Invitation to the Dance (1956)

Never an enthusiast for filmed ballet, which, for all its theoretical possibilities, in practice always seems to confuse two mediums, I am enough of an enthusiast for Gene Kelly to watch a programme of his ballets.

When watching a Gene Kelly musical one could have the feeling that the musical numbers were interrupted by the story, not the other way round. Here Kelly finds a project with a scope big enough to fit his whole ego, finally doing away with all the story (in the way of words, at least) and leaving us with all the dancing. This criminaly unseen impressionistic film opens quite a window into the imagination of one of Old Hollywood's most prolific artists - and not quite unlike "Singin' in the Rain", he made a movie looking at the core of what it was about to make an MGM musical: it was about being artsy, it was about being kitschy, about working with archetypes and especially about wearing thights and trying to melt icebergs by smiling at the camera.