yeah a lot of this sounds plagiarized but as MGM didn't sue I guess they didn't care or thought "make em laugh" was truly better. makes me wonder what they thought of it.
yeah a lot of this sounds plagiarized but as MGM didn't sue I guess they didn't care or thought "make em laugh" was truly better. makes me wonder what they thought of it.
Gene Kelly and the Nicholas Brothers were among the greatest dancers ever (needless to say, not excluding Fred). But I got a kick out of reading that Gene hand picked Fayard and Harold for this particular dance he choreographed, because they were they only dancers talented enough, and physically able enough to keep up with him (and he was right)! What a fabulous performance, and what a gift to the world they all were.
P.S. YT the N.B's in the "Stormy Weather" dance scene w/ Cab Calloway
@aleatha16 Read the comments on here then do the research by typing either song into a search engine You'll find Be A Clown was first by 4 or 5 years. Make Em Laugh copied it because the songs are the same style which is probably why the writer/composer of Be A Clown didn't complain.
@aleatha16 Cole Porter wrote 'Be a Clown' in 1948, Arthur Freed wrote 'Make 'em Laugh' four years later. You couldn't be more wrong. You could try, but you would be unsuccessful.
One of many fantastic scenes in the movie - BUT has / knows anybody the "deleted" VOODOO-Scene? The music exists, so maybe somewhere is the footage of it... thanks for replies!
Wow... Usually when Gene Kelly dances, you focus on just him because the person dancing next to him, no matter how fantastic, almost looks mediocre in comparison. Here the exact opposite is true.
they do a quite a few moves still in use in breakdancing - pull throughs, coffee grinder, side to sides - these guys would have been top class breakdancers today
@Ryu7490 I think instead of bitching about what didn't happen you should rejoice in what actually did happen - Gene Kelly is the only Musical superstar of the time who dared to break a racial taboo and perform a showpiece number with two African-Americans. And as much as I adore the Nicholas Brothers I can't believe the choreography could have been any better - that field was Kelly's forte and he knew more about screen choreography than anybody. Hence why this number is timeless.
Arthur Freed even said he stole from Be A Clown! he and Porter were friends, and Porter didn't seem to care. It is discussed on the Singing in the Rain commentary.
@bigdaz101 Glad you asked, my friend; they were the one and only Nicholas Brothers.. Gene Kelly asked, and, got them, for this 'specialty' routine.. The scene was actually censored in many cities in Southern states, due to strict segregation laws.. The fact that Gene Kelly was actually performing together with them, was somewhat 'radical', in 1948..
@woodstock1330 Yeah, "Make 'Em Laugh" is considered an original song, but it's near-plagiarism of Cole Porter's "Be a Clown." The Pirate came out four years before Singing in the Rain.
@beckmannm I think it's a well known fact that most songs in Singin in the rain are not original (good morning from Babes in arms, Singin in the Rain from 1929, Make Em Laugh...). To me it doesn't remove the genius of the movie a bit as a medley of so many incredible numbers and talented people. I can't put myself to call it plagiarism and Make Em Laugh is just pure 100% joy. The Pirate is a great movie but nowhere as legendary as Singin in the rain!
@beckmannm Singing in the Rain did copy it but it wasn't plagerism because they were just reworking classics songs. Every song in Singin in the Rain is from another song.
@winged20 Yes, but "Make 'Em Laugh" is the only "original" song in the entire movie, written for the movie specifically. When they recorded it, they did go "Hey, isn't this 'Be a Clown'..?", but it was hushed down and ignored. :P They mention it in the documentary usually included on the DVD.
THE TREE ARE AND WERE THE BEST AND JASSYEST DANCERS , FRED ASTAIR WAS THE CLASSED DOWN DANCER , AND DONOLD O CONNER WAS THE BRODWAY DANCER ... BOY GENE REALLY SHOWCASED HIS ADMIRATON FOR THE NICHOLAS BROTHERS
How can this video has so few views?! Gene Kelley is wonderful, as always, as well as the two men alongside him! I wish more people were aware of it's existence as I'm sure they would be amused! Ahhh... I love Gene Kelley.
gene kelly will live on as the best dancer ever but im scared of clowns...
beaniebaby3s3 3 days ago
They had some skills back then.
DebsTasha45 1 week ago
Who does the choreography?
Feliandyx16 3 weeks ago
@Feliandyx16 I'm not 100% sure. Gene Kelly surely was a co-choreopgrapher seeing as he did so for many of his films being a dancer and all :D
IHEARTTHEWIZARDOFOZ 1 week ago
are they the nicolas brothers
westofsouth 2 months ago
2:27 this is where break dancing began (:
really cool and well done (:
Vanderpost97 4 months ago
Hes so awesome :3
savordagirl22 4 months ago
yeah a lot of this sounds plagiarized but as MGM didn't sue I guess they didn't care or thought "make em laugh" was truly better. makes me wonder what they thought of it.
blahgah12 5 months ago
yeah a lot of this sounds plagiarized but as MGM didn't sue I guess they didn't care or thought "make em laugh" was truly better. makes me wonder what they thought of it.
blahgah12 5 months ago
isn't this also in summer stock?
GoodJobJenny 5 months ago
Gene Kelly and the Nicholas Brothers were among the greatest dancers ever (needless to say, not excluding Fred). But I got a kick out of reading that Gene hand picked Fayard and Harold for this particular dance he choreographed, because they were they only dancers talented enough, and physically able enough to keep up with him (and he was right)! What a fabulous performance, and what a gift to the world they all were.
P.S. YT the N.B's in the "Stormy Weather" dance scene w/ Cab Calloway
chettmansberger 6 months ago
BTW, the other two guys are the Nicholas Brothers
fhr331 6 months ago
Cole Porter is one of the best American composers. Ever.
Surasanji 6 months ago
Now a days musicals either SUCK big time or it's just too CORNy!! Shame..
L32P0U 6 months ago
Sounds like Make em laugh..I like Make em' laugh better..this one is weird..
L32P0U 6 months ago
Ha Ha! I'm so old I saw this when it was new. A shame that when the
studio system went, it took movie musical with it.
How wonderful that we have this on film and can enjoy it on Youtube.
Tnx for the great post.
rockgor 6 months ago
Dances like this don't happen in movies anymore huh... I missed that age? Stuck with the step up series........ well... -_-
kyomo911 6 months ago 3
better than the break dancers of today lol that was great:)-
akumu102 8 months ago
I see why Make Em Laugh copied this and they're the same concept.
allhailfrieza 8 months ago
Comment removed
aleatha16 7 months ago
@aleatha16 Read the comments on here then do the research by typing either song into a search engine You'll find Be A Clown was first by 4 or 5 years. Make Em Laugh copied it because the songs are the same style which is probably why the writer/composer of Be A Clown didn't complain.
allhailfrieza 7 months ago
@aleatha16 Cole Porter wrote 'Be a Clown' in 1948, Arthur Freed wrote 'Make 'em Laugh' four years later. You couldn't be more wrong. You could try, but you would be unsuccessful.
JohnnyContagious 7 months ago
@JohnnyContagious Gosh sorry it bugged you so much
aleatha16 7 months ago
what athleticism
zolluuu 10 months ago 6
Watching it on TCM right now. That man was some kind of beautiful. Sigh....
knoxunflower1 10 months ago 10
One of many fantastic scenes in the movie - BUT has / knows anybody the "deleted" VOODOO-Scene? The music exists, so maybe somewhere is the footage of it... thanks for replies!
kurtfromlourdes 10 months ago
Wow... Usually when Gene Kelly dances, you focus on just him because the person dancing next to him, no matter how fantastic, almost looks mediocre in comparison. Here the exact opposite is true.
thevampirefrog06 11 months ago 5
i don't like clowns, but i like gene kelly
BlueFireTigerLion 1 year ago 7
they do a quite a few moves still in use in breakdancing - pull throughs, coffee grinder, side to sides - these guys would have been top class breakdancers today
innit27 1 year ago 2
Love the nicholas brothers, too bad they didnt have more input in the choreography it would have been even better
Ryu7490 1 year ago
@Ryu7490 I think instead of bitching about what didn't happen you should rejoice in what actually did happen - Gene Kelly is the only Musical superstar of the time who dared to break a racial taboo and perform a showpiece number with two African-Americans. And as much as I adore the Nicholas Brothers I can't believe the choreography could have been any better - that field was Kelly's forte and he knew more about screen choreography than anybody. Hence why this number is timeless.
ErchieMcGeakle 1 year ago 6
amazing... the splits are still ridiculous
jv1196 1 year ago
amazing...
jv1196 1 year ago 2
Amazing
HashimPlaysDrums 1 year ago
Fred Astaire said this was the greatest dance number had ever seen on film!
sputnik1585 1 year ago
Arthur Freed even said he stole from Be A Clown! he and Porter were friends, and Porter didn't seem to care. It is discussed on the Singing in the Rain commentary.
uofjim 1 year ago
i know i've seen the other two guys before, who are they?
bigdaz101 1 year ago
@bigdaz101 Glad you asked, my friend; they were the one and only Nicholas Brothers.. Gene Kelly asked, and, got them, for this 'specialty' routine.. The scene was actually censored in many cities in Southern states, due to strict segregation laws.. The fact that Gene Kelly was actually performing together with them, was somewhat 'radical', in 1948..
zipper179 1 year ago
Real Entertainment
mjscarousal 1 year ago
be clown be a clown.... Epic
codyzee251 1 year ago
THIS FILM WAS A FAILURE AT THE BOX OFFICE , I CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHY . JUST AN INCREDIBLE FILM . THANK YOU AAAAA+++++++
bearcub410 1 year ago 3
@bearcub410 Look at the time period and look how's on the left and right of Gene Kelly throughout the performance...
HashimPlaysDrums 1 year ago
THIS IS SO WONDERFUL ,INCREDIBLE . THANK YOU
bearcub410 1 year ago
anybody else notice how similar this is to the "make 'em laugh" number in Singing In The Rain?
woodstock1330 1 year ago
@woodstock1330 I wonder was this to ment to be some sort of a parody...As in "yhe it's the same song but set in diffrent time aera"
maciekur 1 year ago
@woodstock1330 Yeah, "Make 'Em Laugh" is considered an original song, but it's near-plagiarism of Cole Porter's "Be a Clown." The Pirate came out four years before Singing in the Rain.
beckmannm 1 year ago 18
@beckmannm Well if you're gonna steal an idea, there are worse folks to do it from than Cole Porter...
mexcurmudgeon 1 year ago
@beckmannm i agree. cole porter is brilliant and its sad that more people dont know him or his music even with the movie De-lovely
potochics 1 year ago
@beckmannm I think it's a well known fact that most songs in Singin in the rain are not original (good morning from Babes in arms, Singin in the Rain from 1929, Make Em Laugh...). To me it doesn't remove the genius of the movie a bit as a medley of so many incredible numbers and talented people. I can't put myself to call it plagiarism and Make Em Laugh is just pure 100% joy. The Pirate is a great movie but nowhere as legendary as Singin in the rain!
ChangeMyPitchUp 8 months ago
@beckmannm back in those days they all used each others' songs anyway.
XxXPerseus 5 months ago
@beckmannm Singing in the Rain did copy it but it wasn't plagerism because they were just reworking classics songs. Every song in Singin in the Rain is from another song.
winged20 3 months ago in playlist YouTube Mix for Gene Kelly
@winged20 Yes, but "Make 'Em Laugh" is the only "original" song in the entire movie, written for the movie specifically. When they recorded it, they did go "Hey, isn't this 'Be a Clown'..?", but it was hushed down and ignored. :P They mention it in the documentary usually included on the DVD.
Annsla 1 month ago
THE TREE ARE AND WERE THE BEST AND JASSYEST DANCERS , FRED ASTAIR WAS THE CLASSED DOWN DANCER , AND DONOLD O CONNER WAS THE BRODWAY DANCER ... BOY GENE REALLY SHOWCASED HIS ADMIRATON FOR THE NICHOLAS BROTHERS
sierria64 1 year ago
now that's pure talent
strawberrychewbar 1 year ago
Gene and the Nicolas Brothers! Does not get any better!
Pbsmike 1 year ago 2
How can this video has so few views?! Gene Kelley is wonderful, as always, as well as the two men alongside him! I wish more people were aware of it's existence as I'm sure they would be amused! Ahhh... I love Gene Kelley.
CongruentWaffle 1 year ago 3
@CongruentWaffle -- It was only recently posted. It will take time to be discovered.
insidedigitalmedia 1 year ago
the other two are the nicholas brothers, harold and fayard, the two greatest tap dancers of the 20th century...
wildeabout 1 year ago 3
Masterpiece.
tommyrall3 1 year ago 27