Rambling Reporter For Kelly, Pittsburgh Has A Glorious Feeling

Flash from Pittsburgh: Something that Pennsylvania city has in mind for next year is a statue honoring the late Gene Kelly, one of the town's favorite sons and one of Hollywood's all-time best contributors. (What would movie memories be like without "Singin' in the Rain," "An American in Paris," his "Alter Ego" dance in "Cover Girl," that "Slaughter on 10th Avenue" number in "Words and Music," etc.?) Kelly, as you may or may not know, was born and raised in Pittsburgh's East Liberty section. He also attended the University of Pittsburgh and, long before his Broadway-Hollywood connections, taught dance classes in the area and choreographed many a show for various community functions; in his later years, Kelly kept up his ties to his hometown by serving as an honorary chairman of the board of directors of the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera Assn. One thing many Pittsburghians are hoping for in 2000 is to raise enough funds to commission a statue of Kelly -- umbrella in hand, of course, holding on to that lamppost while singin'/dancin' in the rain -- that would be prominently displayed somewhere in the city's downtown area. It's a project being spearheaded by Aviva Radbord of Pittsburgh's KDKA-TV and Charles Gray, executive director emeritus of the PCLOA, and has the blessing of Kelly's widow Patricia Ward Kelly and Mort Viner, who are co-executors of the Kelly estate. Further, many of Kelly's former teammates from the MGM years, including Debbie Reynolds, Ann Miller, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, have also joined the steering committee to make the statue happen. If all goes according to plan, a fund-raising campaign will begin shortly.



The last thing any of us needs right now is another retrospective look at the past year/decade/century. Enough already! But before 1999 expires, I do want to compliment Mary Lea Bandy and the film department of the Museum of Modern Art for their salute this year to the under-applauded talents of the delightful Ann Sothern. MoMA did something that too many in the business have failed to do: put focus on the long-running Sothern career by reacquainting audiences with the many gems in her film portfolio. The MoMA salute included several of those marvelous "Maisie" movies that Ann churned out for MGM between 1939-47 (she made 10 in all, each done on a B-budget and most exploding with good humor and fun). Also featured: Joseph L. Mankiewicz's Oscar-winning "A Letter to Three Wives," in which Ann is superb as a career woman who suspects/fears husband Kirk Douglas may have run off with a local glamour girl; the rarely seen "Folies-Bergere," in which she sparkles opposite Maurice Chevalier; "Lady Be Good," in which she sang "The Last Time I Saw Paris," the Oscar-winning best song of 1941; all the way to 1987's "The Whales of August," which brought Ann her one and only Academy Award nomination. Seeing Sothern in action was an eye-opener. I always knew she was good, but who knew she was that seamlessly, honestly, consistently great? The upside is that all her grand work is still there on film for generations to come. The downside is that she hasn't been given a fraction of the kudos her work deserves. High time.

Robert Osborne is the primetime host and anchor

of the Turner Classic Movies television network.



One thing many Pittsburghians are hoping for in 2000 is to raise enough funds to commission a statue of (Gene) Kelly ... that would be prominently displayed somewhere in the city's downtown area.