This Day in History August 23, 1912

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I cannot be happier as I report about this day in history.  I had planned on being a little more serious, but when I discovered that this was the birthday of Gene Kelly, I knew what I would cover today.

I'm going to go on a bit of a personal note here, since this is my blog, and I can.  I grew up watching old films and musicals.  I loved The Wizard of Oz, and I faithfully watched it every year on TV.  I grew up in the time of the VCR--I know, that sounds dated, but it's true.  One of my favorite things was to go to the library and check out videos.  I saw The Sound of Music and My Fair Lady countless times.

One day, my mom and I went to the downtown library.  That was a big deal.  Yes, I grew up in Tacoma, Washington, but we lived on the North End--the old end of town.  My mom hated going downtown.  But we did.  I remember looking through the movies, and I happened to see Singin' in the Rain.  I knew nothing about it, but it was a musical, and it was old, so we gave it a try.

I was enraptured with all of the stars from the beginning.  I can't recall how many times I have seen this film, and I can go on and on about the little stories that went on behind the scenes.  I read a biography about Gene Kelly and one about Debbie Reynolds as well.  I regard Gene Kelly as one of the greatest dancers that ever lived.  He could do it all--tap, ballet, jazz, ballroom.  He often did his own stunts, much to the studio's chagrin.  He was a perfectionist to the core--nice to Judy Garland but mean to so many others, including young Debbie Reynolds.  He was a fantastic choreographer and director, and I don't think there will be ever be another.

As much as I love his musicals where he sings and dances, my favorite movie of his is not the musicals.  I could watch them over and over, but there is a movie not as well known in which he did not sing or dance.  He acted, and he acted well.  It is called Inherit the Wind.  The film is about a very controversial --evolution versus creation. He plays the reporter who is extremely cynical and smart-mouthed.  I actually loved his performance.  This film intrigues me because it is based on fact, and it shows how "religion" can give God a bad name.  Notice, I did not say faith.  I grew up defending creationism from a Biblical view that was deeply rooted in science, but so many Christians don't appreciate the need to understand why we believe what we believe.

Gene Kelly died February 2, 1996, and I may still have the original obituary published in the Tacoma News Tribune somewhere in my files.  I can remember when my parents told me.  I used to really be affected by the death of those old movie stars.  After all, I grew up watching them.  I couldn't have told you back then any of the current movie stars.

If you would like to do some more research on Gene Kelly, click here.
If you would like to find out more about Inherit the Wind, click here.


Gene Kelly - I'm Singing in the Rain by goldrausch