gene kelly, rita hayworth & phil silvers - make way for tomorrow

'cover girl', 1944.

[@watchetboy]

One of the most joyous numbers in Hollywood musicals!

[@michaelbarnett8314]

Phil Silvers was 33 when he appeared in this film. He was simply magnificent. Incidentally Gene Kelly and Rita Hayworth were perfect together, what talents

[@Noura-bv9pv]

michael barnett what if he was 33?

[@coloraturaElise]

@@Noura-bv9pv He posted that because someone else in the comments said that Phil Silvers was "on the wrong side of forty".

[@jchristopher74]

@@coloraturaElise In fairness, nothing aged you like being in the past.

[@bigred997]

1. the producer did not want phil silvers to do the number because he could not dance. but gene kelly threw a tantrum and demanded that the audience would get a kick out of a comedian who was not a pro at dancing hang with kelly and hayworth. 2. the "glad to see ya" was phil's calling card by then and an ad-lib suggested by him to the director. 3, the drunk at the end did a lot of small parts for columbia and played a drunk in a famous WWII 3 stooges short.

[@paprika1951]

bigred997 thanks for the info! So Phil Silvers can’t dance, huh? Just watch him starting right around where they encounter the milkman. Silvers was straight outta vaudeville and in those days that meant you could fake anything - and with a tutor like Kelly learn to tap like a genius! Yes children, it is possible to do it all - just stay limber, keep your eyes open and if someone asks you if you can high dive, say yes!

[@esmeephillips5888]

@@paprika1951 Bilko was no Ebsen or Bolger, but he could do a buck and wing all right. He more than holds his own here. Although 'eccentric dancing' is easier for the less accomplished, because mistakes can be passed off as intentional, I see no flubs. The camaraderie of this number looks forward to 'Good Morning' and the title song from 'Singin' in the Rain'. Kelly was much keener on gang's-all-here teamwork than Astaire, e.g. in 'On the Town'.

[@JoeLibby]

Harry the drunk is played by Jack Norton. He frequently played comic drunks onscreen. Interestingly, he was a teetotaler in real life.

[@coloraturaElise]

Gene "threw a tantrum"? How about 'Gene had great instincts about what the public would want to see, and this number and his future multiple Academy Awards proved he was right!'

[@a.nobodys.nobody]

​@@coloraturaElisehow about maybe he threw a tantrum

[@richardbale3278]

Hayworth was devastatingly beautiful and could keep up with Kelly. I wish that they had done more together.

[@Classicgirl52]

"Don't let the clouds let u down, show me a smile not a frown" This song is so catchy I LOVE it! :)

[@williamsnyder5616]

This was a Columbia film, but it has the aura of the classic MGM musicals. Metro had yet to find a musical film that exploited Gene Kelly's great talents, so they lent him to Columbia. When Kelly arrived at Columbia, he looked at the script and envisioned a great show-stopping number, but Columbia didn't have a big enough sound stage, so he said to studio chief Harry Cohn, "You gotta knock out a wall and create a super stage." The result was this great number, which helped the film to get an Oscar for best Adapted Score.

[@esmeephillips5888]

Harry Cohn bought the idea for a musical about a magazine cover star from a publicity flack at Warners, where it had been turned down. Cohn had nurtured Rita for several years (including two years of electrolysis on her widow's peak) and was bent on making her as lucrative as Faye or Grable at Fox. Rita had broken through in her two pictures with Fred and was ready to headline. Cohn took a gamble on Kelly, who himself had just gotten noticed in 'Pal Joey' on Broadway. Like him or not, and few did, Mr C had a nose for a hit and the people to make it.

[@williamsnyder5616]

@@esmeephillips5888 You're right about Cohn. Early on, Cohn had this vision Columbia could be great studio. It never had the repuations of MGM, Fox or Warners, but it more than held its own with good quality. Cohn was responsible for that.

[@ShiksaWithChutzpah1]

Phil Silvers really held his own with Rita and Gene. He is so much fun to watch.

[@alangranville284]

With all due respect to the monumental talent of Gene Kelly and Phil Silvers I can't take my eyes of Rita Hayworth. Not only for her stunning beauty but for the charm of her dancing. What a great number.

[@susanlloyd7395]

I can't take my eyes off Gene Kelly

[@sanfranciscoprofessor2581]

yes. there's always a charming personality coming through her dancing. The dancing isn't a gymnastic event she's competing in, like the dreary numbers on So You think You Can Dance. The dance seems to be a happy outburst of some genuine joy inside her. And I don't think that's just acting, either. She loves to dance.

[@NovaJake360]

I thought the movie was just average, but THIS number is so full of energy and joyous! Love it.

[@esmeephillips5888]

Some of Rita's acting is still rough, admittedly. That drunk scene, sheesh. She improved in a hurry by the time of 'Gilda' and 'Lady from Shanghai'... what being Orson Welles's SO can do to sharpen your power to convey treachery, I guess. She was hugging her engagement to herself while shooting 'Cover Girl', poor child.

[@FilmBuffClassic]

This always reminded me of "Good Morning!" :)

[@susanlloyd7395]

Also has overtones of the Primitive Man number in On The Town.

[@BrendanJSmith]

Classic. Absolutely classic.

[@jacklaw7932]

yes!

[@lizaelliott6862]

This song always gives me hope for tomorrow ❤️😌

[@leonardohummel8658]

This is a dazzling, delightful, amazing routine. All three in near perfect synch❗

[@tommyvermiglio1649]

Gene Kelly And Rita Hayworth And Phil Slivers Are My Favorite Actors

[@salomejurovillegas1120]

Que grato momento he pasado mirando esté video..gracias

[@Largo3point0]

Never get tired of this!

[@misspaddylee]

That's teetotaler Jack Norton as Harry, the drunk. He has close to 200 movie credits and probably played a drunk in all of them. Let's give Phil Silvers a pat on the back. He finished with a smile on his face and still breathing.

[@kevins.butler3402]

No..Jack Norton did two sober roles on screen"Woman Haters" with "The Three Stooges",And "The Awful Tooth"with "The Our Gang"/"The Little Rascals".

[@frederickburke9944]

I have a hard time noticing anything in this other than Rita's unbelievable hair.

[@rondarawson6236]

I miss the nostalgia.....it was heavenly

[@steveweinstein3222]

You can miss the nostalgia conjures up, but you can't miss nostalgia.

[@carloscruzbatallas8022]

i love this movie

[@richardbale3278]

What a joyous bit in one of the finest films ever made!

[@Mollexi]

Best. Song. Ever!

[@robertrandolph107]

Agreed!!!

[@anairenemartinez165]

I never knew Rita was this great dancer and commedia new. I love her.

[@kaylangford5265]

Then you have to see her dance with Fred Astaire.

[@coloraturaElise]

She came from a theatrical family who were dancers, she was raised doing it, so she was already a pro by the time she got into movies.

[@williamsnyder5616]

@@kaylangford5265 Watch Rita and Fred in "I'm Old Fashiioned" in "You Were Never Lovelier." Like dancing in the cluds.

[@vin.handle]

What a dance team! Gene Kelly and Phil Silvers.

[@theogoldberg8919]

#littlehours Bless you for sharing. RITA GENE PHIL ANGELS IN AMERICA THEM NO MORE … GOD BLESS THEIR BLESSED MEMORY….

[@PakistaniCult]

Mad respect to my kid, Phil Silvers. The dude was on the wrong side of forty when he did this film yet undertook the dancing like a flighty kitten. Bro is amazing. I wanna live in this scene.

[@Noura-bv9pv]

PakistaniCult he was only 33

[@a.nobodys.nobody]

​@@Noura-bv9pvexactly. 'The wrong side of 40'.

[@thomasleary2814]

Make Way for Yesterday! This marvelous number is a bit of a precursor to the "Good Morning" number from "Singin' in the Rain." Love the bit with the milkman - and I bet he didn't even get a credit!

[@recovering16]

+Thomas Leary Exactly what I was thinking. (The "Good Morning" scene in Singing in the Rain - only then it was Gene, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds. Both fantastic dancing skills.

[@anairenemartinez165]

Thomas Leary This came first? I wonder why it is as well known as Singing in the rain? What's called?

[@williamsnyder5616]

"Singin' in the Rain" was in a class by itself. But this film was one of the biggest box office films of 1944 ($8M, which was HUGE box office for a war-time movie). As I mentioned elsewhere, it made Gene Kelly a super-star because his home studio, MGM, hadn't realized his potential as a musical star. Metro loaned him to Columbia, which paired him with that studio's top star, Rita Hayworth. When Kelly returned to Metro, Louis B. Mayer never loaned him to another studio again.

[@thomasleary6287]

@@anairenemartinez165 Ana, this film is called "Cover Girl" (1944). "Singin in the Rain" (my favorite musical) was released in 1952.

[@worldinsights930]

@@thomasleary6287 But the song 'Good Mornin' is older than the 1953 movie. It is even sung by Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney in a MGM low-budget movie released in 1930s.

[@Elainerulesutube]

What good dancer Phil Silvers was!

[@RaziyaAkins]

never realized Gene recreated "Cover Girl" 's formula in "Singing in the Rain" until now .

[@tonispywriter]

I love this number!

[@esmeephillips5888]

Kelly stresses his "just a regular guy" image by working everyday objects and types into the choreography: no top hats and champagne glasses like Fred, just sacks, brooms, trash cans, lampposts, a milkman, a smoochy couple and an amiable drunk. He reused the suspicious cop pulling him up short in 'Singin' in the Rain'.

[@kevins.butler3402]

Yeah! Sing about That Great Tomorrow Rita,Gene & Phil.

[@paulineg20024]

I love that scene! I love that song, even if I know it isn't Rita's voice... :/ She was an amazing dancer! And Gene too!!! ❤❤❤

[@paulineg20024]

And I love that movie so much ♡

[@richardbale3278]

​@@paulineg20024If you are a heterosexual man and look at Rita Hayworth in this film and not fall instantly in love.

[@arthurchater8419]

Diva

[@kevinbutler1955NYC]

Along with Gene and Rita..Phil was also a wonderful dancer.

[@dale19532]

Many years ago at Greenbrier, George, Cherie and I shared a similar relationship. I of course was the Phil Silvers character! This was our theme song!

[@steveweinstein3222]

Pardon me for my ignorance but who's George Cherie??

[@djtanguy]

C'est Génial !! :-D Alors moi je me suis retrouvé ici suite au générique de Iron Man 2 ^^

[@renarga6886]

Jazz Age Hollywood ❤

[@susanlloyd7395]

Choreographed by Gene Kelly, of course.

[@tommyvermiglio1649]

Phil Silvers Passed Away In 1985

[@tommyvermiglio1649]

Phil Silvers Passed Away In 1985

[@jacklaw7932]

c00lness!

[@barrythomas7336]

Seeing "Sgt. Bilko" dance is intriguing. Too bad they couldn't have worked Phil Silvers' musical talents into "You'll Never Get Rich" somehow. ("Betcha a million that Sarge can't dance or sing!")

[@nazaren45]

👍👍

[@tommyvermiglio1649]

That's A Columbia Film And MGM Films That Gene Kelly Was In

[@dale19532]

Glad ta see ya!

[@Kroonerguy]

Edward Brophy (1895-1960) plays the Joe the Cafe Owner.

[@manryhood]

Gene and Rita imo lacked the precision that Fred and Ginger had, but boy do they have energy. I wish the former had made more movies together. I think Rita looked beautiful in both of her movies with Fred, but dance-wise, I feel like this is her best.

[@steveweinstein3222]

Kelly was signed to Metro, Hayworth to Columbia. I'm surprised the studio lent him out for this film.

[@williamsnyder5616]

@@steveweinstein3222 MGM had yet to realize Kelly's creativity and Metro didn't have anything ready for Gene when producer Arthur Schwartz called asking to borrow Kelly for ''Cover Girl.'' The result was electric. Not only was ''Make Way for Tomorrow'' highly entertaining, but Kelly's ''Alter Ego'' dance was a show-stopper as was Rita's trip down a winding clouded staircase in the film's title song with all the Cover Girls in brilliant Technicolor. The huge success for Kelly in a rival studio's hit film was an embarrassment for Louis B. Mayer. When Columbia's Harry Cohn beat Mayer for the rights to Kelly's Broadway hit, ''Pal Joey,'' Mayer nixed Cohn's request for Kelly to re-team with Rita again.

[@steveweinstein3222]

@@williamsnyder5616 Thanks for the info. Astaire said Hayworth was the best dance partner he ever had.

[@sclogse1]

A fun number that I think gets pulled down because of the browns in the sets. Even Gene wears a brown suit. They don't separate from the environment as much as they should. Get that brown with three hots and a flop on the first thing smokin' outta town.

[@BrendanJSmith]

from far away, Rita Hayworth looks a lot like Katharine Hepburn!

[@renarga6886]

+Brendan Geier I think she resembles Lucille Ball in some scenes.

[@williamsnyder5616]

Interesting that you should mention ''far away'' since the Oscar-nominated song from the film is the haunting Jerome Kern-Ira Gershwin song, ''Long Ago and Far Away.''

[@TheStockwell]

2:40 So, cops back then were known for clubbing people for singing and dancing outside diners? Boy, they were strict in those days! 😉 I think this same flatfoot was stalking Gene Kelly years later, at the end of the 'Singing in the Rain" dance number.

[@YorkistWhiteRose]

It's been how long since you left Harvard?

[@davidmiller4078]

Who was the Milkman ? He was pretty good

[@esmeephillips5888]

Don't remember Silvers ever hoofing a step as Bilko, but he holds his own here. Did his hair fall out suddenly, or was that a piece?

[@stevebilko]

a piece

[@rogerpropes7129]

That lamppost looks familiar, is that the same street Kelly danced down in 'Singin' in the Rain'?

[@cameliamortila9771]

Roger Propes I tought the same...

[@esmeephillips5888]

@@cameliamortila9771 Different studio, different lot.

[@sanfranciscoprofessor2581]

Sgt Bilko was a great dancer too?!!

[@esmeephillips5888]

He put on weight when he moved towards TV. I don't remember him hoofing as Bilko, but he had come into the biz as a musical-comedy performer, not as a comedic wisecracker like Bert Lahr. When Phil still had hair, he was a nifty mover who could follow in Gene's and Rita's time steps, but he did not take care of himself- unlike, say, Buddy Ebsen.

[@dale19532]

Yakety yakety yakety yak!

[@bladder1010]

ACAB 1944

[@amelianolde6743]

I was looking for this comment lol

[@alexkije]

Jerome Ken's music!

[@Elainerulesutube]

Phil Silvers had more hair then!

[@davemiller4721]

Rug.

[@paulthomson8824]

Wonder if eating oysters would make me talented?