Were they really friends or were they just pretending to be really nice to each other? In part two they dance together and say nice things about each other but is it for real?
- we interrupt this program to increase dramatic attention -
They did not hate each other as people claim. They respected each other's talent and in one scene when they show Judy Garland singing "Have yourself a merry little christmas" in part 2 one of them says "Do you remember when Judy used to sing this at parties?". Well it might be true that they did socalise off camera at least once. Judy did attend parties at Kelly's house because she was close and she also liked Fred so it's possible. But they did not hate each other.
shareAstaire and Kelly were always friends and had the utmost respect for each other.
shareIn the comprehensive book "Astaire Dancing: the Musical Films" by John Mueller, there are little tidbits that show that while they were not the best of friends, they were friendly and respected each other a lot. (Much like Astaire and Ginger Rogers did: friendly, respectful but not intimates.)
In one anecdote, the author writes, "At parties [Astaire] would be plagued by women who wanted to dance with him and partly in consequence, he came to loathe both social dancing and parties. Gene Kelly apparently suffers from the same prblem: 'The girls always think we're going to throw them over a table of toss them in the air. Their muscles tense up right away. So Fred and I go sit in a corner and pretend we're talking business.'" (footnote on page 9)
And when Kell broke his leg and couldn't do "Easter Parade", when Astaire called him to give his sympathies, Kelly convinced Fred to do the movie instead. Obviously, Kelly had some stake in the success of the movie, but that action doesn't show professional jealousy or ill will.
I was wondering if you know the exact details regarding Kelly's leg injury that resulted in him having to drop out of EASTER PARADE? I have heard so many different versions of what happened...I've heard he did it at a dance rehearsal and I've also heard that it happened during a softball game. Do you know what really happened and do you think EASTER PARADE would have been a better film with Kelly playing Don Hewes?
shareI had read that Kelly broke his ankle while playing ball with a group of kids, and NOT during rehearsals, as the MGM press machine wanted people to believe.
As for whether Kelly would have been better as Don Hewes, well, that's hard to tell. But Astaire is magnificent, bringing his unique brand of class to his performance.
In the "Anatomy of a Dancer" documentary, Kelly's wife Betsy Blair says it was a volleyball game of all things, that resulted in his breaking his ankle (he was angry at himself for not being able to score and either stamped the floor or kicked in a door) and turning the project over to Astaire.
As for being Don Hewes, I couldn't see it; the character is essentially a variation on Pygmalion molding Galatea, and no one was a better Pygmalion/Svengali/what-have-you than Astaire. This is all hindsight, of course. If Kelly was in the movie from the start (as well as Cyd Charisse, the originally intended Nadine, before a leg injury removed her from the project also), we wouldn't have any reason to ponder whether or not he was right for it.
The dancing styles of the two men were quite different from one another, so there would be no cause for rivalry.
Besides, when Kelly first appeared in film, Astaire had decided to retire, his last few movies being less than spectacular. He came out of retirement to appear in EASTER PARADE, thus beginning a great new phase of his career at MGM.
I love it when Gene Kelly talks about dodging the "best partner" question by saying the greatest partner he ever danced with was Fred Astaire....what female dancer could ever argue or complain about the choice?
It is not our abilities that make us who we are...it is our choices
I have seen both of them name-call each other in interviews. So I thought they didn't like each other. But perhaps that name-calling was a bit of friendly banter. They surely must have respected each other's talents
share