Photo:
Photofest |
“I
didn't want to move or act like a rich man. I wanted to dance
in a pair of jeans. I wanted to dance like the man in the streets.”
- Gene Kelly
Timeless, effortless, elegant and indelible as the 50th anniversary
of SINGIN' IN THE RAIN approaches, Gene Kelly's body of work
still thrives and still thrills. With films that also include
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, SUMMER STOCK, ON THE TOWN and BRIGADOON,
Kelly revived the movie musical and redefined dance on screen
(kinotanets), bringing with him an inspired sensibility and
an original vitality. His choreography and his performances
were relaxed but compelling, innovative but highly accessible
and, ultimately, magical.
Photo: Photofest
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Solely responsible
for creating a new approach to film musicals as performer, as
choreographer and as director Kelly's story has never been fully
told. A creative genius fueled by single-mindedness, a volatile
temper and narcissism, his need for perfection was uncompromising.
At odds with MGM throughout his time there, Kelly fought to
expand the concept and reach of motion picture musicals, always
keenly aware that he was beginning his film career well past
his prime as a dancer. By the mid-1950s, Kelly found himself
at loose ends the genre he helped master now over a victim of
changing musical tastes and economic restrictions. GENE KELLY:
ANATOMY OF A DANCER offers a far more incisive view of the graceful
and charming, beloved entertainer than that which the world
has come to know. Kelly’s story is told with great visual
retrospective, the still familiar music and through colleagues
and protégés such as Debbie Reynolds, Cyd Charrise,
Leslie Caron and Betsy Blair, his first wife, and their children.
Robert Trachtenberg’s work has appeared in such publications
as The New York Times Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, In Style,
Vanity Fair, New York Magazine, and Esquire. Advertising clients
include Neiman-Marcus, Marshall Fields, Warner bros, Universal,
NBC, Disney, ABC, and Turner.
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| Photo:
Photofest |
Trachtenberg
has written, produces and directed several documentaries. “On
Cukor”, was the first feature-length film on legendary
Hollywood director George Cukor. The Emmy nominated “Carry
Grant: A Class Apart” had its world premiere at the 2004
Cannes Film Festival, and Trachtenberg’s newest films
“Irving Thalberg: Prince of Hollywood” premiered
on Turner Classics Movies in 2005.
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Photo:
Photofest |
“You
know right before I started the film, this very young woman
was in my office repairing my computer and my assistant turned
to her and said, “What happens when I say Gene Kelly to
you?” and she instantly said, “I smile.” The
guy was a movie star in the classic sense of the word –
he had that X quality that you cannot define. But he actually
had the talent to back up the sheer charisma. He was very frank
in some of his archival interviews, he knew that some of his
films were dated, that numbers didn’t work, but his appeal
really transcends and even filters down to the movie audience
of today… Just that the idea of what he was trying to
do – present dance to as wide an audience as possible,
to point out that dance is a form of athletics as well as art,
to keep trying to film dance in new ways – these are very
basic ideas, but sometimes the simplest ideas are the best…»
- RT
