Gene Kelly: The Signature Collection [DVD]

If you are interested in musicals but have never tried any Gene Kelly films then this is a great place to start. 4 of the 5 films here are of his best and 2 are classics that stand up to any competition. The most famous,and rightly so, is 'singin' in the rain', a classic that is far lighter than many of it's contemporaries and far funnier too,(the scene where the lip-sync. goes wrong is great stuff),. It contains one of the most well known scenes of any film,not just musicals, as kelly reaches sublime heights in the title song & dance routine, so charming and easy going it's all too easy to miss just how skilled he was. In truth that really was his trademark,he never seemed to be working, Kelly was effortless & danced with a huge smile. Often forgotten is the brilliant Donald O'Conner himself dancing brilliantly and delivering the very funny 'make 'em laugh' with ease.
Anchors aweigh is a pleasant enough film and contains the inspired scene where Tom & Jerry dance and includes Frank Sinatra but in all it's really just a light precursor to 'On the town' which has a great theme tune,sinatra again & a terrific turn from a feisty Alice pearce.
'An American in Paris',with minelli directing & Gershwin writing songs, is hard to categorize. The frankly irritating 'I got rythmn' with a room full of kids is all but forgotten after Kellys excellent ballet against a backdrop of imitations of frances most famous artists & his singing 's'wonderful'.
I have never seen the 3 muskateers so cannot comment.
This collection is a fine one but it falters however in it's lack of extra's. Three of these titles are available in excellent 2 disc versions for very reasonable prices & contain a wealth of interesting features sadly missing here.
If you're after the basics then this boxset is a fine place to start but if you want to know more or already know you like the films here then go for the 2-disc sets.

This set contains good quality pictures. The images are crisp and the sound is good. The films themselves: well, you have to like these easy-going movies. But the movement of Gene is absolutely amazing, beit swash-buckling, beit dancing: that guy moved! I enjoyed viewing them after all these years. Good value for money.

This is a wonderfull collection and very good value for money."On the Town"features Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra,and Jules Munshin as three USA Sailors on 24hr leave to see the New York sights. Frank is hooked by a very streetwise taxi driver-Betty Garrett;Jules is hooked by an anthropologist-Ann Miller,all in the breathless and spectacular chase for Gene to hook Miss Subway Turnstyles -Vera Ellen.The music by Leonard Bernstein includes New York,New York (its a wonderfull Town),Come up to My Place, Miss Turnstyles Dance, and A Day in New York Ballet.Produced by Arthur Freed and Directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen 1949.An earlier film from 1945 in the same vein-"Anchors Aweigh" features Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly as sailors on special leave looking for female companionship in Hollywood.They have to take a lost little boy home on his way to join the Navy,and both fall in love with his Aunt Lucy-Kathryn Grayson who looks as beautifull as she sings.Jose Iturbi features as himself conducting a spectacular Naval Band, and playing piano. Sinatra sings "I Fall in Love too Easily" by Sammy Cahn, and Kelly dances with a Jerry Mouse Cartoon figure.Thouroughly enjoyable.The film "An American in Paris" conjours up the artistic Montmarte area with Gene playing a Painter, Oscar Levant a composer pianist,and Georges Guetary a rising stage singer.They perform the comedy song "An Umpah pa by Stausse," and other great Gershwin music.Leslie Caron is the Ballerina, and Nina Foch plays an Art Dealer.The interplay between reality and fantasy scenes is romantic and beautifull. "Our love is Here to Stay" features Caron and Kelly by the Seine, and also in a 17 minute Ballet towards the end of the film; Directed by Vincente Minelli; Produced by Arthur Freed-"S'Wonderfull"-it certainly is.This Box set includes "Singing In The Rain" where Gene teams up with Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds,in 1951,with music by Herb Brown and lyrics by Producer Arthur Freed:Directed again by Kelly and Stanley Donen.Jean Hagden gives an unforgettable performance as Nina the beautifull silent screen star of 1927, who does not transit into the new "Talkies" because of accent and personality.Completing the set is a dynamic swashbuckling 1948 version of "The Three Muscateers" .Gene is a naive rustic lad who rises to a Muscateer of Louis 13 of France in 1625.Lana Turner is a plotting Lady deWinter. Vincent Price is Cardinal Richelieu.Angela Lansbury is Queen Anne(not writing Murder),and June Allyson plays a faithful, gentle Constance.Great comedy,costumes and settings.