Gene Kelly in The Pirate?
Gene Kelly in The Pirate?
Liza's Headband
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/28/13
#1Gene Kelly in The Pirate?
Posted: 6/23/13 at 9:08pmLove Gene Kelly. Never saw him in The Pirate. But watching it right now on TCM. Wow.. So not used to this kind of Gene - very different kind of character! Anyone else see him in this?
#2Gene Kelly in The Pirate?
Posted: 6/23/13 at 9:18pmNot watching at the moment but have seen it in the past
"All our dreams can come true -- if we have the courage to pursue them." -- Walt Disney
We must have different Gods. My God said "do to others what you would have them do to you". Your God seems to have said "My Way or the Highway".
Borstalboy
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/9/04
#2Gene Kelly in The Pirate?
Posted: 6/23/13 at 9:20pmHis legs in the big dance scene are...nummy!
"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
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#3Gene Kelly in The Pirate?
Posted: 6/23/13 at 9:23pm
I've seen this...many, many, many times. I've been in love with Gene Kelly since I was a young teen. I own (almost) every single film he's ever made.
THE PIRATE for me is a great film, even though at the time of it's release it tanked.
Liza's Headband
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/28/13
#4Gene Kelly in The Pirate?
Posted: 6/23/13 at 9:26pmCarlos -- I admit I did not know about The Pirate until, well, right now. While watching it! But this character just feels so different from Gene's other usual characters...And it's so incredibly fascinating to me. Overall, not loving the movie but loving Gene. Obviously.
#5Gene Kelly in The Pirate?
Posted: 6/23/13 at 9:30pmIf you're referring to the morally dubious aspect check out "It's Always Fair Weather".
"All our dreams can come true -- if we have the courage to pursue them." -- Walt Disney
We must have different Gods. My God said "do to others what you would have them do to you". Your God seems to have said "My Way or the Highway".
#6Gene Kelly in The Pirate?
Posted: 6/23/13 at 9:34pm
I just can't get past Gene and Judy trying to play "ethnic" roles in this. It's not quite as bad as "black face," but that brown makeup still bugs me.
It has its moments, though.
Here's some wonderful trivia about the movie found on IMDb.com:
LINK
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
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Liza's Headband
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/28/13
#7Gene Kelly in The Pirate?
Posted: 6/23/13 at 9:35pmI'm not a GK aficionado, just a fan. I admit I could be totally wrong, but this character stands out to me, in particular, because of the raw sexuality and aggressiveness on display. He's usually much more subtle and graceful with his characters, I feel.
Liza's Headband
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/28/13
#8Gene Kelly in The Pirate?
Posted: 6/23/13 at 9:38pmGosh, you're so right besty. I keep FORGETTING that they're supposed to be "natives" from the Caribbean. Oy vey.
#9Gene Kelly in The Pirate?
Posted: 6/23/13 at 9:41pm
...I admit I could be totally wrong, but this character stands out to me, in particular, because of the raw sexuality and aggressiveness on display. He's usually much more subtle and graceful with his characters, I feel.
I don't think you're wrong, but keep in mind that GK was discovered playing the "raw sexuality and aggressiveness" of the title role in PAL JOEY.
(FTR, I agree: THE PIRATE isn't a great movie (and the "brown face" -- oy!), but it is oddly fascinating.)
Liza's Headband
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/28/13
#10Gene Kelly in The Pirate?
Posted: 6/23/13 at 9:57pm
Duh. Totally forgot that, Gaveston! I just don't think of GK as that kind of 'character' for some reason.. No idea why. Funny how we choose to remember certain actors. 
Love the ending with Judy on "Be A Clown." Again, not the greatest GK flick but glad I discovered it. A nice Sunday surprise!
#11Gene Kelly in The Pirate?
Posted: 6/23/13 at 9:59pm
I hope you read some of those trivia bullet points from IMDb.com.
The best are Judy missing 99 out of the 135 shooting days.
Judy smoking 4 packs a day during filming.
How Judy and Gene fought to keep the Nicholas Brothers in the film.
How Lena Horne's role as a Caribbean dressmaker was cut from the finished script, even though she recorded the songs already.
How L.B. Mayer was so incensed by the torrid romance depicted by Judy and Gene in the number "Voodoo" that he had the negative burned.
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
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Liza's Headband
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/28/13
#12Gene Kelly in The Pirate?
Posted: 6/23/13 at 10:08pmYes, Besty. I had read through the Trivia while watching the movie! I can only imagine the drama and turmoil behind the scenes with Judy's addiction and deteriorating marriage with Minelli.
#13Gene Kelly in The Pirate?
Posted: 6/24/13 at 12:46amGene's legs also look pretty nummy in Summer Stock.
#14Gene Kelly in The Pirate?
Posted: 6/24/13 at 3:01amGene Kelly in Summer Stock will always be the most nummy. Nothing can even come close. My first ever crush.
#15Gene Kelly in The Pirate?
Posted: 6/24/13 at 6:12am
I saw this a few years ago when it was finally released on DVD. The booklet gave the whole history of the production (troubled) and the budget (HUGE). It covered the less than enthusiastic reception at the time and how it has grown in stature over the years.
Having read all that first I was prepared for a middle of the road Hollywood musical. To my delight I found it to be a wonderful escapist fantasy with some top shelf production numbers.
Judy is radiant (side note: she was absent for most of the filming due to illness; you wouldn't know it based on her performance though) in this and Kelly is in top form.
Be A Clown and Mack the Black are great tunes.
....but the world goes 'round
#16Gene Kelly in The Pirate?
Posted: 6/24/13 at 6:34am
Having read all that first I was prepared for a middle of the road Hollywood musical. To my delight I found it to be a wonderful escapist fantasy with some top shelf production numbers.
That perfectly sums up how I feel about it tazzy.
Roscoe
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#17Gene Kelly in The Pirate?
Posted: 6/24/13 at 8:54amThis is one of those big aggressively escapist MGM Musicals that always drive me up the wall, they always seem to be screaming "THIS IS ENTERTAINMENT SO JUST SIT THERE AND BE ENTERTAINED GODDAMMIT!!!!!!!" at me and I just never am entertained enough to relax and enjoy, despite a couple of cute moments from Judy Garland, the presence of the Nicholas Brothers, and Gene Kelly's legs in that fantasy sequence.
"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." Thomas Pynchon, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW
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#18Gene Kelly in The Pirate?
Posted: 6/24/13 at 9:24am
I usually love the MGM "make it big, do it right, and give it class" movies. The in-your-face entertainment. Because, for me, more often than not, it IS first-rate entertainment, from start to finish.
With "The Pirate," however, I feel pretty much the way Roscoe does. It tries too hard in a very big, bloated, skin-dyed way. Nobody is right for their roles. The humor falls flat, the suspension of disbelieve isn't suspended, it feels clumsy, heavy-handed, and despite "yelling" in my face, it's boring.
The exceptions are "Be a Clown" and "Mack the Black" with Gene and the pirate ship. That's it. The rest is an expensive, relentlessly in-your-face failure to me.
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
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Updated On: 6/24/13 at 09:24 AM
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sabrelady
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/16/03
#20Gene Kelly in The Pirate?
Posted: 6/25/13 at 3:49pm
I haven't seen it for years, but I remember being bothered by the very visible string yanking Judy's hat when it is supposed to be blown away by the wind. Was this a deliberate choice by Minnelli to make a stagey effect? I never understood why Metro wouldn't just use a wind machine.
On the other hand, Gene Kelly's thighs in those pirate shorts. Sigh...
#21Gene Kelly in The Pirate?
Posted: 6/25/13 at 3:54pm
It's probably the most homoerotic film MGM ever made.
#22Gene Kelly in The Pirate?
Posted: 6/25/13 at 3:59pmPaljoey, TARZAN AND HIS MATE is pretty homoerotic, too. I think we can thank Cedric Gibbons for that.
#23Gene Kelly in The Pirate?
Posted: 6/26/13 at 11:33am
The two things that always come to mind when thinking of The Pirate is:
The story of Judy fleeing the set screaming (literally) "Fire, Fire!!! They want to set me on fire"...running into Fred Astaire on her way out and telling him that they were trying to kill her and Fred saying to his assitant..
"Christ...what are they doing to that poor kid?"..
The second is Gene Kelly's legs...next to Marlene, the most beautiful legs ever put on film...
The film itself was just way to high brow for the average audience but today - it's a delight..
"There's no damn business like show business - you have to smile to keep from throwing up." - Billie Holiday
#24Gene Kelly in The Pirate?
Posted: 6/26/13 at 11:47am
Since we're talking about Gene Kelly's phenomenal body parts, how about them glutes in the white skin tight leggings during the "Chocolat" section of the American in Paris ballet.
