Con McGrath presents the wartime career of Hollywood’s creative genius – Gene Kelly

 

“I’M IN the Navy now, the branch of the service I wanted. Sure, I’m going back to Hollywood some day, but right now, the business of becoming a bluejacket is all I can handle.” So said Irish-American actor Gene Kelly as he took a leave of absence from his contract with MGM to join the U.S. Navy in 1944.

A newspaper, “The Hoist”, written by and for men of the Navy, reported the following on December 8th 1944:
Kelly arrived on board two weeks ago. He left behind a wife, a baby girl and a spectacular career which, after 15 years of plugging, had just reached its peak. He brought with him an infectious Irish disposition, a keen sense of humor and a sincere desire to ‘make the grade’ as a recruit in Uncle Sam’s Navy.

Eugene ‘Gene’ Curran Kelly was born in East Liberty, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on August 23, 1912, the third son of James Patrick Joseph Kelly, a phonograph salesman who was born to an Irish Canadian family, and his wife Harriet Catherine Curran.

Kelly’s maternal grandfather was an immigrant from Derry.
When young Kelly was eight, his mother enrolled him and his brother James in dance classes, and the rest as they say is history. They were all part of an early Vaudeville act called The Five Kellys. Young Gene was picked on because of his dancing, but it helped his family survive the Depression and eventually made him a star.

THE IRISH American dancer, actor, singer, film director, producer, and choreographer, best known for his performances in movies such as “An American in Paris” and “Singing in the Rain,” is credited with making his ballet form commercially acceptable to movie audiences.
Interestingly however, the performance that Gene Kelly considered the best he’d ever given was a role in which he didn’t dance a step.

It was a Navy training film from 1945 called “Combat Fatigue Irritability”. This film was used to instruct health providers and returning servicemen on how to make a successful transition back to civilian life.
Gene Kelly played Seaman Bob Lucas, whose ship sinks in battle. While many of his fellow sailors died at sea, Lucas survives, racked with guilt, and suffers from “combat fatigue irritability” —or what we now call PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder). After several instances of lashing out at others, Lucas learns to understand his emotions with the help of a psychiatrist.

Kelly’s involvement with the 35-minute movie—which he also directed—makes it unique among military training films, most of which featured unknown actors or documentary footage. Seaman Bob Lucas’s girlfriend was played by Jocelyn Brando, Marlon’s older sister.

To prepare for the role, Kelly had himself admitted to a naval hospital, posing as a sailor suffering from combat fatigue. According to biographer Alvin Yudkoff – “Gene Kelly: A Life of Dance and Dreams (New York: Backstage Books, 1999)”, during his hospital stay Kelly “absorbed the routine: the physical therapy, the drab meals, the bull sessions with the guys, the docs playing with his head . . . and mostly, the hours in bed, staring at the ceiling . . . .”

Continue reading in this week’s Ireland’s Own