Patricia Ward Kelly was at the Cannes Film Festival to present "Let's sing in the rain".
Gene Kelly's widow spoke to "20 Minutes" about what this great moment in Hollywood musicals evokes for her.
She plans to set up in Paris a "single on stage" and a radio series where she will pay homage to her husband.
“It's a perfect movie!
This is how Patricia Ward Kelly, the widow of actor and dancer Gene Kelly (1912-1996), describes for
20 Minutes
the film
Singing in the rain
, co-directed by Stanley Donen and her husband.
This classic of the musical comes out this Wednesday in theaters after being presented at Cannes Classic in a beautifully restored version.
“I had a hard time holding back my tears on the red carpet when I heard Gene's voice,” admits his widow.
Patricia was only 26 years old when she met Gene, then 73 years old.
“He was the charm incarnate but, not being a movie buff, I knew nothing about his career when we exchanged our phone numbers, she laughs.
My friends advised me to go to the video club and that's where I discovered his filmography.
“And in particular
Let’s sing in the rain
, their favorite film for both of them.
Timeless for all audiences
"It's a perfect film because it's timeless and accessible to audiences of all ages," insists Patricia Ward Kelly.
It contains all the ingredients that make you love going to the cinema: an exciting scenario, suspense, romance, endearing characters, sublime musical numbers and a tribute to the history of the 7th art.
The advent of talkies and the disaster it constituted for silent actors are at the center of this great moment of pleasure where we also find Cyd Charisse, Debbie Reynolds (the mother of Carrie Fisher, future Princess Leia of
Star Wars
) and Donald O'Connor.
“Everyone knows the title song of the film even without seeing
Let’s Sing in the Rain
,” insists Patricia Ward Kelly.
Gene remains in everyone's memory for this romantic scene which resembled him so much.
Stanley Kubrick was inspired by it for an ultra-violent sequence of Clockwork
Orange
which had infuriated Gene Kelly.
“Gene never saw the film, explains his widow, but he was very angry with Kubrick who had neither warned him nor paid.
For Gene, who was probity itself, this was unacceptable behavior.
»
Gene's memory
Today, Patricia Ward Kelly perpetuates the memory of her husband in particular with a "single on stage" which she hopes to mount soon in Paris and with
Gene Kelly and me
, a radio series broadcast on France Musique on Sunday mornings at 11 a.m. from July 10 with the complicity of Laurent Valière.
Our articles on Cannes are here
“Presenting
Singin' in the Rain
made my memory of Gene even more vivid,” she says.
When we met, he pretended to have pain in his legs in public because he didn't want to dance with everyone.
He only danced privately with me.
Revisiting this masterpiece, in theaters or thanks to the luxurious Blu-Ray box set published last April by Warner, gives the impression of sharing a dose of this magic.
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