Donald O'Connor was a show business phenomenon: an acrobatic "song and dance" man with cyclonic energy and laser targeted comic instincts. In the 1940's, 50's and 60's his high energy antics filled mammoth,CinemaScope screens in movie theaters and 21 inch, picture tubes in our living rooms.
The apex of his performing career may have been the MAKE 'EM LAUGH sequence in the classic, 1952, MGM musical, SINGING IN THE RAIN. The manic, musical number, which was choreographed by O'Connor, Gene Kelly and Stanley Donnen, literally, sent him up a wall. In this vaudeville-style, tour de force,O'Connor actually tore down the scenery and co-starred with a real dummy.
Here, from the GARY KASKEL YOU TUBE site, is a vintage excerpt of a 1960, NBC-TV COLORCAST. Gene Kelly headlined PONTIAC STAR TIME, a peacock network special that reunited these two, inspired icons of the movie musical. In the clip posted, below, Donald O'Connor recreates the mirth and mayhem of MAKE 'EM LAUGH ,but this time dancing to SMILE, DARN YOU SMILE. Enjoy!!!!!!!
To compare performances, here, from the ATAIRIASTOS YOU TUBE site is the original MAKE 'EM LAUGH number from SINGING IN THE RAIN. Enjoy!!!!!
As a bonus, here are the two voluble virtuosos in a clip from the SISAPIS YOU TUBE SITE, performing a "sit down" dance routine, from PONTIAC STAR TIME.Enjoy!!!!!
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