Sunday, July 29, 2018

Les Girls (1957), 7+

After writing a tell-all book about her days in the dance troupe "Barry Nichols and Les Girls", Sybil Wren (Kay Kendall) is sued for libeling her fellow dancer Angele (Taina Elg). A Rashomon...
1h 54min | Comedy, Musical | 3 October 1957 | Color, WS
Director: George Cukor
Stars: Gene Kelly, Mitzi Gaynor, Kay Kendall, Taina Elg, Jacques Bergerac.
Jack Cole ... choreographer
Barrie Chase ... assistant choreographer (uncredited)
Alex Romero ... assistant choreographer (uncredited)
Gene Kelly ... choreographer Why Am I So Gone (About that Gal)? (uncredited; per dvd featurette)


In the Tap! Appendix (actually from Jazz Dance by Stearns, 1994) for Gene Kelly.

29th of 38 film acting credits for GK; his last for MGM. I believe he only dances 4 more times on film as an actor: '60, '64, '67, '80.

Last film Cole Porter worked on (per IMDb trivia and the dvd featurette.)

Songs performed (32 chapters with nearly useless menu), all by Cole Porter:

  • ch6. Les Girls, Performed by Gene Kelly, Kay Kendall (dubbed by Betty Wand), Mitzi Gaynor and Taina Elg, Danced by Gene Kelly, Mitzi Gaynor and Taina Elg and chorus girls in "tropical" makeup
  • ch7. The Rope Dance, Danced by Gene Kelly and Taina Elg 
  • ch10. Ça c'est l'amour, Performed by Taina Elg (dubbed by Thora Mathiason) 
  • ch12. Ladies in Waiting, Performed by Kay Kendall (dubbed by Betty Wand), Mitzi Gaynor and Taina Elg, showgirl dancing
  • ch19. You're Just Too Too!, Performed by Gene Kelly and Kay Kendall (dubbed by Betty Wand) 
  • ch28. Why Am I So Gone (About that Gal)?, Performed by Gene Kelly, Danced by Gene Kelly and Mitzi Gaynor 
  • ch various. Be a Clown, Heard as background music 


Nice to have a very different premise for a musical. 

I watched the film before compiling this page, and now it makes sense why some of GK's dance looked unusual/awkward for him in ch6: choreographed by JC, not GK's usual moves. Some things made his tuxedo look rumpled and frumpy. Clearly GK wanted to be done with MGM sooner than later, and/or Cukor/studio didn't want any delays while GK corrected the dance.

MGM, dir. Cukor; 7+
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