Page "Gene Kelly" Paragraph 25

Kelly, at the very peak of his creative powers, now made what in retrospect is seen as a serious mistake.

In December 1951 he signed a contract with MGM which sent him to Europe for nineteen months so that Kelly could use MGM funds frozen in Europe to make three pictures while personally benefiting from tax exemptions.

Only one of these pictures was a musical, Invitation to the Dance, a pet project of Kelly's to bring modern ballet to mainstream film audiences.

It was beset with delays and technical problems, and flopped when finally released in 1956.

When Kelly returned to Hollywood in 1953, the film musical was already beginning to feel the pressures from television, and MGM cut the budget for his next picture Brigadoon ( 1954 ), with Cyd Charisse, forcing the film to be made on studio backlots instead of on location in Scotland.

This year also saw him appear as guest star with his brother Fred in the celebrated " I Love to Go Swimmin ' with Wimmen " routine in Deep in My Heart.

MGM's refusal to loan him out for Guys and Dolls and Pal Joey put further strains on his relationship with the studio.

He negotiated an exit to his contract which involved making three further pictures for MGM.