The Director, the Set, the Star, and Her Vibrator: Hollywood Lore from Yolanda and the Thief (Quote of the Day)
This entry is part 23 of 23 in the series Quote of the Day.Vincente Minnelli’s emphasis on visual effects and props sometimes led him to neglect the essential — namely the actor before the camera. The bathroom scene [in Yolanda and the Thief, 1945] was a case in point. Kay Thompson visited the set to watch the shooting, and recalls, “Lucille [Bremer] was in her elaborate bathtub, filled with soap bubbles and water, liquid soap and perfume. On the marble ledge of the tub was a telephone. It would ring, Lucille would pick up the receiver and say, “Hello,” and...
Read MoreBackstage Musicals: For People Without Balls (Quote of the Day)
This entry is part 22 of 23 in the series Quote of the Day.The main reason why most film and TV musicals are backstagers is simple: it provides a ready-made excuse for people to sing. Just like a movie such as 42nd Street, Smash is a musical where most of the original songs (by the Hairspray team of Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman) are performed either as part of the show within a show, or as fantasy sequences where the characters imagine themselves performing. “I always think of backstage musicals as musicals for people who don’t have the balls to make a musical,” says classic film...
Read MoreAmbitious, Creative, and Indispensable: RIP, Gene Kelly (Pic of the Day)
This entry is part 12 of 12 in the series Pic of the Day. Sixteen years ago today, the world lost one of Hollywood’s greatest entertainers, dancers, choreographers, innovators, cinematographers, and genuine stars. What follows is a brief tribute to Gene Kelly including an explanation of his death and the industry’s response(s) thereafter. In July 1994, Gene Kelly suffered the first of two strokes. Although doctors at UCLA’s Medical Center labeled it “mild,” the stroke kept him in the hospital for nearly seven weeks. Kelly suffered another, much smaller stroke in...
Read MoreGene Kelly Fan vs. Scholar (Dancing in the Rain)
This entry is part 6 of 6 in the series Dancing in the Rain. You set Gene Kelly Fans. What has the response to the site been? Overall, pretty good. Some days the site receives 100 hits, other days 500, and the day when one of our contributors’ essays comparing Astaire and Kelly made it on IMDB’s hit list, over 4,000 people visited. The Gene Kelly Fans Twitter account, which I began first, grows weekly as well. To date, there are almost 1,000 fans following and interacting with us. All in all, it’s nice to know so many people out there still appreciate Kelly’s films and talents....
Read MoreGene Kelly: The Scar, The Rug, The Number, The Stilettos (Dancing in the Rain)
This entry is part 5 of 6 in the series Dancing in the Rain. Gene Kelly’s appearance: the rug verses the scar. Why cover one and not the other? My guess is that the scar suggests masculinity and virility; the hairpiece does not. It’s no secret that Gene Kelly was interested in — or some would argue, obsessed with — displaying conventional American masculinity both on- and offscreen. In fact, he devoted an entire television special to that notion called Dancing: A Man’s Game (1958) [video] in which he pairs himself with star athletes like Mickey Mantle and Sugar Ray...
Read MoreGene Kelly: Status, Style, and Substance (Dancing in the Rain)
This entry is part 4 of 6 in the series Dancing in the Rain. What place do song-and-dance men (like Gene Kelly) hold in cinema history? An important one in Hollywood’s classical era, at least. After synchronized sound hit Hollywood in 1927, the musical was the go-to genre of choice. Hearing people speak and sing was novel, and also, more music meant less dubbing and subtitling for foreign markets. In 1930 alone, the industry cranked out something like 100 musicals; compare that to the year 2010, when only ONE adult-oriented, feature-length musical was released. Around 1932, Busby Berkeley...
Read MoreGetting Hooked On, Teaching About, and Rating Gene Kelly (Dancing in the Rain)
This entry is part 3 of 6 in the series Dancing in the Rain. You came to Gene Kelly quite late didn’t you? Your first experience of his work? I did. I was in the second year of my PhD program, studying Shakespeare actually, and on a whim signed up for a class on the American film musical. In my mind, this course was strictly an Arts elective, not something I thought I’d pursue later in life. Don’t get me wrong: I’ve always loved musicals; I grew up watching The Sound of Music (1965), Annie (1982), Grease (1978), Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), even that musical version...
Read MoreGene Kelly’s Prominence in American Film (Dancing in the Rain)
This entry is part 2 of 6 in the series Dancing in the Rain.This is the portion of my BBC Radio interview that made it into the final broadcast. See series “Dancing in the Rain” for more questions/answers. Is Gene Kelly still a prominent figure in American film? If you mean within the study of film history, definitely. In fact, in some of my classes, I find it hard to discuss cinema of the ‘40s and ‘50s without referencing Gene Kelly and his creative partner, Stanley Donen, not to mention their many contributions to cinematic dance. For example, rather than creating a...
Read MoreDancing in the Rain: Gene Kelly, the BBC, and Me
This entry is part 1 of 6 in the series Dancing in the Rain.In October 2011, BBC Radio 2 invited me to take part “Dancing in the Rain: Gene Kelly,” a documentary celebrating the life and talent of the song-and-dance man 100 years after his birth. Featuring commentary from Len Goodman (Dancing with the Stars and Strictly Come Dancing), Matthew Morrison (Glee), Leslie Caron, Kerry Kelly Novick (Gene’s eldest daughter), biographer Ruth Leon, choreographer Matthew Bourne, tap-dancer Rusty Frank, and yours truly, the program aired for a week in December 2011, and it will re-air in...
Read MoreM-G-M, Hollywood’s Greatest Backlot: 10 Juicy Tidbits
Last summer I came across Jim Lane’s post on M-G-M: Hollywood’s Greatest Backlot (2011), a coffee table book that exhaustively covers Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during the studio era. After looking at Lane’s scans from the book and reading his mostly glowing review, I immediately added it to my Amazon Wish List. Eight months later, I finally have the book in my hands. Lane is correct: it is a “swell read” with plenty of maps, never-before-seen photographs, and loads of information on the ins and outs of running a movie studio during its glory days. It’s a treasure...
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Professor of film and Shakespeare. Advocate of social media. Lover of popular culture,