December 21, 1958…’Dancing: A Man’s Game’ With Gene Kelly
December 21, 1958…’Dancing: A Man’s Game’ With Gene Kelly
NBC’s great ‘Omnibus’ program, which I remember well, was a wide ranging show that on one Sunday afternoon included a half hour segment conceived, written and narrated by Gene Kelly.
Assisted by the top names in sport, like Mickey Mantle, Sugar Ray Robinson and Johnny Unitas, Kelly sets out to demonstrate the rhythm and coordination required of great athletes. He also traces the history of modern American dance, and sets out to prove that dancing is, not the property of women but that, rightfully, it’s “a man’s game.”
The show was done at NBC Brooklyn and the cameraman in the black and white photo is Don Mulvaney (who by the way was also the main crane cameraman on Perry Como and the original crane cameraman on ‘Saturday Night Live’). The color photo is from another scene in the show.
At the clip is one of the only known pieces of the kinescope of the show. Enjoy and share!
The shirts and ties were worn on road trips too, til someone started wearing a turtle neck sweater and jacket. Thank Bobby for sharing Dads pix.
Albert McGilvray, I’ve seen pictures from the early days of radio where the engineers were in tuxes!
the entire show was released on DVD earlier this year
Love the fact all the cameramen wore shirts and ties.