Death of the director of "Singin 'in the Rain", Stanley Donen, at the age of 94

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The filmmaker Stanley Donen, a giant of the Hollywood musical who, thanks to classics such as "Singin 'in the Rain" and "Funny Face", has contributed to the creation of some of the most joyful sounds and images in the world. history of cinema, has passed away. He was 94 years old. Donen, who often teamed with Gene Kelly but also worked with Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra and Fred Astaire, died Thursday in New York from heart failure, confirmed his sons Joshua and Mark Donen on Saturday. Early age for Hollywood musicals and no filmmaker has contributed more to the magic than Donen, among the last survivors of this era and eager to expand the boundaries of singing and dancing in the world. unreal. He was part of the unit behind scenes as unforgettable as Kelly dancing with an animated Jerry mouse in "Anchors Aweigh," the challenge defying any gravity of Astaire in "Royal Wedding" and that Kelly, the triumph of all the time, splashed with joy. Steven Spielberg reminded Donen as a "friend and early mentor" for whom life and film were inseparable. "His generosity to giving as many weekends at the end of last year gave rise to a title number in" Singin 'in the Rain. "From the' 60s to film students like me for learning to tell stories and placing lenses and directing actors is a time I will never forget, "Spielberg said. Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro said, "Before Stanley Donen's actors sang, the actors were dancing, he had the camera dancing and the colors singing." A poll conducted in 2007 by the American Film Institute on the 100 best American films and rated "Singin & # 39; in the Rain", with his inventive rendering of the Hollywood transition from silent images to talking images in the 1920s and Kelly's famous film In 2002, Donen was asked if the filmmaker knew that "Singin 'in the Rain," released in 1952 and performed by Debbie Reynolds and Donald O. Connor, would be revered decades later … can not get through a movie if you do not think that it's good, "he told The Associated Press," We thought it was good, more than that, I do not know, you do not think about it. You just think about how you can do it. "The film and Donen were first underestimated "Singin 'in the Rain" was originally perceived as a quality entertainment rather than an art and was not even nominated for a better movie or an Oscar. Donen, eclipsed by Kelly early in his career, has never received an Oscar nomination and waited until 1998 for an honorary award, presented by Martin Scorsese. He was more than ready. Donen danced cheek-to-cheek with his Oscar statuette, which he nicknamed "this pretty little guy". The crowd shouted and applauded shouting "Heaven, I'm in paradise," taken from Irving Berlin's "Cheek to Cheek." In his thank you speech, he explained his formula for a great musical. Use songwriters like Adolph Green and Betty Comden, and performers such as Kelly, Astaire or Sinatra. "And when the shoot starts," he added, "you stand and you stay away." Born in Columbia, South Carolina, Donen would remember movies – particularly those with Astaire and Ginger Rogers – as a necessary escape from the tensions of being one of the few Jews in his community. He took tap lessons during his teenage years and began his career in the entertainment industry as an interpreter. He danced in Pal Joey's original production on Broadway, at the age of 16. The main role was played by Kelly and the success of the show propelled her into the movies. .Donen had his first break in Hollywood when Kelly entrusted him with the job of "Cover Girl", a 1944 film directed by Kelly. Over the following years, he worked on choreography of films such as "The Kissing Bandit", played by Sinatra, and "Take" I play ball, "featuring Sinatra and Kelly, who teamed up with Donen for the choreography. "Singin 'in the Rain" is one of three films credited by Kelly and Donen as co-directors; the others were "On the Town", the 1949 musical Kelly-Sinatra on the New York Licensed Sailors, and the darkest "It's Still Nice", in which three soldier friends gather a decade later. co-director – rare in the movies – is the result of a tense relationship between Donen and the star, who had played such an important role in the advancement of Donen's career. Donen would later speak with bitterness of Kelly, who died in 1996, as cold and condescending and not fully recognizing his contributions. They finally broke up after "It's Still Nice", published in 1955. "It could be difficult with me and everyone," said the director at The New York Times in 1996. "The collaboration has always been complicated." Donen's films include "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" (1954), with his outstanding sports choreography; "Damn Yankees" (1958), the remake of Broadway's success on the temptation of a baseball fan; and "Funny Face", in which Astaire is associated with Audrey Hepburn to interpret a fashion photographer and his improbable muse.The character of Astaire in "Funny Face" is inspired by Richard Avedon, and the famous photographer served as a consultant in Donen. is more fun than finding someone who stimulates you and who can be your turn, "said Donen in John Kobal's book" Gotta Sing Gotta Dance: A Story in Pictures of Musicals " . " The result, rather than adding two and two, it multiplies and you find yourself doing much better things – you are both swept away by the ridge of excitement. Donen has worked in a variety of genres. "Indiscreet" (1958) was a light joke starring Grant and Ingrid Bergman, and "Two for the Road" (1967), with Hepburn and Albert Finney, was an exceptionally bitter and tense marital comedy at the time, well in the deviation of the spirit of his musicals. (Donen himself was married five times and had in his New York apartment an embroidered pillow bearing the inscription "EAT DRINK AND RE-MARRY." A film by Donen, the chic mystery "Charade" (1963) , reminded the audience of the Hitchcock thriller. "Charade" interpreted Hepburn as a precocious social figure whose husband was murdered, and Grant – who appeared in four Hitchcock films – as a mysterious man who could help him or her No. Donon firmly denied any Hitchcock influence, while adding that the suspense master "does not possess the kind." Donen had three sons, the oldest, Peter, died in 2003 from a heart attack to 50 years old, his first wife, dancer Jeanne Coyne, later married Kelly, Yvette Mimieux was his fourth wife, and in the last two decades, his wife was filmmaker-actress Elaine May, none of her most recent films Is approaching the peaks of his most famous work, the nadir was perhaps "Blame It on Rio" from 1984, a comedy about a man (Michael Caine) who has an affair with his friend's girl. Roger Ebert called the film "clearly intended to appeal to the prurient interests of elderly and dirty men of all ages". Other credits include a musical segment for the 1980s television comedy "Moonlighting" and a theatrical production of "The Red Shoes". In 1999, he directed the ABC TV drama "Love Letters" starring Steven Weber and Laura Linney. "There are limits to television," Donen told The Associated Press in 1999. "And that's what was fun: trying to find being surprising in the limits. I'm always at the search for limits, because you have to be inventive. "

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