Vincente Minnelli

Vincente Minnelli directed some of the most celebrated entertainments in cinema history, including "Meet Me in St. Louis" (1944), "Father of the Bride" (1950), "An American in Paris" (1951), "The Bad and the Beautiful" (1952), "The Band Wagon" (1953), "Lust for Life" (1956) and "Gigi" (1958). Nevertheless, serious commentary on his work has, until recently, been sparse, partly because of the "glossy" nature of his films. Minnelli's first jobs in show business were as costume and set designer; the sophistication he would bring to the American stage and film musical was always redolent of "Vogue" or "Vanity Fair," and it is no accident that he once directed a charming comedy entitled "Designing Woman" (1957). Even one of his dramatic films, "The Cobweb" (1955), involves neurotic tensions that begin to break out in a psychiatric clinic when new drapes are selected for the common room.

Minnelli was born into a theatrical family; his parents and his uncle operated a tent show that toured the Midwest. As a young man he became a costume and set designer for the Balaban and Katz theater chain in Chicago and in 1931 he moved to New York, where he worked for Radio City Music Hall, eventually graduating in 1935 to directing Broadway musicals. After a brief, abortive stay as a producer at Paramount in the late thirties, he was brought permanently to Hollywood in 1940 by producer Arthur Freed, who was assembling his own unit at MGM. Under Freed's sponsorship, he directed his first film, the underrated all-black musical "Cabin in the Sky" (1943). Minnelli remained at MGM for two decades, specializing in musicals, domestic comedies, and melodramas. Minnelli kept files on different styles of painting, and he liked to run through them for inspiration. He particularly admired the surrealists and was among the first Hollywood directors to appropriate their motifs. He was not, however, a painterly filmmaker. He loved flamboyant color, costume, and decor, but he never allowed those elements to freeze into static compositions. A master of changing patterns and complex movements, he filled his pictures with swooping crane shots, swirling patterns of fabric and light, with a skillful orchestration of background detail. A sensitive director of actors, he elicited some of the best performances from such diverse players as Judy Garland (his wife from 1945-51 and mother of his daughter, Liza Minnelli), Spencer Tracy and Kirk Douglas.

The imagination or one of its surrogates, such as show business or dreaming, was Minnelli's favorite subject. His central female characters live in fantasy worlds, finding happiness only when they exchange dreams for artifice; his leading men usually play writers, painters, or performers, and if they are not artistic types by profession they tend to be dandies or sensitive youths. By the same token, his films generally take place in studio-manufactured settings, where the boundaries between fantasy and everyday life are blurred. Even when his films are set in small-town America, they tend to burst into remarkable dream-like passages, such as the Halloween sequence in "Meet Me in St. Louis," the berserk carnival in "Some Came Running" (1958) and the mythic boar hunt in "Home From the Hill" (1960). The ultimate tribute to Minnelli is that few directors in the history of Hollywood have made so many consistently enjoyable, diverse films.

Filmography

Articles

Scorsese Screens - July 2021

By Martin Scorsese

June 30, 2021

In his time, Vincente Minnelli was known as a great fantasist. Which is true enough. But the films he made without any fantasy elements whatsoever—like The Clock or The Bad and the Beautiful—are just as hallucinatory as anything in The Pirate or Ziegfeld Follies. Everything is grounded in a complete encompassing vision. The ballet in An American in Paris, which was inspired by the ballet in The Red Shoes, is much more than just an homage to French impressionism. It’s a completely distinct work that grows from an immersion in impressionist paintings, not just the palette but the attitude, the sense of the world, translated into cinema.

Apparently, Minnelli’s favorite part of the filmmaking process was the research, when he would create sketchbooks and maquettes that reflected his training as a set designer—someone at MGM called it “Vincente’s paper dolls.” For Meet Me in St. Louis, one of his greatest pictures, he sat down with the author Sally Benson and had her describe every square inch of her life growing up in St. Louis at the turn of the century, and he had the researchers comb through the MGM collection for reference images. The studio expected him to take the standing sets for the Andy Hardy series and re-purpose them, but Minnelli and producer Arthur Freed convinced their bosses to let them build a whole new street with architecture that reflected the houses of Benson’s childhood (and Minnelli’s in Ohio). And, from Minnelli’s meticulous arrangement of the physical world of his pictures, the actors had a rich environment in which to bring their characters to life.

If you look at Meet Me in St. Louis (which TCM has programmed in a curious monthlong series called From Hollywood to the Heartland) back-to-back with other period musicals, you’ll see that there is absolutely nothing generic, not one detail of décor or costume or body language, and that the inevitable contemporary elements are very carefully blended into the action and the staging. Later in the month, there’s another great Minnelli picture set in the Midwest, Some Came Running—a non-musical melodrama. Minnelli always wanted to shoot on location when he thought it was necessary for the picture (he and Gene Kelly were bitterly disappointed when they were told that they wouldn’t be able to shoot Brigadoon in Scotland), and he started Some Came Running with three weeks of exteriors in Madison, Indiana. The exteriors and the interiors, shot in Hollywood, are more than just complimentary. They’re one great organic whole.

I also want to say a brief word about the tribute to the Nicholas Brothers on the 18th. Harold and Fayard Nicholas were great American artists, real dancers’ dancers, who had a massive influence on everyone from Gene Kelly (who danced with them in the finale of The Pirate—sadly, not included in the tribute) to Gregory Hines to Michael Jackson and beyond. If you’ve never seen their jaw-dropping climactic production number in Stormy Weather, which is in the tribute, I can say with confidence that it will leave you open-mouthed.

Scorsese Screens - July 2021

In his time, Vincente Minnelli was known as a great fantasist. Which is true enough. But the films he made without any fantasy elements whatsoever—like The Clock or The Bad and the Beautiful—are just as hallucinatory as anything in The Pirate or Ziegfeld Follies. Everything is grounded in a complete encompassing vision. The ballet in An American in Paris, which was inspired by the ballet in The Red Shoes, is much more than just an homage to French impressionism. It’s a completely distinct work that grows from an immersion in impressionist paintings, not just the palette but the attitude, the sense of the world, translated into cinema. Apparently, Minnelli’s favorite part of the filmmaking process was the research, when he would create sketchbooks and maquettes that reflected his training as a set designer—someone at MGM called it “Vincente’s paper dolls.” For Meet Me in St. Louis, one of his greatest pictures, he sat down with the author Sally Benson and had her describe every square inch of her life growing up in St. Louis at the turn of the century, and he had the researchers comb through the MGM collection for reference images. The studio expected him to take the standing sets for the Andy Hardy series and re-purpose them, but Minnelli and producer Arthur Freed convinced their bosses to let them build a whole new street with architecture that reflected the houses of Benson’s childhood (and Minnelli’s in Ohio). And, from Minnelli’s meticulous arrangement of the physical world of his pictures, the actors had a rich environment in which to bring their characters to life. If you look at Meet Me in St. Louis (which TCM has programmed in a curious monthlong series called From Hollywood to the Heartland) back-to-back with other period musicals, you’ll see that there is absolutely nothing generic, not one detail of décor or costume or body language, and that the inevitable contemporary elements are very carefully blended into the action and the staging. Later in the month, there’s another great Minnelli picture set in the Midwest, Some Came Running—a non-musical melodrama. Minnelli always wanted to shoot on location when he thought it was necessary for the picture (he and Gene Kelly were bitterly disappointed when they were told that they wouldn’t be able to shoot Brigadoon in Scotland), and he started Some Came Running with three weeks of exteriors in Madison, Indiana. The exteriors and the interiors, shot in Hollywood, are more than just complimentary. They’re one great organic whole.I also want to say a brief word about the tribute to the Nicholas Brothers on the 18th. Harold and Fayard Nicholas were great American artists, real dancers’ dancers, who had a massive influence on everyone from Gene Kelly (who danced with them in the finale of The Pirate—sadly, not included in the tribute) to Gregory Hines to Michael Jackson and beyond. If you’ve never seen their jaw-dropping climactic production number in Stormy Weather, which is in the tribute, I can say with confidence that it will leave you open-mouthed.

Life Events

Photo Collections

The Pirate - Movie Posters

Here are a few original-release American movie posters from MGM's The Pirate (1948), starring Judy Garland and Gene Kelly.

Cabin in the Sky - Movie Posters

Here are a variety of original release movie posters for Cabin in the Sky (1943), directed by Vincente Minnelli.

The Pirate - Behind-the-Scenes Stills

Here are a few stills taken behind-the-scenes during production of MGM's The Pirate (1948), featuring Judy Garland, directer Vincente Minnelli, and their newborn daughter Liza.

The Clock - Behind-the-Scenes Photos

Here are a few behind-the-scenes photos taken during the making of The Clock (1945), starring Judy Garland and Robert Walker.

Lust for Life - Behind-the-Scenes Stills

Here are several stills taken behind-the-scenes during production of Lust for Life (1956), starring Kirk Douglas and directed by Vincente Minnelli.

An American in Paris - Behind-the-Scenes Photos

Here are a number of photos taken behind-the-scenes during production of MGM's An American in Paris (1951), directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron.

Kismet (1955) - Movie Poster

Here is the American one-sheet movie poster for MGM's Kismet (1955). One-sheets measured 27x41 inches, and were the poster style most commonly used in theaters.

The Band Wagon - Behind-the-Scenes Photos

Here are several photos taken behind-the-scenes during production of MGM's The Band Wagon (1953), directed by Vincente Minnelli, and starring Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Oscar Levant, and Nanette Fabray.

Two Weeks in Another Town - Movie Poster

Here is the American One-Sheet Movie Poster from Two Weeks in Another Town (1962). One-sheets measured 27x41 inches, and were the poster style most commonly used in theaters.

Father of the Bride - Movie Poster

Here is the American One-Sheet Movie Poster for Father of the Bride (1950). One-sheets measured 27x41 inches, and were the poster style most commonly used in theaters.

The Clock - Publicity Stills

Here are a few Publicity Stills from The Clock (1945), starring Judy Garland and Robert Walker. Publicity stills were specially-posed photos, usually taken off the set, for purposes of publicity or reference for promotional artwork.

Madame Bovary - Lobby Card Set

Here is a set of Lobby Cards from MGM's Madame Bovary (1949), starring Jennifer Jones, Van Heflin, and James Mason. Lobby Cards were 11" x 14" posters that came in sets of 8. As the name implies, they were most often displayed in movie theater lobbies, to advertise current or coming attractions.

Tea and Sympathy - Movie Poster

Here is the American one-sheet movie poster for Tea and Sympathy (1956). One-sheets measured 27x41 inches, and were the poster style most commonly used in theaters.

Some Came Running - Behind-the-Scenes Photos

Here are several photos taken behind-the-scenes during production of Some Came Running (1959), directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Shirley MacLaine.

Yolanda and the Thief - Lobby Cards

Here are a few Lobby Cards from Yolanda and the Thief (1945), starring Fred Astaire and directed by Vincente Minnelli. Lobby Cards were 11" x 14" posters that came in sets of 8. As the name implies, they were most often displayed in movie theater lobbies, to advertise current or coming attractions.

Bells Are Ringing - Behind-the-Scenes Stills

Here are a number of photos taken behind-the-scenes during production of MGM's Bells Are Ringing (1960), starring Judy Holliday and Dean Martin, and directed by Vincente Minnelli.

The Clock - Penn Station Set Stills

Here are a few stills of the massive Penn Station set for The Clock (1945) that MGM built in Culver City to duplicate the New York City landmark. Sets were commonly photographed prior to shooting for approvals in lighting and design.