Gene Kelly, Creative Genius

Modern Screen. June 1943

Father Kelly’s buoyant and carefree, mother’s practical and smart. Gene’s crazy about both – a sentiment expressed with characteristic restraint. “I approve of my parents.”

Womans Weekly 1976

Gene, BBC interview 1974. On his mother: Being an Irish American lady she wanted us to rise to the top and have all the cultural advantages people in higher circles had. She was a lovely woman.

  FRED KELLY

Gene’s younger brother Fred was instrumental in getting Gene in front of an audience as a young man, so Gene has much to thank him for – and so do we. Gene tells the story in the Edward Murrow TV interview in 1959, and in many other places, of how Fred as a young teenager besotted with showbusiness, was earning good money performing in speakeasies and clubs, escorted of course by the canny Harriet, who firmly believed that Fred would become the ‘famous’ one. Gene meanwhile was doing backbreaking work of tyre-rolling, working on building sites, digging ditches, for far less reward, in order to pay his way through college.

Fred taught Gene some tap dancing and they teamed up to appear on amateur nights and in rough clubs, dancing and doing acrobatic type stunts and vaudeville humour, thus gaining for Gene vital experience and confidence.

Fred of course became quite well known later on, independently of Gene. A bit of trivia which I like - being English and all – is that he taught my present Queen and her sister to dance, when they were children.

In turn of course, Gene helped Fred on many occasions. He recommended Fred to take over from him in his role in The Time Of Your Life, and had Fred work with him in a speciality act in Deep In My Heart.

Saturday Evening Post. July 1950

Theater managers revived a bygone custom called ‘amateur nights’. Hoping to garner some of the prizes the theatres offered, Gene and Fred Kelly worked up a tap act on roller skates. They used the metal-wheeled ones on which they’d coursed Pittsburgh’s sidewalks, although any stage-wise skater could have told them that fiber wheels would have given them more traction and would have diminished the number of times they landed on their rear bumpers. Even without traction however, they did some pretty astonishing back-flips and nip-ups. It was in this hard-bumps school that Gene learned show business.

The Dallas Morning News. June 1974

Back in the early depression years in Pennsylvania, boxing was a ghetto kid’s dream, for fame and easy money. “But an uncle took my brother and me down to the gym and showed us guys who were punched out, talking out of the side of their head. That kept us dancing.”

Fred Kelly, quoted in Rusty E. Frank. Tap! 1994

We always got along great. It wasn’t always that way with brothers…We were never jealous of each other. Gene wasn’t jealous of me. I’ve never been jealous. I’ve always been very proud of him, and he of me. You know, we worked too hard to waste time on comparisons.

Pittsburgh Post Gazette. October 30^th 1949

Listed below are some of the dancers and choreographers whom Gene cites as being important for his training, and the formulation of his ideas and his style.

 CLARENCE DOTSON (‘dancing’ Dotson or ‘one-eyed’ Dotson). 1881-1954.

 He was a popular black tap dancer who performed on the Vaudeville circuits, He was known for his vernacular dances, The Itch, The Quiver, and Eccentric Tap.

BILL (BOJANGLES) ROBINSON. 1878-1949.

Also known as the King of Tapology. Thought by some to be the greatest tap dancer of all time. He invented many steps and was widely copied (probably by Gene, as he admitted to ‘stealing’ steps from the acts which came through Pittsburgh!) He was famous for his movies with Shirley Temple and others. He had a long and successful career, dancing well into his sixties, and appeared before the King of England, doing his famous ‘stair dance’

GEORGE COHAN. 1878-1942.

Like Gene, a multi-talented artist; playwright, actor, singer, dancer, songwriter, producer, director and author. He wrote many well known songs including I’m a Yankee-Doodle-Dandy, Grand Old Flag, and Give My Regards To Broadway. Gene was happy to be compared with Cohan, whom he admired greatly.

CAB CALLOWAY 1907-1944.

He was one of the Greats of the Swing era. He conducted his own band and performed at the Cotton Club. He made the term ‘jitterbug’ famous. He made many radio broadcasts and did extensive touring in the 1930s and ‘40s  He also appeared on Broadway and on the London stage, and appeared in films from Stormy Weather to The Blues Brothers.

Gene and Fred (Kelly) actually worked with him on one occasion, without a ‘face to face’ audition, and getting the job filling in for someone else, before anyone realised they were not black!

Fred Kelly, quoted in Rusty E. Frank. Tap! 1994

The Nicholas Brothers left Calloway in the lurch when they were offered work in Hollywood, so Calloway had to find a black dance act immediately, preferably two brothers…

“…I certainly didn’t know much about the Cotton Club. All I knew was that Cab Calloway’s music was hot, and I wanted to dance to it…We just marched right backstage and asked for the manager..”You’re the Kelly brothers?”…The manager said “Cab…meet the Kelly brothers!”. Cab walked in, took one look at us, looked at his manager, and in a real Amos and Andy put-on said, “Somebody done make a big mistake!”

So he asked us, “Did you know this was an all-black show?” And I said “Yes, but I thought you needed a dance team.” He said, “You don’t mind working…?”…

We…handed the musicians our arrangements. Then one of the guys looked at Cab and he said, “It’ll take us a few minutes to dig some of this. But man, these arrangements are wonderful.”…Gene and I danced...and as soon as it was over, they all stood up and clapped and cheered. That was really something. The guys we were nuts about were applauding us!…We saw the guys from the theatre bring out a ladder to change the marquee: EXTRA-SPECIAL ADDED ATTRACTION – GENE AND FRED KELLY – THE KELLY BROTHERS. That was it. Now we knew we had made it! And, we even got held over with Cab the next three days in Johnstown

MARTHA GRAHAM 1894-1991

She was born in Pittsburgh – they certainly knew how to produce dancers and choreographers! Some things written about her could equally apply to Gene. She revolutionised dance, lighting, stage design, costuming and music with her creative perfectionism. She freed the art of dance by providing a new dance language and new concepts. She opened a school of dance. She had strong political ideals, refusing to attend the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936. She danced at the White House for Eleanor Roosevelt. She was invited to the Paris Opera and was awarded the Legion D’Honneur by the French government. Gene said of her: 

"My chief inspiration was Martha Graham. Although I wasn't attracted to modern dance for myself, she definitely influenced me."

“I was very happy when I got to be friendly with Martha Graham because she approved of what I was trying to do. She went to see my movies and told me which numbers she liked.” 

"...I was influenced by Martha Graham and others in modern dance, but they were anti-music. They danced to percussive sound and to poetry. The popular classic ballets were fairy tales. It was necessary to express something more and in stronger terms. That resulted in a revolution in dance."

Los Angeles Times. August 30^th 1966

HUMPHREY-WEIDMAN.

Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman founded a dance school and company in 1928. Like Martha Graham, Humphrey was interested in a new dance vocabulary and style that was ‘modern’, and having to do with the young people of the America in the 20^th century.  She worked on the fundamental importance of tension and relaxation in the body, the foundation of her own system of movement principles.

Gene said: “I had a few idols who were the pioneers of modern dance, Martha Graham and Humphrey-Weidman, but they had a different outlook from me. I wanted to invent some kind of American dance that was danced to the music that I grew up on: Cole Porter and Rodgers and Hart and Irving Berlin. So I evolved a style that certainly didn’t catch on right away, but I had some good mentors in New York who encouraged me.”

During the mid 1930s, for two weeks every summer, Gene studied in Chicago, which was renowned up until World War Two for its  professional dance training in schools such as that of Andreas Pavley and Serge Oukrainsky who were said to have liberated ballet from the exacting technique of the French and Italian schools, and taught a vast array of dance traditions. Adolph Bolm was among the teachers. One of his students and his ballerina was:

BERENICE HOLMES, who taught Gene. She took over Bolm's classes when he went to San Fransisco in 1933. She became one of the great teachers of America. She was said to be a kindly and patient teacher.

Gene said: “I studied ballet in Chicago with Berenice Holmes who was a protégée of Adolph Bolm, and I saw that I could work in all kinds of dance, but none of them alone satisfied me.”

St. Petersburg Times. January18th 1985

…Kelly’s ballet education started in the 30s during several summers of training in Chicago with Berenice Holmes. “Berenice Holmes was really remarkable,” Kelly recalled. “She knew how a man could dance.”

Gene was offered a place with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, a great achievement, but declined because he could not imagine himself being tied to one form of dance expression for the rest of his professional life.  He was also honoured, in the mid-1930s, by being asked to do some teaching of tap dancing in Chicago, with the Chicago Association of Dancing Masters, a great compliment for such a young man.

ANGEL CANSINO

Gene studied Spanish dancing with him in Chicago. He came from Spain with his family, who formed The Dancing Cansinos. They appeared in several films, including (prophetically?) The Dancing Pirate. His niece, Rita Hayworth, joined the troupe aged three. I read that Betty Grable was also related, but do not know for certain. Angel Cansino became a leading Spanish dancing instructor in the United States. I think we have him to thank for Gene’s spectacular Cumparsita dance in Anchors Aweigh, his Spanish dance in the Pontiac special TV show from 1959, and even more to my liking, his short Spanish section in the ‘Fido and me’ dance in Living In A Big Way. Thank you Mr Cansino!!!

ALEXANDER KOTCHETOVSKY.

He was another of Gene’s excellent teachers in Chicago. One claim to fame was that he was almost killed by the famous dancer Nijinsky when he discovered that his sister, who was married to Kotchetovsky, was pregnant! Perhaps we see now where Gene was taught his predilection for violence!

Gene: quoted in Hirschorn: “I got to know several of my teachers well. A lot of them…were real down-to-earth, even tough guys. There was nothing effeminate about them. Cansino was a little fellow, but strong as a bull…The same for Kotchetovsky. We used to go out and drink together in Chicago and have a ball. They were terrific men, and at the same time their whole life was the dance. They taught me a lot.”

DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS

 Gene, quoted in Going Strong, Pat York. Book of interviews with over-75s.

"When I was a little boy, I went to see Douglas Fairbanks in a picture, The Mark Of Zorro. In the very opening of the picture he was practising with a long whip. A nobleman rode by and Doug accidentally cut off the plume on his helmet. The nobleman rushed in and challenged him to a duel. Fairbanks apologised. All the courtiers who witnessed this were appalled, saying, 'How can you apologise when you were challenged to a duel?' Doug’s reply was 'If you’re in the wrong, admit it; if you’re in the right, fight.' That has remained my motto throughout my life. So good old Dougie gave this piece of wisdom to me, as a mere nine-year-old."

Gene, American Film magazine, 1985

 ROBERT ALTON. 1906-1957. JOHN MURRAY ANDERSON. 1886-1954.

Robert Alton was a choreographer/dance director with many Broadway and Hollywood credits during the thirties, forties, and fifties. One scholar described Alton as: “The truest and best representative in our time of the historic qualities of American popular theatre dancing.”

John Murray Anderson was one of the great producers of American musicals. He was responsible for the first all-colour musical picture, The King Of Jazz, in 1930. The New York Times reported: “…[it] reveals this director to be a magician of far greater power than one imagined, even from his stage compositions. This Technicolor potpourri of songs, dancing and fun is a marvel of camera wizardry, joyous color schemes, charming costumes and seductive lighting effects."

Gene had a lot to thank them both for. Back in the early thirties when Gene was involved in the family’s dancing schools (by this time, called ‘Gene Kelly’s Studio of the Dance’) Robert Alton visited Pittsburgh and was impressed by Gene’s work. He told Gene to contact him if ever he decided to go to New York. Gene did just that, in 1938. Alton was working on Leave It To Me at the time, and introduced Gene to Johnny Darrow, who became Gene’s agent. According to Hirschorn, Darrow lost Gene a job by asking for too much money, so Alton offered Gene his first Broadway role as a speciality dancer in Leave It To Me.  Alton also introduced Gene to Cole Porter, and they became friends.

Gene’s next role, in One For The Money, was also choreographed by Alton. It was directed by John Murray Anderson, of whom Gene said:

“I learned more about staging a show from Murray than anyone else in the business. I never took my eyes off him. His timing was superb... He could create any mood he wanted through his brilliant use of lighting…he understood about dancing…with Murray, all you saw was the magic and wonderment of the effect…When I went into pictures I tried to adopt his approach to colour… I would say no one has had as great an influence on my work as John Murray Anderson. The biggest compliment I ever had…was his approval of my work on One For The Money…It was to lead directly to my first solo credit on Broadway as a dance director.”

This happened when Anderson suggested Gene for dance director for a new show at Billy Rose’s Diamond Horseshoe club. So it might be said that Alton started a trail of events which led to Gene’s marrying Betsy Blair, as he met her while auditioning dancers for the show.

After Gene’s highly successful run in The Time Of Your Life, his big chance came when he was offered the lead in Pal Joey. Alton was dance director. He helped and encouraged Gene to follow his instinct in his characterisation of Joey through the dance.

Alton also worked on Zeigfeld Follies, and assisted Gene on Slaughter On Tenth Avenue from Words & Music, and The Pirate.

ARTHUR FREED . 1894-1973.

His birth name was Arthur Grossman. He performed in Vaudeville, staged musical shows during the war, managed a theatre before joining MGM. He was a prolific songwiter, with his partner Nacio Herb Brown. His list of credits is enormous, Check him out on the internet movie database.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006085/

Arthur Freed was a huge figure in Gene’s working life. It was he who insisted on Gene’s being given the role in For Me & My Gal, in the teeth of opposition from almost everyone else involved in the making of the film. It was he who persuaded Mayer to then buy up Gene’s contract from Selznick.

Saul Chaplin: "He was easy to work for. You were given the widest latitude to be creative, without his interference. …If he approved of an idea you had that required clearance from the front office because of budgetary or other problems, he fought for it and usually won."

Interview Magazine 1994

The next musical I did with Arthur Freed after For Me and My Gal was Dubarry Was A Lady, which was atrocious. And I told him so. I said, “Arthur, you know, you don’t want to do this.” Meanwhile, he did try other things… And finally, through the influence of a lot of ex-Broadway people like Vincente Minnelli, Roger Edens, Saul Chaplin and Irene Scharaff, we started to do a new kind of musical. Arthur encouraged that: when we’d ask him to bring out new people, he would bring ‘em out.

Betsy Blair. The Memory Of All That: 2003

When L.B. Mayer saw the rushes of For Me & My Gal, and at the insistence of Arthur Freed, Metro negotiated with David Selznick to buy out the rest of his contract with Gene. I give the credit to Arthur Freed, because when Mayer saw Gene in Pal Joey, he said: 'Too short, too sexy, not sympathetic, not for us.' Impertinently I think he was confusing the role with the personality….contrary to L.B. Mayer’s opinion I found my husband very sympathetic…As to Mayer’s other comments, 'sexy' – even 'too sexy' – is good, and 'short' is debatable. Gene was five foot nine.

Gene, TV interview 1974.

"We thought very highly of him for a number of reasons. He had been a songwriter so he knew the difficulties and joys of creating…he also was the fellow who said ‘Let’s make An American In Paris.’…The great thing about Arthur Freed was he had an eye for talent, much moreso than the so-called Head of the studio L.B. Mayer, who often took the credit…He fought for us and when we wanted to do something he would try to see that we got it done."

Johnny Green, Head of music at MGM.

Gene by now was the Neil Armstrong of MGM. (1952). He enjoyed great respect and admiration, and in Arthur Freed he had a powerful ally. It was almost a father-son relationship with the father having a near-reverence for the son.

Jane Ellen Wayne. The Leading Men of MGM. 2006

There was only one quote I found that I thought was good in the book I have been reading, The Genius of the System by Thomas Schatz,   "Freed was on a roll at the time--three of his last four pictures had grossed over $3 million---and he was ready to try somehting a bit less conventional.  So he decided to have Gene Kelly choreograph and direct On The Town, which may have been Freed's single most important decision as an MGM producer."   And later ..."although there was no question thatt the governing creative force behind On theTown was Gene Kelly."

JUDY GARLAND

For me, Gene and Judy were the perfect screen couple. Alone they were luminous, charismatic, true stars, but together these effects were magnified a hundred times over, they were a magical pairing. I wish so much that they had worked together more often.

They first met when Judy saw Gene performing on stage in New York. She invited him to a party, but they slipped away and went walking in Central Park. I would dearly love to have overheard their conversation. Gene always gives praise to Judy for her invaluable help in making his screen debut a resounding success. (For Me And My Gal). In fact she was partly responsible for his being given the role, which had been earmarked for George Murphy.

Later, In 1950, Gene repaid her kindnesses when he supported her through her role in Summer Stock. She was having huge problems at the time. He was endlessly patient and loving, and so from an unexciting and unimaginative core plot, came the love story of Joe Ross and Jane, and the character which a majority of Gene Kelly fans think of as one of his most attractive and endearing.

Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Jun 8^th 1942

Metro’s all excited about the teamwork of Judy Garland and Gene Kelly in For Me And My Gal and is thinking about building them up into a Rogers-Astaire combination.

Irish America magazine. December 1990

Gene: Judy was a miraculous entertainer and she could learn scripts just by reading them through once. She had no formal education but she could adapt herself to any kind of entertainment...

We loved each other. I was married at the time and we had no so-called love affair, she was a deep friend of my wife and me and we were very very close to her. And I loved her dearly as a friend.

John Fricke & Lorna Luft. Judy Garland. A Portrait in Art and Anecdote. 2003

Betsy Blair on Judy:

She was nineteen when I arrived in Hollywood at seventeen with my brand-new-husband-about-to-be-movie-star Gene Kelly. Judy had seen Gene in Pal Joey, and she asked for him to play opposite her in For Me And My Gal…We were invited to dinner at Judy and David Rose’s house. She was a movie star; I was a girl from New Jersey…Judy saw no difference between us…she was a joy to know. And Gene always publicly acknowledged her vital help to him on his first film when he was the novice.

Gene:  "Of all the actors in Hollywood who had seen me or known me from my Broadway days, Judy was my first booster. I was a very lucky fellow to be selected by Arthur Freed to do my first picture opposite her, and don’t think that she didn’t have a lot to do with that. The greatest thing I remember about Judy…was her kindness. I was a good stage performer but the movies threw me…Judy never mentioned this to me, but very quietly helped me. I’ll never forget how much I learned about movies doing that first picture."

Architectural Digest April 1992

I knew nothing about playing to the camera. It was Judy who pulled me through

Gene: Reflections On The Silver Screen TV interview 1994: It was through her enthusiasm that I did those early scenes well...Judy was so great. In a scene she'd sort of nudge me around and I got more used to the camera.

Gene, quoted in Minnelli, I Remember It Well. 1974

The joy of working with Judy was her great capacity for laughter…when I made a goof, this made her laugh too. She had the movie-wise kid’s knowledge that a scene could be taken over again. Coming from the theatre, I didn’t know. I used to die when I made a mistake. This to Judy – and everyone else – was very funny.

Dallas Times Herald, June 1980

Gene:  Judy Garland was the greatest performer we ever had. And she was brilliant. She could do everything. She could pick up a score and scan it once, or scan a whole page of dialogue and she would have it in her head. She was so perfect, so bright, she was wonderful to work with.

Joe Pasternak. Easy The Hard Way 1956

Gene had worked with Judy on his first film. She had been considerate, generous, helpful….and Gene Kelly, a man who knows genius when he is next to it, for he is not untouched with it himself, was more than merely grateful…it took us six months to finish the film. [Summer Stock]. Gene Kelly rates a special mention…[He said] “ I’ll do anything for this girl Joe. If I have to come here and sit and wait for a year, I’d do it for her.”

Golden Greats of MGM. Jane Ellen Wayne. 2002

On Summer Stock: Gene Kelly outdid himself to make sure Judy received love and respect from everyone connected with the film. “We need to be patient,” Kelly stressed…”to understand what she’s been through.”