Editing Gene Kelly (section)

===1941–1945: Becoming established in Hollywood===
[[File:Gene Kelly dancing with Jerry Mouse ("Anchors Aweigh", 1945).gif|right|thumb|Gene Kelly dances with [[Jerry Mouse|Jerry]] of ''[[Tom and Jerry]]'' in ''Anchors Aweigh'' (1945), a performance which changed at least one critic's opinion of Kelly's skills.]]

Selznick sold half of Kelly's contract to [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] for his first motion picture: ''[[For Me and My Gal (film)|For Me and My Gal]]'' (1942) starring [[Judy Garland]]. Kelly said he was "appalled at the sight of myself blown up 20 times. I had an awful feeling that I was a tremendous flop." ''For Me and My Gal'' performed very well, and in the face of much internal resistance, [[Arthur Freed]] of MGM picked up the other half of Kelly's contract.<ref name="Thomas" /> After appearing in a [[B movie]] drama, ''[[Pilot No. 5]]'' (1943) and in ''[[Christmas Holiday]]'' (1944), he took the male lead in Cole Porter's ''[[DuBarry Was a Lady (film)|Du Barry Was a Lady]]'' (1943) with [[Lucille Ball]], in a part originally intended for [[Ann Sothern]]. His first opportunity to dance to his own choreography came in his next picture, ''[[Thousands Cheer]]'' (1943), in which he performed a mock-love dance with a mop. Unusually, in ''Pilot No. 5'', Kelly played the [[antagonist]].

In 1944 he achieved a significant breakthrough as a dancer on film when MGM lent him to [[Columbia Pictures|Columbia]] to work with [[Rita Hayworth]] in ''[[Cover Girl (film)|Cover Girl]]'', a film that foreshadowed the best of his future work.<ref name="Hess">{{cite book |last1= Hess |first1= Earl J. |last2= Dabholkar |first2= Pratibha A. |title= Singin' in the Rain: The Making of an American Masterpiece |year= 2009 |publisher= University Press of Kansas |location= Lawrence |isbn= 978-0-7006-1656-5 |page= [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780700616565/page/33] |url-access= registration |url= https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780700616565/page/33 }}</ref> He created a memorable routine dancing to his own reflection. Despite this, critic [[Manny Farber]] was moved to praise Kelly's "attitude", "clarity", and "feeling" as an actor while inauspiciously concluding, "The two things he does least well—singing and dancing—are what he is given most consistently to do."<ref>Farber, Manny, ''The New Republic'', May 15, 1944, as reprinted in ''Farber on Film'', Library of America, 2009, p. 163</ref>

In Kelly's next film, ''[[Anchors Aweigh (film)|Anchors Aweigh]]'' (1945), MGM gave him a free hand to devise a range of dance routines, including his duets with co-star [[Frank Sinatra]] and the celebrated animated dance with [[Tom and Jerry|Jerry Mouse]]—the animation for which was supervised by [[William Hanna]] and [[Joseph Barbera]]. That performance was enough for Farber to completely reverse his previous assessment of Kelly's skills. Reviewing the film, Farber enthused, "Kelly is the most exciting dancer to appear in Hollywood movies."<ref>[[Manny Farber|Farber, Manny]] (April 27, 1945) ''[[The New Republic]]'', republished in ''Farber on Film'' (2009) Library of America. p. 255</ref> ''Anchors Aweigh'' became one of the most successful films of 1945 and Kelly was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Actor]]. In ''[[Ziegfeld Follies (film)|Ziegfeld Follies]]'' (1946)—which was produced in 1944 but delayed for release—Kelly collaborated with [[Fred Astaire]], for whom he had the greatest admiration, in "The Babbitt and the Bromide" challenge dance routine.

==== Military service ====
Kelly was deferred from the [[Conscription in the United States|draft]] in 1940<ref name=":1" /> by the U.S. [[Selective Service System]] at the request of his employers, but was classified 1-A, eligible for induction, in October 1944 after an appeal to President [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]] by the head of the Selective Service in New York City.<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 15, 1944 |title=Gene Kelly 1-A |page=2 |work=The Greenville News |agency=International News Service |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110322272/gene-kelly-1-a/ |access-date=September 27, 2022 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |archive-date=September 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220927235927/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110322272/gene-kelly-1-a/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Roosevelt personally upheld the appeal.<ref name=":1">{{cite news |title=Gene Kelly Made 1A on President's Order |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110322865/gene-kelly-made-1a-on-presidents-order/ |access-date=September 28, 2022 |work=Star Tribune |agency=United Press |date=October 14, 1944 |pages=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |archive-date=September 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220928000535/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110322865/gene-kelly-made-1a-on-presidents-order/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In November 1944, he was inducted into the armed forces, and at his request he was assigned to the U.S. Navy.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 21, 1944 |title=Gene Kelly Is Inducted |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1944/11/21/archives/gene-kelly-is-inducted.html |access-date=September 27, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=September 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220927233821/https://www.nytimes.com/1944/11/21/archives/gene-kelly-is-inducted.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=November 16, 1944 |title=Gene Kelly Drafted |pages=11 |work=The Tennessean |agency=Associated Press |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110321872/gene-kelly-drafted/ |access-date=September 27, 2022 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |archive-date=September 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220927234751/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110321872/gene-kelly-drafted/ |url-status=live }}</ref> He served in the [[United States Navy|U.S. Naval Air Service]] and was commissioned as [[lieutenant, junior grade]]. He was stationed in the Photographic Section, Washington, D.C., where he helped write and direct a range of documentaries – this stimulated his interest in the production side of filmmaking.<ref name="Hirschhorn" /><ref>According to Blair, p. 111, he directed [[Jocelyn Brando]] in a semidocumentary about war-wounded veterans.</ref> He was discharged in 1946.<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 5, 1946 |title=Gene Kelly Makes It Clear He's a Serious Young Fellow |pages=27 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110408514/gene-kelly-makes-it-clear-hes-a/ |access-date=September 29, 2022 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |archive-date=September 29, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220929163317/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110408514/gene-kelly-makes-it-clear-hes-a/ |url-status=live }}</ref>