He's Got Rhythm: The Life and Career of Gene Kelly (Screen Classics)
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Alternately seeking attention and shunning it was typical of Gene’s often contradictory nature. His life, he once stated, was a quest for privacy, yet he often sulked when he was not the center of attention. Gene’s unpredictable moods manifested themselves most notoriously in displays of temperament dreaded by his friends and colleagues. But he was no stereotypical spoiled movie star: that temperament arose out of his perfectionism. And he could erase memories of his angry outbursts with one flash of his charming smile. His zest for life was contagious to those around him, and it was this ebullience that audiences responded to, and continue to relish, in his work. “His buoyant athleticism, naive passion and look-Ma-I’m-hoofing brand of enthusiasm introduced cinematic dance to sweat, lust and earthly delights. Gene Kelly made Everyman believe he could dance, and Everywoman wish that he would,” writer Hal Rubenstein stated in 1994.4
As merry as he appeared onscreen, Gene as well as his family insisted that he was nothing like the fellow full of bravura he played in his pictures. He was, as it were, an introverted extrovert, an Everyman sophisticate—an intensely private man whose irrepressible personality, ambition, and charisma could not help but thrust him into the spotlight. However, time and again Gene expressed his preference for working behind the camera. “When you’re performing you’re interpreting someone else’s creation,” he said. “To me, always, ever since I’ve been a young man, the creation has been the most satisfying.”5
Gene’s creations revolutionized dance and helped make America the leader in contemporary movement. As one journalist expressed it, “He drew upon the whimsy of tap, the showmanship of the eccentric dancer, the free form of Martha Graham, his own skills as a gymnast and organized all of it with legitimate classical disciplines. The bristling package of rhythm and style hit the dance world with a fallout that is still being felt.”6
True, Gene took inspiration from other artists, but the skills he borrowed from them he transformed into something unprecedented, and thus his performance was indeed his own. Film scholar Jeanine Basinger aptly stated: “He created a technique. He was his own technique.”7 Author John Updike added: “No one in the postwar era worked harder to expand the musical comedy’s boundaries than Kelly. . . . [He is able] to instantly transport the action in his films . . . to a plane of buoyant make believe where singing and dancing are the norm.”8 Gene accomplished this feat by instilling meaning in dance, using the medium to build plot and character. In freeing his routines from ostentation, his dancing flowed naturally with a film’s storyline.
The simplicity and charm of Gene’s best numbers make him both contemporary and timeless. Liza Minnelli remarked: “He [is] part of all our heritage . . . an American treasure, a friend, an original. For the rest of my life, whenever it rains . . . I will think of him and smile.”9
Though Gene often balked at being pegged solely as a dancer, he did not reject the title. Kerry Kelly remarked of her father: “He once said he hoped most that he had made people happy.”10 By the end of his life, Gene realized it was his dancing that had accomplished this goal best. And dancing, Gene Kelly style, can never be merely dancing. “You dance love, you dance joy and you dance dreams,” Gene said. “And I know if I can make you smile by jumping over a couple of couches or by running through a rainstorm, then I’ll be very glad to be a song and dance man, and I won’t worry that the Pittsburgh Pirates lost one hell of a short-stop.”11
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Kerry Kelly Novick for her invaluable contributions to our research on her father. We are grateful to Janet Lorenz at the Margaret Herrick Library for helping us gain access to previously unpublished archival material. We also extend thanks to Susan Cadman for the exhaustive research she so generously shared on her Gene Kelly tribute webpage, Gene Kelly: Creative Genius. We are also grateful to Patricia Towers and Sally Sherman for granting us interviews about Gene Kelly’s work with Kathryn Grayson. Thanks to Eve Golden for her help editing our work. Finally, we wish to thank Sally Jervis and Amelia and Mark Brideson for their generosity, encouragement, and support throughout this endeavor.
Appendix A
Selected Stage Work
Due to the breadth of Gene’s stage work, this list is only a selection of the most notable productions in which he served as star, director, and/or choreographer. Details as to director, producer, musicians, and cast are included where information is available.
Leave It to Me!
Imperial Theatre, November 9, 1938–July 15, 1939
Produced by Vinton Freedley; directed by Harry Howell; staged by Sam Spewack; choreographed by Robert Alton; music and lyrics by Cole Porter; book by Bella and Sam Spewack
Selected cast: Mary Martin, Sophie Tucker, Victor Moore, and Gene Kelly
One for the Money
Booth Theatre, February 4, 1939–May 27, 1939
Produced by Gertrude Macy and Stanley Gilkey; directed by John Murray Anderson; choreographed by Robert Alton; staged by Edward Lilley; music and lyrics by Morgan Lewis and Nancy Hamilton; music arranged by Hugh Martin; sketches by Nancy Hamilton
Selected cast: Nancy Hamilton, Keenan Wynn, Maxine Barrat, Ray Cavanaugh and His Orchestra, and Gene Kelly
The Time of Your Life
Booth Theatre, October 25, 1939–April 6, 1940; September 23, 1940–October 19, 1940
Produced by the Theatre Guild; directed by Eddie Dowling and William Saroyan; choreographed by Gene Kelly; book by William Saroyan
Selected cast: Charles De Sheim, Eddie Dowling, Gene Kelly, and Celeste Holm
Billy Rose’s Diamond Horseshoe Revue
Billy Rose’s Diamond Horseshoe Nightclub, Paramount Hotel, Summer 1940
Produced by Billy Rose; directed by John Murray Anderson;
choreographed by Gene Kelly
Pal Joey
Ethel Barrymore Theatre, December 24, 1940–August 16, 1941
Shubert Theatre, September 1, 1941–October 21, 1941
St. James Theatre, October 21, 1941–November 29, 1941
Produced and directed by George Abbott; choreographed by Robert Alton; music and lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart; book by John O’Hara
Selected cast: Gene Kelly, Vivienne Segal, Jack Durant, Leila Ernst, June Havoc, and Van Johnson
Best Foot Forward
Ethel Barrymore Theatre, October 1, 1941–July 4, 1942
Produced and directed by George Abbott; choreographed by Gene Kelly; music and lyrics by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane; book by John Cecil Holm
Selected cast: June Allyson, Tommy Dix, Jack Jordan Jr., Gil Stratton Jr., Rosemary Lane, Nancy Walker, and Stanley Donen
Flower Drum Song
St. James Theatre, December 1, 1958–May 7, 1960
Produced by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II; directed by Gene Kelly; choreographed by Carol Haney; music and lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II; book by Oscar Hammerstein II and Joseph Fields
Selected cast: Larry Blyden, Keye Luke, Juanita Hall, Miyoshi Umeki, and Pat Suzuki
Pas de Dieux
Paris Opera House, July 6, 1960
Directed by A. M. Julien; choreographed by Gene Kelly; music by George Gershwin
Selected cast: Claude Bessy and Corps de Ballet
Gene Kelly’s Wonderful World of Girls
International Hotel, Las Vegas, April 1970–June 1970
Produced and directed by Greg Garrison; choreographed by Jonathan Lucas and Tommy Tune; music by Lee Hale; written by Stanley Daniels
Selected cast: Gene Kelly, Ruth Buzzi, Kay Medford, and Joy Hawkins
Clownaround
Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, California, April 27–30, 1972
Cow Palace, San Francisco, May 2–7, 1974
Produced by Harry Lishinsky and Franklin Roberts; directed by Gene Kelly; choreographed by Howard Jeffrey; music and lyrics by Moose (Morris) Charlap and Alvin Cooperman; book by Alvin Cooperman
Selected cast: Gene Kelly, Ruth Buzzi, and Dennis Allen
Take Me Along
Touring show with stops including Dallas, Texas; Columbus, Ohio; and St. Louis, Missouri, June 18, 1974–July 31, 1974
Produced and directed by John Kenley; choreographed by Leo Muller and Gene Kelly; music and lyrics by Bob Merrill; book by Joseph Stein and Robert Russell
Selected cast: Norwood Smith, Gene Kelly, Patricia Wilson, Russ Thacker, and Alex Romero
Appendix B
Selected Filmography
For Me and My Gal, 1942, MGM
Produced by Arthur Freed; directed by Busby Berkeley; choreographed by Bobby Connolly, Busby Berkeley, and Gene Kelly (uncredited); musical adaptation by Roger Edens and Georgie Stoll; screenplay by Fred Finklehoffe, Richard Sherman, Sid Silvers, and Howard Emmett Rodgers
Selected cast: Judy Garland, George Murphy, Gene Kelly, Martha Eggerth, and Ben Blue
Du Barry Was a Lady, 1943, MGM
Produced by Arthur Freed; directed by Roy Del Ruth; choreographed by Charles Walters; music and lyrics by Lew Brown, Roger Edens, Ralph Freed, E. Y. Harburg, Burton Lane, and Cole Porter; screenplay by Irving Brecher
Selected cast: Lucille Ball, Red Skelton, Gene Kelly, Virginia O’Brien, and Rags Ragland
Pilot #5, 1943, MGM
Produced by B. P. Fineman; directed by George Sidney; screenplay by David Hertz
Selected cast: Franchot Tone, Gene Kelly, Van Johnson, and Marsha Hunt
Thousands Cheer, 1943, MGM
Produced by Joe Pasternak; directed by George Sidney; choreographed by Gene Kelly (uncredited); music and lyrics by Burton Lane, Lew Brown, Ralph Freed, Walter Jurmann, Paul Francis Webster, Earl Brent, E. Y. Harburg, Harold Rome, Roger Edens, Ralph Blane, Hugh Martin, Thomas Waller, Andy Razaf, Mabel Wayne, Sam M. Lewis, and Joe Young; screenplay by Paul Jarrico and Richard Collins
Selected cast: Kathryn Grayson, Gene Kelly, Mary Astor, John Boles, Judy Garland, Lena Horne, Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, and Margaret O’Brien
The Cross of Lorraine, 1943, MGM
Produced by Edwin Knopf; directed by Tay Garnett; screenplay by Michael Kanin, Ring Lardner Jr., Alexander Esway, and Robert D. Andrews
Selected cast: Jean Pierre Aumont, Gene Kelly, Peter Lorre, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, and Hume Cronyn
Cover Girl, 1944, Columbia
Produced by Arthur Schwartz; directed by Charles Vidor; choreographed by Seymour Felix, Gene Kelly (uncredited), and Stanley Donen (uncredited); music and lyrics by Jerome Kern, Fred W. Leigh, Ira Gershwin, and Henry E. Pether; screenplay by Virginia van Upp
Selected cast: Rita Hayworth, Gene Kelly, Phil Silvers, Otto Kruger, Lee Bowman, and Eve Arden
Christmas Holiday, 1944, Universal
Produced by Felix Jackson; directed by Robert Siodmak; music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and Irving Berlin; screenplay by Herman Mankiewicz
Selected cast: Deanna Durbin, Gene Kelly, Richard Whorf, and Gale Sondergaard
Combat Fatigue Irritability, 1945, United States Navy
Produced by United States Navy; directed by Gene Kelly
Selected cast: Gene Kelly, Jocelyn Brando, Harlan Warde, and Lauren Gilbert
Anchors Aweigh, 1945, MGM
Produced by Joe Pasternak; directed by George Sidney; choreographed by Jack Donohue and Gene Kelly (uncredited); original music and lyrics by Jule Stein and Sammy Cahn; screenplay by Isobel Lennart
Selected cast: Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, Kathryn Grayson, Dean Stockwell, Pamela Britton, and José Iturbi
Ziegfeld Follies, 1946, MGM
Produced by Arthur Freed; directed by Vincente Minnelli, Norman Taurog, Robert Lewis, Roy Del Ruth, Lemuel Ayers, and George Sidney; choreographed by Charles Walters, Eugene Loring, and Robert Alton; music and lyrics by Harry Warren and Arthur Freed, Ralph Blane and Hugh Martin, Roger Edens and Kay Thompson, George and Ira Gershwin, and Earl Brent; screenplay by Peter Barry, David Freedman, Harry Tugend, George White, Robert Alton, Al Lewis, and Irving Brecher
Selected cast: Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Judy Garland, Lucille Bremer, Kathryn Grayson, Lena Horne, Fanny Brice, Victor Moore, Hume Cronyn, Keenan Wynn, and Red Skelton
Living in a Big Way, 1947, MGM
Produced by Pandro S. Berman; directed by Gregory La Cava; choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen (uncredited); music and lyrics by Louis Alter and Edward Heyman, and Isham Jones and Gus Kahn; screenplay by Gregory La Cava and Irving Ravetch
Selected cast: Gene Kelly, Marie McDonald, Spring Byington, Charles Winninger, and Phyllis Thaxter
The Pirate, 1948, MGM
Produced by Arthur Freed; directed by Vincente Minnelli; choreographed by Robert Alton and Gene Kelly; music and lyrics by Cole Porter; screenplay by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett
Selected cast: Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Gladys Cooper, Walter Slezak, and the Nicholas Brothers
The Three Musketeers, 1948, MGM
Produced by Pandro S. Berman; directed by George Sidney; screenplay by Robert Ardrey
Selected cast: Gene Kelly, Lana Turner, June Allyson, Van Heflin, Gig Young, Vincent Price, and Robert Coote
Words and Music, 1948, MGM
Produced by Arthur Freed; directed by Norman Taurog; choreographed by Robert Alton; music and lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart; screenplay by Fred Finklehoffe
Selected cast: Mickey Rooney, Tom Drake, Gene Kelly, Vera-Ellen, Janet Leigh, Judy Garland, Mel Torme, Cyd Charisse, Lena Horne, and Betty Garrett
Take Me out to the Ball Game, 1949, MGM
Produced by Arthur Freed; directed by Busby Berkeley; choreographed by Busby Berkeley, Gene Kelly, and Stanley Donen (uncredited); original music and lyrics by Jean Schwartz and William Jerome, Roger Edens, and Betty Comden and Adolph Green; screenplay by Harry Tugend and George Wells (story by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen)
Selected cast: Gene Kelly, Esther Williams, Frank Sinatra, Jules Munshin, Betty Garrett, and Edward Arnold
On the Town, 1949, MGM
Produced by Arthur Freed; directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen; choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen; music and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Leonard Bernstein, Lennie Hayton, and Roger Edens; screenplay by Betty Comden and Adolph Green
Selected cast: Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Jules Munshin, Vera-Ellen, Ann Miller, and Betty Garrett
The Black Hand, 1950, MGM
Produced by William H. Wright; directed by Richard Thorpe; screenplay by Luther Davis
Selected cast: Gene Kelly, J. Carrol Naish, Teresa Celli, and Frank Puglia
Summer Stock, 1950, MGM
Produced by Joe Pasternak; directed by Charles Walters; choreographed by Nick Castle and Gene Kelly (uncredited); music and lyrics by Saul Chaplin, Harry Warren, Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler, Jack Brooks, and Mack Gordon; screenplay by George Wells and Sy Gomberg
Selected cast: Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Phil Silvers, Eddie Bracken, Marjorie Main, and Gloria DeHaven
An American in Paris, 1951, MGM
Produced by Arthur Freed; directed by Vincente Minnelli; choreographed by Gene Kelly; music and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin; screenplay by Alan Jay Lerner
Selected cast: Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron, Oscar Levant, Nina Foch, and Georges Guetary
It’s a Big Country: An American Anthology, 1952, MGM
Produced by Robert Sisk; directed by Richard Thorpe, John Sturges, Charles Vidor, Don Weis, Clarence Brown, William A. Wellman, and Don Hartman; screenplay by Dore Schary, William Ludwig, Helen Deutsch, Ray Chordes, Isobel Lennart, Allen Rivkin, Lucile Schlossberg, Dorothy Kingsley, and George Wells
Selected cast: Gene Kelly, Janet Leigh, S. Z. Sakall, Ethel Barrymore, Van Johnson, Gary Cooper, Sharon McManus, and George Murphy
Singin’ in the Rain, 1952, MGM
Produced by Arthur Freed; directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen; choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen; music and lyrics by Arthur Freed, Nacio Herb Brown, and Roger Edens; screenplay by Betty Comden and Adolph Green
Selected cast: Gene Kelly, Debbie Re
ynolds, Donald O’Connor, Jean Hagen, Cyd Charisse, and Millard Mitchell
The Devil Makes Three, 1952, MGM
Produced by Richard Goldstone; directed by Andrew Marton; screenplay by Jerry Davis
Selected cast: Gene Kelly, Pier Angeli, Richard Egan, and Richard Rober
Love Is Better Than Ever, 1952, MGM
Produced by William H. Wright; directed by Stanley Donen; screenplay by Ruth Brooks Flippen
Selected cast: Larry Parks, Elizabeth Taylor, Josephine Hutchinson, Elinor Donahue, and Gene Kelly (cameo)
Crest of the Wave, 1954, MGM
Produced by John and Roy Boulting; directed by John and Roy Boulting; screenplay by Frank Harvey and Roy Boulting
Selected cast: Gene Kelly, John Justin, Bernard Lee, and Jeff Richards
Brigadoon, 1954, MGM
Produced by Arthur Freed; directed by Vincente Minnelli; choreographed by Gene Kelly; music and lyrics by Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner; screenplay by Alan Jay Lerner
Selected cast: Gene Kelly, Van Johnson, Cyd Charisse, Elaine Stewart, and Barry Jones
Deep in My Heart, 1954, MGM
Produced by Roger Edens; directed by Stanley Donen; choreographed by Eugene Loring and Gene Kelly (uncredited); music and lyrics by Sigmund Romberg, R. Harold Atteridge, Dorothy Donnelly, Roger Edens, Alex Gerber, Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach, Ballard MacDonald, Herbert Reynolds, Cyrus Wood, and Rida Johnson Young; screenplay by Leonard Spigelgass
Selected cast: José Ferrer, Merle Oberon, Walter Pidgeon, Gene Kelly, Fred Kelly, Paul Henreid, and Rosemary Clooney
It’s Always Fair Weather, 1955, MGM
Produced by Arthur Freed; directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen; choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen; music and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green; screenplay by Betty Comden, Adolph Green, and André Previn