My Favorite Gene Kelly Performances

9.

Joe Ross, Summer Stock



Kelly is terrific as the leader of a theatrical troupe whose girlfriend (Gloria DeHaven) sets it up for them to have rehearsals at the far run by her sister (Judy Garland), who only agrees to the arrangement if the actor agree to help with chores around the farm.

8.

Noel Airman, Marjorie Morningstar



Kelly was surprisingly effective as the director of a summer stock company who makes a naive, aspiring actress (Natalie Wood) think he's in love with her, but he really isn't.

7.

Gaby, On the Town



Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Jules Munshin play three sailors on 24-hour leave in Manhattan looking for romance and Gaby becomes obsessed with a model who has been elected this month's "Miss Turnstiles" (Vera-Ellen).

6.

Ted Riley, It's Always Fair Weather



Kelly plays a former military man who, along with a couple of other former bunkmates (Dan Dailey, Michael Kidd) fall victim to a conniving TV executive (Cyd Charisse).

5.

Barry Nichols, Les Girls



Kelly played a former musical comedy star who is reunited with his three co-stars (Mitzi Gaynor, Kay Kendall, Taina Elg) over a lawsuit regarding a book that one of the ladies wrote after the act broke up.

4.

Eddie O'Brien, Take Me Out to the Ball Game



Kelly plays a turn of the century baseball player who falls hard for his tema's new owner (Esther Williams).

3.

Don Lockwood, Singin in the Rain



My apologies to those who thought this was going to be #1, but I cannot deny how wonderful Kelly was in his career-defining role as a matinee idol who finds his career threatened with the advent of talking pictures.

2.

Danny McGuire, Cover Girl



Kelly was smoldering and sexy as a nightclub entertainer who takes his girlfriend (Rita Hyaworth) for granted until she becomes a modeling sensation and gets an offer for a Broadway show.


Okay, that's #2...anybody who knows Kelly's career well should know what # 1 is by now...drum roll please...and now, my # 1 favorite Gene Kelly performance:

1.

Jerry Mulligan, An American in Paris



I'm still not sure if the film deserved the Best Picture Oscar it won, but there is no denying Gene Kelly's artistry or sex appeal. Kelly was sex on legs as a penniless artist in Paris who finds himself torn between a wealthy art patroness (Nina Foch) and a pretty shopgirl (Leslie Caron). Kelly has never commanded the screen as he did here...and choreographed the movie too? This film was definitely his crowning achievement.



Hope someone enjoyed the list.

I think Take Me Out to the Ball Game and On the Town are my two favorites listed here. I also like The Pirate...I haven't seen a lot of the films on your list. Too many movies, not enough time.

I'm a Kelly fan. My favs are Brigadoon, Xanadu and Singing in the Rain.

IMO, Summer Stock is a very underrated movie. It should be high on the list with his other more well-known classics.

I'm glad to see Marjorie Morningstar on your list. It's not my favorite of his movies, but I'll always love it because it was filmed at the summer camp that I went to when I was a kid, so it has a nostalgia feel for me.

As much as I love Singin' in the Rain, I can't argue with Cover Girl being above it on your list. He was great in this movie.

I didn't know that was a real summer camp.

Parts of Marjorie Morningstar were filmed at Camp Red Wing on Schroon Lake in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. I noticed it the first time I saw the movie, and I didn't realize why I felt like I had been there until I researched it and found out that it was at my childhood summer camp.