About 60 years before director Tim Burton and a team of visual-effects wizards crafted musical numbers using dozens of duplicates of the same actor (Deep Roy as the Oompa Loompas) dancing in unison for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, filmmaker Charles Vidor utilized trick photography to have one Gene Kelly dance alongside another in the most elaborate, jaw-dropping musical set piece in Cover Girl (1944, Charles Vidor). As can reasonably be expected, the visual effects aren't as sophisticated as those on display in Burton's '05 film--the Gene Kelly inserted into the scene looks more ghost-like than the Kelly who was physically there shooting the number--but what makes this sequence soar is how precisely each Kelly plays off of each other. Imagining how many hours Kelly must have spent perfecting each dance move for both onscreen manifestations of himself is simply mind-boggling.
This groundbreaking dance sequence may be the best reason to see the buoyant, irresistible Cover Girl, but it's hardly the only one. Co-leads Kelly and Rita Hayworth are both effortlessly charming, while Vidor and his crack technical team (specific shout-outs go to cinematographers Allen M. Davey and Rudolph Mate and costume designers Travis Banton, Muriel King, and Gwen Wakeling) create a Technicolor dreamworld that is euphoric to get lost in. While not a truly essential Kelly musical like Singin' in the Rain, An American in Paris, or It's Always Fair Weather, Cover Girl occupies that vast second tier of the star's work made up of lightweight entertainments that are as impeccably crafted as they are fun to watch. Grade: A-
No comments:
Post a Comment