Happy Birthday, Charles Walters! Born today in 1911 as Charles Powell Walters, this American choreographer and Hollywood director is most noted for his work in MGM musicals and comedies from the 1940s to the 1960s.
Brooklyn-bred, he later changed his last name to Walters in the 1930s because he was "tired of misspellings.
Walters appeared in a few Broadway plays as a teenager before heading to the West Coast to attend the University of Southern California.
When he returned to the New York stage, he did so as a dancer, mostly as a simple background player, until graduating to choreographer for a 1939 revue called "Sing Out the News," which starred American stage, film, and television actress, dancer, and singer June Allyson.
He then worked on Broadway for a few more years before returning to Los Angeles, California and entering the film business.
Walters' career, from his days as a featured Broadway performer and protégé of American dancer, choreographer and theater legend Robert Alton to Walters' successes at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
These went along with classic scenes of many of the studio's most beloved musicals, including 'Easter Parade' (1948), 'Lili' (1953), 'High Society' (1956), and 'The Unsinkable Molly Brown' (1964).
The plot for 'Molly Brown' is a fictionalized account of the life of Margaret Brown, who survived the 1912 sinking of the R.M.S Titanic.
Debbie Reynolds was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress regarding her portrayal of Brown. However, she didn't win. This occurred at the 37th Academy Awards in early April 1965.
Upon its release, 'Easter Parade' was both a critical and a commercial success. As well as being the highest-grossing musical film of 1948, Easter Parade was the second-highest grossing MGM musical of the 1940s after Vincente Minnelli's 1944 American Technicolor musical/romance film 'Meet Me in St. Louis'.
Walters had associated with Lucille Ball, Joan Crawford, and Gloria Swanson, although most of the director's uncredited work on several films.
Most notably, this included George Cukor's 1944 American black and white psychological thriller/mystery film 'Gaslight' (1944) and Minnelli's 1958 American Metrocolor musical/romance film 'Gigi'.
Walters was also the stager for "The Night They Invented Champagne" number in 'Gigi', among his other contributions to musical theater and American popular culture.
Also, during the late 1950s, Walters directed the film of which he is best known. This was the 1956 American Technicolor musical/comedy film 'High Society'.
The film was funded by American film producer Sol C. Siegel for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and shot in VistaVision and Technicolor, with music and lyrics by American composer and songwriter Cole Porter.
Jazz artist C.K. Dexter Haven (Bing Crosby) is still hung up on his ex-wife and neighbor, socialite Tracy Samantha Lord (Grace Kelly), however Tracy is engaged to another man named George Kittredge (John Lund).
Matters are complicated even further when magazine reporter Macaulay "Mike" Connor (Frank Sinatra), in town to cover Tracy's wedding, also winds up falling for the beautiful bride-to-be.
As Tracy tries to decide on the ideal husband, each suitor works hard to convince her he is the best choice.
'High Society' is a musical remake of the George Cukor's 1940 American black and white romantic comedy film 'The Philadelphia Story', starring Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn and James Stewart.
It was based on American dramatist Philip Barry's 1939 play of the same name (which had starred Hepburn on Broadway).
The film was shot mostly in and around Clarendon Court in Newport, Rhode Island, which was then owned by Mae Cadwell Hayward, and later purchased in 1970 by Danish-born British lawyer, consultant and socialite Claus von Bülow.
The location for 'High Society', according to Turner Classic Movies, enabled them to take advantage of the Newport Jazz Festival, established in 1954.
They had incorporated it into the film by giving Crosby's character a background as a descendant of a Gilded Age robber baron who became a jazz composer and friend of jazz star Louis Armstrong, who played himself in the film, and patron of the Festival.
'High Society' featured Kelly's final role before she became Princess of Monaco; it was released three months after her marriage to Prince Rainier III.
In the film, Kelly wore the Cartier engagement ring given to her by Rainier. Sinatra was 40 and Crosby 53 while playing the love interests of Kelly, who was only 26 during the filming.
At the North American box office, 'High Society' was a success. It was one of the 10 highest grossing films of 1956 in the United States and Canada earning $5,602,000, and $2,656,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $1,148,000.
The following year, 'High Society' received two Oscar nominations, and nearly received a third. The film was initially nominated in the 1956 Academy Awards for Best Motion Picture Story.
Even though 'High Society' was based on Cukor's 'The Philadelphia Story', it was thus not eligible in that category. This occurred at the 29th Academy Awards in late March 1957.
Moreover, the nominated writers, American film comedy writer Elwood Ullman and American screenwriter and director Edward Bernds, had written not this film, but a 1955 Bowery Boys film also titled 'High Society'.
Regarding Walters' personal life, he had navigated the industry as an openly gay man. It was Brent Phillips' 2014 biographical book, Charles Walters: The Director Who Made Hollywood Dance, that illuminated Walters' private life as a gay man.
Drawing on unpublished oral histories, correspondence, and new interviews, Walters had offered an entertaining and important new look at an exciting era in Hollywood history.
Walters' last theatrical film was for Columbia Pictures, the 1966 American Technicolor romantic comedy film 'Walk, Don't Run', was the last film for Cary Grant.
Walters passed in his home on August 13, 1982 in Malibu, California. He was 70. Walters has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 6402 Hollywood Blvd.
During his career, Walters had showcased the talents of stars such as Gene Kelly, Doris Day, Debbie Reynolds, and Frank Sinatra.
However, despite his many critical and commercial triumphs, Walters' name often goes unrecognized today.
From the trolley scene in 'Meet Me in St. Louis', to Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers's last dance on the silver screen in 'The Barkleys of Broadway' (1949) to Judy Garland's timeless, tuxedo-clad performance of "Get Happy" in 'Summer Stock' (1950), Walters had staged the iconic musical sequences of Hollywood's golden age.
Walters had been active from 1924–1976.
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