It's Always Fair Weather - Production History

Production History

Betty Comden and Adolph Green originally conceived this film as a sequel to On the Town; to reunite Gene Kelly with his On the Town co-stars Frank Sinatra and Jules Munshin; it was to be produced as a Broadway show. At Kelly's insistence, however, they made it into an MGM musical. Kelly at this point in his life had been making films in Europe such as Invitation to the Dance, to take advantage of a tax law for resident Americans. But the films in Europe failed and the tax law was revoked, forcing Kelly to return to America.

Kelly asked his old friend and collaborator, Stanley Donen, to co-direct with him. Donen, who had just scored a major success with Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, did not want to go back to collaborating with Kelly, but he reluctantly agreed. MGM, under new production chief Dore Schary, did not want to hire either Sinatra or Munshin; the former due to his difficult working reputation, the latter because he was not popular with audiences anymore. Ultimately, Kelly chose fellow dancers Dan Dailey, who was under contract to MGM, and Michael Kidd, who had more choreographic than acting experience (he choreographed the Broadway and film versions of Guys and Dolls, as well as The Band Wagon). Kelly was also forced to shoot the movie in Cinemascope, which he felt did not suit screen dancing. Many of the numbers in the film, such as "The Binge" and "Once Upon a Time" show Kelly's efforts to make use of Cinemascope. Comden and Green wrote the songs with André Previn providing the music as well as the accompanying score; it was his first major assignment on an MGM film.

It's Always Fair Weather received good reviews when it came out, but the studio did not open it with the fanfare it had given previous musicals. Instead it was released as part of a drive-in double bill with Bad Day at Black Rock and the studio did not make their money back. The film's bleakness may have had something to do with it; audiences at the time were not accustomed to unhappy musicals, but also, more Americans were staying at home with television than going to the movies at this time. André Previn claims the film's failure had to do with it being a musical: he feels that it would have been a good film had it not had any songs.

In recent years though, the film has gained reputation in the minds of musical aficionados and Kelly fans, who point to his tap dance on roller skates, "I Like Myself," as the last great dance solo of his career. Some have even claimed it to be a precursor to Stephen Sondheim's musicals Company and Follies, in terms of its cynical views on the nature of relationships. Scenes from the film were included in MGM's That's Entertainment, Part II, hosted by Kelly and Fred Astaire. The film itself has been shown on Turner Classic Movies.