Posted on 03/02/2019 4:02:06 PM PST by Twotone
...Stanley Donen died a week ago, and...was the last surviving major director of the Golden Age, mainly because he was barely out of short pants when he started. His films include On The Town, Singin' In The Rain, Seven Brides For Seven Brothers, Indiscreet, Charade and Two for the Road. He started out directing Sinatra, Astaire, Gene Kelly, Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, and hung in there long enough to direct Lionel Richie, Bruce Willis, Demi Moore (topless), and Michael Jackson (for a Jekyll & Hyde adaptation aborted after the child-molestation charges). And, speaking of the Oscars, the last magical moment at the Academy Awards was Donen's impromptu 1998 dance duet with his statuette to "Cheek to Cheek". It's many years since I last saw him, but I couldn't let his death pass without a nod to the man whose work gave millions of moviegoers - in the words of a famous title song - "a glorious feeling":
A couple of decades back, at one of those American Film Institute galas, in the midst of the more familiar anecdotes, Steve Martin revealed his own hitherto unknown part in one of the most celebrated song-&-dance sequences in motion picture history. "It was the early Fifties," Steve recalled. "Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen were directing a film, so I dropped by to see my pals. They were very glum, and I said, 'What's the matter?' And they said, 'This damn weather! We can't get this number shot!' I sat there in the rain for a minute and said, 'Why don't you shoot it anyway..?' Well, the rain kept up and Stanley said, 'What the heck, we'll do what Steve said... Just get this lamppost outta here and we'll be ready to go.'
(Excerpt) Read more at steynonline.com ...
Excellent article, including a few clips. Worth the time.https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2019/02/stanley-donen-dies-at-94.php
Steve Martin was born in 1945.
The musical was in '52.
Even without knowing, that story is all wet.
I'm surprised Steyn included it.
Steve Martin was making a joke.
Forest Gump style joke?
And Steve Martin is a comedian.
Regards,
I missed something in the delivery.
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