Gene Kelly in a scene from the film Singin' in the Rain.
The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.
(c)1998-2002; (c)2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
All other sections in this Literature Study Guide are owned and copyrighted by BookRags, Inc.
A dancer and choreographer of enormous grace and indefatigable vitality, Gene Kelly created a new synthesis of music and dance in American movies. In 1942 he made his first film with Judy Garland. In the next decade he made an unprecedented series of lively movie musicals, including On the Town (1949), Summer Stock (1950), and An American in Paris (1951), culminating with Singin' in the Rain (1952) which Kelly starred in, choreographed, and co-directed with Stanley Donen. Kelly's unique achievement was to expand the range of dancing in the movies. For Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dancing took place in a refined social world; for Kelly dancing was part of everyday life and the real world. In place of the ballrooms of Astaire and Rogers, Kelly danced on car roofs, tables, and sofas, in streets deluged with rain, thus extending dance to a mundane world that would seem to ordinarily exclude it.
Gene Kelly in a scene from the film Singin' in the Rain.
Morley, Sheridan, and Ruth Leon, Gene Kelly: A Celebration. London, Pavilion, 1996.
Singin' in the Rain, (film), directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen. 1952.