Post by BATouttaheck on Apr 1, 2018 22:08:13 GMT
"Debbie Reynolds stated that she "learned a lot from [Gene Kelly]). He is a perfectionist and a disciplinarian--the most exciting director I've ever worked for. And he has a good temper. Every so often he would yell at me and make me cry. But it took a lot of patience for him to work with someone who had never danced before. It's amazing that I could keep up with him and Donald O'Connor."
Kelly later commented on her work, "Fortunately, Debbie was strong as an ox . . . also she was a great copyist, and she could pick up the most complicated routine without too much difficulty . . . at the university of hard work and pain."
Debbie Reynolds had no dancing experience before she made the film. She pointed this out when she was asked to be in the film, but Gene Kelly said he could teach her, just as he'd done with Frank Sinatra for Anchors Aweigh (1945). Reynolds had been a gymnast, so she wasn't completely unfamiliar with physical movement requiring grace and stamina. Ever the trouper, she buckled down and rehearsed day and night until she could share a dance floor with Kelly and Donald O'Connor without embarrassing herself.
"Very early on in the pre-production stage, Judy Garland, June Allyson and Ann Miller were considered for the role of Kathy Selden, but all were considered "too old". Jane Powell and Leslie Caron were also briefly considered before Debbie Reynolds (then a newcomer) was cast. "
Kelly later commented on her work, "Fortunately, Debbie was strong as an ox . . . also she was a great copyist, and she could pick up the most complicated routine without too much difficulty . . . at the university of hard work and pain."
Debbie Reynolds had no dancing experience before she made the film. She pointed this out when she was asked to be in the film, but Gene Kelly said he could teach her, just as he'd done with Frank Sinatra for Anchors Aweigh (1945). Reynolds had been a gymnast, so she wasn't completely unfamiliar with physical movement requiring grace and stamina. Ever the trouper, she buckled down and rehearsed day and night until she could share a dance floor with Kelly and Donald O'Connor without embarrassing herself.
"Very early on in the pre-production stage, Judy Garland, June Allyson and Ann Miller were considered for the role of Kathy Selden, but all were considered "too old". Jane Powell and Leslie Caron were also briefly considered before Debbie Reynolds (then a newcomer) was cast. "