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Invitation To The Dance

INVITATION TO THE DANCE

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CREDITS

1956, 93 minutes, Technicolor.
Producer, Arthur Freed; Director, Gene Kelly; Cinematography, F.A. Young and Joseph Ruttenberg; Music Direction, Andre Previn; Choreography, Gene Kelly; Cartoon Sequences, Fred Quimby, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera.

CAST

Circus:
Gene Kelly, Claire Sombert, Igor Youskevitch.
Ring Around The Rosy:
Gene Kelly, Tamara Toumanova, Tommy Rall, Claude Bessy, Diane Adams, Igor Youskevitch, Paddy Stone and Irving Davies.
Sinbad The Sailor:
Gene Kelly, David Kasday and Carol Haney.

SONGS

Circus by Jacques Ibert; Ring Around The Rosy by Andre Previn; Sinbad The Sailor adapted from Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov.

PLOT

"The film consists of three episodes, each with its own distinct period and mood: in the first, Circus, Kelly plays a clown in a small carnival troupe who is hopelessly in love with the show's high-wire walker; the second episode, Ring Around The Rosy, is a satiric tale about a bracelet which travels from the wrist of one fickle lover to another; and the last tale, Sinbad The Sailor, blends live-action and animation as Kelly dances his way into an Arabian Nights world after rubbing Aladdin's Lamp."
- Liner Notes from MGM/Turner Videotape

NOTES

"Of the three sections, the middle, being closest in spirit to a typical large scale MGM production number, was the most successful, with some marvelous dancing in it from Tommy Rall. The finale was effective, too, while the first. . .was relentlessly mannered and pretentious."
- Clive Hirschhorn, The Hollywood Musical

". . .a bold and imaginative experiment in film-making."
- Variety

BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL GOLDEN BEAR AWARD WINNER

The film was begun in 1952, but was held up from release for several years.

A fourth segment involving an interpretation of several popular songs, was cut by the studio.

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