because it offered him more opportunities to dance and have it be truely appreciated appreciated.
In Hollywood, Gene was a known for his relentless work ethic and perfectionist style. This often caused tension between his co-stars and the crews he worked with. One of my favorite stories is one that Debbie Reynolds told about when she was filming Singin' in the Rain. Despite not being a dancer, Reynolds was cast for the part of Kathy Selden. She worked long into the nights trying to learn Gene's choreography and often had two bleeding feet at the end of the night. One day Fred Astaire was walking past one of the rehersal stages when he hear someone crying. He went in and saw Debbie crying underneath a piano. Apparently Gene had been particularly harsh on her that day despite all her efforts to accurately perform the dance steps. Fred went in and comforted her before helping her to learn the steps. Isn't that fabulous! Only in Hollywood!
But feuds or not, Gene's hard work and forward-thinking approach to his craft has forever changed dancing. I think that it's time that Hollywood takes a cue from its past and starts to resurrect some of this old magic and to put more multi-talented people on its screens.
Watch the magic for yourself:
Singin' in the Rain: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmCpOKtN8ME&feature=related
Dancing on roller skates: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aus1PA5-SyI
Mirror Image: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exCp_6T8J9Q&NR=1
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