Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen’s masterpiece, the greatest musical of all time, is 70 years old. The reissue in restored copy proves that this film remains eternally new. Initially, however, nothing was decided: Howard Keel (bass-baritone of MGM) was to have the main role. Gene Kelly, he was very busy shooting “An American in Paris”, and, given the script, the censorship board reached heights of imbecility by objecting that a line like “What are you doing later?” » suggested “a possible sexual perversion”. Despite everything, the miracle happened: Gene Kelly had cavities dug to dispose of puddles of water, choreographed the scene in the rain and interpreted it magnificently despite a tenacious cold. Stanley Donen, his accomplice, had milk added to the water in the raindrops to visualize them in Technicolor. Debbie Reynolds, a young 19-year-old actress, suffered martyrdom, she who was not a dancer, and, with bleeding feet, did the imposed tap dance under Kelly’s disapproving gaze.
Nugget of happiness, musical diamond, jewel of cinema
The sets were taken from props from Greta Garbo’s old films (her unhappy lover, John Gilbert, was the model for Gene Kelly’s character). The film’s fictional director in the film was modeled after Busby Berkeley. Cyd Charisse, sublime, was inspired by Louise Brooks, the ultra-sexy vamp of the 1920s. There was a mystery during the filming: every day, around 5 p.m., the water pressure dropped, turning the rain into dew, interrupting Gene Kelly’s entrechats. Investigation done, we realized that it was the time when the Californians, returning from work, opened their lawn watering.
The final ballet – “Broadway Melody” – was rehearsed for a month, shot in two weeks, and lasts, on screen, fifteen minutes. Donald O’Connor, son of circus acrobats, unhappy kid, sole survivor of a family of six brothers, manages the feat of making people laugh in “Make ‘Em Laugh”. Little fun note: on November 21, 1951, the end-of-shooting party took place under a rain of cinema, and the guests had to come with an umbrella… It’s all the smiling magic of this film, nugget of happiness, musical diamond, movie gem. You have to see it, see it again and see it again.
Saturday December 24 at 8:50 p.m. on TCM Cinéma. American musical comedy by Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly (1952). with Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Jean Hagen, Cyd Charisse, Rita Moreno. 1h43. (Multicast and On Demand).
