George Sidney

He never had the fame of some of his colleagues such as Stanley Donen , Gene Kelly (who worked for him in numerous films), Mark Sandrich or Vincente Minnelli , but to his credit there are more than a dozen musicals that made history, including the Unforgettable Raising Anchors (1942), with a plethoric Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatrain front of the cast. The truth is that George Sidney was a high-altitude craftsman who worked with some of the biggest stars of Hollywood’s golden age. He was born on Long Island (New York) on October 4, 1916 and throughout his extensive career he directed nearly thirty feature films. His last work as a director dates back to 1967, with the making of the British film Half Sixpence , the icing on the cake that put an end to his great passion: the musical genre.

The son of a Metro producer, George Sidney started out as an assistant director on numerous musicals and in 1937 he got behind the camera for the first time. He shot numerous shorts, until in 1943 he teamed up with Gene Kelly and Mary Astor in Star Parade , which is considered his first feature film. Then came the famous Mermaid School (1944), with a spectacular and diving Esther Williams in the title role. But it would be the following year when George Sidney would reach the peak of his career with Raising Anchors ., a piece that included scenes of daring originality, such as the famous dance that Gene Kelly performs with Jerry the mouse from the cartoons. With the inclusion of the famous mouse, its creators Joseph Barbera and William Hannah began a close relationship with George Sidney, who would also help them establish one of the largest and most famous animation studios of all time.

Other successes in this director’s career were the musicals Harvey’s Girls (1946), with Judy Garland and Cyd Charisse ; The Queen of the West (1950); Magnolia (1951) , with Ava Gardner ; Kiss Me, Kate (1953) or A Kiss for Birdie (1963), starring Janet Leigh , Dick Van Dyke and Ann-Margret. But although Sidney’s talent was seen above all in the musical genre, he also successfully ventured into some swashbuckling films that would become classics, such as The Three Musketeers (1948)., again with the stellar appearance of Gene Kelly, or the fantastic Scaramouche (1952), whose successful choreographies bear the stamp of this versatile creator.