Debbie Reynolds told an anecdote about the very hard time she had learning to dance for this film. She said Fred Astaire reached out to her, inviting her to watch his own rehearsals, and just generally advising her and bucking her up. I do love the film and so did my children. Jean Hagans is an absolute delight as the villainess . The mishaps with their first Talkie—the unsynced track, unbalanced noises, etc.—-are a scream. And oh, my goodness—-Cyd Charisse, my favorite female dancer…
Donald O’Connor is unbelievable. Was blown away the first time I saw him dance. There’s a number I stumbled upon that he does with Debbie Reynolds. She’s not too shabby either.
Amy, I read that Debbie Reynolds, who was only 18 at the time, had never done any dancing of the sort that she was required to do in the film .. and that she was afraid that Mr. Kelly would thing she was not good enough. Well, he worked her very hard -- as he did himself and everyone else. It must have been pretty overwhelming for her to have to start at the top like that, though what better teacher could she have had?
Remarkable. I more or less thought that most every entertainer that came of age during the “golden age of Hollywood “ had basic training in singing, dancing and acting. Jerry Lewis was a great dancer. I just about flipped when I saw him doing a Lindy type thing. Mickey Rooney could dance and Sinatra , a singer, was a pretty good actor! Maybe the work ethic was different also? I don’t know. That may not be a fair judgment.
Well, there was dancing, which everyone could do, and then there was show dancing. I read somewhere that Gene Kelly taught Sinatra to dance too, in Anchors Aweigh. Actors such as Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland grew up in Vaudeville, and they almost certainly learned singing and dancing in that show business "training program." Sinatra was a natural at acting who "acted" every song he sang and became a really fine film actor in time. Gene Kelly studied classical ballet, and boy did that training show -- but he was a genius at choreography. And he worked on Broadway when he was young, so he got a lot of training in musical theater that way. ALL of the greats worked very hard to make what they did look easy. :)
Jack, do you mean that only dancing thrived? If you do, I think it’s our cultural mix of African rhythm and dance and song melding with those same elements of white culture that gives us jazz, blues, r & b and all the rest of our unique folk music and dance. It’s the melting pot, Copeland’s common man, our democratic republic. America really is a great country. There’s a book I’d recommend if I could remember the name. It’s in a location different than where I am right now.
Amy, I think that Jack was referring to the art of musical theater, which resulted in so many great stage and film musicals in the Golden Age. But certainly the influence of jazz and blues was all over American music, and it quickly crossed the pond to Europe, Swing wouldn't have happened if not for jazz, which grew from African American music of all kinds. It was a funny "melting pot," indeed which threw all of the musical styles together with great classical influence of European immigrants who flocked to the US from just before the turn of the 20th Century through the 1920's. What a mix of talents that was, and what a wondrous outcome for music and theater.
A nun teaching our sixth-grade class told us one day that she loved Gene Kelly because “he is a manly dancer.” And, I believe she touched on a characteristic that helped make him a star.
Kelly was trained in classical ballet in his youth, and the grace it taught him shows, and yes! He could do what he did because he was a man, and really a very athletic one. He's my favorite of the hoofers, hands down. None better! And he could sing well enough to be great in the musicals.
Debbie Reynolds told an anecdote about the very hard time she had learning to dance for this film. She said Fred Astaire reached out to her, inviting her to watch his own rehearsals, and just generally advising her and bucking her up. I do love the film and so did my children. Jean Hagans is an absolute delight as the villainess . The mishaps with their first Talkie—the unsynced track, unbalanced noises, etc.—-are a scream. And oh, my goodness—-Cyd Charisse, my favorite female dancer…
Quick comment: An American in Paris is based on George & Ira Gershwin’s music, not Cole Porter’s
Are Arthur Freed and Alan Freed (DJ of rock n roll )related?
Amy, that did seem possible, but from what I can tell, the name similarity is just a coincidence. Freed was a common enough Jewish surname.
Donald O’Connor is unbelievable. Was blown away the first time I saw him dance. There’s a number I stumbled upon that he does with Debbie Reynolds. She’s not too shabby either.
Amy, I read that Debbie Reynolds, who was only 18 at the time, had never done any dancing of the sort that she was required to do in the film .. and that she was afraid that Mr. Kelly would thing she was not good enough. Well, he worked her very hard -- as he did himself and everyone else. It must have been pretty overwhelming for her to have to start at the top like that, though what better teacher could she have had?
Remarkable. I more or less thought that most every entertainer that came of age during the “golden age of Hollywood “ had basic training in singing, dancing and acting. Jerry Lewis was a great dancer. I just about flipped when I saw him doing a Lindy type thing. Mickey Rooney could dance and Sinatra , a singer, was a pretty good actor! Maybe the work ethic was different also? I don’t know. That may not be a fair judgment.
Well, there was dancing, which everyone could do, and then there was show dancing. I read somewhere that Gene Kelly taught Sinatra to dance too, in Anchors Aweigh. Actors such as Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland grew up in Vaudeville, and they almost certainly learned singing and dancing in that show business "training program." Sinatra was a natural at acting who "acted" every song he sang and became a really fine film actor in time. Gene Kelly studied classical ballet, and boy did that training show -- but he was a genius at choreography. And he worked on Broadway when he was young, so he got a lot of training in musical theater that way. ALL of the greats worked very hard to make what they did look easy. :)
Right, the vaudeville circuit training program!
Re the intensity that Kelly brought to those dances:
This brings to mind an account of a Fred Astaire scene that required 40+ takes before he was satisfied.
The sheer talent and drive of these performers are astonishing.
Dare I go global here and notice that only in this great country did this particular art thrive.
Jack, do you mean that only dancing thrived? If you do, I think it’s our cultural mix of African rhythm and dance and song melding with those same elements of white culture that gives us jazz, blues, r & b and all the rest of our unique folk music and dance. It’s the melting pot, Copeland’s common man, our democratic republic. America really is a great country. There’s a book I’d recommend if I could remember the name. It’s in a location different than where I am right now.
Amy, I think that Jack was referring to the art of musical theater, which resulted in so many great stage and film musicals in the Golden Age. But certainly the influence of jazz and blues was all over American music, and it quickly crossed the pond to Europe, Swing wouldn't have happened if not for jazz, which grew from African American music of all kinds. It was a funny "melting pot," indeed which threw all of the musical styles together with great classical influence of European immigrants who flocked to the US from just before the turn of the 20th Century through the 1920's. What a mix of talents that was, and what a wondrous outcome for music and theater.
I see. Thanks!
A nun teaching our sixth-grade class told us one day that she loved Gene Kelly because “he is a manly dancer.” And, I believe she touched on a characteristic that helped make him a star.
Kelly was trained in classical ballet in his youth, and the grace it taught him shows, and yes! He could do what he did because he was a man, and really a very athletic one. He's my favorite of the hoofers, hands down. None better! And he could sing well enough to be great in the musicals.