How Many Vincente Minnelli Films Have You Seen?

How Many Vincente Minnelli Films Have You Seen?

Overview: Growing up in the era before TCM without a humongous ambition to seek out old films until age 16, my introduction to the classics was mostly guided by my parents’ tastes. My mother loved Gene Kelly and so I watched nearly every musical of his as child. I didn’t even know who Fred Astaire was growing up and when I watched my first Astaire film I was prepared to knock it down as if anyone could dare top Kelly. What I didn’t know growing up was that Kelly was supported by a large studio system with a musical department that was run by producer Arthur Freed (I suspect the R.F.  in “Singin and the Rain”) and an array of directors: George Sidney (Showboat) and Charles Walters (Barkleys of Broadway, Summer Stock) were in the mix and Busby Berkley was hired a little but the three people who really made a mark were Gene Kelly himself, Stanley Donen (first paired with Kelly than achieving some entirely original films on his own), and Vincente Minnelli.

It’s a little difficult to separate Minnelli’s accomplishments from that of the studio but it’s not an exaggeration to say that he bought a strong sense of exoticness to his films. Whether it was the Parisian streetscapes of “An American in Paris”, the luscious Scottish hills of “Brigadoon”, the turn of the century Victorian-style American family home dripping with nostalgia in “Meet me in Saint Louis” or the romance of Arabian Night-era Baghdad in “Kismet”, Vincente Minnelli would take you to enchanted far off worlds. If there was a specific Oscar category that epitomized what Minnelli did best, in my opinion, it would be art direction/set design which makes sense because that’s where he got his start. If his biography was any indication, one of his big regrets was not being able to shoot on location as he wanted to do with Scotland in “Brigadoon” and Paris in “American in Paris.” Of course, some of the most unforgettable musical numbers of the era came through Vincente Minnelli such as Gene Kelly singing “I’ve Got Rhythm” with Parisian school kids, Lena Horne’s “Stormy Weather” or Gene Kelly whisking Cyd Charisse away on the Sottish landscapes to “Almost like Being in Love.” And of course, the decision to end “American in Paris” on a fantasy ballet that was mimicked in “La La Land.”

However, Minnelli’s career expanded beyond musicals. Somewhere in the realm of 14 films towards the back end of his filmography were not musicals, highlighted by “Some Came Running” “The Sandpiper” and “Lust for Life” (which must have been a treat for a man who was an aspiring artist). These films are described by IMDB as melodramas which might make sense that after so many years with musicals, he wanted to explore a darker (at the very least, less fluffy) side of human relationships. Leonard Maltin noted that Minnelli loved dream sequences and flights of fanc such as the berserk carnival in ”Some Came Running”, the “Halloween Sequence” (which, now that I think of it seems like an alligator-lipped moment as TV Tropes calls it) in Meet me in Saint Louis, and the Mythical Boar Hunt in “Home from the Hill” in addition to the ballet sequence mentioned above.

Biography:  Minnellli was born in 1903 (coincidentally, the same year his most famous musical, “Meet me in Saint Louis” begins) in Chicago to a theatrical family. His parents and uncle operated a tent show that toured the Midwest. His first job was painting show-window displays as a kid. He was then a costume director and set designer for the Balaban and Katz theater chain in Chicago. Minnelli then moved to New York in 1935 where he directed three Broadway plays: “At Home Abroad” “The Show is On” and “Hooray for What!”

He was recruited as a producer to Paramount Studios first but was unsuccessful there at advancing up the ranks so went to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer under Arthur Freed. According to his obituary, his contract for MGM was until 1966 so that would (as far as I know) be the dividing line between when he was a studio hand and an independent producer which means that many of his other non-musicals such as “Father of the Bride” and “Lust for Life” were under the studio.

Minnelli directed two Oscar-winning films: “American in Paris” and “Gigi” though he didn’t win the actual Best Director prize for the former and the latter just went to the studio (AFAIK).  Also, does anyone remember “Gigi”?

Minnelli also had a famous wife in Judy Garland who he met on the set of “Meet me in Saint Louis” and the pair produced another famous Hollywood triple threat in Liza Minnelli. In 2007 when AFI did a series of YouTube videos asking stars their favorite films, I thought Minnelli gave the best answer: “Meet me in St Louis because it’s where my mom met my dad so I owe my existence to it.” Minnelli had four marraiges but his three other wives weren’t famous and his other daughter isn’t famous, and I’m too lazy to look them up so we’ll skip that. He was also likely to be bisexual or veering significantly more gay than straight on the Kinsey scale. Lorna Luft (Garland’s daughter) speculated that Judy entered the marriage because “her mother was unable to distinguish between friendship and romantic relationships with her gay companions.” Either way, the marriage took a lot out of Minnelli who was married to Garland while she was going through the worst of her addictions.

Aside from that, Minnelli was known to have a lot of nervous tics and feel more socially awkward outside of his creative collaborators. He was also quite good with Gene Kelley’s psychotic perfectionism.

How Many Films Have I Seen:  7. Meet me in Saint Louis, The Pirate, American in Paris, Brigadoon, Kismet, Band Wagon, The Sandpiper

Favorite: American in Paris If musicals exemplify escapist entertainment, what’s more meta than a character who’s  escaping the aftermath of the war by staying in Paris (the ultimate tourist’s city) on an eternal vacation of sorts. Gene Kelly’s character of Jerry Mulligan is living the most quixotic of existences but American in Paris is a movie about him slowly getting sucked into reality once he gets invested in love with a person. The object of his affections, Leslie Caron’s Lise Bouvier, is on the wrong side of a love triangle. She’s indebted to a man who saved her from the war and it looks on the outside like love but it’s clear she never had much choice in it. There’s a tragedy in it and Mulligan really has no chance so the film ends in a ballet followed by an ending that I’m comfortable considering is just fantasy or possibly real.

Favorite Musical Number: I’ll add this bonus category. The Trolley Song in “Meet me in St Louis.” It’s not just an earworm but it’s got so much going for it. It works actual trolley bells into the music and has so much going for it orchestration-wise with strings and brass doing all sorts of riffs and counter melodies. I also like the interchange between chorus and the lead singer (Judy Garland doesn’t even start singing until 85 seconds into the song). But what I love most about this is that it’s not just singing and dancing but she’s expressing the emotion—in this case the excitement of seeing her crush board the train—of the song as she’s singing. It’s like a sing-acting I haven’t seen.

Underrated:  Brigadoon. Yes, the idea of a town thinking they’ll be safer (rather than run into a nuclear war or encroaching sprawl at the very least) by sleeping every 100 years is one of the most casually absurd movie plots in existence. But it is a very charming film and a sincere love story with a very solid chemistry between Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse. There’s also Van Johnson who is such a wonderful deadpan foil, he seems to be five decades ahead of his time (a spiritual godfather to Aubrey Plaza, perhaps). The film is set in Scotland but filmed entirely on sound stages that I personally found quite impressive (especially the musical number through the heathers in “Almost like Being in Love.” There’s also a lot of fun organic songs like “Go Home to Bonnie G.”

Overrated: Band Wagon Movies about show business stars attempting a comeback are part of an overstuffed genre and this seems like an entirely unimaginative entry considering so much of the output. I’m wondering if this film was meant to give Fred Astaire material that was a little more weighty (like, say Billy Crystal in “Mr Saturday Night”) but he doesn’t really treat the material (of a man facing a midlife crisis) any differently so by all standards he fails here. Nothing is particularly memorable about the music either.

Blind Spots: “Lust for Life” sounds like an interesting one. “Cabin in the Sky” the first all-black musical in MGM’s stable also seems interesting.  “Gigi” did win a Best Picture Oscar so that could potentially be worth it?