GENE KELLY: ANATOMY OF A DANCER - Robert Trachtenberg, dir

©2002
studio: Warner Home Video
production company: American Masters, Turner Entertainment, WNET Channel 13 New York
dir: Robert Trachtenberg
cast: Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Jeanine Basinger, Betsy Blair, Laslie Caron, Cyd Charisse, Betty Comden, Adolph Green
documentary

A documentary on dancer, choreographer, director, Gene Kelly.

I really liked this, simply because the focus is on Gene Kelly, one of my all -time favorite performers. I'm always happy to watch this man dance, so a documentary which features many clips of his work is certainly going to be well received by me. Most of the clips are certainly available by watching his movies, but there are a few gems here, such as a bit of 8mm movie footage of his work on Broadway in Pal Joey, and a rare television special which he hosted, in which he tries to show the similarities in dance and sports.

More than once I sensed some uneasiness for some of the other actors to mention what a task-master Kelly was. Debbie Reynolds, for instance, talked about how he'd lock her in a studio or how her feet would bleed from all the work he'd put her through, but she'd quickly add how she'd learned everything (and was still in the business) because of him. It seemed as if Gene Kelly is still "sacred ground" and it wasn't good to speak ill of him still.

For someone such as myself, who has really looked forward to Kelly's films, there was nothing really very new here, and all the information was quite tame (no down and dirty tabloid news here!). '"Anatomy" of a dancer' doesn't really seem appropriate for this documentary -- we didn't really get much more than a retrospective of his career.

The thing that I, and so many others, like about Kelly's dancing, and which is commented on here, is how masculine he made the art form. Kelly proved that dancing wasn't just for "sissy" boys. Indeed, the film reports that there was a large confluence of men taking dance lessons during the Kelly years.

Again, this is all about Gene Kelly, my favorite "star," and I therefore recommend it most highly.