Gene Kelly sounded like a bastard

Irish tinymeat.

He was a strange guy. He was raised in an Irish Catholic family where the brothers were very competitive with one another, and so he was exceptionally aggressive in all forms of competing, from garnering film roles to games he's host at his LA home. It helped him become a huge star, but I wouldn't have wanted to have been friends with him unless he fucked me.

gin...too early, r2?

Arthur Laurents talks about how thirsty Gene Kelly was. There was a party at Kelly's house and Noel Coward was entertaining everyone from the piano. Kelly resented not being the center of attention so he began furiously dancing about the living room. Laurents said it was a pathetic display.

I remember reading a similar story about Jerry Lewis who was out to dinner with family. When one family member was telling a story and getting too much attention, Jerry started putting breadsticks up his nose to draw focus. And, of course, everyone knew they had to laugh.

Here for the ASS pictures.

[quote] Kelly resented not being the center of attention so he began furiously dancing about the living room. Laurents said it was a pathetic display.

I'm sure Laurents had a point there, but this is still making me laugh.

"Oh no - don't look right now, but Gene Kelly is dancing in your living room. So annoying!"

To be fair Arthur Laurents seemed like a piece of work too.

Everyone is a bastard.

I've heard more bad stories about him than good.

Oh no! Let's cancel him immediately!

Arthur Laurents raised an eyebrow at Kelly's homophobia, given the rumors he had heard.

He was a lovely man—not quite too good for this world but close to. The nasty stories that came out after his death are just envious people trying to tear down in death someone who they couldn’t in life.

As for the age of his wife, she was actually NOT a teen when they married. She was much younger but the teen stuff is just a rumor.

His entire name sounds very feminine and wussy. LOL!

R10 I don’t think he should be canceled. I’m a fan of several “problematic” people from the Old Hollywood era. But it’s good to know the full scope of a person.

Love him.

R12 They met when she was 15 and married when she was 17. It’s not okay now but things were different back then.

[quote]The nasty stories that came out after his death are just envious people trying to tear down in death someone who they couldn’t in life.

You can always count on the starry-eyed fans to type this kind of bullshit. Fans are so adorable.

Olivia talked about working with him in her book. She said he had a pleasant personality but was a complete perfectionist when it came to his dancing. Refused to take direction from anyone in the dance numbers and wound-up choreographing all of his own work in Xanadu.

Madonna had him fired from the Girlie Show tour. He was supposed to direct the Rain number. She had her brother do it, who was horrified that he had to sack a legend. Madonna was non plussed.

R16, that’s not true.

R17, eat shit.

R19

Maybe making that particular film helped Betsy Blair, then 31, make her own break from the appealing, glamorous MGM story line she’d been living for most of her adult life. Right around the time she was nominated for her Oscar, she was in the process of leaving Gene Kelly, whom she first met at age 16 — a girl next door dancing her heart out to make it onto a chorus line.

Had she not met Kelly, then a 28-year-old choreographer who fought to get her cast in a nightclub revue, maybe Blair would have attended Sarah Lawrence, where she was already accepted. She might have married a doctor, choreographed the high-school senior show and worried about things like stains on the carpet and commutes. But she did meet Kelly and lived instead the life that housewives and young girls alike paid money to inhabit, via the silver screen, for two hours at a time. First Kelly whisked his bookish, bright-eyed ingenue around New York, taking her to museums, Village jazz clubs, Polish dance halls and the Rainbow Room, buying her chocolate sodas late at night as he and his left-leaning friends talked politics around the table. Then, as his star rose, he whisked her all the way to Hollywood. At their home on Rodeo Drive, Blair, a mother at 18, entertained talents like Arthur Laurents and André Previn and stars like Lena Horne and Noël Coward at regular Saturday gatherings. Starlets, playwrights and legends played competitive games of volleyball and charades when they weren’t introducing new songs or listening to Judy Garland solos. Blair was no great singer, which didn’t stop her from belting out tunes around the piano; she wasn’t beautiful, which didn’t stop her from becoming a seductive flirt. What, precisely, was the nature of her charm? “She was joyous,” Leslie Caron, who fondly recalls those Saturday nights in her autobiography, “Thank Heaven,” told me. In that time, in that place, who wouldn’t be?

Hi R20, love you doll!!!

He farted on my face!

His wives all shared a rather manly look.

I met the brother Fred. He was a real nice average guy. Obviously he had none of Gene's crazy career ambition..

Undeniably talented, but there was always something about him I didn’t like.

I thought he was very hammy.

r24

Oh, I didn't know about the brother - interesting that both he and Fred Astaire started out dancing with siblings.

R14 blow it out your ass you twat

An asshole who was a bit of a snob, dismissive towards those who were not gifted.

The quad muscles of life.

Who the fuck cares what an entertainer was like as a person? What is this 21st century obsession with every public figure having to be some kind of role model or lovely person? Neocon bullshit, that's what it is, but this time perpetuated by so-called "liberals." It seemed so much better when all you got about actors personal lives was crap spouted off by their studios.

R30 Agreed.

Arthur Laurents was such an asshole that I cannot take any of his judgments on people's character seriously.

Arthur Laurents is indistinguishable from Arthur Lehmann.

[quote] Who the fuck cares what an entertainer was like as a person? What is this 21st century obsession with every public figure having to be some kind of role model or lovely person? Neocon bullshit, that's what it is, but this time perpetuated by so-called "liberals." It seemed so much better when all you got about actors personal lives was crap spouted off by their studios.

Right. Said the queen on a gossip site...

His last wife, Patricia Ward has made a cottage industry of Kelly and she sounds like a real piece of work.

Ernest Lehmann was a real piece of work.

Gene Kelly's buttocks were a piece of work.

Yep

He was VERY jealous of Gene Nelson. Nelson did not have Kellys bigger muscular figure or his ass -(he was solid, lean muscle) but he more than matched him in talent and surpassed him in athletic ability.

Kelly had a hand in choosing the clips in "That's Dancing!" Nelson was completely ignored.

No Nelson.

[quote]Arthur Laurents was such an asshole that I cannot take any of his judgments on people's character seriously.

Assholes often have the best takes on other assholes.

The OP hasn't provided any evidence of this so-called 'bastardry'.

R41 is correct. Look at Gore Vidal’s career.

Janet modeled several of her videos after the great MGM musicals that Gene starred in.

[quote] Irish tinymeat.

From what I've heard Gene Kelly is not small.

His best acting role was in the totally awesome Joan Collins mini-series Sins (1986).

R34 I'm interested in gossip but not moralizing about it, saying that I don't like someone because they were mean or they were somehow bigots or whatnot. All gossip sites are the moral police now, especially the women run ones like deuxmoi and ONTD - they used to be so much more fun in the 2000s.

R47 There's good gossip and there's witty gossip. And there's just LAZY gossip.

I enjoyed his movies, his dancing, he had a strong solid athletic body, nice shoulders,, thighs and ass Cheeks, and some measure of sex appeal.

R47 It’s true. Twitter is also a cesspool.

[quote] [R34] I'm interested in gossip but not moralizing about it, saying that I don't like someone because they were mean or they were somehow bigots or whatnot. All gossip sites are the moral police now, especially the women run ones like deuxmoi and ONTD - they used to be so much more fun in the 2000s.

That's not what you argued at r30. At r30, you said:

[quote] Who the fuck cares what an entertainer was like as a person? What is this 21st century obsession with every public figure having to be some kind of role model or lovely person? Neocon bullshit, that's what it is, but this time perpetuated by so-called "liberals." It seemed so much better when all you got about actors personal lives was crap spouted off by their studios.

You're changing your tune.

sybil

Gene Nelson was not an MGM star and theefore not in the That's Entertainment movies. Nothing to do with Gene Kelly.

Performing "Singing In The Rain" with a high fever is a "dark behind the scenes story?" Oh, please.

He was a little bitch who’d CUT YOU.

So now we all know where Gene Kelly stood vis-à-vis Gene Nelson's career; but where did he stand on Gene Rayburn's career? I think by this time we deserve to know.

R51 I don't see how my statements are in conflict. I don't care if he was "reported to be" a good or bad person, it doesn't change my opinion of him. The problem is that so many people have taken alleged moral failings of artists, many of whom are DEAD, to actually matter in regard to their work....

[quote] we all know where Gene Kelly stood vis-à-vis Gene Nelson's career; but where did he stand on Gene Rayburn's career?

And what about Gene Pallete's?

But he loved singing away in the rain....

Why didn't Gene Kelly appear with Grace Kelly?

Was he too short?

[quote] I didn’t know he married a teenager too.

Well, she was a Commy nutcase.

The Commies were using both of them for PR.

R18, "nonplussed" actually means surprised, not unfazed. I make that mistake all the time.

He’s no Gene Shalit.

Of course, the feud with Gene Marshall was legendary.

He called her “small.” And “wooden.”

Or Gene Tierney? I bet he is the one who drove her into the nuthouse.

I thought he was at his most winning when starting with Judy. He always seemed so hammy in other roles, but not so much with Judy.

The American Masters episode that PBS did on Gene is truly great and very even-handed about his personal life, including a wonderful poignant interview with first wife Betsy Blair. Check it out if you can find it online.

[quote] Ballin' the Jack

Sounds smutty.

All things considered, Gene Kelly doesn't seem that bad at all. What did he do that made him "a bastard?" What a stupid thread.

It sounds more like Debbie Reynolds was an ungrateful whiner. Gene cast her and gave her a huge break and then rehearsed her until she could deliver a perfect performance, Poor Debbie!!

And everyone in old Hollywood knew that Esther Williams was an entitled cunt who couldn't act, only swim.

DL's Resident Gene Nelson stan always gets in a plug. Tiresome.

Weird, but you often hear of people calling perfectionist male artists assertive but female ones bitches. However for some reason, Gene's perfectionism reputation always rings of bitchiness to me. Also, compared with a lot of what I've read or heard from fellow fans of both Gene and Judy Garland separately, unlike those who say that once she became a star you didn't take your eyes off of Judy or notice anyone costarring around her in a film scene...however, in her movies with Gene, my attention is always shifted off from Judy and onto Gene (and not of course admittedly because of his sexiness, but due to his presence in equal measure to Judy's onscreen).

I meant above to write and not --just-- because of his sexiness... Scusatemi! :)

R66 whenever I see that clip I am astounded by Judy's many skills and I can't keep my eyes off her so slim pins performing all that.

R71 Somebody sounds jealous that Esther got 13 years worth of Fernando Lamas sizemeat!

That number at r66 is nice--they're both such fine dancers, but they have different styles (he is always so athletic, even when he's doing a dance that's not challenging him at all).

I also like it that Kelly isn't flashing his cheesy "LIKE ME! LIKE ME!" smile he was always doing by the 1950s.

Esther wrote a biography which I seem to remember was tales of one huge dong after another.

autobiography.

Gene Kelly didn’t age well, as a type.

(Not that he needed to. I’m sure he was filthy rich.)

[quote] "Arthur Laurents is indistinguishable from Arthur Lehmann."

Arthur Lehmann the visual artist, R33? The only other Lehman I'm familiar with, is legendary screenwriter Ernest Lehman (who oddly enough, never won a competitive Academy Award...which is a fucking crime).

I don't think he was a bastard. He was a perfectionist and expected the absolute best of his screen partners. Maybe he worked too hard, but... we're still talking bout his movies and dancing today. Singin' in the Rain was released on 4K recently and it's still as stunning as ever. The dancing is spectacular, even if I think Jean Hagen is equally important to the success of the film as Kelly is. She almost steals the picture from everyone.

I don't think Kelly gets enough credit for his singing. I think his version of Our Love is Here to Stay from An American in Paris is absolutely exquisite.

Mediocrity is acceptable and everyone is soft these days, R82. That's why Gene Kelly is considered a bastard by today's standards.

What about my hit mini-series, Sins?????

Gene Kelly's singing, especially the ballads in "Singin' in the Rain" and "Brigadoon" are a trial to sit through. Sure he could dance and his ass was superb (especially in "An American in Paris"), but Gene Nelson and Donald O'Connor had much better and more pleasant singing voices, and the great songwriters wrote for Fred Astaire, who while having a rather reedy voice, had a very distinct way of putting over a song.

They should have just cast Jane Powell, who really could dance and was already an MGM star, opposite Kelly in "Singin' in the Rain". Then we wouldn't have heard all the crap about Kelly mistreating Reynolds. But Debbie was good, and she was cast over the objection of Kelly, not with his approval. By the way, I know Debbie reteamed and was friends with Donald O'Connor, but did she ever appear or do publicity in any friendly manner or any manner at all after the release of "Singin' in the Rain" and any required publicity tours were over?

with Kelly that is?

His sexiness is overrated. His ass looks like it smells.

And the "Gotta Dance!" number with Cyd should have been cut. It's a lox.

Kelly and Reynolds fucked during the filming of that movie so they must have found common ground.

I thought Debbie was from a Mormon family, or something.

I guess she ditched that quick.

I'll say!

[quote] Gene Kelly didn’t age well

And we can blame him for that mega-turkey called 'Hello Dolly'. I assume Babs had him under her thumb.

And Babs vetoed that clever female (whose name I've forgotten) from playing the 2nd female lead.

[quote]The problem is that so many people have taken alleged moral failings of artists, many of whom are DEAD, to actually matter in regard to their work....

When it comes to cads like John Wayne, the ire is warranted.

John Wayne was as caddish as Rex Harrison.

[quote]Arthur Laurents talks about how thirsty Gene Kelly was.

Thirsty?

Kelly was said to have been tolerant of Judy when her problems caused delays on Summer Stock but occasionally he flashes her some dirty looks. Perhaps because director Charles Walters was equally frustrated by Judy he allowed these shots to stay in the film.

His ass was perfection! And from the sound of it, he was a perfect ass, too! He was handsome and had a hot little body. I imagine he was one hot fuck. BUT he also sounds like a total asshole who was poison to be around.

Rex Harrison was a racist too?

A magnificent homosexual who was best sisters with Judy Garland!

"The problem is that so many people have taken alleged moral failings of artists, many of whom are DEAD, to actually matter in regard to their work...."

WON'T SOMERBODY THINK OF THE CHILDREN?!?!?!

I would have called you Mary! But you're more of a Helen, as in Helen Lovejoy.

Why does anyone get a pass for their shit because they're dead?

Or because they're an artist?

[quote]Who the fuck cares what an entertainer was like as a person?

This is a gossip board, you goddamned moron.

Half the threads I've gone to this morning have had jackasses bitching because gossip has been posted here. I guess it's the new troll divide-and-distract talking point.

[quote]his ass was superb (especially in "An American in Paris")

Excuse me, Miss, but have you never seen "The Pirate?"

So hot and so sexy and talented and a great star. That he was an asshole in real life? I could care less.

Not long ago, I saw a photo on social media of him - a rare shot without the toupee and he looked even hotter.

Debbie told the story about SINGING IN THE RAIN for years, but it was never about how horrible Gene was, but how difficult it had been for her, but how much she learned and in the end, how grateful she was to Gene. And I sincerely doubt Gene and Debbie were sleeping together during the making of the film. She said she was a virgin at the time and I tend to believe it. (though I presume it excludes any fooling around with old gym teacher friends.)

As far as Esther Williams is concerned, Kelly did treat her horribly, but then again, she wasn't the nicest person either. But, though she was never a great actress, she had a very charming, very believable personality on screen, that makes you understand why she was a star. Eleanor Holm was as pretty and could swim as well as Esther, but she never made it in the movies.

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME - Why in the world did they team Esther with Gene in a film about baseball, anyway? Did she even swim in the film and if she did, what excuse did they give? There would have been so many more appropriate MGM ladies as Gene's costar. Did Sinatra, also in the film, ever come down on the side of Gene or Esther?

OP- The question inquiring gay dl minds want to know is-

Was Kelly a TOP or a BOTTOM?

Debbie was pretty innocent, as you can tell as one critic pointed out that at the very end of "Good Morning", she quickly makes sure her dress is down and proper.

Gene’s was her first abortion.

And Agnes More-head's was her second.

R35, the widow Patricia Ward-Kelly is a bitch on wheels. And a dyke.

Of course she's "protecting his legacy". It's her only source of income...

[quote]Gene Nelson was not an MGM star and theefore not in the That's Entertainment movies. Nothing to do with Gene Kelly.

That's Dancing! included numbers from other studios, r53.

Hitchcock really should have cast Cary Grant in "Rear Window", instead of James Stewart.

I mean, Stewart is a much better actor than he's given credit for these days, but casting him as a rugged, sexy, man of action would have been a stretch under any circumstances, but casting him as a rugged, sexy, man of action who's laid up with a broken leg? We don't see any of the action, what we see is a gray-haired, skinny-fat man who's getting too old to ;even dream of action, looking soft and defeated in his PJs. But imagine if tanned, fit, charming, sexy Cary Grant had played the same role?

Instead of Stewart looking broken, we'd have a fit man who still had enough looks, muscles, and charm to interest a Grace Kelly, even if he was rather older, plus he'd have brought a sense of physical energy, restlessness, and frustration to the role that Stewart tried for but couldn't achieve. It'd have been a rather different film with Grant, quite possibly a better one...

I love Gene Kelly to pieces but he doesn’t have the range.

R113 I think that you’re in the wrong thread.

Posters here seem to be forgetting the incredible innovations Gene Kelly brought to film musicals including Singin' in the Rain, An American in Paris and On the Town, to name only 3.

xanadu!

[quote] His sexiness is overrated. His ass looks like it smells.

You are quite the retard.

So many miserable bitter humorless cutting trolls these days.

I'm related. The Kelly men can be ... intense.

Have we come to a unanimous conclusion on who should be cast as Kelly in a biopic?

a trans person of colour

Gene Nelson didn't have good proportions for a dancer: too tall.

Gene Nelson was Warner's answer to...George Murphy.

Gene Nelson fucked everyone. That pool cunt mentioned upthread got around, too.

[quote] Have we come to a unanimous conclusion on who should be cast as Kelly in a biopic?

I vote for a handsome, gay, Italian model.

The right face but perhaps too tall and I don't know if he can dance.

I'm not sure of the spelling but its something like Thiago Lazzaretto.

Ryan Gosling can play Gene in a biopic.

Gosling has a skinny, long nose and NO body.

Ryan Gosling can play Edward Everett Horton in a biopic.

Gene Nelson also ice skated with Sonja Henie and was a superb gymnast. He had very good chemistry with Doris Day (and Gordon MacRae) over at Warners and with Jane Powell (who he almost divorced his wife to marry). Plus he's great in "Oklahoma!" opposite DL fave Gloria Grahame.

R129 That sounds amusing.

Gene Nelson may have been a major talent but he just didn't have the star presence, the charisma that Kelly had in spades.

Nelson was really starting to come along in films by the 1950s and the studio system was on the way out. His films weren't built around him as much as Kelly's, who had attained director's cred over at MGM, were. Kelly also cut famous choreographer MIchael Kidd's solo song from "It's Always Fair Weather", possibly not wanting to hear comparisons to himself, but he apparently didn't fear competition from Dan Dailey -- whose number is kind of mediocre in that film. Nelson built a solid career at a movie and tv director, writer and came back to original Buddy in FOLLIES. Very nice, incredibly talented guy from what I've heard and seen in interviews of him.

R38 Those buttocks can't equal these boobies

Gene Nelson was as good a dancer, a better singer, and definitely the better actor. But Nelson didn't have the drive that Kelly had, nor the luck to land at a powerful studio that understood him. But Nelson really was amazingly athletic -- watch one of his clips (below).

The other difference is that Nelson was considered a truly nice guy by everyone. That probably was enough to end his career right there.

[quote]Ryan Gosling can play Gene in a biopic.

Never in a million.

Henry Cavil could.

Ryan Gosling was great in La La Land and he'd be great in a Gene Kelly biopic.

Ryan doesn’t have the looks or the ass.

[R113] I think Vertigo would actually be the classic so many fanboys want it to be if Grant had been cast instead of sexless Stewart.

Gene Nelson didn't have matinee idol looks. Can we get back to Gene Kelly. Would the Gene Nelson Stans please join the Capucine and Liv Ullmann Stans in the Nobody Cares Blue Waiting Room? Thank you.

Gene Nelson’s IMDB page is a very interesting read. He worked with so many talented people.

Gene Nelson needs his own thread.

He seems to be doing fine here

What's the issue with Gene's last wife? She seems nice from all the interviews she does for the DVD/Blu-Ray special editions. It's only natural she wants to preserve Kelly's image and film catalogue.

This is a Gene Kelly thread people. Talk about other substandard actors/dancers elsewhere.

[quote]Gene Nelson was as good a dancer, a better singer, and definitely the better actor.

Had the talent but did not have the looks. Did not pop out of the screen.

The camera LOVED Gene Kelly. Kelly had animal magnetism

There are always better singers, better actors, blah blah....it doesn't matter if there's not that certain something that makes a star. Kelly had IT.

Wonderful tune

That clip of Gene Nelson singing (though I think he's actually dubbed) and dancing to Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart at r135 is dull, dull, DULL. Technically proficient, perhaps, but only proves why he never became a top star. I also thought he was the weak link in Follies on Broadway.

Gene Kelly oozed charisma.

Gene Kelly's career was dead after the 1960s. I helped him revive it, briefly.

As some here will know, Gene Kelly became a Broadway star playing the title role in Pal Joey in 1940. He was then snapped up by MGM and I believe they held the film rights to Pal Joey but dawdled about making the film, perhaps because the hero was too unsympathetic. But I would have thought thought that Kelly would have had enough power at MGM by the early 50s to finally get it made...but maybe even he didn't want to play an anti-hero by then. Which is a shame because the film that was eventually made with Sinatra in 1957 was lousy.

Enjoy!!!!

I can forgive him for this alone

He plays a dramatic role in "Christmas Holiday", which is really a misleading title for a film noir with a few songs, opposite Deanna Durbin, in a role that suggests the kind of heel Pal Joey was.

R145, She gives Kelly the credit for EVERYTHING in his films. HE directed his movie -- Donen just ran the camera (which was nonsense), it was HIS idea to do this, not someone else, etc., etc.. In other words, he was a saint, everyone else is a liar.

R105, Eleanor Holm did make one movie.

The greatest

(The Thiago Lazzaretto troll is as obsessed as the Gene Nelson troll)

He had smelly underarm pits.

I’m sorry, I started this thread out of boredom. I didn’t think it’d last this long. I don’t know if Gene was a bastard but he sounded like he could be an asshole.

He had toe fungus.

[quote]Ryan doesn’t have the looks or the ass.

We had a thread about trying to cast Gene Kelly in a biopic, and no one had the ass. His ass was otherworldly.

Agree with r113 and r140 and also wish Stewart had been played by anyone else in "Rope." James Mason would have been very good, as would have Cary Grant, though probably a little too flippant. I could even see Joseph Cotten in the role. Stewart just could not pull off the finale.

The cute actor on the Tovala commercial can play Gene Kelly - he looks exactly like him! And no I'm not gonna screen shot him for you...look it up.

He sounds more like a man who had a drive to succeed that was on overdrive, and pushed everyone around him to work as hard as he did, and expected nothing less.

This Gene was even better.

Debra Reynolds did nothing but whine about him for years but nothing she ever did topped her performance in "Singing in the Rain".

And that was all because of Kelly's perfectionism.

Streisand told Peter Bogdanovich that Kelly had no idea what he was doing on the set of Hello Dolly, and that she had to direct all of her own scenes herself.

Gene Kelly looked the way he did in The Pirate because Vincent Minnelli was in love with him and it was a huge reason why his marriage to Judy Garland broke up.

I love the Gene Nelson troll. Nelson is a perfect example of someone with talent who totally lacks film presence.

Was Jane Powell having her notorious affair with Gene Nelson when SINGIN' IN THE RAIN was cast? Perhaps that's why Gene Kelly didn't want her for Kathy Selden.

He would have been a better Dick Avery in FUNNY FACE than Fred Astaire. Even though he was seventeen years older than Audrey Hepburn. But Fred was THIRTY YEARS OLDER.

Gene Kelly, with his beautiful, large, expressive eyes, his chiseled jaw with a cleft chin was facially perfect - and that's not even taking his ass and rest of his physique into consideration! No wonder the camera loved him.

r53: "That's Dancing" used clips from other studios, including Warner Bros.

Kelly was one hot number in his younger years. Just look at those glutes.

Gene Nelson had a great furry chest. He's very good in CRIME WAVE (1954)

Gene Kelly fucked Larry Hart to win the lead of PAL JOEY on Broadway.

Columbia owned the rights, and after COVER GIRL wanted to re-team Kelly and Rita Hayworth in the PAL JOEY film, but Harry Cohn would not loan Rita to MGM in exchange.

^^^That could explain Gene’s homophobia.

He supposedly told Tommy Tune that he should change his name. “Too theatrical!”, he allegedly told Tommy.

R163, No way Joseph Cotten would've starred in Rope. He was a NOTORIOUS homophobe...

What other men did Kelly fuck?

Why did Judy marry three homosexuals?

Carleton Carpenter also spoke publicly of how Gene Kelly disliked him and kept him out of sharing scenes in SUMMER STOCK. But, of course, CC was a foot taller than GK.

Patricia Ward Kelly is a lying dyke. She claims in her tribute show that when she met him working at the Smithsonian, she had no idea who he was. Yeah, right. They gradually fell in love, and she was SHOCKED to find out who he was.

Yup, she'd never heard of him, but why would a lesbian be interested in his films from 20-30 years earlier? She wasn't interested in musicals AT ALL, but now she's an "authority".

Not.

R184, she's not stupid and had plenty of time to do research.

Gene Nelson loved dogs and was a dog owner, mostly of multiple dogs, his entire life.

R179 Stanley Donen? Although Gene married Stanley’s wife Jeanne. Complicated shit.

This thread is getting silly.

Donen was talented but may have had three beard-wives.

Donen had been living with and fucking Elaine May in his final decade. Was Elaine bearding, too, r188?

R189 Honey, when people are THAT old they just want a platonic companion 99% of the time.

R189 Living with someone is NOT the same as fornicating with them.

Fornicating at that age is for the birds.

I'd love to see you tell that to Elaine May, r191!

[quote]R180 Why did Judy marry three homosexuals?

She was high af

Closet queen Mike Nichols is a GREAT authority on this kind of stuff.

R178, Rope didn't exactly present gays in the best light, so Cotten might have been down for it.

The scene in SINS in which Gene Kelly and Joan Collins contemplate having a child is hilarious.

Susie Lee had nothing good to say about him. Disliked by most she said.

R161 It can be cured with Lamisil spray and the passing of six months.

I miss Susie Lee and her posts. The height of DL brilliance. I hope she's happy and thriving somewhere.

Did anyone catch It's Always Fair Weather yesterday on TCM? It's actually quite a good film with a lot going for it. However Michael Kidd and Dan Dailey are absolutely charmless and Kelly looks like he aged a lot. Still, Gene and Cyd have great chemistry and they even make their lack of a love duet work (their one fun number together, Love Is Nothing But A Racket, was deleted.)

The one really awful, jaw-dropping moment is Kelly's decision to literally have an entire studio lot street of extras burst into applause as he finishes the number. How much adoration did he need?

Ironically a musical of Tom Sawyer was ready to go when Gene blew off the studio; he absolutely regretted it in later years, because once the stardom was over for him.....wow was it over.

[quote]because once the stardom was over for him.....wow was it over.

In 1962 he wound up doing a dreadful TV series that lasted a year.

He never did a thing for me, despite the great ass. Too hammy.

[quote] He never did a thing for me

The marvellous Kay Kendall didn't like him either when they first met. . . but now

^ Look how cleverly George Cukor manoeuvres the big Cinemascope camera around the two performers with all their complex hand movements on this very small stage set.

Dolores Gray is fabulous in "It's Always Fair Weather". What a voice! Plus she was very funny.

Gene Kelly came across as essentially cold.

Gene was viscerally cold.

Yeah, Gene Kelly was hot and then he was not. He wasn't able to have a late resurgence like Fred Astaire who was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for The Towering Inferno.

Xanadu was terrible.

Hello Dolly was embarrassing.

[quote]r206 Gene was viscerally cold.

Viciously and viscously cold.

Fred wasn't much of an actor in his non-musicals, but Kelly was worse. He tended to get very hammy, as in "Christmas Holiday" and "Inherit the Wind." But I love him in the musicals: he was magic.

When he dances with Donald O'Connor, O'Connor is superb doing all the moves and enjoying himself dancing, while Kelly, equally fine in his dancing, is smiling in an almost mugging way trying to steal focus.

He was short— which is OK if you're dancing with pygmies like Leslie Caron.

But Cukor at R202 carefully disguises his shortcomings when playing opposite the slenderly statuesque Kay Kendall.

Gene Nelson was a perfect actor and dancer.

People might not remember, but it was O'Connor who won the Golden Glove for Best Actor in a Musical for"Sinigin' in the Rain" that year. That was years before Pia Zadora.

Golden Globe

I like Kelly in "Inherit the Wind" because he is thoroughly unlikeable, and I think that must have been hard for him to do, after spending so much of his life wanting to be adored. There are some clunky scenes, but overall he's pretty good. He must have made a lot of people mad to not get a chance at a comeback after that performance.

Why is everyone looking for an actor to play a dancer?

Why is everyone looking for a blonde scandi type to play an Irish that could have been mistaken for an Italian?

I wish Gene Kelly were still alive, to get monkey pox.

Maybe that would wipe the smirk off his face.

He played a murderous louse in "Christmas Holiday" (1944), so I think he was trying not to be typecast from early on in his career. I admire the impulse, but not the results...

Stick the cloves in that ham- he's done.

R39...I never heard of him. Wow....that video, what a talent. It's a shame he wasn't better known.

Gene was miscast in MARJORIE MORNINGSTAR. He was forty-seven; his character was thirty-three. Natalie Wood was twenty-one. It still was a good film.

I enjoyed the Suzie Lee threads as well. I should say though that she posted pics of herself that were clearly (to me at least) of British model/actress Fiona Campbell. This may be the real identity of Suzie Lee. Perhaps. Or maybe she was just having a bit of fun.

I'm sure he and Crawford fucked.

Patricia Ward Kelly is the epitome of a soft butch.

It was inevitable.....

FOLLIES!

R219 Studios kind of owned you until the studio system collapsed. Unless you wanted to go on suspension, you pretty much took what the studios offered you. After Kelly was loaned out to do "Cover Girl", he had the opportunity to choreograph some of his numbers, and being inventive for the time and the film a success, he got more agency back at his home studio MGM. "Christmas Holiday" did have him playing a tough mug, something along the lines of "Pal Joey" -- interesting that there's one point where there's one scene with dancing where he could have conceivably danced, but they didn't have him dancing for some reason.

R227, Cover Girl is the perfect example where the widow Kelly would argue that everything in that film was due to Kelly's Gene-ious.

Not. It was Stanley Donen who conceived and directed the 'Alter Ego' number in the picture, just like it was his idea (and weeks of hard work) putting together the dance w/Jerry the mouse in Anchor's Aweigh the following year.

Stanley Donen had 1.5 good ideas that he flogged for his entire career. It’s insulting to mention him in a Gene Reynolds thread.

This isn't a Gene Reynolds thread. Do keep up.

I preferred the other Gene -- Jean Hagen.

I think Stanley Donen is an incredibly underrated director. I don’t think he even made the 2019 Oscars In Memoriam! He made a lot of very good to excellent films: On the Town, Singin’ in the Rain, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Funny Face, Indiscreet, The Grass is Greener, Charade, Two for the Road. Even some of his lesser works have their charms: Royal Wedding, It’s Always Fair Weather, The Pajama Game. It all went to shit after 1967 though.

Who is Gene Reynolds? LMAO!

Surely he means Gene Rayburn.

Stanley Donen turned down HELLO, DOLLY!

Gene Kelly's butt has its own tumblr.

That shirtless photo of Gene is a rarity -- don't think I'd seen him shirtless before. Very nice, and would love to see more, but right now, his butt is winning.

Gene Nelson had a better ass. So did Gene Reynolds for that matter.

What about Gene Rayburn?

Gene Nelson also had really nice toned arms. What an incredible gymnast as well!

I think Gene Rayburn was compensating with that very long microphone he used on "Match Game"

You guys are saying Gene Kelly was too much of a ham and mugged for the camera? Well, check out Donald O'Connor in this. JFC - a wonderful dancer but stop with the mugging!

Gene Kelly was very handsome but in no way did he have "large" eyes.

"Moses Supposes" is supposed to be kinda over the top. Check out "Fit as a Fiddle" towards the beginning of the film or "Good Morning" with Debbie.

Gene Nelson could jump much higher than the other guy and also was able to do much more elaborate lifts. Also an excellent home cook.

And he was fug. But do carry on.

Gene Nelson was very attractive -- he almost married Jane Powell, and he also danced with Doris Day. He mastered all different types of gymnastic equipment and clearly was more athletic than Gene Kelly, plus he was an accomplished figure skater who skated with Olympic champ and movie star (and Liberace's "fiancee", hehe), Sonja Henie. Plus Nelson had a really nice singing voice and acted very well; he's quite good in that film noir mentioned above. He also was one of the stars of the movie "Oklahoma!", probably his best known movie role. And he starred on Broadway as Buddy in "Follies". Gene Kelly never appeared on Broadway as a performer after "Pal Joey".

Shut up about Gene Nelson and every other person named Gene aside from Gene Kelly already. No one cares about those lackluster "stars."

R247 OMG SHAT UP YOU RIDICULOUS STAN!!!!!!! You do this EVERY FUCKING TIME.

That's really interesting, R247. Thank you for sharing.

No it isn't "interesting," R250. Not in the slightest.

He had a wonderful career, including a CMAA nomination in 1989!

NO ONE CARES, R252.

For the love of god you Nelson Stans are purposefully TROLLING. FUCK OFF.

I like this Nelson number from "Painting the Clouds With Sunshine" - exciting use of lighting in luscious Technicolor. Would have loved to have seen him choreographed by Jack Cole.

He partnered Sonja Heine on ice in her two 1939 films , "Everything Happens at Night" and "Second Fiddle". A very varied and interesting career.

I like Gene Kelly, but I'm more intrigued by Nelson.

Lovely clip, r255. Thank you for sharing!!!

Move it along, toots, R255!

You too, R256.

Get a room, you two Stans. Sheesh.

R258, "stans" is lowercase. It's not a proper noun, though it is derived from a nickname. Thank you.

Another overrated, midget bitch.

Short people dancing. Not attractive.

This was really one of Gene Rayburn's best performances.

Fuck Gene Rayburn and thanks for ruining a thread dickwad.

Thread drift on DL can often be fun on threads like these. Unclench, Brett.

Gene Rayburn replaced Dick Van Dyke in the original Broadway production of Bye Bye Birdie.

Gene Nelson was shown in local galleries after becoming a watercolorist late in life. I managed to nab one of his paintings and it’s in my mud room.

It’s so strange to think that Brett Somers was a member of the famed Actors Studio.

And the mother of Suzanne Somers!

Bret Somers might have, if you think about it, made kind of an interesting Vera Simpson in "Pal Joey", getting back to Gene Kelly.

Brett, that is

Charles Nelson Reilly could have been a fine Ludlow Lowell, too in that show.

R155 Who is that lantern-jawed man? And I don’t mean the one with the toupe…

There was even an episode of Match Game where the puzzle was "Gene _______", and Kelly was one of the answers.

“Nelson” was the #1 answer.

I prefer Ozzie Nelson he blessed us with the dreamy Ricky.

I prefer Nelson, the music duo (Ricky's twin boys).

Kelly was shirtless, on a bed, in The Three Musketeers.

So he was a perfectionist and had to work with Reynolds, an untested newcomer and he had to make her look good on screen. That would take a lot of work.

Kelly's last wife has a severe case of lesbian jawline, and her pings can be detected from outer space!

The GN troll and Jane Powell must have been the only people ever who were hot for GN.

Astaire was really pissed when both June and Judy were dropped from A Royal Wedding and he ended up with third tier Jane Powell. Then he discovered that she had been discovered as a dancer, for which she had been trained since childhood, and he was thrilled with her abilities. He never had anything but great things to say about her although they never paired again.

Fred was so much older than most of his leading ladies. And it showed.

R281

Fred was perfection. An astounding, unique human being

Jane Powell was the third choice, not a third tier talent. Vehicles were made for her, and most were in color. But you're right -- she did train as a kid as a dancer, maybe even before she started singing lessons. She really was able to do complicated choreography not only opposite Astaire in "Royal Wedding" but in other films, tv appearances, etc. I'm glad he appreciated that she could deliver the type of performance he wanted in her dancing. They must have rewritten the script of "Royal Wedding" when Powell came aboard, as she was about 21 years younger than Astaire. So they made it about her as his younger sister and made it more about Fred and Adele Astaire, with Adele abandoning her theatrical career in real life when she married into the British aristocracy.

When I was growing up I lived in Johnstown, PA. My Aunt took me to see the annual recital of the Gene Kelly School of Dance, It was fantastic. Gene and brothers ran this. I am not sure if his parents were involved. The main studio was in Pittsburgh. Gene attended University of Pittsburgh.

R284, Powell was 30 years younger than Astaire. But yes, a great, underrated dancer. She danced better than she sang IMO...

When i referred to Powell as "third tier" I was referring to her box office status at the time, not her talent or abilities, which were superb. But she definitely wasn't A List at the time of Royal Wedding.

I don't thik they changed the plot, r284. I think it was always supposed to be his sister.

Joan Crawford called Jane Powell “that screeching thing”.

Powell had a fine voice -- Kathryn Grayson was a screechy peachy.

I've never been able to watch "Singin' In The Rain" all the way through. The romance between Kelly and Debbie Reynolds makes me want to vomit, and not because he was so much older, although that is kind of gross. I just thought the two of them were an unbearable screen couple. I like Lina Lamont a whole lot better than those two.

I thought it was way too corny when I saw it in my 20s, but just saw it again and absolutely loved it.

Used to watch SITR all the time as a kid and I never realized there was an age gap. Ofc, now with Blu-ray you can see Gene's fine lines.

R284, try thirty years older than Jane.

[quote] I was glad when Margulies left, I didn't like her from day one. Still don't.

I never understood why she was a popular character. I didn't seem anything particularly appealing about Carol Hathaway. And I didn't understand why men were always falling in love with her like she was the most desirable woman in the world. Tag, Shep, Luca and of course Doug....all were smitten by her. I especially hated the scene where she tells Luca (he has immediately fallen hopeless in love with her) she can't have dinner with him because she has to go to her "soulmate" Doug Ross, telling Luca "I'm so sorry." Yes, she's SO sorry she's breaking his heart in two by choosing Doug over him. What an egotistical cunt!

I think you're lost, R295.

R295 you're lost but I can't stand Julianna Margulies/Carol Hathaway either.

R214 R215

I almost prefer Golden Glove...

I was just watching COVER GIRL and noticed Gene Kelly has a deep scar on the left side of his face.

It’s quite disgusting, really.

I scratched him when he tried to force me to lick his celebrate buttocks.

I didn’t know he was so hot

He's always had that scar in the movies, from an accident when he was young. Shirley MacLaine thought that was the sexiest feature of his.

He hated Barbra, I'll always love him for that.

^ It was mutual

It was mentioned in Scotty Bowers' book how Gene Kelly used to drop trou on the set during filming and whirl his cock around.

Gene Reynolds had a beautiful unmarred face.

No it wasn't R305.

Gene Kelly is the Antichrist.

We all know it.

My friend, now a lady in her 90s, was an usher at the Uris/Gershwin, and Gene Kelly was once in the audience. I forget if she helped seat him, but she got a little starstruck at him, and found herself looking at him a few times from her station. He caught her looking at him, and after the show, as he was exiting, he turned around and stuck his tongue out at her. Kind of rude, but my friend laughed at she was telling the story. He was being kind of a jerk -- she didn't accost him, and he was out in public. She said he was bald, too.

R305, I read Scotty Bowers' book twice and didn't see that mention of Gene Kelly.

R223, Suzie Lee was Susan Kasznar. She was the daughter of Kurt Kasznar.

R311, Kurt Kasznar had no children.

[quote] Gene Kelly has a deep scar on the left side of his face. It’s quite disgusting, really.

It’s just a scar, Mary.

Gene Nelson had several scars.

I'd be mortified to go through life with sort of disfigurement.

Merle Oberon had heavy pockmarks from a childhood illness. She had to be heavily made up and carefully lit.

She actually got her scars from a car accident and later cosmetic poisoning r316. Film makeup back then was loaded with toxic chemicals and she used the shit that made her look whiter onscreen.

Gene Nelson was loaded with toxic chemicals

[quote] Yeah, we get it. You're triggered.

Yeah, I get it. You love whiny, self pitying celebrities.

I hate r318.

I fell in love with him while watching Singin' in the Rain as a kid. My first boyfriend even looked a bit like him.

R318 Gene Nelson is a nuisance.

He hangs around like a bad smell.

Can we please kick Gene Nelson's ass outta this thread?!

He looks exhausting, like a key-jangling, High NRG bore.

He seemed insecure off in interviews. Who cares ultimately. He was showbiz.

Gene Nelson is such an interesting actor and performer.

Gene Nelson for Senate.

Gene Kelly would never have led Jane Powell down the garden path.

I wonder how Gene Kelly would have been in FOLLIES?

Gene wanted to appear in Follies but Gary talked him out of it.

Gene Nelson turned down Follies as he didn’t think the script and choreography were worthy of his talents.

Fuck this Gene Nelson troll.

No he didn't R331.

[quote]I wonder how Gene Kelly would have been in FOLLIES?

It was offered. He turned it down. That's how they ended up with Gene Nelson.

He also turned down both the stage and film versions of The Music Man.

Gene Kelly turned down Follies because he had something called standards!

Lucky for Follies

Yeah, with Kelly in it, it might have actually made its money back.

R305 Yes, but It wasn't Scotty Bowers' book. It was mentioned elsewhere by Debbie Reynolds that he used to have "whirlybird" contests on set with crew members.

Kelly was box office poison for the majority of his career, though because he was part of an ensemble cast of a few classics his potent box office poison is forgotten.

Nelson, meanwhile, had hit after hit after hit after hit after hit.

Gene Kelly had in 1967 already been dubbed for his singing in "The Young Girls of Rochefort", so who knows what kind of vocal estate he was in by 1971 for "Follies" live on stage. Gene Nelson had a better singing voice anyway.

If the matinee ladies came out to see Debbie Fucking Reynolds in Irene, they'd certainly come out to see Kelly in anything.

and they'd be holding their ears whenever he sang. But still marveling, most likely, at his butt when he turned around.

Both Debbie Reynolds and Jane Powell were terrific in "Irene".

The states with the worst tap water. Blue states are well represented.

Oooops!

Gene Nelson’s properties had excellent water. He had an amateur interest in hydrology and hired experts to retrofit the plumbing with state-of-the-art filtration.

MURIEL!!! Please ban any and all posts about Gene Nelson from this thread, especially stupid R346 and his insane ramblings!!

Pipe down, Mrs. Kelly. You still probably get some royalties.

The Gene Nelson troll is as persistent as The Martita Hunt Troll.

I just saw Invitation to the Dance for the first time and was impressed with his performance as a clown.

Kelly and John Huston 'went on a toot'!

I think Kit Harrington could play Gene Kelly really well in a biopic. But I don't know if he can dance.

He apparently hated Malcom McDowell because of A Clockwork Orange, at least that's what Malcom implied in the DVD commentary. Met Gene at a Hollywood party and apparently wouldn't shake McDowell's hand and then ignored him. His feelings were hurt

Good for Kelly.

Why, R353?

Gene Kelly would have been good in Follies as Ben. You would believe he was successful, Alexis Smith would have married him AND Dorothy Collins would still love him.

Really missed opportunity there

gene kelly, fred astaire, ginger rodgers dance on air

He had a great ass, but he couldn't live forever.

R356 Kelly woudn't have sung the numbers well. He wasn't a good singer and by that time had been dubbed in the movie of "Young Girls of Rochefort".

He apparently was rude to Malcolm McDowell at a party, but if Kelly didn't like the use of "Singin' in the Rain" being sung in "A Clockwork Orange", it was director Stanley Kubrick who okayed McDowell singing it during a rape in the film.

Gene Nelson and Stanley Kubrick were old friends. Kubrick wanted to write him into one of his 80s pictures but it never quite worked out.

R352, he lacks Gene’s raffish good looks.

[quote]r360 Gene Nelson and Stanley Kubrick were old friends. Kubrick wanted to write him into one of his 80s pictures but it never quite worked out.

I heard that Gary talked him out of it.

R99 wasn't his last wife half Indian? Maybe she looked totally white.

[quote] What is this 21st century obsession with every public figure having to be some kind of role model or lovely person? Neocon bullshit, that's what it is, but this time perpetuated by so-called "liberals."

I heard Adolf Hitler was quite the master on the accordion and was the life of the party at polka events.

R126 is too gorgeous.

So much better looking than Astaire, who resembled Jiminy Cricket.

Jane Powell singing “Wonderful, Wonderful Day” in Seven Brides is a wonderful experience.

Kelly had a sweet tenor singing voice

^ a small voice.

I always liked Kelly's voice. It wasn't a big voice with a lot of range, but it worked for the material he was given.

He gave some adequate support to the wonderful kay Harrison.

Kelly's singing? He always sounds like he has laryngitis.

[Quote] wasn't his last wife half Indian? Maybe she looked totally white.

It's possible.

[quote] Kelly resented not being the center of attention so he began furiously dancing about the living room

How could he dance in a living room?

A dancer needs a partner or props or something to dance with.

Yes, r367...

Gene Kelly was also a CONNOISSEUR of cock.

Source, r376?

R377- I don't need sources. I figured it out by myself. The way he twirled around in those dance scenes from Singin In The Rain and other movies from that time period were NOT heterosexual- as masculine as he seemed.

R376 is Eric Cervini. He doesn't need sources either.

Good for you, r378...

Is Eric Cervini the new Kevin Sessums?

[quote] When I was growing up I lived in Johnstown, PA. My Aunt took me to see the annual recital of the Gene Kelly School of Dance, It was fantastic. Gene and brothers ran this. I am not sure if his parents were involved. The main studio was in Pittsburgh. Gene attended University of Pittsburgh.

What part of Jtown? (Just being nebby.)

I have friends who are in the Pittsburgh theater scene and I know there's now the Gene Kelly Awards, which if I'm not mistaken is a competition of high school students and musical theater. Gene's widow was behind that one.

Was never a huge fan of his films, but the man had the finest ass on earth for a time.

Who is this idiot who asks for sources on a gossip site?

Who is this intelligent man who thinks Datalounge seems to be infested with cretins?

[quote] I don't need sources. I figured it out by myself.

You couldn't figure yourself out of a wet paper bag.

Did anyone ever bother to tell Gene off? We’re people afraid of him?

true