"Pal Joey": Gene Kelly (Broadway), Frank Sinatra (with Kim Novak)

Gene Kelly plays Gabey, the sailor on a 24-hour shore leave frantically looking for his dream girl, "Miss Turnstiles" of the month, Ivy Smith (Vera-Ellen) in the film "On the Town" (1949)

Roger Scruton argued that any instance of sexual desire possesses an individualising intentionality. By this he means that sexual desire is founded upon the thought of the other as the specific individual he or she is. That is, there can be no sexual desire which exists and then ‘attaches’ itself to a specific individual. From this account it also follows that there cannot be any such sexual desire as an unfocused desire for no particular man or woman.

Vera-Ellen and Gene Kelly in "On the Town" (1949) directed by Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly

Scruton considers the case of the sailor storming ashore with the thought ‘woman’ in his mind: he might be thought to desire a woman, but no particular woman. Scruton claims that until the sailor actually meets a specific woman he desires, he desired no woman; he was rather in the condition of desiring to desire. Such a view of sexual desire has to find an adequate response to such phenomena as that of Casanova, described by Stefan Zweig: 'Sex goes through the rhythm of the year, in man and woman, ceaselessly changing - the rhythm of the sun in his relation to the earth'. -"Sexual Desire" by Christopher Hamilton - Richmond Journal of Philosophy (2004)

No mere pretender was Kelly, playing with happiness. Rather he was happy, often to the extent of appearing fully flushed. A most joyous, most happy dancing fella! A filmic Puck. A modern-day Pan. Full of dancing life force, and most contagious in his exuberance and merriment. -Pittsburgh Post Gazette (1967)

"Pal Joey" starring Frank Sinatra, Kim Novak and Rita Hayworth, directed by George Sidney in 1957, is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Twilight Time with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1.

The pluses far outweigh the negatives here, with some incredibly lushly saturated color, and excellent fine detail which brings out every nuance in the stunning Jean Louis costumes. Bonus features: Isolated score track Backstage and at Home with Kim Novak featurette Original theatrical trailer Liner notes by Julie Kirgo.

In the last week of 1952, Frank Sinatra went into Columbia’s Hollywood studio and recorded three songs in high style. Axel Stordahl arranged and conducted, and for the first time Bill Miller was sitting at the piano. The first number, Rodgers and Hart’s “I Could Write a Book,” marked a new artistic peak. This song had debuted on Broadway in 'Pal Joey' in 1940, starring Gene Kelly.

Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra with Esther Williams in "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" (1949)

Gene Kelly was unlike anybody Sinatra had met in Hollywood. Handsome, tough, cheerful, and athletically brilliant, Kelly was a walking paradox: a blue-collar jock who happened to be a superlative dancer, the opposite of the slim, ethereally elegant Fred Astaire. Sinatra was intimidated by Kelly's sheer dancing ability. -"Frank: The Voice" by James Kaplan (2011)

Gene Kelly in "Pal Joey" on Broadway (premiered on December 25, 1940, at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre). Directed by George Abbott with choreography by Robert Alton, the opening-night cast included Gene Kelly as Joey Evans, Vivienne Segal as Vera, and June Havoc as Gladys. Van Johnson and Stanley Donen were also in the cast.

Gene Kelly and Vivienne Segal in 'Pal Joey' on Broadway - “In Our Little Den of Iniquity” number.

Joey Evans, as an unsympathetic antihero, is a striking departure from the usual musical comedy formula. Richard Rodgers said: "Joey was not disreputable because he was mean, but because he had too much imagination to behave himself, and because he was a little weak."

In Chicago in the late 1930s, Joey Evans, a second-rate dancer and nightclub MC, a charming "heel" with big plans, schemes to get his dream –his own nightclub– "Chez Joey". He meets young and naive Linda English outside a pet shop, and, impressing her with his grandiose lies, they are romantically attracted ("I Could Write a Book").

In the nightclub, the older, wealthy but bored married socialite, Vera Simpson comes in with her friends and becomes interested in Joey as the chorus girls are doing a song-and-dance number ("That Terrific Rainbow").

"This young man is genuinely life-saving to Pal Joey for, if the chief part were not properly cast, the new musical show might have been too merciless for comfort. Mr Kelly combines a certain amount of straightforward personal charm with the realism of his portrait so that Joey actually achieves the feat of being at once a heel and a hero". -Herald Tribune (1940)

"In terms of a Broadway man, Gene Kelly was playing a tricky role: a very brash, cocky, sure person, who was very randy with the girls, but who was needy and not well educated, which made him funny. He was an energetic, fresh, aggressive Irish-American presence, which had a great charm". -Stanley Donen

"Scratch a heel and you find Gene Kelly, who isn’t a heel at all. As Joey Evans in the new musical comedy 'Pal Joey', Gene is about the heeliest heel that ever stepped on a neck, but off-stage he’s a friendly Irish lad who started a dancing school to help pay his way through Pittsburgh University, barnstormed night clubs from New York to Dallas and made himself known to Broadway as the hoofer in William Saroyan’s 'Time of Your Life'. -The Day (1941)

Joey is thoroughly nasty – a braggart, a cheat, a wastrel who takes things as they come and is always on the lookout for ‘mice’ (young women). “Yes,” said Gene Kelly as he finished a midday breakfast, “Joey isn’t bad – he just doesn’t know the difference. He’s an ignorant, low class bum with nothing but good looks and a good line”. -New York Times (March 1941)

"There is one scene where the ingénue, Leila Ernst, comes on, and she wears a blue dress that is not as blue as her eyes. It is a bright blue, but not as bright. You know, that fascinates me. Every night I look at her eyes instead of putting myself over as I should be putting myself over all the time.” -Gene Kelly

In an interview to the Los Angeles Times in 1994, Gene Kelly talked about his affinity for his leading ladies. "You must make the lady look good," he said. "If she looks good I think the dance will look good".

Happy 82nd Birthday, Taina Elg! ("Les Girls")

Happy 82nd Birthday, Taina Elg!

Taina Elg with director George Cukor during the filming of "Les Girls" (1957)



"Les Girls", also known as "Cole Porter's Les Girls", is a 1957 musical comedy film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, directed by George Cukor, produced by Sol C. Siegel with Saul Chaplin as associate producer from a screenplay by John Patrick based on a story by Vera Caspary with music and lyrics by Cole Porter.

It stars Gene Kelly, Kay Kendall, Mitzi Gaynor and Taina Elg. The film's original female leads were to have been played by Leslie Caron, Cyd Charisse, Jean Simmons and Carol Haney.


Mitzi Gaynor and Gene Kelly in the musical number "Why Am I So Gone About That Gal" from the 1957 movie "Les Girls".

Kay Kendall, Mitzi Gaynor and Taina Elg.

Mitzi Gaynor's dancing was exhilarating and led to her selection to star in "South Pacific" (1958). Kay Kendall was the real central spark in the film demonstrating her talent for both comedy and dance. That she would appear in only two further films before dying very prematurely of leukemia was a real shock to her many fans. Taina Elg, a name little remembered by film fans, showed off both her balletic dancing skills as well as a pleasing singing voice in "Ca, C'est L'amour". Source: www.thedigitalbits.com

-Mitzy Gaynor: "Gene came to rehearsal with a photograph of Marlon Brando from the film 'The Wild One' and said 'What do you think if we do a number based on a character like this?' We were in a rehearsal hall at Metro with a piano and drums. And I loved it. I absolutely adored it.

I'm dancing with Gene Kelly, and he's lifting me and throwing me around like a powder puff. I'm so in paradise, and he was so good, and so sweet, and so delicious. He was very, very, very attractive and he liked me. There was no romance between us, but he knew how I felt about working with him and that I would do anything to please him". -"The Dancer Within: Intimate Conversations with Great Dancers" by Rose Eichenbaum (2008)

Noel Coward as King Pavel II in "Surprise Package" (1960) directed by Stanley Donen

Stanley Donen introduced a last minute musical number in "Surprise Package" (1960), starring Yul Brynner, Mitzi Gaynor and Noel Coward.

Noel Coward recorded: "All my principal scenes are done now, including a musical sequence in which I do a cheerful little number with Mitzi Gaynor. This was given to me on Wednesday morning at eleven o'clock. I learnt it and it was recorded and in the can by twelve o'clock. Everyone was very surprised but it really wasn't very difficult. The next day I mouthed it in the scene. I had never done this synchronization before, but it was all right. I've enjoyed making this picture and have felt relaxed in front of the camera for the first time in my sporadic film experience. Mitzi Gaynor charming". -"Coward on Film: The Cinema of Noel Coward" by Barry Day (2004)

Happy Anniversary, Cyd Charisse!

Happy Anniversary, Cyd Charisse (March 8, 1921 in Amarillo, Texas, USA - June 17, 2008 in Los Angeles, California, USA)

"If I had to give up either acting or dancing, I'd choose to keep dancing" -Cyd Charisse

Cyd Charisse was principally celebrated for her on-screen pairings with Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. She first appeared with Astaire in a brief routine in "Ziegfeld Follies" (produced in 1944 and released in 1946).

Her next appearance with him was as lead female role in "The Band Wagon" (1953), where she danced with Astaire in the acclaimed "Dancing in the Dark" and "Girl Hunt Ballet" routines. Another early role cast her opposite Judy Garland in the 1946 film "The Harvey Girls".

When Gene Kelly asked what she'd like engraved on her gravestone, Cyd Charisse replied: ' People sometimes had a problem placing her face, but they never forgot her pins.' And then she asked what Kelly wanted on his. 'Here lies Gene Kelly. He danced with Cyd Charisse,' he replied.

Cyd Charisse and Gene Kelly in "It's Always Fair Weather" (1955)

'She looked like a woman who liked to shock priests with wicked confessions,' Kelly told a friend.

In her autobiography, Charisse compared the two leading men, saying Astaire's coordination was better than Kelly's, but Kelly was the stronger of the two, adding: "When he lifts you, he lifts you!"

"To sum it up, I'd say they were the two greatest dancing personalities who were ever on screen. But it's like comparing apples and oranges. They're both delicious," Charisse wrote.

Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse in "Singin' in the Rain" (1952)

Despite the popularity of Godard’s other cinematic feats of La Nouvelle Vague, such as ‘À bout de souffle’ (Breathless) and ‘Le Pierrot le fou’, there’s a certain unrivalled charm to ‘Une Femme est Une Femme’ with it’s barbed wit and playful nods to musical comedy which make it a frontrunner as being Godard’s best work.

Angela (Anna Karina) changes her entire outfit instantly by walking through a magical device; she and Alfred participate in an improvised pseudo-musical sequence, in which she intones “I’d like to be in a musical with Cyd Charisse and Gene Kelly”.

Charisse's rise coincided with an era in which film studio MGM established itself as specialists in musicals, recruiting dancers, singers, directors, choreographers, composers, conductors and musicians.

She later forged a career appearing in song-and-dance acts on television and in nightclubs with her husband, Tony Martin, the singer.

Her agent described Charisse as "a loving and gracious woman throughout her life". Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Jake Gyllenhaal in negotations to star in "Motor City" by Albert Hughes

Jake Gyllenhaal is in negotiations to star in Motor City, the Dark Castle revenge thriller being directed by Albert Hughes. Warner Bros. is distributing.

Gyllenhaal would replace Dominic Cooper, who was previously cast but exited due to a scheduling conflict with another project, Cities.

Gary Oldman and Amber Heard already have been cast in the pic, about a small-time hood (Gyllenhaal) who is framed and sent to prison by a drug trafficker, only to relentlessly exact revenge years later to get back the woman he loves. A May production start in Berlin is being planned. Chad St. John wrote the script. Joel Silver and Andrew Rona are producing. Douglas Urbanski and Ethan Erwin are exec producing.

Jake Gyllenhaal in "Source Code" (2011) directed by Duncan Jones

Gyllenhaal last starred in Source Code, which grossed almost $150 million wordwide, and has David Ayers’ cop drama End of Watch in the can. He is repped by WME and Bloom Hergott. Source: www.hollywoodreporter.com

UPDATE: "It looked good there for a day but Jake Gyllenhaal’s deal to star in the Albert Hughes-directed Motor City has veered off the road. Talks fell apart, over scheduling, I hear. The actor wanted to push the dates and financier Dark Castle did not. They are putting together lists for another actor to star in the film in the role of an ex-military man who is framed and sees his life and gal taken away by the bad guy. Gary Oldman and Amber Heard are already set in the Chad St. John-scripted film. Source: www.deadline.com

Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra in "Pal Joey"

Gene Kelly plays Gabey, the sailor on a 24-hour shore leave frantically looking for his dream girl, "Miss Turnstiles" of the month, Ivy Smith (Vera-Ellen) in the film "On the Town" (1949)

Roger Scruton argued that any instance of sexual desire possesses an individualising intentionality. By this he means that sexual desire is founded upon the thought of the other as the specific individual he or she is. That is, there can be no sexual desire which exists and then ‘attaches’ itself to a specific individual. From this account it also follows that there cannot be any such sexual desire as an unfocused desire for no particular man or woman.

Vera-Ellen and Gene Kelly in "On the Town" (1949) directed by Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly

Scruton considers the case of the sailor storming ashore with the thought ‘woman’ in his mind: he might be thought to desire a woman, but no particular woman. Scruton claims that until the sailor actually meets a specific woman he desires, he desired no woman; he was rather in the condition of desiring to desire. Such a view of sexual desire has to find an adequate response to such phenomena as that of Casanova, described by Stefan Zweig: 'Sex goes through the rhythm of the year, in man and woman, ceaselessly changing - the rhythm of the sun in his relation to the earth'. -"Sexual Desire" by Christopher Hamilton - Richmond Journal of Philosophy (2004)

No mere pretender was Kelly, playing with happiness. Rather he was happy, often to the extent of appearing fully flushed. A most joyous, most happy dancing fella! A filmic Puck. A modern-day Pan. Full of dancing life force, and most contagious in his exuberance and merriment. -Pittsburgh Post Gazette (1967)

"Pal Joey" starring Frank Sinatra, Kim Novak and Rita Hayworth, directed by George Sidney in 1957, is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Twilight Time with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1.

The pluses far outweigh the negatives here, with some incredibly lushly saturated color, and excellent fine detail which brings out every nuance in the stunning Jean Louis costumes. Bonus features: Isolated score track, Backstage and at Home with Kim Novak featurette, Original theatrical trailer, and Liner notes by Julie Kirgo.

In the last week of 1952, Frank Sinatra went into Columbia’s Hollywood studio and recorded three songs in high style. Axel Stordahl arranged and conducted, and for the first time Bill Miller was sitting at the piano. The first number, Rodgers and Hart’s “I Could Write a Book,” marked a new artistic peak. This song had debuted on Broadway in 'Pal Joey' in 1940, starring Gene Kelly.

Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra with Esther Williams in "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" (1949)

Gene Kelly was unlike anybody Sinatra had met in Hollywood. Handsome, tough, cheerful, and athletically brilliant, Kelly was a walking paradox: a blue-collar jock who happened to be a superlative dancer, the opposite of the slim, ethereally elegant Fred Astaire. Sinatra was intimidated by Kelly's sheer dancing ability. -"Frank: The Voice" by James Kaplan (2011)

Gene Kelly in "Pal Joey" on Broadway (premiered on December 25, 1940, at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre). Directed by George Abbott with choreography by Robert Alton, the opening-night cast included Gene Kelly as Joey Evans, Vivienne Segal as Vera, and June Havoc as Gladys. Van Johnson and Stanley Donen were also in the cast.

Gene Kelly and Vivienne Segal in 'Pal Joey' on Broadway - “In Our Little Den of Iniquity” number.

Joey Evans, as an unsympathetic antihero, is a striking departure from the usual musical comedy formula. Richard Rodgers said: "Joey was not disreputable because he was mean, but because he had too much imagination to behave himself, and because he was a little weak."

In Chicago in the late 1930s, Joey Evans, a second-rate dancer and nightclub MC, a charming "heel" with big plans, schemes to get his dream –his own nightclub– "Chez Joey". He meets young and naive Linda English outside a pet shop, and, impressing her with his grandiose lies, they are romantically attracted ("I Could Write a Book"). In the nightclub, the older, wealthy but bored married socialite, Vera Simpson comes in with her friends and becomes interested in Joey as the chorus girls are doing a song-and-dance number ("That Terrific Rainbow").

"This young man is genuinely life-saving to Pal Joey for, if the chief part were not properly cast, the new musical show might have been too merciless for comfort. Mr Kelly combines a certain amount of straightforward personal charm with the realism of his portrait so that Joey actually achieves the feat of being at once a heel and a hero". -Herald Tribune (1940)

"In terms of a Broadway man, Gene Kelly was playing a tricky role: a very brash, cocky, sure person, who was very randy with the girls, but who was needy and not well educated, which made him funny. He was an energetic, fresh, aggressive Irish-American presence, which had a great charm". -Stanley Donen

"Scratch a heel and you find Gene Kelly, who isn’t a heel at all. As Joey Evans in the new musical comedy 'Pal Joey', Gene is about the heeliest heel that ever stepped on a neck, but off-stage he’s a friendly Irish lad who started a dancing school to help pay his way through Pittsburgh University, barnstormed night clubs from New York to Dallas and made himself known to Broadway as the hoofer in William Saroyan’s 'Time of Your Life'. -The Day (1941)

Joey is thoroughly nasty – a braggart, a cheat, a wastrel who takes things as they come and is always on the lookout for ‘mice’ (young women). “Yes,” said Gene Kelly as he finished a midday breakfast, “Joey isn’t bad – he just doesn’t know the difference. He’s an ignorant, low class bum with nothing but good looks and a good line”. -New York Times (March 1941)

"There is one scene where the ingénue, Leila Ernst, comes on, and she wears a blue dress that is not as blue as her eyes. It is a bright blue, but not as bright. You know, that fascinates me. Every night I look at her eyes instead of putting myself over as I should be putting myself over all the time.” -Gene Kelly

In an interview to the Los Angeles Times in 1994, Gene Kelly talked about his affinity for his leading ladies. "You must make the lady look good," he said. "If she looks good I think the dance will look good".

Gene Kelly in "Combat Fatigue Irritability"

Hollywood legend Gene Kelly stars in this 1945 Navy training film dramatizing the condition known at the time as "combat fatigue." The film delves into the symptoms and treatment of what we now call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Kelly had been commissioned a year earlier as a Lieutenant Junior Grade in the United States Navy. Source: Naval History and Heritage Command, Photographic Section, UMO-1